Fruit Salad?

This morning amid my hectic, Monday morning preparations, I showered (as I do daily, sometimes more as needed) using Rainkissed Leaves from Bath and Body Works. I love this scent!

After my shower, I went into my room and promptly spritzed myself with Coconut Lime Verbena! At that point, do you wash again? Or just go with what you've got?

The only drawback of Bath and Body Works - if you ever mix up your scents, you end up with Fruit Salad...or maybe Flower Shop...possibly even Grandma's Bakery...maybe some sick combination of them all.

Note to myself: Just because the body spritzes are both green, it doesn't mean they're of the same food group. Check the label, dummy!

Did you know...that I like...

abandoned mental institutions or psychiatric hospitals?

It started when I was in junior high, Edna took me for a drive through the Traverse City State Hospital grounds. I was amazed at the architecture and the abandon of it all. All the things just left behind - like they didn't have time to pack. I even kinda liked the eery-ness of it. When I was in high school, the art teacher did a series of paintings of the old hospital and again, I was intrigued. I've read a few books about the State Hospital but, have never been there since. Now, it is The Village at Grand Traverse Commons and I'd love to get back there again one day.

This past weekend, Jeremy took me to the Kalamazoo State Hospital, which is still in operation, but there is an abandoned section. This is the original water tower.

I believe this was an administration building at one time. I was able to peek through the front doors and these buildings simply amaze me in their construction. The floor in the entry is white hexagonal tile with a dark grout. The walls are white marble panels with a gray marble trim. The stairs are solid slabs of white marble. At the top are two sets of huge oak doors with leaded glass windows from top to bottom. I got a picture of the entry (it's on Flickr) but I couldn't get the shot of the inside doors and the marble to come out when taking it through the glass.

An abandoned shed - the front would have been a better shot - but the briers deterred me!

The crackled fire hydrant.

And what's left of a lamp post.

There were so many paths to explore and I was nervous about trespassing. There is a police station across the street.

The architecture of the Thomas Kirkbride buildings will continue to fascinate me (what is left of the Kalamazoo Asylum in not Kirkbride - the original buildings that have been demolished were). It's such a terrible shame that these works of art continue to deteriorate or simply be torn down all over this country. What also strikes me as strange - is such elaborate architecture to be used in mental institutions...not that I feel it a waste, but more if it's going to be hidden away like that - and then destroyed, why do it?

To the Air Zoo

We finally made our trip to the Air Zoo this past weekend to enjoy the free admission.

Jeremy kept telling me, " they're only open until 5:00."

We got there at 1:29. We were back in the car at 2:07. I'm not sure what he thought we were going to do.

They do have simulators and rides too but, the lines were long and Jacob, too short!



Can you say TOP GUN? I didn't realize how huge these planes are! Wow!

It's a Grumman F-14A Tomcat

I had said to Jeremy - this is only one of these, and they line them up on the aircraft carriers 10 and 20 at a time, whoa, those carriers gotta be BIG!

This was Jeremy's favorite.














Lockheed SR-71B Blackbird
I was just tall enough to touch a tip of one of the wings. It kinda felt like an old tire without the give - from the material giving the SR71 it's stealth capabilities.











This was my favorite. It's a Grumman G-73 Mallard. The wheels slide out from the sides. It's privately owned. It's big and it's beautiful! Could you imagine what it costs to gas her up?











This is a Corsair as she would have been on the flight deck in her day.

Besides all that, it is a fantastic place to visit. Between the 2 buildings the Air Zoo hosts over 50 historic aircraft.

In the building behind Jacob (in the top picture) and the plane, they show a movie about the bombers over Germany in WWII. Also, there is an amazing mural painted around the room showing the B-17 in flight as well as many other aircraft. (More pics on Flickr, of course or better yet - check them out at http://www.airzoo.org/)

Do you ever wonder?

I'm a people watcher/observer. I love to go in a mall and sit on a bench and watch the people that walk by. I wonder about them, who they are, what their home is like, etc.

I wonder a lot about people in general. I wonder what makes people think the way they do, or act the way they do. I wonder what things are learned, who they learned them from, and if they were learned in defense or protection and what things come from birth. Of course, some you just wonder if they suffer from a severe mental illness (such as myself - kidding- I think) because the things they do really don't make any sort of sense.

I wonder sometimes about relationships with people. I wonder what attracts us to some and what deters us from others. I wonder why we can tell some people everything and completely leave out others. I wonder how we can become close and again why we distance ourselves.

I wonder a lot of times how people get so messed up. Then I wonder if they're the normal ones and I'm messed up! How does their thinking or methodology get so skewed? Or is it mine? I wonder how they come to expect so little and how I came to expect so much. I wonder how people can live their lives waiting for someone to save the day and how I live mine knowing that I won't be rescued - nor do I want to be. I don't understand how to depend on others when I learned to only depend on myself.

I wonder where we get the standards that we have. Such as the way we choose to keep our homes, our vehicles. The ways in which we cook or we clean. I know, as a girl (I don't like to call myself a woman), that I do things like my mom did - actually, I do things more like Cindy or Karen do. I fold towels differently though - hmm, odd (I fold in threes from the short side so the ends are in- except kitchen towels which I fold in threes lengthwise). I'm told most girls do things like their mothers did. Mine wasn't home much.

Of course, I wonder the normal things too like - how come some brands of hot dogs are sold in 10 packs, when the buns are packaged in 8's or 12's?

I guess I wonder lots of things...

Oliveburgers?

I see olive burgers on a menu here and there once in awhile. I'm always very interested, though I never have ordered one. I've seen other people order them - you know, olives on the burger, olives in the mayonnaise. To me, that isn't an olive burger. I always think of olives IN THE burger. No one makes olive burgers this way.

Until now.

Last night, Jeremy made them for me. He took regular hamburger and mixed in chopped up olives - just for me. It was great! The burgers stayed together, stayed moist, and the flavor of the olive was not overpowering.

I am glad that I never did order an olive burger in a restaurant. I have found that I like the olives IN THE burger. No cheese. Extra olives on top of the burger. Mayo on the bottom bun. Ketchup on the top bun. Just like that!

I can't wait to have them for dinner again tonight!

Date night!

You may have seen a post here prior to this one - with the same title. It's gone now.

I'm sorry for the confusion. Date night has been postponed. No Emergencies or anything.

To sell, or not to sell?

That is the question.

I'm trying to decide. Do I have another yard sale this fall? Like after/around Labor Day?

I'm going to start selling what I can of Jacob's now on a popular online auction site (I don't feel like linking today). You know, the name brand stuff that brings in some coin. And I did do well with the shoes I sold - $5.50 plus $4.95 to ship. Then I question - do I sell them singly, or in a lot? (Not the shoes, the clothes)

Then I have all this...stuff. Stuff that didn't sell from my last sale. A lot of winter stuff - like Jacob's winter coat and snowpants from last year, and his boots, and Christmas stuff. Stuff that I've decided I don't want since my last sale. And Jacob's birthday is coming and then Christmas and the next thing you know, I'm over loaded with stuff again. Speaking of - it's time to sort those toys once more! I might as well get rid of anything that isn't a firetruck or a train!

And the books! I have a ton of BOOKS!

I guess I'm hawing over this as I know I should have another sale, yet I don't think I have enough stuff to have a sale by myself. I'm scared to have another sale because I already did have a sale this year. But if I do have another sale this year, and someone joins in with me, then I need help to have the sale because my math skills SUCK and I can't add up prices and separate someone else's money from my own and then I make people wait and I feel bad because they're waiting and I feel dumb!

Got all that?