For my gramma’s birthday a few years back I made her a card!  The front was a rose that I painted in water color, and for the verse inside I wrote this poem:

A little girl is born one night.

Her parents are so proud.

They want the very world for her,

They boldy say outloud!

Of all the gifts they wish for her,

There’s none that quite comes close

To the tender precious beauty

That accompanies the Rose!

 

Her name was Rosemary!  She was the only girl and youngest of 8 children!  I just found the poem while cleaning and decided to share it!

Do you remember me writing in December about my boys putting their cars into snow banks???  Well the saga continues!  Craig and Jordan are downstate at the regional bowling meet this weekend!  That leaves Trev, Kay and I on our own!  No problem right?  Trev is a big strong young dude!

Last night we got probably the worst storm of the season, and it was trecherous to say the least!  We got over a foot of snow in about 8 hours along with wind chills, blowing, and drifting!  Trev closed at McDonalds last night and headed home even though I advised him to go to his grandma’s house in town!  The State Police were advising that travel be limited to emergency vehicles only!  He didn’t listen! He did have a plan! ;(

His friends and fellow closers with a 4 wheel drive followed him home to make sure he got here!  Not a bad plan, right?  Well he did make it home but he couldn’t see the driveway and turned directly into the ditch!  The three of them tried with no success to dig and/or push the car out!  I couldn’t leave the car half in the road because there is the rare occasion that the snow plow does actually go down our road and might smash it into tiny pieces!  So what is left to do?  I certainly couldn’t get it out!!!  I called a tow truck!

Trevor went back out to wait!  Before too long at all I saw the flashing lights of the tow truck through my window!  But as quick as it came it disappeared! Hmmm!!  So I waited about 15 minutes because after all they could have turned the lights off!  Trevor didn’t come in, and didn’t come in, and didn’t come in…  So I put on my coat and went out into the entry way to see what was up!  I expected to at least hear engines running, but only the wind was making a sound!  I yelled out to Trev to see where he was and what was going on!

He heard me yell and came up to the door to fill me in!  The tow truck had come in the wrong direction and needed to go down to the corner and turn around!  On the way back…the tow truck went into a drift and then the ditch!  We figured they would get themselves out and be right back to get our car out!  That is what they do afterall!  Trev went back out to wait! Time went on, and went on, and went on!  So once again I put on my coat, went out the door, and yelled to Trev!  He came back to fill me in!  A second tow truck had come to get the first one out, and guess what???  It went in the ditch!!!  Not even kidding!! Now I had a car and 2 tow trucks stuck in the stinkin snow!!!  I can’t even imagine what my neighbors must have been thinking!

Finally at 4:15am Trevor came in for good!  A tractor type vehicle that we couldn’t identify by name came and pulled all 3 of them out!  They were stuck SO bad that the tractor had to use chains wrapped around trees to winch(?) them out!  After 3 long exhausting hours, how would I ever pay this bill???  Thankfully and fortunately, they only charged me for the one car that MY son originally put in the ditch!  $85.00 thank you very much!   Oh, and up until the time of this writing the all feared snow plow has still not graced us with it’s presnce!! :)))  We are very literally snowed in!

I wasn’t going to write this, but I changed my mind (obviously)!  I went to court today, and we were able to combine todays hearing with the one that was scheduled for next Wednesday!  That is nice!  I don’t have to go back! Yay!  So as of today, I am officially divorced!  I won’t get my name change for 14 more days.  I was a little dissappointed about that, but I’ve had this name for 21 years (almost 22), so I guess I can live with it for 2 more weeks!  Once my name is changed, I will then petition the court to change Kay’s name as well!

The hearing itself was productive and went well!  I got full custody of my children, and that was the most important thing!  I’m very grateful for that!  I can stay in my current house until June 30, but I intend to move as soon as school is out!

This is all SO weird to me!  A year ago, I thought all was well!  I really truly honestly thought we were happy!  I thought our marriage was special and that it would last forever!  When my ex left, I was in complete and utter shock!  But over the past 10 months, I have been able to see that I was so wrong!  The person I thought I was married to doesn’t exist at all!

