Happy New Year!

So, we're off to a new start. What will this year bring?

I've decided to join a few friends (and thousands of other people I don't know) in doing Project 365, (<<-- flickr group link) which is basically a "photo a day" project. (Another site to check out: Project 365: How to take a photo a day and see your life in whole new way)

I'm not going to follow any particular theme, other than to try to capture a special moment or something that depicts what that day was all about. Some people do a self-portrait every day. Ahem. No. That will not be me.

I am hoping to become much more familiar with my camera (about time, since I've had it 2 years, and have mostly used the "auto" mode. What a waste of features!) and learn to take better photos. Hopefully when the year is over I can look back and see that this has turned out to be true! Join in, won't you?

Here is 1/365. Our weather has gone from mid 20s for about a month to several days of mid 40s into the low 50s. The snow has melted, and we've had several days of rain. Nature has washed away the old year and freshened things up for 2011. Now, a nice layer of pristine snow would be nice. I'm not a fan of the gray/brown bleakness of winter when there is no snow to make things pretty.

Happy, healthy, wonderful new year to all of you!

Sizzlin' Sunday

A quick update, and I'll try to post pix very soon.

McKenna is now 2 weeks old and doing great. I am going to go see her in just a little while. I have not seen her since Monday, which breaks my heart, but it was all I could do to pull things together for the baby shower (yesterday). Thanks to many good friends and wonderful family members, it was a beautiful day for Kim and Drew. So much love was in that room, and we had McKenna's photos on a digital frame slide show, so she was with us in spirit.

Kim is doing great. Her blood pressure seems to be under control and the symptoms of preeclampsia are all but gone. She is exhausted, understandably, from all the trips to the hospital, catching up on her class for her Masters, phone calls, paperwork, and just getting things ready for McKenna to come home. Now with all that extra LOOT from the shower, she'll spend a lot of time getting everything set up in the nursery for her. How fun!

Happy Sunday! I'm hitting the pool when I get home! It's a hot one!

May I present to you....

the new addition to our yard...



After much delay, swimming 2009 has commenced. I thought the new (bigger) pool would never get put up and filled, but here it is. Oh swimming, how I have missed you! Now, if the weather would just warm back up again.... I can't believe we are expecting highs in the 60s and 70s this week after the sweltering week we just had. Can it please be summer and stay summer?

And here, just as a little bonus, is a picture of the little baby robins that hatched this past week or so. Mama Robin built her nest in my philodendron that was hanging out on the porch. They are getting pretty crowded in that little nest!

Kaitlyn has graduated!

Yesterday, Kaitlyn, and 400+ classmates, graduated from Romeo High School. Commencement was held at Freedom Hill, an outdoor concert venue, with a covered pavilion. It was on the chilly side to begin with yesterday, and being in the shade, with a stiff wind, made for a somewhat uncomfortable couple of hours. I neglected to wear anything warmer than a short sleeved shirt, (well, yes, I WAS wearing pants) and believe me, I was sure wishing I had a hand-knit shawl around my shoulders! What was I thinking? Mike, Kim, my parents... they all had jackets. Jake had a long sleeved shirt over another shirt. Me, I wore goosebumps. I really felt bad for the girls graduating.... they all had dresses on under their skimpy little white gowns, and I'm sure they were freezing!

The ceremony was quite nice. Kaitlyn graduated with High Honors and we are very proud of her! Congratulations, Kaitlyn!

We will be throwing a big graduation party for her in July. I really need to get to planning that.... and a baby shower..... tick tock tick tock....

Go Spartans!

So, any N. Carolina fans who are in town for the big NCAA Championship game tonight woke up to this:

Hope they're enjoying the Michigan weather! At least it was decent on Saturday and most of yesterday.

Jake wanted green pancakes in honor of the game tonight, so I went one better and made 2 of these (only one survived the flip though)

Blooms, and notes about the kitchen project

There is one more flower to open, but here is my amaryllis in all its glory.

And here it is with a backdrop of my new kitchen color. (Though this is not really the best indication of the color...more photos of kitchen progress to come soon)


Mike is off this week, so we are trying to get as much done as possible. The ceiling is painted, the walls are about done. We still have to paint all the trim (white) and put it back up. The doors will be a darker shade of the walls, and they still need to be painted. We are getting new base moldings, so all of that needs to be bought, cut, primed and painted.

