Let Sleeping Dogs...

...do what sleeping dogs do.

I'm home from work today. Just a grey day in Detroit.

When I walked through the bedroom just now,

I saw a sight that made me smile.

Chloe crept under the covers of the bed.

Obviously has gotten a little warmer than she would like.

She didn't move while I took several pictures of her.

Something like this I couldn't pose - no way.

(The other two are under my workbench, near the heat vent, sound asleep.

Holiday work party

One of my resident physicians, Mouhsen Al-Hakeem and I at the holiday party.

Yes, my husband was there.

No, he doesn't mind that I flirt with the young boys.

Happy Holidays!!

All the best to everyone for a great holiday season,

Regardless as to which holiday you celebrate,

or choose to not celebrate.

Enjoy life, peace and the fellowship of your friends and family.

And the dogs, we can't forget the dogs.

Casie, Molly and Chloe wish that all the dogs have a warm blankie,

a bowl of fresh water and a good biscuit to chew on.

Love - Liz

Mini Kitchen Redo

I like my kitchen. I really do. Once I became an adult and starting having my own kitchens, first in Germany, then when I moved into my own townhome, then when Alan and I got married; I always wanted a blue and white (Dutch blue and white) kitchen with yellow accents. Alan and I had the opportunity to purchase and move into my family home, and I knew what I wanted in the kitchen. Blue and white with yellow. Well, the best laid plans always change. I now have a yellow kitchen, with blue and white accents. Which is fine - I do love it. It's bright and airy. It's open to the dining room.

We decided that we needed a new refrigerator when we started getting puddles of water and ice inside the fridge. A beach towel to soak up the water weekly. Yes, we could have gotten the fridge fixed, but we also knew that this fridge was purchased by my brother Jim, whose reputation of being cheap is know in several states. Alan also wanted an ice maker in the fridge. We found one that we liked and went for it.

But, with the new side-by-side doors, we knew that we would have to move the microwave shelf that my father built in the house in the late 70's. Also that the cabinet over the refrigerator was going to have to be removed.

Alan found the microwave shelf on Ebay - it's aluminum - for a third of what a stainless steel one would cost. It's used but works great. Holds the microwave oven and our knife rack. Don't say it, I know it's a little tall, but I will just have to be careful. Besides, you know that Alan does about 80% of the cooking in the house. The utensil holder is from Ikea (doesn't everyone love that store????)

We thought that we might have to lose the 12 inch cabinet between the stove and the new fridge, but it's working out okay. The stove is in the doorway about 1.5 inches, but it's not blocking the flow of traffic at all.

I love the new look. It's really clean.

Three Dog Night

Ah, peace. It didn't take long.

Casie, Molly and Chloe all relax after a hard evening of

chasing the ball, chasing the rabbit, chasing the squirrel.

(Will Molly ever learn that she's too slow to catch anything

but a stunned bird?)

Chloe is faster than Casie was when she was healthy.

We came in the house after finding that mystical, magical place to pee.

Which was the same place that we found last week.

It still took about 5 minutes to find it.

The pecking order is still being sorted out.

Chloe wanted Molly's place in bed. Molly said no.

Chloe slept part of the night on the floor.

Molly didn't care.

Casie slept through it.

Chloe is learning not to chase the cats. The cats will win.

We've learned to pick up the cat food because

Chloe knows where it is.

I think that we did a good thing by getting Chloe.
She's a good terrierist.

New addition to our family

.....we rescued a 2-year old Rat Terrier Jack Russell mix. Name battle is between Chloe and Bandit. She's about Casie's size, but with Molly's colours. I picked her up last Friday. Completely housebroken, and already playing with Casie. Molly was being a bit of a meanie the first day, but that was expected since she's the little dog, and the slower dog.....but Molly wouldn't give up her place in the bed - Chloe has to sleep at my feet or on my extra pillow. Casie "loves" her - which you know what that means.

I picked her up in Dearborn - about 1.5 miles from our house. Originally she is from Ohio (we won't hold that against her). She's smart. She knows many commands - go outside, sit, down, no - and makes Casie look slow!!!

Not Tagged - but answers.....

