Grumbleeze

Isn't Bubba a decadent fellow? Have you ever seen so much fluff in one place before? Yes I brush him... matter of fact he demands it... but you wouldn't know to look at him. He's enjoying the warmth of my bed...
...while his daddy is out there braving the deepfreeze with his trusty snowblower!

...and what have I been doing?

Last week while getting ready for an SVCA board meeting, I received a phone call advising my two anti-activist cohorts and I were invited to meet with Lieutenant Governor John Cherry. It was quite short notice (less than 24 hours) but we made it! We were pleased that Lt. Gov. Cherry wanted to advise us to plans between Dow and MDEQ (Michigan Dept. of Env. Quality) prior to publishing those plans on that same day, last Wednesday January 19. They did not yet rid us of the 'facility' designation but legislators are working on it. They did work out some temporary fixes to satisfy the whiners downstream from us (and a few actually living here in Freeland). Of course the whiners are not happy! They want money and they want it now!

The SVCA board meeting went pretty well too. It looks like I've now got a real team! This is a group of go-getters and we accomplished several new items on the agenda. Gee I love this job! Now if that darned dioxin/facility problem would only disappear, I would be one happy camper!

What else is new? I've been looking for a good RSS feed to rely on keeping me up to date whenever my favorite blogs - or other websites I follow - are updated. I'm still experimenting but this thing called Pluck looks pretty good to me. I just got a 'news flash' in the form of little pop-up notices on the lower right of my monitor. It included the two updates I just created on the TRVoice blog. I've been on-again off-again with it but now I think I'm gonna like Pluck!

...is here. We are looking across to Objibway Island where we were a few days ago. Well, actually we're looking downriver to the Court Street Bridge (I think) but Ojibway is across the river.

As of yesterday there was more ice on the dock/walkway along the river than there was on the river itself! Shiver on the River will soon take place but will the fishermen shiver directly on the ice... or in fishing boats? There was a lot of ice on the river but it was all floating quickly downstream! What can you expect? After all, three rivers flow into it... the Tittabawassee, Shiawassee and Cass Rivers!!! When you get a bit of a January thaw, that's a lot of water pressure pushing downstream... even with zero and below zero temperatures!!!

I just finished and sent out the agenda for our SVCA board meeting, this after a well-attended general meeting last week... and I'm currently getting ready to write my two-cents worth for the next BlueChip News, our newsletter.
I guess that gives me reason to feel sort of today!

Today I'm feeling a bit geeky. Here is a perfect place on Ojibway Island... we photographed the river. We went looking for ice and ice fishermen but the weather has been so off-again/on-again that ice only existed along the edges. Where is the Saginaw RiverWalk? Well, I think you're supposed to be able to walk along both sides of it but we actually found the labeled tower near a business building on the east side of the river. We parked in their parking lot to photograph it.

and now... where are the baby pictures? For years our two youngest daughters thought they were adopted... seriously, they did! Why? ...because they could find few photos of them as babies. You must remember we had a flood destroy lots of pics. When Bug & Otto were little, Frank's favorite photography mode was slides; they were completely destroyed in the flood of 1986!!! Thus the mystery ends. Neither of you were adopted, ladies, and the mystery of so few baby pix of the 'babies' in our family is solved! I will find one of a little Janice somewhere anyhow!!!

A few days ago it was not raining. We decided to go for a walk along Saginaw's River Walk. When we got there we somehow couldn't find anyplace to actually walk along the river. This photo is the only sign of the RiverWalk we could find. As you can see, there is snow all around it. Where's the RiverWalk? I don't know. We went to Ojibway Island where we found a beautiful big dock to walk out on... overlooking the Saginaw River and looking across to the west side of Saginaw. I'll show you that picture later..
Oh, by the way,

• Janice's birthday is in February.... duh! I wonder where my head has been lately! Oh! There it is.
• Stop by and look at my photo entry for the theme, Clothes.

Wow!!! If I could swim I'd be filling in the 10-page application and going over to WNEM tomorrow! They're filming auditions and taking applications at the WNEM studio in Saginaw. Check it out... WNEM-TV5 Survivor Auditions

Happy Birthday Janice! I love you!

.....a power outage, there is room for a bit of concern. It's snowing outside (just like the weather guy predicted) and things are buzzing from the computer room! Daylight is just beginning to appear; then you notice the power is out! My other half is out of bed... announces there are lights across the river... so there is hope! I roll over and go back to sleep, bundled securely in my nice warm blankets.

9:00-ish - I'm awakened to the smell of fresh coffee and his announcement... the power is on and all is well. He listened to the radio when the power was out... thanks Kevvy for the windups... the radio works every bit as well as the flashlight!!! Turns out the traffic light in 'downtown' Freeland is out and the roads are slippery. It is actually a pretty busy intersection this time of day and drivers were warned to treat it like a 4-way stop until the power returns. It's still snowing. We have a meeting at our house this evening. The driveway will be cleared for it. I hope the snow quits before then.

Right now I'm feeling a bit

• It snowed just enough to cover 'the ugly' last night. It's been rainy but winter and gloomy with nothing green anywhere. At least the snow brightens things up.
• I'm so glad I got my 26 Things for December done. No, I wasn't aiming to 'beat' anybody at it... it just sort of happened. Looking forward to yours!
• Been exercising faithfully ever since the new year began. It's important to keep up good habits and this one started with physical therapy so it's pretty much all therapy exercises.
• Gift certificates are fun... I'm using mine just a bit at a time, starting with these pilate bands. Thanks kids!
• Just as Christmas decorations look great, it's kind of nice to have them all stashed away again.
• A couple of Christmas decorations - gifts this year - will probably be displayed year-round. They are just too special to put away for eleven months!
• Gingersnap cookies when homemade, just can't be beat. I hope this becomes a tradition with Windy.
• Otto really can bake after all!
• I was planning to freeze all the leftover holiday goodies but decided against it. Chocolate doesn't spoil that easily and it will be a good exercise in self control.

Today I'm feeling
Oh! almost forgot! I finally answered this week's Monday Madness
Name...
1. The most exciting thing that happened in your life this past year.
knee replacement surgery... it has already improved my quality of life.

2. Three resolutions that you've thought about making.
get more exercise... lose some weight... start gardening again.

3. Your biggest accomplishment this past year.
was instrumental in getting people in my neighborhood to stand up for themselves against terrorist tactics of environmental extremists.

4. Your biggest challenge this past year.
see above... 2 and 3.

5. Something you tried for the first time (whether it be food, a sport, a hobby, etc.)
hmmm... I'm not sure...

...and this next one comes from Andrea...
6. Name 3 (or however many) things that happened this year that you did not anticipate happening. And on the flip side, name 3 (or however many) things that didn't happen this year that you expected to happen. These could be personal things, professional things, national things, things in the news; anything really.
3 I didn't anticipate... 1. got another boat; 2. met with legislators and our Lt. Governor; 3. had my knee operation. 3 that didn't happen that I thought would... 1. Finish wall work in cottage; 2. redo our bedroom at home; 3. hmmm...

...and this one comes from Storyteller...
7. Where do you (or WOULD you) go for inspiration when you run out of questions for a meme?
ooooo! not easy, i'm not sure...

8. Something you'd like to accomplish (or do) this coming year that you didn't get a chance to do last year.
the bedroom project!!! I'm working on it now.

...just not always here!

Just finished my latest 26 Things project and posted it. Also I've been trying to keep up with the news about our dioxin situation over at TR Voice. Actually there's been plenty else for me to blog about here... just haven't had a block of time to do it, so keep the faith, I'll be back!
I must say I'm currently to say I feel