We are taking out our ceramic tile countertop/backsplash and putting in a really fun retro Formica (the boomerang pattern from the 50s has been revived, and we are getting it in the aqua color, which is why we picked this color for the walls) The countertop is almost exactly the same color as the turquoise Fiestaware, so I will use some of the accessory Fiesta pieces around the kitchen.I am thinking yellow and red accents here and there will be nice (See that metal edging on the coral Formica table in that link above? We are trying to find a source for that metal strip for the front edge of the countertops. Originally we were going to have Home Depot make the countertop with a bullnose, where the pattern would go around the front edge of the countertop, seamlessly. But we decided to buy the Formica sheet and do the countertops ourselves, saving money, allowing for this fun retro-looking edge application, and it will also eliminate the corner seam in the Formica, which I was not happy about having to begin with) . We are going to put up some sort of metal backsplash. Not positive yet, but it might be diamond tread. We are also putting in a dark gray composite sink. There is gray in the Formica, so that will tie in. Plus I'm just sick and tired of trying to keep an almond colored porcelain sink looking nice. It's always got pot marks, stains, etc. Dark will be much easier to deal with!

We're also putting in a new bank of cabinets with the same fun countertop, so I can store more of my appliances, and have another work surface as well. HOPEFULLY it'll not be another clutter collector!

Here is my stove, which fits in with the retro look we are going for

I spent a while last night looking for a fun new cookie jar, and found a few prospects. I also found a cute clock that I'm hoping to snag on ebay.

After 5 days of rain, and a flooded yard, the sun has come out, but the temps have plummeted. We got a dusting of snow a little while ago. It was nearly 70 just 6 days ago. But this is not unusual. It takes a long time for Michigan to let go of winter.

Jake was home sick the past 2 days but went back today. I hope he's doing ok. So far no call from him asking to come home, so hopefully he's snapped back.

Off to order the countertop. Soon there will be tile-smashing going on! Fun!

Crazy weather

We're supposed to hit a record high today. The record is 56, they are saying 58-60. There is still snow out there that needs to go somewhere, but unfortunately the ground is still frozen solid. To top it off, thunderstorms tomorrow.

If we didn't live on this particular dirt road, I would not have a problem with the washing away of the 8 weeks of snow that has accumulated with no real melting. ( We didn't get our typical January thaw.... the snow just kept coming and the temps would hardly budge out of the single digits and teens.) But when things get warm really fast like this (and add some rain on top of it) our road can not handle it and turns to a muddy mess. Every year I pray it is not the year we have to resort to parking at the corner and putting on our boots to walk home. We've come close a few years, but this might be the one. Hoo boy... fun times.

On the knitting front, I am almost done with one of the pieces for my new pattern. The pattern will have several different options to choose from, and I am hoping to have samples to show all, or at least most, of the options in photos on the pattern. I'm getting good feedback about the design, and will announce it here when it's ready.

I spent about 7 hours Saturday in the company of my knitting buddies at Kim's house. We had ourselves a little mid-winter knitting retreat. Lots of chatter, food, and knitting. Unfortunately I was the first one who had to leave.... I really didn't want to leave but I had to tear myself away to go to a fundraiser that night. We had a really great time. Kim lives in a rural area where wildlife abound and at one point during the afternoon, 4 deer came and stood right outside her dining area window to feed a bit, and then stared as us while we stared at them. It was so cool!

Feels like a heat wave!

I was able to walk out the door to get the mail without turning into a popsicle today. We're having a one-day heat wave here. It's 35 degrees at the moment. Now, to some of you (Hi Maria!) who may be enjoying unseasonably warm temps, we have been below freezing, and quite often below zero, for a while now. Brrr.... We also had a bunch of snow dump on us again last weekend, but thankfully none since then.

 

It's going to get frigid again this weekend. Single digits overnight with highs in the teens. Winter has a tight grip on us this year for sure. My wool socks and felted clogs are on my feet constantly. I've even had to wear socks to bed a few times and let me tell you, it has to be mighty cold for me to go to bed with socks on. I HATE having my feet covered in bed. Most times I have them sticking out of the sheets and blankets. So yes, this little warm up today feels nice. Even if it is short-lived.

I started these socks before Stitch 'n Pitch this summer so I could knit something small at the ballpark. After the game, they got put aside so I could work on my Rhinebeck sweater. I finally decided to pick the socks back up, and I've made a good bit of progress in the past few days. Hopefully they will be done this weekend. I love the pattern and the yarn!