Rule 1: Without changing the first word after each letter of the alphabet, write a sentence that captures you/your essence.
*A* Accept that everyone isn't going to like me.
*B* Be who you are and who you want to be.
*C* Creativity and madness go hand in hand.
*D* Determination will usually get what you want it to.
*E* Expectations are for you and not everyone else.
*F* Feel free to give me a kick in the ass when I need it.
*G* Great, I don't have a clue.
*H* Help, I'm afraid that I have fallen off the wagon.
*I* Imagine all the things that I can accomplish if I put my mind to it.
*J* Jump in as it might be the last thing you'll do.
*K* Know that life isn't to be taken too seriously.
*L* Laughter is worth every second.
*M* Many things happen when you least expect it.
*N* Nothing will happen without a little bit of effort on your part.
*O* Of course you can.
*P* Patience is something that I have very little of.
*Q* Quick action on my end doesn't really mean that you will finish it when I want you to.
*R* Religion is private - my beliefs are just as important as yours, but they may not be the same.
*S* Stop feeling sorry for yourself - get over it.
*T* Tomorrow is another chance to fix what you need to fix.
*U* Usually, I will listen.
*V* Vote - if you don't vote, you can't complain.
*W* When you thing that things can't get any worse, they usually start to improve.
*X* (e)Xamine what you want out of your life.
*Z* (A word that starts with "Z" - I'll have to get out my Thesaurus.
Rule 2: Tag as many people as you want, but do tag at least one. This is an eye opening experience and can express to those who read it, things about you that they did not really understand before.
Rule 3: List who you are tagging.

One Word....

...I just stole this from Melissa's blog, so I thought I would play along, too. There is no tagging, so if you want to play along, feel free to jump in and post it on your own blog. Please leave me a comment so I can check out your responses.

You get to answer with one word.

1. Where is your Cellphone? - purse
2. Relationship? - many
3. Your Hair? - curly
4. Work? - necessity
5. Your sister? - AWOL (both of them)
6. Your favorite thing? - beading
7. Your dream last night? - none
8. Your favorite drink? - margarita
9. Your dream car? - Microbus
10. The room you’re in? - office
11. Your shoes? - Born.
12. Your fears? - aging
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? - healthy
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? - hubbby
15. What are you not good at? - patience
16. Muffin? - yech!
17. One of your wish list items? - travel
18. Where you grew up? - Detroit
19. Last thing you did? - Lunch
20. What are you wearing? - skirt
21. What aren’t you wearing? - hose
22. Your pet? - dogs
23. Your computer? - dell
24. Your life? - interesting
25. Your mood? - pleasant
26. Missing? - Energy
27. What are you thinking about right now? - work
28. Your car? - Exploder
29. Your kitchen? - outdated
30. Your summer? - nice
31. Your favorite color? - khaki
32. Last time you laughed? - today
33. Last time you cried? - yesterday
34. School? - unfinished
35. Love? - Yes

It's been three years

http://buzzardbabe.blogspot.com/2005/08/memory-of-jim.html

My goodness time flies - RIP Jim

Before and After the tree

I will miss our tree, but it was time for it to go. I'll have to dig around and find the picture that was taken when the tree was about 5 feet tall - somewhere about 1980.

Memorial Weekend - camping trip

We drove about 3.5 hours north of the city of Detroit, to a tiny spot in Michigan between AuGres and Tawas City. It's a nice little campground called "Brown's Landing" - very small, nice, clean and quiet! Here I am with a cup of hot coffee on a sunny and quiet morning - just enjoying how to relax when I get away for a few days.

We did run into a couple of celebraties during our long weekend - very exciting for us. It's not often that I meet famous people. Patrice is posing with Dora and Brett is probably arguing about the price of carrots with Bugs.

Bead Cruise 2007

Here is the group in all their glory posing for the ship's photographer. This was very, very nice. We were organized by the photographer or by importance. It's either the taller in the back or the short people in the front. I'm still not certain.

