Working On The House

Well, we've been trying to fix up this house a little bit with the thought of selling in a year or so and buying a much smaller place.

A few weeks ago we tore up all the ugly, worn carpeting in the living room and dining room. We took our time, tearing up a strip, rolling it up and taping it. Then we pulled about a million staples from the floor. We took two days to do it so it wasn't too hard.

Last we we hired someone to come in and paint the walls in the living room, dining room, front hallway and foyer, stairway, and upstairs hallway.  Well worth every penny because that is a lot of painting! What would have taken us  week they did in one day!

Anyway, here's some pictures.s

Before

And after:

The walls were a off white and now they are Escape Grey by Sherwin Williams, which to me looks more like a greenish gray. Anyway, I love the way it looks now.

We are planning to be install a laminate floor ourselves. It looks fairly easy and we will be doing that after we come back from a vacation we are planning to take in a few weeks. More about that later!

In other exciting news, we got to babysit sweet Maxwell last night while Shauna and Brad went to dinner and a movie.

Our first time babysitting and I loved every minute of it!

This sweet boy is going to be 2 months old next Wednesday!

Until the next time.....

My Bucket List

I have a bucket list. A real bucket list , not just thoughts in my head about what I want to do before I leave this wonderful life.  A real list that I keep on my phone,

And every one of them is completely doable! A lot of them right in this state.

I thought I would share it with you all today. So here goes, in no particular order.

1) Pick a huge bouquet of wildflowers from the side of the road.
     They always looks so pretty and there is such a variety of colors.

2) Walk the Mackinaw Bridge on Labor Day.
     It's the only time you are allowed to walk that bridge. I figure that is something that I will do
     when we have a camper and can camp a few miles away from that area because as you can
     imagine it's very crowded there over Labor Day weekend!

3) Go to the Upper Peninsula in the dead of winter.
     It's pretty cold and snowy up there then but I bet the frozen waterfalls are fantastic to see!

4) Watch the sun rise on the East side of the state and set on the West side, all in the same day.
     This is something I plan on doing this summer. We would spend the night in Tawas, watch the sun      rise and then meander across the state to Grand Haven or somewhere and watch it set.

5) See the Northern Lights
     I've seen them faintly but I mean a real light show!

6) Kayak to Turnip Rock
     This would mean kayaking from Port Austin ( from the tip of the thumb) because the rock is on          private property and the only way to see it is by boat!

7) Go paddleboarding.
     That just looks really fun!

8) Snowshoeing at Tahquamenon Falls.
     That also looks fun and would be done when we make that trip to the UP in the dead of winter!

9) Visit one of the International Dark Sky Parks.
     I think the closest one is in Mackinaw City. The problem is it has to be a clear night in order for it      to be worth the trip and in Michigan......well there is no guarantees!

10) Watch the Detroit Fireworks from Belle Isle. 
       So that would involve being retired or taking a day off of work because the fireworks are always       on a week day. Also you have to get there early and spend the day because it fills up fast! But             what a view that would be!

11) Go ziplining
      I missed a great opportunity to zip line in Haiti when we were there in 2009. They had what they         claimed was the worlds longest zip line that started in the jungle and came out over the water. It           looked really fun! My son in law Brad went and said it was fantastic. Unfortunately I lost my               nerve but I wish I would have just put my big girl panties on and went, because the likelihood that      I will be back in Haiti someday is slim to none! But there are plenty of other zip lines around and I      intend on going one day!

Anyway, that's it. Oh I have loftier ones, too, like going to Italy and visiting all 50 states and seeing the most fantastic waterfall located between Argentina and Brazil (can't think of the name) but those are things that probably won't  happen. One can dream though!

What's on your Bucket List?

Until the next time.....

Same Old except Not

Not a whole lot going on right now. I have been trying to spend as much time as I can with my grandson. Today he is five weeks old already! 

Shauna and Brad had professional newborn pictures taken. This one is my favorite.

But I love this one also!

Last Wednesday I took the day off so I could spend it with Shauna and Maxwell. It was so nice! I even got to babysit for a hour or so while Shauna ran some errands!

Rich and I will be celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary on March 18th. We're going to be taking a trip to Las Vegas and Laughlin Nevada for a few days. I am looking forward to it but I hate flying and haven't been on a airplane since 2009!

Then I will be heading to Florida in August to celebrate my friend Celia's 60th birthday. I'm looking forward to that because I am going with my oldest friend in the world, Karen. We have been friends since we were 7 years old!

We have been skating by this winter so far with very little snow and cold.  We're almost halfway through February so even if we do start to get winter weather it won't be for long.  I did hear a rumor earlier this year that we will be getting most of our winter weather at the end but I'm going to pretend I did not hear that!

Well, this post seems to be falling flat so I'm just going to sign off until I have more exciting things to say!

Until then......

More Maxwell and Stuff

Well, as of tomorrow my sweet grandson is 3 weeks old!

He's been gaining weight like crazy, too! He was 4.9 when he was born, 4.8 when he left the hospital and then at his pediatrician appointment yesterday he weighed 5.14 and in one inch longer!

