October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween! This is a port wine cheese roll mummy!

October 30, 2009

It's been super windy the last few days and most trees lost all their leaves. Lots of raking to do!

October 29, 2009

A friend from work made the most awesome looking leaf shortbread cookies. They are both beautiful and delicious!

October 28, 2009

My hubby has taken over the cooking for awhile. Tonight's menu: grilled sausage and home-cooked French fries. Yummy.,

October 27, 2009

It's been a beautiful Fall day. This is the view from the window in my office.

October 26, 2009

I was heading into the office when I saw this gorgeous sunrise. I dropped all my stuff on the ground in the parking lot and dug out my camera!

October 25, 2009

Will these become jack-o-lanterns soon?

October 24, 2009

My sister-in-law had a surprise 50th birthday party at the Rochester Mills Brewing Company. It was a neat place! Even the distillery was decorated for Halloween.

October 23, 2009

I attended the "Day of Discovery" Tech or Treat Conference in Battle Creek, MI today. Everyone was encouraged to dress up as a Discovery Channel personality. My niece and nephew helped me create my costume (Thanks Will & Rachel!).

October 22, 2009

A home is being built on one of the vacant lots in our subdivision! It's been a LONG time since any building has gone on.

October 21, 2009

My parents headed off to Napa for a wine tasting tour. They dined on the Napa Valley Wine Train today and had a great time. Photo by Bill Church.

October 20, 2009

It's sad to see so many homes vacant, up for sale, and/or foreclosed. I'm hoping the economy will turn around for the better very soon.

August 19, 2009

This leaf looks so pretty against this sparkly rock.

October 18, 2009

My parents dropped in for a visit yesterday and brought this bottle of wine. It's called "Pam's Perfect Little Red Wine." It's a cool-looking bottle and has a fun name. I don't want to open it!

October 17, 2009

We enjotyed a fun evening out with friends at the Dakota Inn Rathskeller, an authentic German restaurant/bar in Detroit. It was built in 1933 and has an authentic "old-world" feeling that comes from the polished darkwood furniture and wall paneling, hand-painted German scenes from and servers decked out in traditional German style clothing. I'm not sure why the chicken hats are worn there, but many people had them on and they contribute to the Oktoberfest fun!

October 16, 2009

Geesh! Look where she is now? She crawled in my laptop bag!

October 15, 2009

Our crazy cat covered herself up in a fuzzy blanket that was folded up on her kitty cabana as she took her afternoon nap.

October 14, 2009

I attended a symposium at the university of michigan yesterday. As I walked on campus, this building caught my eye.

October 13, 2009

The Maple trees are stunning this time of year. This shot was taken from a different perspective; shot from below, near the trunk, looking up.

October 12, 2009

It's the time of year for burning bushes to be vibrant. They'll stay this way for a week or two before dropping their leaves.

October 11, 2009

It's chilly, but it sure is a beautiful Fall day! Dodge Park, Commerce, Michigan.

October 10, 2009

My parents took a LONG trip to Michigan's upper peninsula to visit my daughter at Michigan Tech (Houghton). They were there to experience the first snow of the year. October 10 is way too early for that! Photo taken by guest photographer Bill Church.

October 9, 2009

Two cat shots in a row; you'd think I am posing my cat, enticing her to go in strange places. Not so! We purchase the 20 lb bag of Iams indoor cat food and it lasts a LONG time. Recently, the bag ran out. My husband asked me not to throw it away because he wanted to re-use it for garbage in the garage. Nice idea, but it was still in the kitchen right where I left it a week or so later (this behavior of leaving stuff all over the place is one I haven't been able to change over the past 24 years...) This morning, I saw my cat creeping into the bag. Pretty good hiding spot, eh?

October 8, 2009

Those that follow my blog or are part of my 365 group on Flickr know that my cat likes to squeezeherself into tight places. As I was turning from getting some food from the fridge, I caught a glimpse of my cat scurrying across the counter to nestle herself in an empty crock pot. My husband would have turned it on, but I went for my camera.

October 7, 2009

Oooh... wish I still taught science in the classroom! This picture would be a great one to show students and ask the question: "Why do you think the leaves of this tree change at different rates?"

October 6, 2009

I spent several hours stuck in traffic today. I had an all-day meeting in downtown Lansing. According to my GPS, I was .3 miles away from the meeting location at 8:15am. The meeting began at 9:00am and I was late! Barrels were everywhere.

October 5, 2009

I was out geocaching with a friend yesterday, trying to find a "puzzle cache." It involved going to a tank at a museum in Milford, and projecting where a bullet would land if fired from there at a certain angle and direction. Figuring this out was quite the challenge, but we think we did it correctly. We ended up in a community park about 6 miles away. While searching, I came across several plants with bright pink stems and blue berries. I did some searching on line when I got home and learned that it is Pokeweed, a poisonous plant. Pokeweed berries yield a red ink or dye, which was once used by aboriginal Americans to decorate their horses. The United States Declaration of Independence was written in fermented pokeberry juice (hence the common name 'inkberry'). Many letters written home during the American Civil War were written in pokeberry ink; the writing in these surviving letters appears brown. So I learned a few things today... how to project a waypoint, and lots of info about pokeweed!

October 4, 2009

My daughter just joined a sorority, Delta Zeta. Her Rose Buddy made this for her. I was not in a sorority and didn't know what that even meant, so I had to ask. A Rose Buddy is an active member in the sorority. They match Rose Buddies depending on similar interests and classes. My daughter is required to complete at least one study hour with her Rose Buddy a week, but they are actually going to do 2 hours a week; one for studying and one for lunch or just visiting. Sounds like mentor/mentee relationship.

October 3, 2009

Found this lovely thing in my fridge today.

October 2, 2009

My husband is working on cleaning out our freezer. He took this shot to compare the picture on the box to what the food actually looks like after cooking it...doesn't look too appetizing to me.

October 1, 2009

I was headed to the district Administration Building this evening to give a presentation to the Board of Education, when I saw a group of people on the sidewalk gazing down at a small basket. Inside were two baby squirrels with no sign of their mother. Those there were concerned that it will be too cold overnight for them to survive. The group was deciding what to do with them when I had to leave so that I would not be late for the start of the meeting. I wonder where they are now...