krazy kats, storms, bingo, and birthday cake
Man oh man time is flying by fast. A week and a half just zoomed by. But at least I finally feel like I’m catching up on all the sleep I missed this summer.
Meant to blog more. And take a lot of photos. But we’ve only been to the beach a couple of times as the weather has been crappy a lot of the time. Well, crappy for the beach, at any rate. It’s been overcast much of the past ten days, particularly the week Leo and Ben were here. Stanley, Leo, Ben, and I headed for the beach one day last week despite the threatening weather because Ginger was desperate to go. It started to rain as we drove to Three Mile Beach and as soon as we hit the boardwalk (a new feature—a boardwalk to nowhere) it started pouring. Cold rain. So we gave it up.
The cats are enjoying themselves immensely. Twitch and Einstein are colluding on the best ways to escape the house and what to do once outside, which lately is make their humans chase them around the house (around the outside of the house, that is). Preferably in the dark. Slink just loves to run around on the screened-in porch and check out the bugs and the birds and sometimes the skunk and the raccoons. He doesn’t try to get out—he’s still afraid of the world. Which is fine by us. Last year, Einstein jumped all over Ginger. This year, Einstein turns into Yoda when she spots the dog (who just wants to play). I’ve never seen a cat’s ears held quite like that—I think she thinks she’s invisible if her ears are sticking out and down. I’m trying to get a photo of her in full “I hate the dog” mode.
We’ve been donating to the various charities, civic groups, and church auxiliary groups—almost every night. Mom and Dad have been winning at lot more than we have—mostly it’s been the usual bingo madness of waiting for just one number for the big payoff and, of course, not getting it. So far, I’ve won back maybe 25% of what I’ve spent. What’s nice this year is that there are more and more bingo halls that ban smoking. It’s amazing how many more people seem to smoke around here than back in Norwalk.
Mom’s birthday was Saturday, August 25. So we took her for dinner at Churchill Pointe Inn on Hubbard Lake, a great restaurant. Hubbard Lake is one of the prettier lakes in Michigan, I think and the restaurant at the Inn has huge windows overlooking the lake. The Inn is a bed and breakfast and maybe some day we’ll spend a night there “just because.” Here are some photos from the restaurant (click them to enlarge them):
Kelly, Dad, and Mom, waiting for the dessert menu.
Leo and Kelly, with Leo showing off his most charming smile ...
Ben enjoyed his prime rib but didn’t order dessert! He was a great host.
Stanley’s been walking with Dad every morning except yesterday—both he and Dad managed to catch a cold or something and it was rainy looking and he just decided to sleep. Stanley has a really sore throat and is afraid it might be strep, so we need to find a clinic or doctor to get it checked out on Thursday unless he wakes up feeling a lot better. He’s really pissed off about getting sick on his long-awaited vacation. I hope he does feel better in the morning.
There’s been a couple of thunderstorms, which Ginger hasn’t liked. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be sunny, so I hope we can get a couple of beach hours in—just to stretch out in the sun and finish the novel I’m reading and watch the dog chase the ball through the waves. Stanley needs some sun hours too. It’s supposed to be nice out until Labor Day, so I’m sure we’ll get lots of beach time in.
This weekend should be fun as Jamie, Kris, and Scott are planning on coming up. It will be great to catch up with them. Next week, Mom goes for a PET scan in Ann Arbor, so we’ll go down with her for that. I am managing to get some work done. Not as much as I wanted to because I’m just not there yet, but I will be. Probably tomorrow. I would love to extend our vacation another week, but Stanley has an echocardiogram scheduled for the day we’re due back, so we really can’t. I just really like spending time with Mom and Dad—I wish we didn’t live so far away.
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