Weekend update

This weekend has been nice, but it certainly wasn't the one I expected. We planned to leave work early on Friday to drive over to Ionia and meet up with my family. My nephew Tommy is home on leave from the Army and all of us planned to have dinner at the VFW. However, a big snow storm rolled in during the early morning hours and not only weren't we sure Tommy would be able to fly in as planned, my mom advised us that the plows had not yet been out and the roads in the area were next to impassable. She was concerned enough that she insisted we not make the trek.

Meanwhile, jebra received a notice that his new recording gear would arrive at the office via FedEx. So we made the drive to the office, which was slow but otherwise uneventful. Our lot had not yet been plowed, but that wasn't entirely unexpected, particularly not with the rate at which the snow was falling. The FedEx truck arrived in the late afternoon. We expected a shipment from UPS as well, only when jebra checked the UPS website late in the day, the site reported that delivery had been attempted but the business was closed. Since we'd been there *all* day, we knew that wasn't true. I fought my way through UPS' voicemail system spoke with an agent, whereupon I learned that the shipment wasn't the one we needed for the weekend. By that point, it was far too late in the day to leave for Ionia. And work's parking lot had so much snow on it I wasn't sure we'd make it out to the road. I called the snowplow company again and was told they were nearby and would arrive soon. They did, then it was off to Walmart to buy alergy medicine for me and a camera bag for Gabe (to store his new recorder in). After Walmart we finally headed out to get some dinner. We want to go to Zorba's, our new favorite family restaurant, but they were closed. Outback was our second choice, but on the way there we passed by the Clawson Steakhouse. I've been promising jebra we'd go there sometime and this seemed to be perfect opportunity.

In retrospect, we'd have have been happier at Outback. The Clawson Steakhouse seemed to me to the sort of small nightclub you'd have found in Las Vegas during the late 1950s or early 60s. There was a live band playing the music of Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, and others of that ilk. I wouldn't have minded the music nearly as much had it been played at reasonable level; it was too loud for the room and gave me a headache. jebra disliked it for another reason -- there was some sort of problem with their sound equipment and it produced loud buzzing hum the entire time. The food was okay, but not what I hoping for and not good enough to warrant the prices listed on the menu.

It was quite late when arrived home, and we still had to shovel and unpack the car (since we'd packed for an overnight stay in Ionia).

jebra woke us up bright and early the next morning. He fed me breakfast, hustled me into the shower, got the car packed for the concert, and drove us to Howell for their Tuba Christmas. While he was at the rehearsal, I walked to one of my favorite yarn shops, Stitch In Time. I had fun browsing through their amazing collection of knitting books and talking with the owner. When I thought to check the time, I discovered nearly two hours had flown by. I made my purchases (a book on knitting socks and a skein of yarn), then walked to the bar/restaurant to meet up with jebra and have lunch. mbumby joined us for lunch and the concert.

The concert went well and jebra got his recording.

Afterwards, we drove home. I downloaded the photos I'd taken, watched a bit of tv, then went to bed.

This morning I slept in, ate a late breakfast, and then came out to the living room and got comfortable here on my side of the couch. I've been here, more or less, all day. I finished knitting a fish for my brother's cats, sewed together a mess of felt fish, sorted through yesterday's photos, and downloaded a heap of free scrapbooking stuff.

( Click here to see a scrapbook page for yesterday's Tuba Christmas )

Weekend update

This weekend has been nice, but it certainly wasn't the one I expected. We planned to leave work early on Friday to drive over to Ionia and meet up with my family. My nephew Tommy is home on leave from the Army and all of us planned to have dinner at the VFW. However, a big snow storm rolled in during the early morning hours and not only weren't we sure Tommy would be able to fly in as planned, my mom advised us that the plows had not yet been out and the roads in the area were next to impassable. She was concerned enough that she insisted we not make the trek.

Meanwhile, jebra received a notice that his new recording gear would arrive at the office via FedEx. So we made the drive to the office, which was slow but otherwise uneventful. Our lot had not yet been plowed, but that wasn't entirely unexpected, particularly not with the rate at which the snow was falling. The FedEx truck arrived in the late afternoon. We expected a shipment from UPS as well, only when jebra checked the UPS website late in the day, the site reported that delivery had been attempted but the business was closed. Since we'd been there *all* day, we knew that wasn't true. I fought my way through UPS' voicemail system spoke with an agent, whereupon I learned that the shipment wasn't the one we needed for the weekend. By that point, it was far too late in the day to leave for Ionia. And work's parking lot had so much snow on it I wasn't sure we'd make it out to the road. I called the snowplow company again and was told they were nearby and would arrive soon. They did, then it was off to Walmart to buy alergy medicine for me and a camera bag for Gabe (to store his new recorder in). After Walmart we finally headed out to get some dinner. We want to go to Zorba's, our new favorite family restaurant, but they were closed. Outback was our second choice, but on the way there we passed by the Clawson Steakhouse. I've been promising jebra we'd go there sometime and this seemed to be perfect opportunity.

