Pain, puke and more pain

This morning I went to the oral surgeon to have all four of my wisdom teeth removed. While sitting in the chair the dentist asked the usually questions - Are you allergic to any medicine? Who is driving you home? Have you ever had blood drawn or an IV?

After the question and answer session, he pulled up my right sleeve on my shirt to insert the IV. It took him a while to find a vein. When he did find one, I heard him say to the nurse that my vein wasn't taking the medicine. I asked if he found a vein and he said that sometimes those veins don't take the medicine. Since my right vein wasn't taking the medicine, he had to pull my left sleeve up on my shirt to stick the needle in for my IV. After he got the needle in he said that patients accused him of moving the lights on them. I said that I heard that from people. And that was the last thing that I remember.

Probably a half hour later, the nurse, or whatever you call them, told me to stand up and walk with her to another room. I laid down on a nice bed and then Mike came into the room. While the lady talked to him, I was drifting in and out of sleep. I think I heard the lady tell Mike to keep me up. After she told him everything that he needed to know. It was time to leave and get my pain medication.

I barely remember the drive to Meijer drive-thru pharmacy. The pharmacist said my prescription would be done in 25 minutes. Mike drove me home and helped me on the couch. He asked what I wanted for lunch. I just said fries. Mike left to get my prescription and came back with lunch and a bouquet of flowers for me. How sweet! Mike gave me my medicine and my fries. It took me probably 20 minutes to eat fries. I think that was the slowest time for me ever to eat fries.

After lunch both of us laid on our couches and fell asleep. Around 5 pm, Mike changed his clothes to his sexy suit for his city commission meeting. I was laying on the bed talking to him while he changed. I didn't feel good. We both walked back downstairs and I headed right to the bathroom and threw up twice. There went lunch. Mike kept telling me that was a side effect of the medication. About an hour or two after he left, I was hungry again. Mike bought me a McFlurry for lunch and put it in the freezer. I went to the freezer and ate it. About a half hour after eating it, I was running back to the bathroom. Up it came. Not just once, but a couple of more times. I was so disappointed. That flurry was good.

After throwing up more, I started feeling severe pain. I took another pain pill with water. That didn't stay down long either. A while later, I was back running to the bathroom to throw up.

So here I sit. I threw up everything I had today. My jaw is in pain. I'm still spitting up blood. One thing I remember the lady telling Mike that I couldn't brush my teeth until tomorrow, talk about nasty! There is nothing like the taste of puke in your mouth. YUM!

The day has finally come

Monday.

Three days from now it will be Monday. It is the day I have been dreading for a couple of months. Monday at 10:15 am, I will say goodbye to $400 and finally have all four of my wisdom teeth removed. I will be out during the surgery, which is good. The doctor said the procedure will take about a half hour. After the surgery my husband is the lucky one to take my drugged-up ass home. I'm so looking forward to the pain.

On the other hand, there is a part of me that is excited about getting my wisdom teeth removed. I'm excited because I don't have to set my alarm clock for three days, I'll be able to stay in bed past 4 am and have a couple of days off.

I'm so glad for sick days.

Yuck!

Before my husband and I started grocery shopping at Meijer, I went to the restroom. I walked in the ladies room and didn't see anyone else. I picked the second to last stall and took off my coat. I noticed shoes in the next stall. That woman finished her business and walked out without washing her hands. As I walked up to the row of sinks to wash my hands with soap and water, I said "disgusting" out loud. After I said that a woman walked out of a stall and over to the sinks. She put her hands under the automatic faucet and "washed" her hands with just water. After getting her hands wet, she played with her hair and started to walk out. Before she got to the door, I said, "gross" loud enough for her to hear it.

After washing and drying my hands, there was no way I was going to touch that door. I kicked it open with my shoe.

How can people not wash their hands with soap after using the restroom? That is the grossest thing ever. Especially when you're at a grocery store with food that I know that they are going to touch and put back on the shelf.

NASTY!!