I have another pair of socks that have been in progress even longer than these. I need to finish them so I can dive into my sock yarn stash and start a new pair. I really want to knit up some of my sock yarn before I buy any more. Not all of it, mind you, but at least a couple more pairs of socks have to come from my stash before I buy any more (and I already know what the first purchase will be. I got to see and feel some Mini Mochi last night and it is so pretty, and SO soft. That yarn is going to make some scrumptious socks!)

I'm working on a new design right now. It's being tested, and I hope to get the pattern written up, photos taken, and have it for sale soon! Watch for details here!

Rhinebeck Recap

I've already posted about my birthday, but there was so much more to the weekend. Linda, Tamara and I left early Thursday morning, drove up to Pt. Huron and across the bridge into Canada. The drive was just beautiful. It was a crisp, clear fall day. The further east we got, the more the landscape changed. Soon we were in the rolling hills, and they were covered in autumn's splendor of colors.

It was a very long drive, but I knit for several hours of it, thinking I might be able to actually finish my Rhinebeck sweater, but it wasn't to be. The chatter and laughter made the time fly by and before we knew it we were checking in to our hotel.

Frankie had arrived just before us. Frankie was a friend of ours, and was a member of our knitting group before she moved to NY a while back. She and Linda knew each other before they joined our knitting group. It was great to see her again! 

We all had some dinner and caught up a bit with Frankie, then got some sleep.

On Friday we enjoyed the fall colors some more, and the big event of the day was visiting the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park.  Click the link for lots of info, and photos of the interior. 

I loved hearing the guide tell the all about the Vanderbilt family, and the history of the magnificent home that we were touring. (Magnificent, but the smallest of their many homes). We were not allowed to take photos inside, but I got some great shots (with my new camera) of the grounds, and the mansion from outside. Here is just one of them:

After the tour, we went into Red Hook to find some lunch. We ended up at Bread Alone Bakery. Yum. After that we visited a winery, and then the indulgence of the day, we found Taste Budds, which is all about chocolate. Here's what I ended up with. I told myself all along that I was not holding back this weekend. Whether it was food, or drink, or fiber...I was going for it!

Isn't it pretty? It was sooo good. It's called Life By Chocolate (better than Death By Chocolate, right?)  Chocolate graham crust, flourless chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and chocolate glaze. Here's a peek at the inside. Mmmmm... And yes, I ate the whole thing. 

When we were done poking around in Red Hook, we headed back to our hotel for a bit, then went back out, tried to find a Geocache but Tam's phone wasn't able to pinpoint close enough. In trying to find it, we did enjoy driving through a neighborhood with some beautiful old homes. The architecture in the area just oozes history. The girls decided to get a light dinner from Panera Bread, but I still was filled up with the above chocolately goodness. We went back to the hotel and knit in the lobby, watching TV, while they ate. Eventually I walked across the parking lot and grabbed some Taco Bell when I got hungry. There were several other knitters in the lobby. It was nice to just relax before the craziness was to begin. 

I've already posted about most of my day on Saturday.  Sunday was more of the same.... walking and browsing and fondling and desiring and deciding and buying and eating and spending time with friends and enjoying the animals, etc.  I think a future post will highlight all of the purchases. 

We were back on the road early Monday morning. We left the hotel at 7am, when it was 28 degrees and there was a thick layer of frost on everything. It was actually several hours later before we saw the last of the frost. It took a long time for the sun to warm things up enough to melt it off. Enjoyed the scenery all the way home, but it was very anti-climactic.... The excitement was gone, we were exhausted, the landscape became more and more flat as we left the mountains and rolling hills behind. Before we knew it we were sitting in a long line of cars to cross the bridge back into Michigan from Sarnia, Ontario. 

I arrived back on my doorstep at 7pm, and fell into bed shortly afterwards. After a wonderful whirlwind birthday weekend, it was great to be back in my own bed. 

Fabulous Fall Foliage

What a beautiful weekend! It's been quite chilly, especially in the mornings when the temps have been down in the 30s and we've seen quite a bit of frost already. But this weekend was in the mid to upper 70s and sunny.

Saturday we had a bash here to celebrate Kim's college graduation. She now has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration. Her major was Management. She did most of her classes while working full time, so it took her a few extra years, but the hard work paid off and I can now say I am the proud mother of a college graduate.

