I Love My Husband!

I know that I have a great husband but sometimes things happen to remind you just how great a person is. So this week has been a little rough for me. You would think it would have been great but for some reason it just didn’t work out that way for me. Tuesday afternoon I get a call from Sam’s teacher between school letting out and the bus arriving home, warning me that school had been closed until this coming Monday due to the high absentee rate. Of course it is being assumed as H1N1. (Note: we were just one of maybe 10 or so districts in the area to close at some point last week) Anyway, Sam was really upset about it and his teacher was worried and wanted me to have a heads up. Turned out OK, he must have let it soak in on the short bus ride. That was the first cancellation in a series of additional cancellations and changes in expectations that continued through the week. I began to dwell on what could have been with a completely open 5 day weekend, even though I didn’t learn until 2 ½ days into it that it could have in fact been completely open. I couldn’t help but think of the lost potential to take off and visit my mom who is now doing so much better from her broken neck injury from June. That among other little things just seemed to get to me more than I expected. The week should have been full of energy and productivity. But I found myself more and more tired. On Thursday I found myself so tired by later afternoon that I actually sent Nick an email at 5:15 pm and said “I’m exhausted and I’m going to take a nap, wake me up when dinner is ready”. I really didn’t expect him to do what I was asking but guess what, he came home and did just that. His sweet and sour pork from scratch was is a favorite and I really enjoyed it!

Then today I spent several hours at The Story Festival on campus where we had a museum presence. I was able to help since our other event for today at Make A Difference Day was cancelled due to its highly hands on nature with so many children. During those several hours I felt I had made some great contacts and the time was well spent. But my feet were tired and I just wanted to sit down and relax for a bit. Arriving home I open the door to the house and what do I smell by a lovely wafting of fresh homemade bread. Sure enough Nick was baking two loaves of French bread. He found this recipe a couple of weeks ago and it is AMAZING. Of course he let us try some when it was hot out of the oven – the BEST I have ever had. He usually makes dinner on Saturdays but again, a lovely meal is waiting for me and we are having fresh homemade bread with it. What a guy - I love my husband!

A Birthday Drive

Inspired by the latest “Pure Michigan” travel ads (see all four of my personal favorites here-1, here-2, here-3 and here-4 but don't forget to pres the BACK arrow to get back to the blog after viewing) I had one big wish for my birthday. I wanted to take in a bit of Pure Michigan. I knew the best I could likely do is take a drive somewhere but not too far. I fall asleep too quickly when I’m driving - especially when I’m on my own and since the family would all be in school or work I knew it would I would have to stay close. I tried keep the day unscheduled so I could not feel guilty and give myself permission to do any of those things that I normally feel guilty for, if I take time during other days. Among other things this would include leisure reading and shopping for myself. Although the day filled up with some fun and not so fun morning activities I still had the afternoon to spend as I wished. The drive was top priority. It was a perfect fall day as well, crisp and a bit overcast. I took the camera and got in the car with little plan other than to explore. I admit I didn’t get too far from home as time was a small issue. But I had a lot of fun paying attention to the fun scenery. I took pictures that journaled (is that a word?) the variety of things I saw of interest. My pictures might not be nearly as moving as my favorite Pure Michigan ads. But sit back, turn up the volume (if you didn't already to that to view the links above) and enjoy my birthday drive by following the link below. However first I will add an apology as to view the slide show it requires an account on Snapfish (which you can setup for free if you don't have one). It was what I had at the time and will try to make a different slide show but not sure how soon. I will post pictures on my shutterfly photo album. Sorry to be so complicated.

My Birthday Drive

FYI - the pictures were of whatever I happened to notice and although rough roads in need of repair aren't particularly lovely I couldn't help but make you all think that all roads in Michigan look like the one I showed you. I'm thinking that this might be why we have so many dirt roads, they are often in much better shape than those that have been patched 10 times and are still in bad shape!