In the midst of chaos, there is family
Holy crap, have things been busy. Work has yet to slow down (it IS July, right?) and pretty soon I'll be preparing for travel season. Yikes! Jeff has been swamped and stressed at work, as well. And then it happened that pretty much all of the family we routinely keep in touch with who live out of state (which, albeit, isn't very many people) all decided to come to Michigan during the same week. Ah! It was great, but difficult to coordinate that many people's schedules with our own ridiculous work commitments. But somehow we did it, and for the most part, a good time was had by all. Here's a highlight of our agenda for the previous 10 days, with pictures hopefully to follow (mom, that means uploading photos!):
Friday, July 9: drove to Ann Arbor, said a quick hello to Mom and Dad (and several aunts), then off for pedicures and dinner with Megan and Amy. My pedicure was a disappointment (that's what happens when you go to a school for "cheap" pedicures) but it was time spent with good friends, which always makes things better. Dinner was delightful, and of course the company was wonderful. Back to Saline for the evening. Mom and I stayed up WAY too late (after 2 am) just catching up.
Saturday, July 10: Breakfast with Mom and Dad, then Megan's baby shower in Grosse Pointe. It was of course great to see Megan and Amy again, and to celebrate Megan's soon-to-be mom status. She looks so cute!!! The evening was spent in Saline with Mom, Dad, Char and Taylor.
Sunday, July 11: Hanging in Saline with the folks, and trying to help create labels in Pages (which is Apple's sub-par version of Word) - a task that unfortunately took WAY too long and never fully amounted to success. Drive back home.
Monday, July 12: Frantically clean and grocery shop for impending arrival of parents at my house.
Tuesday - Friday: Mom and Dad in town. I have lots of meetings at work and can't get a full day off until Friday. Cooper and Cyrus are introduced - both dogs were wary at first (Cyrus gave some warning yaps and Cooper barked his fool head off), but they ended up good buddies in the end. Spent some time in GR showing off our hang out (Founders) and trying some new places (like Olives in East GR). Aunt Carol and Uncle Bill plus grandsons coincidentally were in MI this week so Wednesday was spent in Stanton (well, Jeff and I spent Wednesday at work and then met up with the whole fam in Stanton). Small house under construction plus KIDS made for a bit of a crazy scene upon arrival at Ar and John's house, but dinner was fun and it was great to see all the cousins.
Friday: Drove BACK to Ann Arbor for my mom and Aunt Char's show reception. Got to AA and had to do some frantic clothing and grocery shopping. But the end result was my mom looking great at the reception and a fantastic greek dinner: grilled pork loin, pita, tzatziki, greek salad, fresh fruit....delightful! The show was AMAZING! My mom is very talented. Lots of people (friends, family and art lovers) showed up and my mom sold quite a few pieces - even some of the bigger ones! It was crazy hot in the gallery - good thing there was lemonade and prosecco :)
Saturday: Erin, my dad and I went to an Ashtanga class in Ann Arbor. Holy crap!!!! It was SO hot and SO humid because there was no AC and well, it's Michigan and it's July. I surprised myself by how much I knew/could do. Obviously, though, there was quite a bit I couldn't do, but damn it if I didn't try. 2 sweaty hours later, I was HUNGRY and in need of a shower. We went back to Marsha and Harold's and prepared for Erin's friends to show up for a pool party. Despite a short period of time where I thought I might pass out from lack of food, exhaustion and heat, a good time was had by all.
Sunday: Met mom and dad for coffee in Chelsea and then headed home. Bathed our dirty hound and then we all took a MUCH needed nap on the couch while it stormed outside.
All in all, it was a great week, but wow. LOTS of family, lots of friends, lots to do....
Friday, July 9: drove to Ann Arbor, said a quick hello to Mom and Dad (and several aunts), then off for pedicures and dinner with Megan and Amy. My pedicure was a disappointment (that's what happens when you go to a school for "cheap" pedicures) but it was time spent with good friends, which always makes things better. Dinner was delightful, and of course the company was wonderful. Back to Saline for the evening. Mom and I stayed up WAY too late (after 2 am) just catching up.
Saturday, July 10: Breakfast with Mom and Dad, then Megan's baby shower in Grosse Pointe. It was of course great to see Megan and Amy again, and to celebrate Megan's soon-to-be mom status. She looks so cute!!! The evening was spent in Saline with Mom, Dad, Char and Taylor.
Sunday, July 11: Hanging in Saline with the folks, and trying to help create labels in Pages (which is Apple's sub-par version of Word) - a task that unfortunately took WAY too long and never fully amounted to success. Drive back home.
Monday, July 12: Frantically clean and grocery shop for impending arrival of parents at my house.
Tuesday - Friday: Mom and Dad in town. I have lots of meetings at work and can't get a full day off until Friday. Cooper and Cyrus are introduced - both dogs were wary at first (Cyrus gave some warning yaps and Cooper barked his fool head off), but they ended up good buddies in the end. Spent some time in GR showing off our hang out (Founders) and trying some new places (like Olives in East GR). Aunt Carol and Uncle Bill plus grandsons coincidentally were in MI this week so Wednesday was spent in Stanton (well, Jeff and I spent Wednesday at work and then met up with the whole fam in Stanton). Small house under construction plus KIDS made for a bit of a crazy scene upon arrival at Ar and John's house, but dinner was fun and it was great to see all the cousins.
Friday: Drove BACK to Ann Arbor for my mom and Aunt Char's show reception. Got to AA and had to do some frantic clothing and grocery shopping. But the end result was my mom looking great at the reception and a fantastic greek dinner: grilled pork loin, pita, tzatziki, greek salad, fresh fruit....delightful! The show was AMAZING! My mom is very talented. Lots of people (friends, family and art lovers) showed up and my mom sold quite a few pieces - even some of the bigger ones! It was crazy hot in the gallery - good thing there was lemonade and prosecco :)
Saturday: Erin, my dad and I went to an Ashtanga class in Ann Arbor. Holy crap!!!! It was SO hot and SO humid because there was no AC and well, it's Michigan and it's July. I surprised myself by how much I knew/could do. Obviously, though, there was quite a bit I couldn't do, but damn it if I didn't try. 2 sweaty hours later, I was HUNGRY and in need of a shower. We went back to Marsha and Harold's and prepared for Erin's friends to show up for a pool party. Despite a short period of time where I thought I might pass out from lack of food, exhaustion and heat, a good time was had by all.
Sunday: Met mom and dad for coffee in Chelsea and then headed home. Bathed our dirty hound and then we all took a MUCH needed nap on the couch while it stormed outside.
All in all, it was a great week, but wow. LOTS of family, lots of friends, lots to do....
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