Here is Bev Herman, one of the (in)famous Beadin' Buzzards and I relaxing before dinner or trips or something. Also, a picture of my husband and I as we left the ship in Cozumel. We were a little disappointed that our tour was cancelled, but we had a nice time walking through town, shopping and running into other beaders. We sat down for lunch and when I turned around to look around the patio, there they were! Yummy cocktails at this place! Alan and I bought some Mexican blankets; one is hanging by the front door, and the other I might make into pillows. But I might not either!

We landed the next day at Costa Maya - basically just a tourist town on the beach. Alan, Maggie, Sharon and I had signed up for the Chacchoban Mayan Ruin tour - an hour bus ride through the swamps, jungle and small villages (no shops, no gas stations, nothing!!!) to the ruins. They exceeded all of our expectations. I really enjoyed it. It was hot, it was humid, it was lots of stairs and walking and it was breathtaking. Going on a tour to see the Mayan ruins was the one thing that Alan really wanted to do, and I am glad that we were able to do this.

Beading? Oh, yes, we still beaded on the cruise this year. Lots of beading took place.

Another week - another loss

And I am down another 2.8 pounds for this week. I'll take it. And Tina did take my tracker to review. She is going to point out that I need to eat less carbs/crap and eat more dairy, veggies and fruit. Stuff that I already know that I should be doing it.

But 7.8 pounds in two weeks is really good. I'm happy, and hopefully happy will jump start my motivation.

p.s. Weight Watcher works....

.....I did what I should do, I wrote it down, I behaved. I ate reasonably, I counted points, I measured what I should have.

I lost 5 pounds in one week. After a gain of 3.6 pounds the week prior, this was a good week.

Tina asked me how I did it. My answer: "You asked me last week for my [weekly] tracker, so I was really, really good this week. I wrote everything down - everything. Even the bad stuff."

It worked.

P.S. Tina still wants to see my tracker next week and she's not kidding!

This is why you keep your animal's rabies vaccinations current....

....because you never know when a squirrel is going to chase you and bite you.

Just like Molly learned this afternoon.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have never believed it. The squirrel lept off the fence and chased Molly. Before I could get to that area of the yard, Molly was yipping, running from the squirrel and bolting for the back door. I wish, I wish that I would have had a video camera - it would have made money on one of those shows.

(Molly is fine, rabies is up to date until November. Vet said keep the bites clean).

Weight Loss Battle

(p.s. This is Ramon, and not the physician who insulted me. Ramon is a sweetheart from Peru that will be leaving me in late June of this year.)

Yup, still fighting this one. And it's not a battle any longer, it's a war. Unfortunately, 2006 was the year that I gained most of what I lost in 2005. Not quite back to square one, but not too far off. I want to win the battles that will eventually lead me to win the war.

But why? Why do I do this to myself? Why can't I retrain myself to eat more healthy. What am I waiting for? I know that I don't want to have weight loss surgery, I don't want any more of the obesity issues than I already have (i.e., joint pain and high blood pressure). I don't want to have to ask for the seat belt extender on an airplane trip.

And I don't want the humilation that one of the doctors did to me one day while standing in line for food - which I was actually getting something healthy that day - salad, etc. He said to me "Why are you getting food, you don't need it." You could have heard a pin drop - there were only about another 12 people around. I wheeled around, looked at him and put my plate in his hand and walked away. I was so furious that I could have strangled him. I have still yet to forgive him in his highly educated ignorance - and I certainly am never going to forget him (imagine years from now "Oh I remember him - he's the a$$hole who insulted me").

I have eaten really good this week - especially since Tina, my Weight Watcher leader, asked to see my tracker this coming week. I have kept it pretty good - of course I have - the "teacher" asked for it!! Last Thursday, I had a bad evening and had too many snacks, and Sunday I had a few more merengues than I should have had. But basically I did okay. Time will tell on Thursday at noon when I weigh in.

But, I digress. Why haven't I been able to keep up with this? Do I think that little of myself that I don't want to take care of what I have? I know that when I hurt my knee last spring, I gave up with the exercise, but why should that affect what I throw in my mouth? Why can't I keep the momentum moving? What the f**k is my problem?