In retrospect, we'd have have been happier at Outback. The Clawson Steakhouse seemed to me to the sort of small nightclub you'd have found in Las Vegas during the late 1950s or early 60s. There was a live band playing the music of Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, and others of that ilk. I wouldn't have minded the music nearly as much had it been played at reasonable level; it was too loud for the room and gave me a headache. jebra disliked it for another reason -- there was some sort of problem with their sound equipment and it produced loud buzzing hum the entire time. The food was okay, but not what I hoping for and not good enough to warrant the prices listed on the menu.

It was quite late when arrived home, and we still had to shovel and unpack the car (since we'd packed for an overnight stay in Ionia).

jebra woke us up bright and early the next morning. He fed me breakfast, hustled me into the shower, got the car packed for the concert, and drove us to Howell for their Tuba Christmas. While he was at the rehearsal, I walked to one of my favorite yarn shops, Stitch In Time. I had fun browsing through their amazing collection of knitting books and talking with the owner. When I thought to check the time, I discovered nearly two hours had flown by. I made my purchases (a book on knitting socks and a skein of yarn), then walked to the bar/restaurant to meet up with jebra and have lunch. mbumby joined us for lunch and the concert.

The concert went well and jebra got his recording.

Afterwards, we drove home. I downloaded the photos I'd taken, watched a bit of tv, then went to bed.

This morning I slept in, ate a late breakfast, and then came out to the living room and got comfortable here on my side of the couch. I've been here, more or less, all day. I finished knitting a fish for my brother's cats, sewed together a mess of felt fish, sorted through yesterday's photos, and downloaded a heap of free scrapbooking stuff.

( Click here to see a scrapbook page for yesterday's Tuba Christmas )

Weekend update

This weekend has been nice, but it certainly wasn't the one I expected. We planned to leave work early on Friday to drive over to Ionia and meet up with my family. My nephew Tommy is home on leave from the Army and all of us planned to have dinner at the VFW. However, a big snow storm rolled in during the early morning hours and not only weren't we sure Tommy would be able to fly in as planned, my mom advised us that the plows had not yet been out and the roads in the area were next to impassable. She was concerned enough that she insisted we not make the trek.

Meanwhile, jebra received a notice that his new recording gear would arrive at the office via FedEx. So we made the drive to the office, which was slow but otherwise uneventful. Our lot had not yet been plowed, but that wasn't entirely unexpected, particularly not with the rate at which the snow was falling. The FedEx truck arrived in the late afternoon. We expected a shipment from UPS as well, only when jebra checked the UPS website late in the day, the site reported that delivery had been attempted but the business was closed. Since we'd been there *all* day, we knew that wasn't true. I fought my way through UPS' voicemail system spoke with an agent, whereupon I learned that the shipment wasn't the one we needed for the weekend. By that point, it was far too late in the day to leave for Ionia. And work's parking lot had so much snow on it I wasn't sure we'd make it out to the road. I called the snowplow company again and was told they were nearby and would arrive soon. They did, then it was off to Walmart to buy alergy medicine for me and a camera bag for Gabe (to store his new recorder in). After Walmart we finally headed out to get some dinner. We want to go to Zorba's, our new favorite family restaurant, but they were closed. Outback was our second choice, but on the way there we passed by the Clawson Steakhouse. I've been promising jebra we'd go there sometime and this seemed to be perfect opportunity.

In retrospect, we'd have have been happier at Outback. The Clawson Steakhouse seemed to me to the sort of small nightclub you'd have found in Las Vegas during the late 1950s or early 60s. There was a live band playing the music of Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, and others of that ilk. I wouldn't have minded the music nearly as much had it been played at reasonable level; it was too loud for the room and gave me a headache. jebra disliked it for another reason -- there was some sort of problem with their sound equipment and it produced loud buzzing hum the entire time. The food was okay, but not what I hoping for and not good enough to warrant the prices listed on the menu.

It was quite late when arrived home, and we still had to shovel and unpack the car (since we'd packed for an overnight stay in Ionia).

jebra woke us up bright and early the next morning. He fed me breakfast, hustled me into the shower, got the car packed for the concert, and drove us to Howell for their Tuba Christmas. While he was at the rehearsal, I walked to one of my favorite yarn shops, Stitch In Time. I had fun browsing through their amazing collection of knitting books and talking with the owner. When I thought to check the time, I discovered nearly two hours had flown by. I made my purchases (a book on knitting socks and a skein of yarn), then walked to the bar/restaurant to meet up with jebra and have lunch. mbumby joined us for lunch and the concert.

The concert went well and jebra got his recording.

Afterwards, we drove home. I downloaded the photos I'd taken, watched a bit of tv, then went to bed.

This morning I slept in, ate a late breakfast, and then came out to the living room and got comfortable here on my side of the couch. I've been here, more or less, all day. I finished knitting a fish for my brother's cats, sewed together a mess of felt fish, sorted through yesterday's photos, and downloaded a heap of free scrapbooking stuff.

( Click here to see a scrapbook page for yesterday's Tuba Christmas )