Michigan State Spartans

It's A Nice Day For A White Wedding

Eight years ago, on March 28, 2001, it was a cold and snowy day in Livingston County, Michigan. There had been a snowstorm the night before and the roads out in the boonies where I lived still weren't cleared.

Martin and I left the house in plenty of time to get to the Law Center, but we encountered a problem. A neighbor's cows had run melancholy mad through their fence and were standing in the middle of our road and would not move. They looked at us with blank disregard and not even several blasts of the horn would budge them until they decided, in their tiny bovine brains, to get along, little doggie.

We eventually made it to the law center to get married. Weddings are performed first thing, so we went into the courtroom and took a seat amongst all the people waiting arraignments, dressed in their orange jail jumpsuits, accessorized with handcuffs.

After the brief ceremony, performed by Judge DelVero, who happened to be my country mile neighbor for years, we were legally wed. All of the jail guests in their orange jumpsuits gave us a hearty round of applause.

Three months later, we had our formal ceremony at the historic wedding chapel in downtown Howell and a dinner dance at the Lakelands Country Club. Many of our guests have told us that it was one of the nicest, most fun weddings they have ever been to.

So eight years later, this Saturday, we celebrate the occasion of our first wedding. ( Of course, I milk it and require two celebrations.) Happy anniversary, MG. Til death do us part, baby.

Don't think he doesn't sleep with one eye open.

Playing Cards With The Gang

I think it's important to exercise your brain. Because I seem to have the attention span of a gnat, I do a variety of things to make my mind work. One of my favorites is playing cards.

I have a card game installed on my computer. Some of the cards games are rummy, cribbage, euchre, and the old standby, solitaire. I play rummy the most, after a long contentious relationship with euchre.

The game assigns names to your opponents and partners, rather than playing Robot I, Robot II, etc. The names are quaintly old-fashioned. Because I have a vivid imagination, I have assigned characteristics to each player, all of whom reside in the same Florida retirement home. At least in my head.

Horatio is a shy Cuban gentlemen, who quietly plays his hand, and doesn't gloat when he wins.
Hector is a Mexican American who smokes cigars, and has a great bluffing face.
Manny is Horatio's younger brother and likes to make me think I am winning, until he comes from behind and smacks my down my score, hard.
Mary is a sweet, tiny lady who originally hails from Brooklyn; she just likes to play for the social aspect and if she wins, she is truly delighted.
Hetty is a Holocaust survivor. She is a cut-throat player and plays to win. She also insists I bring pastries when I come to play.
Harrison is Harrison Ford, of course. He often wonders why he spends his time playing cards in the retirement home with these old farts, but figures he is giving back in some way and that is important to him. Besides, he likes to gamble and Horatio and Hector are always up for a five dollar hand. I never bet against Harrison, he always thrashes me soundly.

Maybe my father-in-law is right. Maybe I do need to get a job.

The House Of Plague And Other News

Mia has been sick since Saturday evening. She woke up in the middle of SNL and told me, "Mommy, I don't feel good." She was drenched in sweat and had a fever of 104. I dosed her with children's Tylenol ™ and applied wet cool washcloths. Her fever came down but she was still not 100%. I should note, we have been very very lucky with Mia; she's been sick only a handful of times. She had chicken pox for about 24 hours, she's had a few bad colds and one ear infection, so for her to tell me she didn't feel well, I knew she was well and truly sick.

In the meantime, I haven't been feeling all that great, either, and although Mia no longer has any type of fever, she now sounds like a snot factory. Which is good, it's getting it out. Martin this morning also said he wasn't feeling well. I expect we will have a lovely week-end, since Martin's boss also has been out two days with the same plague and Boss is supposed to be on call, but I suspect Martin will take it.

In other news, I got my nose pierced. I quite like it, although it did hurt quite a bit, but only for a minute. I promise to post pictures soon.