Well enough of my drama!  I want to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH to everyone who has helped talk me through this, been my friend, even family, and most of all to my Kay!  She has been a rock when I needed her to be and that is a lot for a 15 year old girl!  I was truly blessed with 3 amazing children that I love very much, and will continue to raise with my whole being!  Again, I thank you Buzznet!

(WARNING this is VERY long! I’m so sorry I just couldn’t tell this story short! Read only the parts you want to)

First of all, I have never won anything in my life!!!! When I got the email message from Jimmy/rumorslaidwaste that I had won, my hands were shaking so bad I couldn’t even type him a reply! I had to talk to Kay and calm down! When I was calm enough to hit the right keys I emailed him back to tell him that I accept! That was late on October 22, 2010! I spent the weekend wondering is this for real? Then I started stressing about whether or not I was capable of flying! I swore nearly 25 years ago that I would never get on another plane!

Monday finally arrived, and I got my 2nd email from Jimmy telling me we needed to book my flights! So, this contest was for real, and I did win! YAY!!! I started shaking again! (: This contest was for me and a friend! There was no question who would accompany me! I chose Kay, of course! I went and told her that this contest was for real and that we were going all the way to Atlanta to see Weezer! She had the same reaction that I did! WEEZER!!!!!! Oh my YES!!!! However, flying? Not so sure! In about 15 minutes time we had decided that we were going to do this no mattter how scared we were to fly! It would be a positive step in our life! (:

By Tuesday we had the flights and hotel booked! It was very short notice! I also heard from Jason at Epitath to tell me that the VIP tickets would be at Will Call when I got to the venue! I had to email him back several times since I had no idea what a Will Call list is! (: He also gave me the name of the venue and show time! This amazing “thing” was truly for reals going to happen! When the realization hit me I finally allowed myself to get excited! Kay was excited too!

So on Saturday morning we left the Pellston Regional Airport at 6:30am bound for Detroit so that we could catch a connecting flight to Atlanta, Georgia! We were both very nervous, but determined that we were doing something great because that very same night we would be seeing Weezer LIVE! We got on that first plane and flew to Detroit! I have to back up for a second! We decided since it was just for one night, and for convenience sake not to check any luggage! We simply put what we thought we would need into our backpacks and away we went!

As soon as we got off the first flight in Detroitt, we went and found our next gate! They informed us that we had been bumped to a later flight, so we went in search of breakfast! Well sort of! I had breakfast! Kay had pizza! I had coffee! Kay had Mountain Dew!

Before long we were on a much bigger plane preparing to arrive in Atlanta! We got on board the aircraft to find that we were in the very last row! We were really afraid it would be more bumpy flying back there! So, we locked arms for security and flew away to Atlanta! This flight was a bit more turbulant which had me pretty stressed at certain moments when we went up through the clouds on take off and back through them on landing!

When we landed in Atlanta we were asking a Delta Airlines employee how to get out of the airport and to the place where we could get a taxi! Just at the moment I asked, our pilot exited the plane behind me! He was so nice! He walked Kay and I out of the airport! It was such an honor!!!

We called the cab company that Andy and I had found online before we left! We fed some birds our leftover peanuts and waited for our taxi! When he finally arrived, we headed out in search our VIP hotel! It was a VERY expensive cab ride, and just our luck there are two Crowne Plaza Hotels in Perimeter, GA (an Atlanta suburb) and we arrived at the wrong one! I about freaked when I went up to the desk and the man said we weren’t booked in that hotel! I had called the day before to confirm our reservation, so I knew that we were! He then checked his computer and found out that we had a reservation at the other Crown Plaza Hotel! The valet called the same taxi back for us, and we spent another ten dollars in cab fare to reach the correct hotel!

