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One day, Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Chesire cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” was his response. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”
– from Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
Where to begin? I can’t even keep track of all the great stuff we did and saw.
We left for Detroit on Friday morning and arrived somewhere around 6pm. On the way, somewhere in Ohio, we passed the Happy Hooker Bait Shop, which made me giggle for about a mile. We also stopped at a place we discovered on the way home from Detroit at Christmas: Beef Jerky Unlimited. And it’s just what it sounds like: barrels and barrels of all types and flavors of jerky, though not just beef – they have pork and turkey jerky (hee) too. Here’s a picture from Christmas:
The sign on the door prohibited pictures, so I can’t show you the awesomeness inside. I did take a picture of the sign, though.
Friday night, we went bowling with David’s best friend from home. Despite my fancy purple bowling shoes, I only broke 100 once in three games. But at least there was beer.
On Saturday, we went to The Henry Ford. We only had enough time to tour the museum, but they have some great stuff. Unfortunately, the pictures are on David’s computer at the moment, so I can’t show you the museum-worthy Ford Taurus. Maybe later. The best part of the whole museum, though, is the Dymaxion House. I want one of these round, aluminum houses so much. Sadly, Mr. Fuller’s financing fell through and only one of them was ever actually built. The Graham family lived in the house, but they built around it so it looked like this. They eventually donated it to The Henry Ford Museum, and my dreams of living in it are forever dashed. Boo.
Saturday night we headed to Dave & Busters with David’s friends for some fun games. I had never played table shuffleboard (or whatever it’s called) before, but it was fun. Must put that on the list of things to have in the game room of our fantasy house. David kicked my butt in air hockey, despite my best trash talk. We amassed somewhere in the neighborhood of 3500 tickets that night, but we opted not to cash any in – they didn’t have anything good in the prize room.
Sunday we had a birthday lunch for David with his dad’s family, which was lovely. After, we played some games with his brother and step-mom, including Clue, which I haven’t played in ages. David won 3 out of 4 games. I won zero. Awesome.
We had always talked about getting out of town, at least overnight, during our stay in Detroit, but we hadn’t decided where to go. Around dinner time, we started discussing it in earnest, and tossed out Toronto (we knew there was more we wanted to do there than our brief trip from Buffalo would allow), Grand Rapids, Traverse City, and “Up North.” We had considered Chicago before we left on the trip and dismissed it because David said the Cubs were out of town. Well, we double checked Sunday evening, and he had been wrong. We saw that we were able to get tickets, which meant I could fulfill #64 on the list (go to three Major League ballparks I’ve never been to) in this one trip, and that sealed the deal. We quickly booked a hotel and packed a bag, and left for Chicago at 8pm, and arrived around 1am Monday morning. That’s the most spontaneous trip I’ve ever been on in my life, and it was so fun!
And I’ll tell you all about it next time!
Our battered suitcases were piled high on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.
– from On the Road, by Jack Kerouac
David and I are leaving in just a few minutes for 11 glorious days of vacation! Today we head back to Detroit – we’ve got a Tigers game and perhaps a trip “up North,” as David calls it, on the agenda. Wednesday we’ll head to the Buffalo area to see my mom’s side of the family. My cousin is getting married next Saturday up there, and I’m in the wedding. David has never met the large, very loud, very Italian contingent of my family (the side that’s lousy with lawyers, coincidentally), so it promises to be very interesting! Thursday we’ll take a side overnight trip to Toronto, where I intend to be very vocal in my dislike of the Yankees at a Yanks-Blue Jays game (for those of you keeping track at home, that will cover two of three baseball stadiums I’ve never been to, which is #64 on my list)!
Posting will probably be light, but I’ll definitely post a Three Things Thursday next week. Have a wonderful vacation from me!
Hair brings one’s self-image into focus; it is vanity’s proving ground. Hair is terribly personal, a tangle of mysterious prejudices.
– Shana Alexander
Finally, after more than 18 months, I got a hair cut!
She cut at least two inches off, and it will look even shorter when I let it dry naturally, since I have curly hair. I let her blow dry it and straighten it today. though, since David and I have our make-up date tonight. I”m so pleased with it – it was really at the point where I either always wore it in a ponytail or it just hung down too heavily and wouldn’t really be curly anymore, so it was way past time to get a cut.
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we did get sick, at least we didn’t die; so let us all be thankful.
– Buddha
1. Being (almost) not sick anymore
2. Going to the gym even when you don’t feel like, just because you know it’s the right thing to do
3. Getting control over your finances
Are you happy about anything in particular today?
In 101 in 1001 news, the recipe binder (#29) is finished! It’s all nicely organized by main dishes (subdivided by protien), sides/soups, crock pot meals, desserts (subdivided by type), breakfast foods, drinks, and sauces, and it makes me feel great now that everything’s easily accessible! 99 more to go!
California is beautiful to look at, but you can’t be a part of it like you can in Michigan.
– Gov. Jennifer Granholm
Our weekend in Michigan was low-key, relaxing, and wonderful. The Eagle Court ceremony was really nice, but seeing all the teenage boys made me glad I’m not a teenager anymore. I had forgotten how awkward the teen years can be.
The weather was gorgeous, and we kept driving by all of these adorable little houses, many of which were for sale, and I imagined that I might actually like to live there one day. Then David reminded me that winter in Michigan is a lot like winter in Buffalo, with which I have a passing familiarity, and that idea was promptly set aside. Still, I love to imagine where our life together might take us, and you never know where you’ll end up.
I really enjoyed spending time with David’s family; they are lovely people, truly. And we hung out with his friends and barbequed Saturday night, and while I mostly read once the activities turned to Rock Band, that was fine by me, because he was having a good time with people he doesn’t get to see very often. It made me happy that he was happy.
Oh, also, I got an adorable new bag at Meijer for under $5! It’s perfect!
That’s not a great picture, but it’s purple and gray, and I love it! It holds everything I need with plenty of room to spare and it’s totally comfortable to carry. Yay!
Also, in 101 in 1001 news, I’m pleased to announce I’ve accomplished my first task, #16: Yelp! Fat Matt’s. See my review here! Only 100 more to go! I think the next thing to tackle is the letter to myself (#95) and putting my recipes into a binder (#29).
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