There are two WW programs - Flex and Core. In my tracker, I am trying to keep track of the foods that are on the Core food plan. They are supposed to be more filling and satisfying than the food that aren't on the plan. For those foods, I can use Flex points. I am just going to try to increase the amount of these foods that I eat, which should make me feel fuller and should help me with my weight loss.

Tina - I am doing this for you. Well, no I'm not. I'm doing it because I need to. Because I want to. Because I want to.

*edited on 5/9/07 because I realized that the whole WWW doesn't need to be bombarded with my foul language.....

Short visit from EnglishmaninNY

We had my husband's cousin from England(via NY) for a short visit this weekend. The main purpose of the visit was to see his Aunt Sheila, who is currently in a nursing home secondary to Alzheimer's/dementia. On Friday, my husband and he didn't have a good visit. Sheila was pretty zoned out and didn't know much of what was going on. On Sunday, we stopped by again and "Bravo" - it was a good visit. Sheila was pretty animated (compared to the visits that we have had since Christmas) and knew my name (for the first time in 4-5 months), and understood that Andy was visiting from New York. Of course, she did ask him where he was from in England, because some portion of her brain registered the accent.

Hubby - look! My work is out there.......

I was very pleased to notice that Robin Atkins featured Ganesha in a blog posting about Our artistic Inner Process

Alan - I am getting my name out there. And not for just being the bad Liz!!

Cozumel

I'm back from vacation - another wonderful bead cruise. Still cropping many pictures, but wanted to get this one in.....

How much of a Michi-gander are you?

You are 98% Michiganian

YES! You know the Great Lakes State, and have seen a beautiful peninsula - probably even two! You have seen The Island, and crossed The Bridge. Troll or Yooper, you're a true Michigan soul.

How much of a Michi-gander are you?
Create a Quiz

Spring???

So maybe Spring isn't coming to Michigan.................yet........

Driving

I don't understand how most of the people that cut me off on the expressway have religious bumper stickers on their cars.

"Honk if you love Jesus" - heck, I'm honking because you cut me off and you don't know what a turn signal is for.

I just don't understand it.

Ahhhhh, Spring

I love spring. Sunny Spring days. Dogs happy to be outside. Flowers beginning to bloom. Seeing the first flock of geese flying north.

Alan having a quiet moment with his mother. Birds flying in and out of the tree in front of the house. Sudden rain showers beating on the window.
Spring. It's spring again and that's a good thing.

I don't understand...

....the driving habits of many people in metro Detroit. I drive a section of eastbound I-94 expressway every morning to get to work in Detroit. It's a nice section of road - made especially beautiful because of the Superbowl in 2006 that was held in Detroit - this is the direct section of road that is between the city and the Detroit Metro Aiport (DTW). I don't understand the logic of the speed limits along the road. In the suburbs, the speed limit is 70 - and pretty much everyone goes 70mph, perhaps 75 - but pretty much travels in a pack (just like wolves). But as soon as the speed limit goes down to 55mph in the city, people actually speed up. I'll admit that I don't slow to 55mph - hell, I would be mowed down and eaten alive, but I do go about 65mph.

Is it because there are fewer cops in the city that travel the expressway because they are more concerned with catching murderers and drug dealers?

Is it because there are more donut shops in the city and it's coffee break time?

Is it because they know that they can get away with it?

I'll admit that I drive 10 over the speed limit in the city - and it pisses me off that I get monster sized SUVs and trucks behind me that still think that I am going too slow. Why on earth do you need a Ford F350 for city driving anyway?

Go around me. See if I care.

Star of David - completed!

Religious Icons Part 5 - Ganesha

Ganesha and mouse have more colour that before! I am going to remove the feet and do them again - I do not care for the way that they have turned out (especially now that I have finished his hand). I know that I can do better. The garnet necklace lays better since I have gone through it a second and third time. I just have the finishing of the head, the circle behind it and to decide what the complete background will be.

Ganesha is coming along nicely!!

Beading, still Beading - Religious Icons continued.

I wish that this scan would show the colours a little better in this piece. The background is actually a pale blue and a midnight blue. The star is grey and hematite seed beads - or two shades of grey. The star is actually two pieces that have been woven together and sewn to the background of the curls. This piece is 7x8 inches. All I need is several more hours of beading and it should be finished. This is the most serious of the icons that I have worked on - and I don't know why I chose serious colours for it. The rich colors just seemed to work the best. I originally wanted to have a silver star, but after about 4 hours of work on part of the star - it just didn't look good, so out it all came.