It was BEAUTIFUL!!! It was definitely the nicest hotel I have EVER stayed in! Upon check in we were talking to the people behind the desk! I told them we were there to see Weezer because I had won a contest on Buzznet! After talking for a few more minutes, the hotel staff decided they would do something nice for us too! Mr. Al (their shuttle driver) agreed to take us to the venue for free and he also stayed an hour past his regular shift to pick us up after the show! He got a really good tip let me tell you! (:

Anyways, after a nap and dinner, it was FINALLY time to go to the Chastain Park Ampitheatre in Powers Ferry! This venue was BEAUTIFUL!!! It is located in a very wealthy GORGEOUS neighborhood!!! It is an outdoor ampitheater set amoung these little hills and lots of trees! It was just too pretty for me to give it justice with my words! Kay now wants to move there! (: She is so cute! (I’m biased, I know)

The first band came on and they were really good! I had never heard of them before, but enjoyed them a lot! They are called J Roddy Walston And The Business! They played old time type rock and roll! You should look them up if you like that genre!

Finally, after a quick set change, it was time for WEEZER!!!! They started with Hash Pipe and everyone jumped to their feet and started singing along! (I already described my singing, dancing, and screaming with the photo I posted last night) They did quite a few of their older songs and most of their bigger hits! They also did a few that were so new, they had to use music/lyric sheets! The only song they didn’t do, which surprised me. was Troublemaker! Rivers was AMAZING in every single AMAZING way! Kay and I went all fangirl! (: He ran out through the crowd for three songs! He is such a charismatic front man! Brian, Scott, and Patrick were so AMAZING too! You could really tell they have been playing music as long as they have! Rivers played lead guitar along with vocals on a few of the older songs! I am really glad I got to see him do that! It was just a SPECTACULAR in every single possible way kind of show!!! They just put so much effort into making sure we all had the most INCREDIBLE time, and we all did!!! Btw, after Weezer started, I never sat in that coveted VIP box seat again! (((:

We got back to the hotel in such a glorious mood, even though our day had started nearly 19 hours before we had to do some major winding down before sleep in that lovely hotel could be considered! We did eventually sleep very well! Sunday we had later flights so we got up and walked to a Waffle House (we had never been to one) and had an very yummy breakfast, then took the same taxi to the aiport and flew home!

I found out that my camera sucks big in low light, and that I know nothing about concert photography! I will post my best photos! I hope you can/will enjoy them! I need lessons from some of our Buzznet concert photographers! Rhianna? Andi? Misery? Dawn? Anyone else? Plz? (((: If you have no idea what contest I am talking about, or just want to see it on Buzznet, here is the link:

http://www.buzznet.com/cp/weezerflyawaysweeps/

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH TO JIMMY, ALEX, EL RICH, AND EVERYONE ELSE AT BUZZNET FOR ONE OF THE BEST WEEKENDS OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!

I also MUST say THANK YOU to MY DEAR FRIENDS who sat through reading this extremely long

Okay, so you all know I went to see Rick Springfield with my mom, and I had a BLAST!!! She took me to the concert and bought me a shirt for my birthday present!  My birthday is at the end of the month!  Let me tell you these old gals can still rock in America!!! (: This is my 4th time seeing Rick, and his show just gets better with time!  He did all of his hits (my favorites) from the 80s and a few more he has had over the years!  When he did Jessie’s Girl the place just erupted !  It was a special moment! He also did a new song that will be on his album that is to drop in October! It was really awesome!  I wouldn’t be surprised if it hits the charts!

My concert photography still leaves a lot to be desired, but I did my best!  I am just going to post the shots that I like and hope that you do too!

During Human Touch he walks out into the crowd on the backs and arms of the seats and lets everyone touch him!  I touched his very sweaty arm!  My mom touched his leg!  When he started walking towards us the crowd got crazy !

Some guy had his hand in the exact wrong place! Grrr!

This is when they came back out for the encore! He changed his shirt!

I saved my favorite for last!

So there you have it!  We didn’t get our tickets until the last minute, so our seats were fairly far back!  You can see the crowd in front of us!  We ended up right on the aisle so that was nice!  The show was opened by a local radio station morning show members!  While they were doing their opening and trying to be funny, the sponsors were up on stage throwing out t shirts!  My mom caught one that has Leinenkugels on it !  She was delighted !  I was happy for her since she didn’t buy a Rick shirt !