Isn't that nice

While standing under an umbrella during a soggy soccer pre-game warmup, a woman walked up to me. She asked me if I worked at the local newspaper. I said yes. This is usually when they say that the newspaper got their daughter/son's name wrong in the paper or we left something out, but this was different. She told me that my photos of her son and the rest of the team were great. She said she was amazed with all of the wonderful pictures that I took of her son. I said thank you and walked away.

It is rare that two good things happen at a game - first a nice complement and then the game was canceled due to wet conditions of the field.

Random things

Over the weekend, my husband Mike and I saw The Departed with Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg. In the movie, Matt Damon's character, Colin Sullivan, is a dirty Massachusetts State Police officer working with the mob. I really liked this movie. All of the actors were great and Damon was so good that I wanted to kill him throughout the movie. He got what he deserved in the end.

Sunday afternoon with one lap to go at the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Dale Earnhardt, Jr was in the lead, behind him was Jimmie Johnson and Brian Vickers. Jimmie Johnson and Vickers pulled out from behind Earnhardt to pass him. Junior pulled out in front of Johnson to block. Vickers got in the back of Johnson, Johnson then got into Earnhardt, they both turned sideways and crashed. Vickers went on to win. Earnhardt and Johnson finished 23rd and 24th. Earnhardt said in interviews he would have been happy with second or third, but Vickers got too excited and crashed into the back of his own teammate. GRRRRR to Vickers!

The day after Talladega, Jeff Gordon cried to the media about Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Gordon said that "there was more bump-drafting than he'd seen in a long time." He also said one of the worst offenders was Earnhardt, who put the bumper of his No. 8 Chevrolet under countless cars as he battled from a lap down to take the lead. NASCAR warned Earnhardt during the race but said after the race that they didn't see any excessive bump-drafting. Cry some more Jeff.

My husband and I went to Fricker's today for lunch. The waitress came to take our order and told us that it was 25 cent wing day. She took our drink orders, I ordered water and Mike ordered Sierra Mist. Our waitress told us some rules to follow for 25 cent wing day, you MUST order a pop or alcohol. Mike covered us with his Sierra Mist. If you just order water, the wings are full price. She also went on to say that if we do not eat all of the wings, we can't take them home. Fricker's will not provide a to-go box.

While we were eating, a group of four were sitting at the table in front of us. I saw that they all had left over wings. I then saw them dumping all of their wings into a to-go box. Our waitress told us, no wings can leave the building. These people had 10 or more in their to-go box. I guess their waitress didn't get the wings memo.


Photo Credit: TOP - raremovieimages.com & Warner Brothers

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan
Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees
Jack The Ripper: The Complete Casebook, Donald Rumbelow
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out, Steven A. Shaw
Lincoln's Melancholy, Joshua Wolf Shenk
The Dark Side of Camelot, Seymour M. Hersh
Sinatra: The Life, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan
The Third Reich in Power, Richard J. Evans
Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier, J. Randy Taraborrelli
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, Kenny Moore
Bridesmaids: Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco and Six Intimate Friends, Judy Balaban Quine
Grace and Power, Sally Bedell Smith
Grace, Robert Lacey
There She is, Miss America, edited by Elwood Watson and Darcy Martin
Sex Wars, Marge Piercy
My Dark Places, James Ellroy

Currently Reading: Hitler: Memoirs of a Confidant, edited by Henry Ashby Turner, Jr.
Up Next: LA Confidential, James Ellroy

Random things

UPS dropped something off at my door yesterday. A month after sending in my order, it had arrived. My sample AsukaBook was delivered to my house, by the way it is cool. Now I have all of my sample albums to show clients during wedding appointments.

The treadmill repair man came to the house yesterday. The front roller on the treadmill had to be replaced. He fixed it and before he left he said to me as I was sitting on the couch reading a book, "Everytime I come here you're reading a book. You're just like my father-in-law. You must love books." I smiled at him as he walked out of the door. Very observant you are Mr. Repair man. Hopefully we won't be seeing you any time soon. This afternoon I plan to try out my fixed treadmill. How I missed you.

Wednesday night Bravo aired the Project Runway 3 Reunion show. Can I just say how boring it was? I think that was the worst one yet. Keith, I think you're smoking something if you think the producers stashed those books under your bed. Season three was good, but not as good as Season two.