When they first brought him home from the hospital they had to wake him up every 3 hours to eat and then he was sleepy and didn't want to eat much. But in the last week he seems to have woken up and now cries to be fed after about 2 1/2 hours and eats like a champ!

You all were right, like I knew you would be! He has completely stolen my heart and when I don't see him for a day or two I really miss him!  I try not to be a pest and only see him 2-3 times a week instead of every day or every other day! Anyway, on to the pictures!

My daughter's caption on her SnapChat photo!

See those chunky cheeks? I can't stop kissing them!

In other news, Rich and I spent a few hours the last two weekends tearing up the old, crappy carpeting in the living room. As soon as we get the walls painted, we are going to install a laminate floor. Trying to slowly get this house ready to sell in the Spring of 2018.

Rich will probably retire next January and  we are more than ready to downsize! The amount of stuff I have to get rid of is ridiculous, though! That's why I have to start now!

That's all for now!

Maxwell Grayson Ryken

Well, I didn't think I would be doing this post quite so early but my grandchild has been born!

Shauna had a issue with high blood pressure before she even got pregnant. She went on special medication after she got pregnant and was pretty stable until her doctors appointment last Thursday, one week ago. Her blood pressure was elevated and they sent her over to labor and delivery at the hospital to be observed for a while. After a few hours and some blood work, it was determined that she had preeclampsia, a condition in pregnancy where your blood pressure goes dangerously high.

That night they began the process of inducing labor because it was too risky for her and baby to continue the pregnancy much longer.

They started with two days of steroids to strenghten the babys lungs, and early Sunday morning they finally started giving her the drug to induce labor.

To make a long story short after laboring all day she gave birth, with no complications, to my first grandchild.

Meet Maxwell Grayson Ryken

Here he is on the scale a few minutes after he was born. He weighed 4.9 pounds! Such a little guy!

Here he is with his mama!

They told us the three criteria for him being able to go home was he had to eat good, breath good and maintain his body temperature.

He was crying like crazy as soon as he was born so, he could breath pretty good!

The next day he was eating pretty good. Shauna is trying to breast feed but he seems reluctant to latch on and he needs to eat every 3 hours so they supplement with formula. See how huge the bottle looks by his tiny head!

He did spend about 24 hours in the special care nursery so they could make sure he regulates his body temperature.

Nonnie was there every day!

On Wednesday they were able to take him home!

He seems so alert during his short wake times. He just lays there and calmly looks around.

My niece Lauren stopped by to bring them the bassinet that she took from my dad's house when he moved. It sat in the attic for many years. She redid it and gave it to them. It's the same bassinet that me and my brothers slept in!

I waited a long time for this precious little gift! I'm sure you will be hearing lots more about him in the future!

Until then.....

Christmas, Work Stress and Bye Bye 2016

Boy that Christmas came and went pretty fast.

On Christmas Eve we went to my brother Don's house where the food was excellent and the company even better! It was a slight sadness in the air, though, being the first Christmas without my dad.

On Christmas Day we went first to Shauna and Brad's as they were hosting Brad's family Christmas. We stayed for a hour or so and then headed over to Chris and Marissa's for dinner and visiting with Marissa's dad and family! Marissa's dad has 6 brothers and sisters so there was lots of people there!

Then on the Monday after Christmas we had all the kids over for brunch and to exchange gifts. It was fun and also wonderful to see them 3 days in a row!

Work has been particularly stressful this past few weeks. Without going into a whole lot of boring details I had to sacrifice my desk so they could renovate my area to accommodate a group of people who can't seem to get along and have to be closer to the manager so she can keep an eye on them!

So my desk went from this:

To this:

A lot less space!  That is the managers office right across from me and the lovely ladies that can't get along are at five workstations to my left.

I did move that drawer cabinet you see on the right of my chair over to the left and left it sticking out so I have a little more counter space!

All because grown women can't act like grown women!!

It's hard enough to go into work everyday and this just  makes it that much harder. Oh well. Supposedly it's only for a year and a half and then the whole department is moving off site to a facility a few miles away from the hospital. Well see! We will be moving but the way they do things there it probably won't be until after I retire!

Well, Shauna is 34 weeks along and I am getting so excited! We ordered her rocker as a gift from me and Rich and they are busy getting the nursery set up, clothes washed and everything ready!

Won't be long now!

I got the privileged of buying them their first package of diapers!

Until the next time......

A Blog Milestone and A Baby Shower

Well, I certainly have been neglecting this blog this year! I always have good intentions and then when it comes down to actually sitting down and posting, well...I have no excuse really!

Even so I managed to hit 700 posts! I can hardly believe it's that many!

So anyway, the exciting news is we had Shauna and Brad's baby shower last Sunday.

The not so exciting news is we had the first big snow storm of the season on that very day!

(Michigan..girl...you did me wrong that day and if  I didn't love you so much.....)

I was actually very please with how many people still ventured out to celebrate with us! Some came from quite a distance, too!

So let me just share some pictures with you all.

They got a lot of wonderful stuff! Suprisingly a lot of the big ticket stuff but very little clothes and no sleepers at all!

Guess Nonnie better get shopping!

Yep, that's me! I've decided I would like to be Nonnie,  which is what I called my grandmother growing up so it sounds right to me!

Two more months to go!

Until the next time!