Before the main group of guests arrived, we had a little tiny celebration for my birthday, since I won't be here on "the day". Mike wanted to give me my gift early, so I could familiarize myself with it, and take it with me when I leave on Thursday to go to RHINEBECK! OMG can it really be less than 3 days til I leave???

I got this for my birthday. I took the above photo (and those below) with it yesterday afternoon. I have a lot to learn about how it works. Right now I'm shooting mostly on automatic. Whew, those 12.2 megapixels blow me away! 

Do you know about Geocaching? I had heard about it several years ago and thought it would be so much fun, a nice family activity, and a way to get some fresh air and exercise as well as seeing some sites we might never have seen otherwise. The whole "digital treasure hunt" idea just sounded exciting! We didn't have a GPS at the time, and just recently got one. We created our account, found some nearby caches on the website, and off we went! We have found 7 of the 8 caches that we searched for over the past 2 weekends (that 8th one we've looked for 3 times and still haven't found it. It is very nearby our home so we will keep trying!) What a blast. We took advantage of the above-average temperatures yesterday and went to a nearby Metropark for a hike and to scope out a few more "treasures". Some of them are "micro" size and often difficult to find (size, terrain, and difficulty of each cache are listed on the website) Here are a few pix of Jake with a micro (in his left hand in the first picture--click for a bigger look-see) and 2 bigger caches, which are usually filled with toys or other small items for you to trade with, as well as a log book that you sign with your Geocaching name and the date. Micros are usually tiny little tubes with a piece of paper rolled up in them. You have to bring your own pen for those, and no treasures are inside to trade.

These are the 3 caches we found yesterday. Once you get to the coordinates, you never know where it might be... even up in a tree! 

If you have a handheld GPS, or have the capability on your cell phone, check out this fun activity! I just wish we had started this at the beginning of the summer instead of now, when winter will soon cut off the fun. We could have hunted outside of our local area as we traveled during our vacations.

One of the caches we found yesterday had a Geocoin in it. Geocoins and Travel Bugs have registration numbers are trackable on the website. Whoever places them in the cache wants someone to take them out and move them to another cache. Sometimes they are supposed to move to a certain destination. The one we found came from WA and wanted to move as far east as possible before heading back to the west coast. I plan on taking it with me and dropping it in a cache somewhere in Ontario or NY on my way to Rhinebeck.

Speaking of Rhinebeck....my plans have changed a bit. My dear, generous friend Christine, who was going to pick me up from the airport and whisk me a way to WEBS on Thursday (and take me to NYC on Friday, and accompany me to Rhinebeck, and provide me with bed and breakfast while there) is suddenly having medical issues and will not be able to do any of these things for or with me this weekend. I am sad, and worried, and hoping she will have a full recovery without too much more pain and suffering. FEEL BETTER CHRISTINE!

SO.... I have canceled my flights, and will now be going by car with my friends Tamara and Linda (members of my knitting group for several years). Tam has so generously let me squeeze into her room since there was not a bed to be found in the Rhinebeck area at this short notice. THANKS TAM.  I have to admit I would prefer to not be in a car for all of those hours there and back, but at this point am very happy to have that option.

So there will not be a trip to WEBS or a trip to NYC this weekend, but....we will stop at Niagara Falls on our way east, and Friday will be spent moseying around, taking pictures of what I hope will be some beautiful fall colors, and some scenery I haven't seen since my last time in NY which was oh....about 30 years ago! Tam loves photography, and has a camera that is very similar to mine, so I'm hoping she can give me some pointers as we are out and about taking pictures that day. 

The trip is changed, but except for my constant concern for Christine, will be just as much fun, I'm sure. The time in the car will give me an opportunity to finish my sweater if I haven't done so by then. I'm on my way up the sleeves right now. I may be seaming and blocking in the hotel room Thursday night or Friday, but here's hoping my Hot Cocoa Jacket will make its debut on Saturday (MY BIRTHDAY!) at Rhinebeck. 

Hope to see you there!

Life is good

It's 12 minutes past midnight....12 minutes past the 29th anniversary of our wedding. Amazing. So many memories....

Mike and I went out to dinner (Jake came with us because Kaitlyn was at work) and then the 3 of us stopped for ice cream before visiting Mike's brother who is recovering from heart surgery. He's doing very well, thank the heavens above. 