Ten more days until all four of my wisdom teeth are removed. I'm still working on the $400 that I need to pay the day of the surgery. I'm so looking forward to it.

Top Model recap

Tonight on America's Top Model, Monique, the girl I disliked so far this season was eliminated.

This week the girl's challenge was to walk a runway suspended over water. The night before Monique went to the hospital for dehydration. The morning of the challenge she got herself out of bed and went to the runway walk/photo shoot. Before hair and makeup she told Jay that she was sick and wanted a ride back to the house. I was so excited. If the girls miss a shoot that is it for them.

During judging Tyra said that many girls have been sick but still made it to the shoot. She mentioned last season's winner Danielle, not by name, but said she had an IV in her arm and rode an elephant through the jungle to make it to her shoot.

When Monique was eliminated she turned around and left judging without saying anything. Melrose couldn't hide her relief that the bitch was leaving. In Monique's exit interview she said that ANTM was a waste of time. If she had gone on in the competition I bet she wouldn't have thought that.

Photo Credit: www.cwtv.com/shows/americas-next-top-model

GRRR!

Today was the day the treadmill repair man was supposed to come to my house. At work today, I kept thinking I have to get home to wait for the repair man. Late morning I received a phone call from my husband. He left me a message: the treadmill repair man wasn't coming today. They had to reschedule for Thursday.

I have been waiting for a week to get my treadmill repaired. I was hoping to run tonight after photographing a cross country meet. That didn't happen. I got home and talked with my husband and the sky was getting dark. If the treadmill was repaired I could have ran in my basement. Now I have to play the waiting game for the repair man Thursday. BOO!

Siena Alumni 5K Run

I was still recovering from being sick all last week but I ran the Siena Heights University 5K Alumni Run in Adrian on Saturday. The Siena Alumni Run is part of Alumni Weekend at the university. Since Siena doesn't have football, I guess that would make Alumni Weekend our Homecoming.

It was a cold morning. It quit raining a couple of hours before the race, which was nice. I get to Siena and park in the Fieldhouse lot to walk to registration. I get in the Fieldhouse and walked to the pre-registration table. I recognized the woman taking names, it was the school's librarian, Melissa. When I was in college, she helped me find a lot of material for papers that I was writing at the time. I said my name and she looked at her sheet. My name wasn't there. I explained that I filled out my registration sheet and mailed my check Tuesday. I asked if she wanted me to pay, Melissa said she believed me and not to worry. She gave me my bib number and told me to get a T-shirt.

I went over to the T-shirt table and saw they were handing out the same shirts from last year. Not an issue, I liked last year's shirts. I asked for an extra large and the girl said that they didn't have any. She said the large's ran big. I took a large but I knew it would be too tight. I went back to my car to take off my windpants, coat, grab safety pins and throw my shirt in the passenger seat. To warm myself up I jogged back to the fieldhouse and went inside to stretch. The gym was a bit warm to me, but the other people in the gym were wearing sweatshirts and coats. I finished stretching and waited by the doors for Tim Bauer, Siena's Cross Country/Track coach, to tell the runners it was time to go.

At the start line, there were only a handful of non-ex-Siena Cross Country runners. There were kids of runners, parents of some runners and a 5k regular. We took our position at the start and we were off. It was a nice run down Hanke Lane of the fairgrounds, by the horsebarns and down Maple Avenue. On Maple Avenue, I knew that a few people were behind me. To that point no one threatened to pass me. At Broad and Maple, we turned down Broad and headed back to Siena Heights Drive. At this point someone was behind me. I could hear there footsteps. I never turned around to see who it was. But I knew that they were not going to pass me.

My mile and two mile splits were fast for me, but I knew the last mile would be the hardest - running uphill on Siena Heights Drive heading back to the Fieldhouse. Last year on the hill, I was passed by a runner. I hoped it wouldn't be the same this year. Every step I took I heard the steps behind me getting closer. I know I slowed on the hill, but I didn't get passed. I was so happy to see the crowd of workers telling me to turn right down the parking lot to the back door of the Fieldhouse. Once I got inside the gym I did tried my hardest to sprint, which at that point wasn't very fast. I heard Eric Clarke, owner of Running with E's, yelling for me to finish strong. I crossed the finish line in 32:28. Not my best time, but that is still a good time for being sick. I didn't turn around to see who was behind me, I just wanted a drink.