So there you have it !  If you have any concert photography tips, I am all ears!  Well, eyes in this case! (:

As you know, our Baby Gary turned one year old last Friday, and had a huge birthday party on Saturday! I have so many photos, I thought I would make a photo blog and share them all with you!

Let’s start with what Gary and I did to stay out of the way while the immediate family did the decorating of the banquet room!  We played with balloons!

Before long all the guests had arrived and we had a very nice lunch!

When Gary was done, he put on a party hat and then Winnie The Pooh ears! It was a Winnie The Pooh themed party! (:

Time for pictures with the cakes!  Mommy and Daddy joined in!

Time to sing Happy Birthday Dear Gary! He loved his cake!

Ready for a few presents?

The Rocking Horse is a tradition in the Keiser family! Each baby gets their very own handmade horse for their first birthday!  This one is Gary’s!  He really seems happy with it!  He even took his paci out of his mouth! (:

Now for some family photos!  This is Elaine’s family!  Her dad Gary, brothers Paul and Steve, along with her sister Shelley!  They are a VERY tall family! (:

This is my mom with her two sisters, Ellie and Carrie, with all the grandkids!

Cousin Doc and his daughter Cousin Idalia!

The birthday family!  Andy, Elaine, Grace, David, James, and Gary Keiser!

Papa Gary and his brother!

I will leave you with this final photo of Papa Gary with Baby Gary!

Since I am always behind the camera, I didn’t get a birthday shot of Gary and I!  I wish I had thought of it !  I apologize if you are tired of seeing photos of my family!  Our posts are a reflection of us and I am VERY close to my family, immediate and extended!

 WHAT PHOTO OR PHOTOS DID YOU LIKE BEST?

I am finally here and ready to post my Christmas time fun with all of you! It was a wonderful fun family day!  The kids and I had a dollar store Christmas! That allowed us to get each other a pile of silly presents!

Our tree is too tiny to put the presents underneath, so Kay put them around the tv!  These were all of our presents that we got and that we gave!  Mostly they are the ones to each other, my mom’s presents to us, the kids stockings, the package we got from Bizarreland, the kids stockings (also from the dollar store), and the presents we got from friends! It was quite a haul !  We spent over an hour opening them up because we go around opening one gift at a time!  What you can’t see here is the drawing Kay made for me!  She drew Jordan!  I cried !  I will be posting it by itself in the future!

Even though Jordan is in Japan, he got in on the fun!  It was very late at night there and his roommate was already sleeping!  So Jordan got on Skype with the sound very low!  He could hear us for the most part, but he couldn’t talk to us!  He had to type his responses to us, so Trev hooked up his computer to the tv and we could read what he typed from our seats!  We had the camera adjusted so he could see all 3 of us!  Sadly, his package didn’t arrive before Christmas, so he had no presents to open with us!  I do have to love technology!  Whoever created Skype deserves a pat on the back and then some!

Stocking time!  Candy at the dollar store was 2 for 1 …YAY!  Kay got stickers and Trev got a bouncy ball to throw around his room at school !

This monkey puppet was Kay’s gift from her dad!

Trevor got a Harley Shirt from my mom!  I actually got him to smile!

This is what the kids got me!  Can you guess what it is?

Yep, it’s a plunger! LOL

These were the majority of Kay’s gifts!  Trevor doesn’t want me to post the shots I took of him!  I love how cute Kay looks in her jammies! (:

These were ALL of my gifts!  What a loot !!!  Somehow, I ended up with the most this year!  My kids are the best!  Jordan gave us gifts when he was here at Thanksgiving!  I don’t want to leave him out!  He bought me a beautiful jade necklace that I wore all day long! The only things missing are gift cards and a small box with a necklace from my mom!  That is a lot of candy for a diabetic!  I will have to eat it slowly over the next year! Ha!  Who am I kidding?!  It will last through January! (:  I also got Winnie The Pooh figurines, three games, a clear mug, a teddy bear, kleenex, a “to go cup” that is hard plastic !  I have been wanting one of these!  I never dreamed that the dollar store would carry them!  Inside the smiley box is a watch that is a smiley!  I will be posting a shot of it by itself later!  What a loot !!!!  I am so blessed !  Nothing was more than one dollar!!! (:

At around 2:30pm we made our way over to Andy’s for our family celebration!  This is James in his new TMNT jammies!  He LOVES turtles!