The holiday weekend was so much fun. We gathered with family where we almost always do on the 3 holidays that mark the beginning, middle and end of summer.... on the shore of Lake Huron in Michigan's "thumb". The weather was perfect (save for the first night that was 45 degrees.... Hello? Isn't this JULY?) There was no rain, there were hardly any clouds, the wind was calm (a rarity, believe me) and the temperature couldn't have been more divine. 

Mike was able to enjoy a 3 day weekend (many weekends lately have been non-existent as he has been working every Saturday and a lot of Sundays too). It must've felt so wonderful for him to finally get a chance to relax and enjoy some down time. It sure felt good for me, knowing he could sleep in and just enjoy the days spent with family, having fun . Eat, Drink and Be Merry. There was a lot of that going around, that's for sure.

My SIL turned 50 on Saturday, so the festivities of the weekend were not just for the holiday, but for her birthday too. Her "real" party is on the 19th, but the preview was a lot of fun as well.

Of course today I spent a good amount of time catching up on things around here. MUCH laundry, cleaning out the camper, vacuuming the pool (which somehow became disgusting in our absence) etc. 

I just finished reading Belong To Me, by Marisa de los Santos. I am sad that I am done reading it. After reading Love Walked In by her, and now this one, I am longing for more by this incredibly talented author. I don't have another book to start, so I guess a trip to the library is in order for tomorrow. I have to remind Jake to read more. He's not reading as much this summer as in summers past. I think some reading time together in the new hammock tomorrow sounds good. As long as it's not too unbearably hot out there. Well, we could always cool off in the pool. 

Knitting content: Princess Lace Wrap is off the needles. Photos to follow, after it has been blocked. Back to the sweater I need to finish by October/Rhinebeck!

Where has the last month gone?

Wow, I can't believe it's been more than 5 weeks since I last posted. A LOT has happened since then!

The main event was a surprise visit to my sister in South Dakota to help her celebrate her 60th birthday over Memorial Day weekend. She had absolutely NO clue, and after her initial dumbfounded look of confusion, all she could spit out was "What the hell?!" (Which then became the buzz phrase for the entire weekend...too funny)



We had such a good time, and I am so glad I was there to surprise her, and help throw a surprise party for her on Monday evening before I left on Tuesday. There was some knitting going on, mostly in the backyard...the weather was pretty nice the whole weekend (except for the clap of thunder Friday night that practically knocked me on the floor it was so loud!) We also spent a good amount of time doing some dyeing. I brought along some Knitpicks fingering merino, some Lion Brand Fisherman's wool that I scarfed up a few years ago when Joann's was clearing it out, and also 3 skeins of white sock yarn I had gotten in a yarn swap. Diane had several kinds of natural wool also, and we set about putting color to it. First we had to wind the big Fisherman's wool into hanks. We decided to make some really (REALLY) long hanks so that we could have longer lengths of color when we dyed. It was kind of a pain, but in the end I think it worked out ok.

Here we are making the hanks, thanks to a piece of exercise equipment and a chair:


And here's what it looked like when it was ready to be dyed:


Some yarn in the steamer:


And all skeins drying outside:


A couple pix from the party:



Since I've been back, school has let out, baseball season has come to an end, summer has arrived with a vengeance (both in terms of heat and storms). The pool is open, a new hammock was acquired yesterday, let the fun begin! A storm last weekend knocked out power to over 200,000 people in our area. We were out for 26 hours or so. Mostly an inconvenience, the worst of which was having to bail out the sump pump....many many gallons of water hauled up the basement stairs and dumped in the driveway. We MUST get a generator....this is not fun.

We have a well, and so when the power goes out, the well pump doesn't work either so we don't have water, except for what is in the holding tank in the basement (and the hot water tank) We try to use it sparingly during an outage, knowing there is no more once that's gone. We went to Kim's for showers, and to charge our cell phones. Many people were without power for 3 and 4 days, so we were lucky ours was restored after only 1 day. Of course the storms keep coming, day after day, and knocking out more power.

Today (after another storm rolled through overnight) is supposed to be just lovely. Sunny, lower humidity, and about 82 degrees. Perfect. We will be at a graduation party this afternoon/evening where a pool has recently been installed. I think we are going to have a really nice day today!

Father's Day will find Mike enjoying the new hammock purchase. Doesn't this look comfy? I can't wait to try it out myself. I forsee lots of naptime, reading time and knitting time taking place right here:

Will spring come to stay?

This morning there is a sparkling layer of frost over everything outside, but it will melt fast as the sun comes up higher, and we are supposed to get to a high of around 60 today after temps in the 20s this morning! Brrrrr!