I grabbed my bottle of water and walked back into the gym to look at the board to see if I got a medal. About 5 minutes after the race, names were hung in the age groups. I saw my name was second in the 25-29 age group. While standing in the gym a man walked up to me and said, "I thought I was going to catch you on the hill." It was the same guy who passed me last year. Last year I was his pace maker. This year, he was mine.

All of the runners were called into the gym. Tim thanked everyone that ran and said that next year it will be called the Saints Run hoping to attract more runners. Then the medals were handed out. I received my silver medal and a handshake from Tim. The medals didn't come with a ribbon attached. Later that night, being the geek that I am, I went to Hobby Lobby to buy some ribbon. The medal is now hanging with my other medals in my work room. Since I started running 5k's I have received at least one medal a year. Right now I have 8. I hope to get one more this year.

Other then me still being sick, the weather was perfect to run Saturday. It was a little chilly, but otherwise a great day.

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan
Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees
Jack The Ripper: The Complete Casebook, Donald Rumbelow
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out, Steven A. Shaw
Lincoln's Melancholy, Joshua Wolf Shenk
The Dark Side of Camelot, Seymour M. Hersh
Sinatra: The Life, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan
The Third Reich in Power, Richard J. Evans
Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier, J. Randy Taraborrelli
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, Kenny Moore
Bridesmaids: Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco and Six Intimate Friends, Judy Balaban Quine
Grace and Power, Sally Bedell Smith
Grace, Robert Lacey
There She is, Miss America, edited by Elwood Watson and Darcy Martin
Sex Wars, Marge Piercy

Currently Reading: My Dark Places, James Ellroy
Up Next: Hitler: Memoirs of a Confidant, edited by Henry Ashby Turner, Jr.

The joys of a cold

Last week I photographed two sporting events in the rain. This week, I'm paying for it.

Monday, I still could breathe fine. Tuesday morning I woke up and my throat was sore and breathing wasn't that easy. At work I was taking cold medicine and using so much Kleenex. I was sure to wash my hands after needing the Kleenex before touching my computer again. At the end of the day, I sprayed my work stations down with Lysol to get rid of any germs.

Sleeping Tuesday night/Wednesday morning was bad. I had to prop my pillows up and sleep with my head against the headrest. Not the most comfortable way to sleep. Last night was worst. I tried to sleep sitting up. That didn't work. Before going to bed, I took some NyQuil. It is supposed to help me sleep through the night. It didn't. I woke up at 1 am, not being able to breathe through my nose. I know I wasn't supposed to do this, I went back downstairs and took another cap full. That time it put me to sleep, but 4 am came too quickly. It was time to get ready to go back to work.

The past two days have been bad. Every 6 hours I'm taking DayQuil. At night it is NyQuil. Thursday morning I had the same result, up at 1 am, taking another cap full of medicine. I need my cold and sickness to go away. Saturday I need to be feeling better to run in a Alumni 5k at Siena Heights University in Adrian and then meeting a couple to shoot their engagement photos and talk about my photography services. I don't need to be stuffed up and sick. I just need to keep taking my medicine, try to get more sleep and stay out of the rain.

Puppies

Friday evening I saw PIMP MOBILE written on a car. At Clinton today I parked in the school lot next to a full size pickup truck. Handwritten on the dirty truck passenger side was: I eat puppies for breakfast & they are good. :)

When I was growing up I always wrote WASH ME on my Dad's dirty truck. Are puppies the new WASH ME?

Weekend Update

This past Saturday, my husband Mike and I drove down to Toledo, Ohio. Our first stop was Westgate Franklin Park. We parked at Macy's. Macy's took over for Marshall Fields, but I think seeing a Macy's in Toledo is weird. We just walked through to get to the other stores we wanted to go to.

Our first stop as always was Pottery Barn. I love that store, but it is so expensive. In the back of the store was their desks. I sat at one that I would love to have for my home office. If I got it, I know it would take up the entire room. Sadly, I had to leave it.