This is James doing a “trick” for me!

Here is David posing in his new Star Wars jammies and the camo pants that Grandma got  him!

Grandpa Dave (my dad)

Papa Gary (Elaine’s dad)  He feels much like Trevor and Grace when it comes to taking photos of them!

The cooks in the kitchen!  I should also add that we all pretty much stay in our pajammas all day on Christmas!

The girls on their computers!  Grace got a new, pink Sony VAIO for Christmas!  It is so awesome!  I love my VAIO and I am pretty sure she will love hers too!  You will notice Kay has a Buzznet sticker on hers!

Pull Aparts or “monkey bread” that was left from breakfast!  I had to have a try!

NOW IT IS TIME TO SEE THE FOOD!

Augratin Potatoes!  (All of Andy’s food is completely made from scratch!  There are no boxes or mixies here)

The sweet potatoes didn’t have their topping on them yet, they were waiting for their turn in the oven!

Ham!

All cooked and ready to be served!  Papa Gary made the homemade onion rolls! It was all DELICIOUS, and I ate too much! Not shown are the peas and h’orderves!  The h’orderves were served earlier in the day!

With all the excitement it was nearly impossible to get any shots of Baby Gary!  He is on the move and doesn’t hold still or pose yet!  So, once he was in his high chair and eating some peas, I got a shot of him in his cute little Christmas sleeper!

A blurry shot of Gary playing with a Transformer with Grandma Evie!  It was so hard to get any good shots of him!  You will see in a bit further down, that I did get one smile,  but he moved so quickly I nearly missed it!

Time for more presents passed around by Kay and James!

Okay, so this was most of our Christmas Celebration!  I will be posting a few more things over the weekend!  I was going to add it here, but this is SO long I will stop now!  I am leaving you with a shot I snuck of Bailey sleeping under the Christmas tree!

THANK YOU all for reading and viewing this!  I am sorry it is so long!

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE?

PLEASE TELL ME ALL ABOUT YOUR HOLIDAY!

It is now my turn (just before it is too late) to add my favorite to the group! I want to introduce you to Sarah Tule May who just happens to be the oldest daughter of my best friend here in Northern Michigan!  I have known Sarah since she was 9 months old!  I could tell you all about her in my own words, but I think I will let you read her own!

“Sarah Tule’s interest in art was cultivated by the beautiful regions of Michigan where she grew up and the fascinating trips her family took over the years that led them to The Grand Canyon to Acadia National Park and back. She was also fortunate to have the love and support of many people when she decided to take her art to the next level.

Sarah has taught after-school workshops for Pellston Elementary through Crooked Tree Art Center’s 21st Century Art Grant. Her work has been featured in galleries and several group and solo shows throughout the United States and Canada including The City Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina, The Frostburg Museum in Frostburg, Maryland and every corner of Michigan. Many of her pieces can also be seen in private collections at several different businesses in Northern Michigan.”

Now that you know about who Sarah is, lets see some of her work!  I will start with her nautical photos, beaches, and lighthouses! Living here on the Great Lakes we have the privilege of admiring many lighthouses!  She captures those perfectly

Sarah and I share a love of farms and old antique barns!  I like to photograph them and she likes to paint them!  Here are a few of hers!

There is no barn in this painting, but I still picture it on a Northern Michigan Farm!

Here are a few more of my favorites!  Along with all of her summer Great Lakes paintings, she also does a stunning job of capturing a day spent outside in winter!

Sarah also does custom Christmas Cards which I find completely delightful !

Here are some of the places you can see more of Sarah’s exceptional work:

Facebook   Daily Paintworks   Blogspot

Please click on the links because there is so much more artistic brilliance to see!  Maybe you would even want to hire Sarah to do a spectacular painting for you!

Thank you for your time and attention!