Sunday morning I woke up to snow flurries swirling around outside. I was hoping it wasn't going to amount to anything, since I was off to Lansing for the book launch of More Big Girl Knits at Threadbear. I headed out before 11am so I could be there by 1pm. As I drove north, I saw some cars coming my way that had a couple inches of snow on them! Yikes! But the sun came out, the snow stopped, and it turned out to be a pretty day. Cold, but pretty. (Later that day my friend Maria sent me an IM saying she was sweltering in 100 degree heat out in California! Crazy weather!)


The book launch party was fun. Amy and Jillian are just fun to be around. There was a very boisterous group of ladies who had gathered to try on the sweater samples from the book. Everyone was oooh-ing and ahhhh-ing as the sweaters were modeled. "Oh, that looks GREAT on you!" was heard over and over and over. It was nice to have the sweaters there to try on, see how they look on you, before deciding to go ahead and knit one of them. Things got really loud and there were screams of laugher more than once during the afternoon. Maybe everyone was on a sugar high from the beautiful cupcakes and cakes that we were all enjoying.



I have been wanting to knit myself a sweater for several years, but nothing really caught my eye as "the one" that I wanted to knit. Well, I found "the one" on Sunday. It is the Hot Cocoa Jacket designed by Jordana Paige. (Scroll down to April 4 to see the blog entry about the sweater).


I tried it on, and it was quite flattering. Someone commented that it was a "butt buster" sweater, and it actually gives me a nice waistline. It is the textured diagonal lines, and the nice shaping that does it. It didn't hurt that the sweater was knit in Rowan Cashsoft DK and just felt divine to the touch. I considered alternate yarns, did lots of searching around on Ravelry for reviews of substitutions, etc. I found good and bad reviews of all the yarns I considered, and in the end, decided to go ahead with the Cashsoft. Several reviews complained about pilling, but I have a nice sweater shaver if I need it, and will be very careful when washing the sweater. I am a warm person to begin with, and absolutely cannot wear a sweater indoors. This will be something that will be worn more as a jacket on a cool day, and hopefully will wear well. The color I ordered is called Lichen.


I am going to cast on as soon as I get the yarn. I want to make sure it is done by October for my trip to Rhinebeck for my birthday. I will have other projects on the needles during this time, but I want to allow enough time to see that it gets done by fall. Some people don't knit in the summer, some cut way back. However, I think I knit just as much in the summer as any other time of the year. I just don't want to have a wool afghan in my lap when it's 90 degrees! I can certainly handle some sweater pieces though.

Right now I have a pair of socks on the needles (almost done!) and I started a lacy scarf from the Piecework magazine my mom gave me last week. It's called the Stork's Nest scarf. I'll share the socks when they are off the needles, and here is a sneak peek of the scarf:



In other areas of my life.... springtime means my chaufeurring is stepped up a notch. Kaitlyn has track practice or a track meet every day after school. Jake has baseball practice a couple times a week, and the games will start soon. Mike has been working later with his new job, so is not able to help out much in this area, and there are times when I am trying to juggle overlapping schedules and trying to be in 2 places at once. It can be rather frustrating at times, but I'm glad they are both doing something to keep active. I am going to have to miss Kaitlyn's meet today since it is about an hour away and Jake has practice. My mom and dad are going to go to her meet (they live closer) and maybe Mike will be able to catch the end of it and bring her home.

Last night the Red Wings played their 3rd game against Nashville in their first playoff series. The Tigers were also playing last night. We started out watching the hockey game, which was going very well. We flipped to the baseball game to see we were losing 5-0. Ugh....not another game where we get blown out...the season is not going well, after all the hype before it started.

Well, I don't know what happened, but we were flipping back and forth between games, and it was at almost the exact moment that the Tigers started turning it around and getting some runs that Nashville scored twice within mere seconds against the Wings to take the lead. The Wings ended up losing a game that looked like they might win, and the Tigers came back from being down 5 runs in the game (twice!) to win 11-9! I hated to see the Wings take a loss, but boy-oh-boy, did our boys of summer need that win to give them (and their fans) a boost! The Tiger bats were hot last night....after quite a few games were they were ice cold. I surely hope this is the beginning a new trend, and that this season just got off to a slow start. Hopefully it is going to be as great as anticipated. Please?

And boy, do we love playoff hockey! Never a dull moment!

GO TIGERS! GO WINGS!