Our next stop was Dick's Sporting Goods. Mike and I looked at all of the new Under Armor clothes and running shorts. We didn't buy anything, but I think we spent more time watching the Michigan and Wisconsin football game on the big screen TV.

Walking out of Dick's, there was a crowd of people kneeling on the ground. An older lady fell and she needed help. The mall security guards were helping her and calling for an ambulance. We looked just like everyone else and went into Borders. I actually wanted to buy a book for I went to get it and Mike went back to the collectible section and found a book. I bought, actually Mike bought me Stephanie Klein's book, Straight Up and Dirty. It will have to wait. Earlier Saturday morning I went to the Lenawee County Library and borrowed four books. I need to read those first before reading books that I own.

After leaving Borders it was 3 pm, we decided to stop and eat some lunch at Famous Famiglia Pizzeria. Mike order a slice of pepperoni and garlic knots, I had the tomato and basil slice. While he was standing in line to pay, I went looking for a place to sit. I found an empty table that had an empty tray on the end of the table. I grabbed it and put it on the chair next to me. A guy sitting 3 tables down grabbed it from my hand and said it was his. He was saving all of the tables because more people were coming. I said I can move to a different table and he pouted and said I didn't have to. I stood up and found another table. When we were leaving, I wanted to see if was telling the truth about the other people, he was. Why couldn't he just say that the table was taken instead of pouting like a little girl?

Mike and I finished our mall trip at JCPenny. He was in the buying mood and bought four pairs of pants, a pair of windpants and a couple of shirts. He picked out a pair of pants that he never would have bought if I wasn't with him. He tried them on when we got home. They look very good on him.

After the mall, we drove to Bed Bath & Beyond. Friends of mine, Dave and Erin are getting married in October and I needed to buy them a wedding gift. We picked out kitchen accessories, towels, pot holders and oven mits. I kept putting stuff in the cart, I'm surprised Mike didn't stop me.

We finally drove back home after a busy shopping day. Before going home we stopped and had dinner at Main Street Stable and Tavern in Blissfield. We were seated next to a group of teens that were dressed up for a dance. They were very loud, but what teenagers aren't. Our dinners were excellent. We skipped the dessert and went home to watch the Michigan State/Notre Dame football game that I fell asleep during.

Ridin' Dirty

While driving to Onsted to photograph a football game, a black car was behind me at a traffic light in downtown Adrian. I saw some writing on the hood from my rearview mirror and I thought that the car owner had some design or sticker put on the hood of their car. The light changed and we went. The car that was behind me pulled into the next lane. The black car passed me and I saw more writing on the car.

My favorite was on the driver's side door: PIMP MOBILE. I laughed when I read it and it made me wonder. Why was a female driving the PIMP MOBILE?

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan
Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees
Jack The Ripper: The Complete Casebook, Donald Rumbelow
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out, Steven A. Shaw
Lincoln's Melancholy, Joshua Wolf Shenk
The Dark Side of Camelot, Seymour M. Hersh
Sinatra: The Life, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan
The Third Reich in Power, Richard J. Evans
Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier, J. Randy Taraborrelli
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, Kenny Moore
Bridesmaids: Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco and Six Intimate Friends, Judy Balaban Quine
Grace and Power, Sally Bedell Smith
Grace, Robert Lacey
There She is, Miss America, edited by Elwood Watson and Darcy Martin

Currently Reading: Sex Wars, Marge Piercy
Up Next: My Dark Places, James Ellroy

Treadmill Update

In yesterday's post I briefly mentioned that my treadmill wasn't working correctly. About two weeks ago at the end of my 4 mile run the treadmill belt started to slip. When I was finished I told my husband about it. A couple of days later I got back on the treadmill and the belt was starting to slip worse and I could only run a mile.

A day or two later the repair man came to look at the treadmill. He turned it on, watched it and listened to it. He even had my husband get on and run. The repair man tighten the belt a half a turn and said that nothing was wrong with it. That evening after my photo assignment I came home and started to run on it. The first quarter of a lap was fine. Then it happened. The belt was slipping worse. I couldn't run on it and stopped after a half mile. Mad, I walked upstairs and wrote a note to my husband on the dry erase board saying the treadmill still wasn't working right.