My series of religious icons is growing. Last weekend, I was invited to a wedding of one of the doctors that completed his training in my program, Dr. Nikhil Goyal. As much as I would LOVE to go to his wedding - it's in India and way out of my budget. I took the icon that was on his invitation - Ganesha. I just learned the following about Ganesha: "By ancient tradition, the elephant-headed god, GANESHA , is always worshipped first in every ritual or festival. Ganesha has a pot belly, is short and is usually portrayed in a sitting position with one leg folded and the other touching the ground. Around his waist, there is a hooded snake. In his four hands, he carries a noose (human bondage to desires); an axe (destruction of all evil); a modak or sweet (joy) and a lotus (human evolution). His trunk, usually turned to the left, represents OM, the origin of the cosmic universe. Ganesha is the lord of all learning, the arts and of finer skills."

Obviously my Ganesha is a different model, because my Ganesha doesn't have a snake or axe or a noose. His trunk turns to the right. Sunil (another doctor) told me that Ganesha travels on the back of a mouse, which is why there is a little mouse in the picture. The bindi will be a red crystal and the necklace with the smaller red crystals as I was told that they are very important.

Messy Desk - before and after

I have a problem.

I am not a neat person when it comes to my workbench or desk or counter. I am pack rat. I don't put things away and ultimately - madness prevails.

It's awful. You can click on the pictures to see how awful it really is.

Last last Friday night (it was a dark and snowy night), my beading angel - Sandy - came over to help me with my madness. She pointed me in the right direction with what to do, where I should start, and how I should progress. We made a lot of progress in one night. I still have a long way to go, but there is a huge dent in the mess.

My homework from this event was to look at all my beading magazines from 1998 to current (both Bead & Button and Beadwork) and decide what I wanted to keep, what projects I wanted to copy and what I wanted to get rid of. I decided on about 10 articles - and I am selling all my magazines, especially the ones that I haven't looked at in over 5 years. I think the auction starts tomorrow.

Now, I am afraid to bead because I might mess it up!!!

Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild - Quilt to honour Barb Davis

It's been a year in the making! The Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild bead quilt to honour Barb Davis - long time guild member who lost her battle with breast cancer.

Isn't this wonderful!!

Ohm - Second piece completed

I seriously need to get a life. Finished. The second piece of my religious icons.

Why did I choose to do icons that aren't main stream in American life? I work with many physicians around the world - Hindu, Sikh, Muslims, Christians, Jews - and I have learned that the world isn't just black and white. It's shades of everyone colour of every person who has touched my life over the years. Old boyfriends, lovers, friends, people I have met in my travels, pen pals from former years.

Perhaps it's my current belief that if one is truely not a hurtful person, if there is a reward - it will be bestowed on death. I believe that their is a God. But is it the only one? I don't know - and would never try and convince someone that there only one God. That's not my place on this planet.

I have at least 2 more icons planned in my series - a Star of David and a cross. Should I incorporate more icons into my series? If something was suggested, I might contemplate it.

I'm enjoying bead embroidery. I find it relaxing, almost meditative.

Friday Night Beaders (or the Loomatics)

Sparkling Cherry Wine from Traverse City, Michigan will overflow a glass if the pourer doesn't know how to pour it correctly.






Molly has a birds eye view with Diane while everyone laughs.





Very little beading was completed on Friday night. Deb, Linda and Madeline share in some stories. Although, Jeanette brought a lamp over from the Verilux company and we compared the light from it, versus the light from an Ott Light. We did finde the Verilux light to be a much cleaner - a brighter, whiter light. Now, if this company would make a light bulb that would fit in my Ott Light, I would do it. But both lamps are expensive, and I can't justify a new light when my Ott light is just two years old......



Jeanette, the president of the Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild holds Casie and Molly. I think that Jeanette is telling Molly all the good things that the guild has planned for the new year. Casie just doesn't look too excited.....