Sunday, August 13 – Saturday, August 19
I’ve done a terrible job of keeping the blog up to date with where I have been and what I have been doing, so I apologize to my faithful readers for keeping you in suspense.
Please bear with me and keep checking back.I am slowly posting older updates, but they will show up further back in previous Travelogue posts. That is my effort to keep things in the date order of when they occurred, rather than when I actually finally got around to uploading pictures and posting them. That is also the reason I try to include the week or dates.
– Sheli
I’m going into this week very excited about what’s to come! I can’t WAIT to see my friend Jerri later this week. She’ll been Ann Arbor for an event with her Manchester Terriers and I’m looking forward to catching up with her (and exploring some labyrinths in the area, of course!).
So let’s GOOOOOOOO!
Sunday, August 13
I very much enjoy attending NTC Church in the nearby community of Burton, MI and today was no exception. Pastor Kevin Galloway II is engaging with his sermons and I always leave with my journal full of notes and my faith strengthened. Today was no different.
Sunday afternoon was low-key with no demands, and the day passed at a leisurely pace. Aunt Lucille and Uncle Herbert like to go out to eat, so we wrapped up the evening with a lovely dinner at Black Rock Bar & Grill. I’ve never been there before, and part of the allure of the restaurant is that you can cook your own meal on a 🔥HOT🔥 lava stone.
Monday, August 14
I’m disappointed that I’m still not able to get back to my swimming routine- there’s still a fair amount of pressure on my ears and it hurts.
Consequently, today’s only adventure was a run to the post office. To compound my woes (insert a sympathetic “poor Sheli”), a call from Jerri informed me that our planned get-together later in the week would have to be cancelled due to an unexpected family matter. She had already pulled stakes and was on the road to Illinois help.
Tuesday, August 15
Tuesday, what happened today? I have no idea. 🤷🏽♀️
Wednesday, August 16
My ears are mostly recovered from my bout with swimmer’s ear, but I still opted to pass on my daily swim today. And although I woke at my usual early time, I was not alone in my early morning activities. I could hear Uncle Herbert puttering around upstairs, getting ready for his monthly men’s outing at the casino. He was out the door by 7:30 a.m., which was shocking, considering the fact that they are both late risers.
While he was out gallivanting around, under the tutelage of Aunt Lucille, I helped prepare a special dinner.
Late afternoon heralded the arrival of cousin Colette, who made the drive from New York back to us in Michigan. Hungry and tired, we all sat down to eat, sans Uncle Herbert, who was still on his way back from his big casino adventure.
Thursday, August 17
I was so happy to be back in the water today. It was my first day back in the pool and I reveled in swimming laps for an hour straight. It wasn’t fast and it wasn’t pretty, but YAY, I did it! 🎉
AND…. it kicked my bottom.
I can’t tell if it was seasonal allergies or whether me jumping back into a full hour-long lap swim after a week of no exercise (beyond a couple long walks) wore me out.
I laid down for a ‘nap’ around 3:00 p.m. and woke six hours later- but only for a few minutes. Turns out my bedtime was earlier than expected.
Friday, August 18
I slept hard yesterday, and well past my normal wake-up time today, causing me to forgo my morning swim.
It’s been tough to get back on my six days a week swimming routine, and I’m feeling a bit run down. Today will be a low-key day.
In fact, I laid down for another ‘nap’ and wok up four hours later.
Whatever this bug is (it’s not Covid- I took a test and it was negative), I give it zero stars and a rating of 0/10 – DO NOT RECOMMEND.
Saturday, August 19
Admittedly, I spent the morning wallowing in bed, feeling sorry for myself. Then, my cousin Tiffany called and encouraged me to drive into Lansing to spend the day and night with her.
So I quickly packed up a bag and made the hour-long drive into Lansing.
Tiffany, Aunt Beverly and I all went to ArtFeast!, an annual event in Old Town, a historic part of Lansing. We had a lot of fun wandering the various booths, sipping our delicious lemonades from TeaBee and appreciating the creativity and artistry of the vendors.
There were a lot of vibrant, creative, talented vendors and booths, but there is always a booth or two that stands out in my mind.
In this particulate instance, there were two. The first was the BHP booth. BHP stands for Baby Head Planters. The owners ‘lovingly’ remove the head and limbs from thrift store baby dolls, then use them to make concrete casts, resulting in hilarious planters shaped like a baby’s face, or arm, or leg. Cute, creepy, and hilarious. This is the perfect gift for (almost) any occasion. 😆😂😇
I loved looking at all the different expressions on them and could easily visualize one sitting on my desk at work. Oh wait, I don’t have a job. 😃
Unfortunately, my current nomadic lifestyle prevents me from indulging in such purchases, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t!
The other booth that captured my attention was the one called Altered Notions. The owner, Beth Jensen, upcycles tins and other materials into beautiful, one of a kind, fashionable jewelry.
She had a huge selection of jewelry, mostly earrings on display, and they were lovely. Despite my nomadic lifestyle, I had to have a pair, and now I do! ❤️🔥
After the three of us visited the ArtFeast!, we spent some time at my Aunt’s home, chatting, relaxing and laughing as I helped her set up her printer. Then Tiffany and I returned to her home for a bit. We talked about everythign under ht sun, and joined her friend (and now mine), Tâmara for a cocktail and late meal on the outdoor patio at Zoobies / Cosmos.
Nothing was off limits, and we talked about it all. Men, relationships, sex, menopause, dating, raising kids, family, work…. ALL THE THINGS. It was glorious. We laughed, and laughed, and laughed…
At one point, our server came over to tell us that they had closed off our section for the rest of the evening and that although they were roping off the section, we could stay as long as we wanted. It gave us a bit of an elite VIP vibe, but it also afforded us a bit more privacy in our conversation, which was good. WIN-WIN! 🎉
And when dinner was over, we went back to Tâmara’s house to enjoy another cocktail (not me, I was the driver), and ice cream (definitely me), and loads more conversation. My heart was full, By the time we rolled back to Tiffany’s house, it was WAYYYY past my bedtime and I was unconscious within a few minutes of hitting the pillow.
I was tired. T I R E D but oh so happy!
To Recap:
The week started off slow and somewhat disappointingly, but wrapped up beautifully.
It’s crazy to think that I have less than two weeks left in Michigan. The last seven weeks have passed in a blur. I’ve had a chance to connect with extended family and ‘plant’ myself in one place for an extended period of time.
I’ve learned that BOTH sides of my family have played a significant role in my genetic make-up… I mean, the science tells us that, but I always felt that my dad’s genes dominated.
I’ve discovered that the scales are more evenly balanced than I would have imagined. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing…