The next day, my husband tighten the belt for me hoping to solve the problem. I came home from an photo assignment and got on the treadmill. With the belt tightening, it still didn't help, the belt was slipping. I needed to run so I stayed on the treadmill for a mile. I couldn't stay on it longer because running with my hands on the arms rests isn't natural.

Today the repair man came back to the house. My husband took him to the treadmill in the basement. I heard Mike tell the repair man that the treadmill belt was slipping worse and they turned the power on to the treadmill. They got the belt going and then they both walked back upstairs. The repair man said to my husband, "Now I know you're not making it up. I'll fix you up." And with that he was gone. I asked Mike what was wrong with the treadmill. He told me the rollers have to be replaced. We just had them replaced about a year ago. I guess they just don't last long. Or I just beat the crap out of my treadmill.

Miles Run in 2006

With my treadmill not working correctly, I ran outside today. It was the first time I had to wear a long sleeved shirt and a hat. The weather was a little cold at 54 degrees and a wind of 6 mph. On parts of my run, I could really feel the wind. But otherwise, the run was good. I almost made it through the entire 3.4 miles without cramps, but with less then a mile to go, I developed some. Instead of stopping, I kept on running. They went away after a couple of minutes.

I'm 46 miles away from my New Year's Resolution to run 400 miles for the year 2006.

Total miles run up to September 20:
2004: 219.6
2005: 245.3
2006: 354.0

Books read in 2006

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre
The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, Donald H. Wolfe
Marilyn: The Last Take, Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Churchwell
Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, Charles Higham and Roy Moseley
Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan
Auschwitz: A New History, Laurence Rees
Jack The Ripper: The Complete Casebook, Donald Rumbelow
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out, Steven A. Shaw
Lincoln's Melancholy, Joshua Wolf Shenk
The Dark Side of Camelot, Seymour M. Hersh
Sinatra: The Life, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan
The Third Reich in Power, Richard J. Evans
Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier, J. Randy Taraborrelli
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, Kenny Moore
Bridesmaids: Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco and Six Intimate Friends, Judy Balaban Quine
Grace and Power, Sally Bedell Smith
Grace, Robert Lacey

Currently Reading: There She is, Miss America, Collection of authors
Up Next: Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson and The Year That Changed Our Lives, Susan Dworkin

Anniversary dinner

This past Friday, September 15, was my five year wedding anniversary. My husband and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Evans Street Station in Tecumseh.

To start out my husband had Charleston Crab Cake with Crispy Sweet Potato, White Wine-Mustard Butter and I had the Grilled Vegetable Stack with Goat Cheese, Crouton, Balsamic Reduction and Curry Oil. Then it was on to soup or salad, Mike had Michigan Potato Chowder with Crisp Bacon, Tabasco Oil and Chives and I had Petite Greens Salad with Bosc Pear, Bleu Cheese, Tiny Brioche Croutons and Herbed Balsamic Vinaigrette. And for the main course Mike and I both had the Char Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Forest Mushroom-Roasted Shallot Timbale with Goat Cheese and Asparagus. We didn't eat the Asparagus, I know, we're bad. For dessert we ordered cheesecake. When our server brought it out, she said it was on the house because it was our anniversary. How nice!

As an anniversary gift, Mike bought me a new 70-200mm /2.8 Sigma Lens. I was so excited and happy! He bought it to replace my 7-year old 80-200 Nikon /2.8 lens, that wasn't as good as it should be. I thought about selling the old lens. But I decided to keep it as a backup lens. I used my new lens today to photograph a golf invitational. It is awesome. I love it.

Mike's gift it wasn't as expensive or big as mine. He told me to save my money to spend on my photography business. I wanted to get him something. I decided to buy him a Lowe's gift certificate. Right now he is in the middle of redoing our staircase in the house. It is almost finished. At least all of the steps are back on the stairs. All but four are nailed down. But at least I won't fall down the stairs at 4 am. He liked his gift certificate and I know it will go to good use.