Happy Thanksgiving

I'm thankful I get to go to the Lions game and watch them beat up on the Packers!

A Night with Gnash

Working for a Japanese company definitely has its perks; one is the amount of holiday time we get off and the other is parties. We find any reason to have a party! If someone leaves the company, we have a party. If someone is getting married, we have a party. Our Operations Manager is getting married in a couple of weeks so we organized a party in East Nashville at a place called 3 Crows Bar. A bar that features pool, darts, and the ever popular trivia (which is a popular thing to do in Nashville). Joey is a huge Predators fan (and always lets me know when they beat the Wings - which isn't that often!). He is a Nashvillian and was so happy when Nashville got a NHL team 10 years ago. Anne, our party manager, arranged for Gnash, the Predators' mascot) to come to the bar and meet all of us. Of course my fellow co-workers made me get my picture taken with Gnash since I am a Wings fan. I did promise Gnash that I would go to a Preds game, as long as they were playing the Wings! It was another fun night in Nashville.

The 100th Meeting

between Michigan and Michigan State - a game I always love to watch and have always rooted for the underdog - State. It has been 6 long years since State beat U of M and that win back in 2001 was controversial, but a win nonetheless. Today I thought the Spartans would come out victorious as they were playing a good game up until about 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter. State was up 24-21 with about 3 minutes to go in the game. Henne throws a bomb, a jump ball, in the endzone to Manningham and the Wolverines go up 28-24. State had 2:20 left on the clock to go 70 yards to score a touchdown. But the Wolverine defense with its contant blitzing denied the Spartans of a victory. This was State's 5th loss this season of 7 points or less while U of M has won their last 8 after losing their first 2 games of the season. If Michigan can win their next 2 games they will be Rose Bowl bound.

I will be rooting for the Wolverines in 2 weeks when they host #1 Ohio State - another game I love to watch but root for the Wolverines. I just can't seem to be a Wolverines fan all the time!

House Update

After attempting for 10 months to get some house repairs done on my home (crack walls and nail pops), the builder finally sent some workers last week and finished the repairs in 2 days. What a relief to get this done as it has been lingering for a long time and not to mention my house has been torn up since June (when they first began the work). Mom and Dad are in town so they were able to be at my house the first day while I was at work. I took a vacation day the second day and Mom and I spent most of the day shopping while Dad stayed home to keep an eye on the work.

I posted some pictures below that I took with my new digital camera. I am still trying to figure out all of the features it has to offer but so far I like it.

The picture of the Great Room shows the new metal art work hanging above the couch. I have a smaller version that is similar to this and Mom found the larger one this year at the Peach Festival. I was so glad to hear the same artist was still selling his work. The trick was trying to get it to Tennessee. Mom and Dad had trouble fitting it in the car so they had to be creative and and actually hung it from a rope from the back seat - I should have taken a picture of that because it was interesting to see how they came up with that idea! It got to Nashville in 1 piece.

The Great Room now has handmade window treatments and these were designed and made by Mom. The pictures don't do it justice but they are awesome!

I also bought new office furniture, a project table that opens up for more surface space and organization cubes. Mom and Dad delayed their return trip home by 2 days because I would not be able to assemble the 12 pieces by myself. And not to mention how heavy and large these pieces are. Even the instructions state 2 people are needed for assembly. I will post some pictures later as I don't have the room put completely together yet.

Dad also had fun fixing a running toilet and a printer cable that I accidently sucked up in the vacuum. Mom gave my myrtle a major haircut and transplanted some pieces under my deck and in the area where grass is not growing in my backyard.

We did make time to do some Geocaching and drive around in my new cross-over vehicle. I promise during my parents' next visit, we will not work as much and spend more time enjoying Nashville. Always glad when they can come visit.

Smoke Free Nashville

Well, it is official. All restaurants and local establishments (bars, clubs, etc) in Nashville and Metro are now smoke free. This has been in the works for quite some time and became official about a week ago. It is getting mixed reviews of course. The restaurants and bars say business is up because more non-smokers are now coming out and the smokers are still coming out just not smoking. It seems to be working so far but only time will tell if the new Mayor makes a change. I, for one, am excited about the change.

9/11

Never forget. Thanks to all of the soldiers for their continued service to our country.

A Week at Emerald Lake

I spent the past week at Emerald Lake and it was great to be back in Michigan. And it was nice that the weather got a bit cooler because I have been dealing with 100+ degree weather for almost a month. Mom and Dad picked me up at the Grand Rapids Airport which was my first time ever flying into GRR. I must say it is one of the nicest, cleanest airports I have ever been in and very customer friendly with an awesome waiting area outside the food court with lots of tables, lots of windows to watch the planes comes in and TV monitors with weather info across the country.

We spent the afternoon at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. The museum is beautifully located on the banks of the Grand River - what an impressive site. I learned lots of things that I either did not remember or never knew. It is an awesome museum and very well done. It is also the only Presidential museum that is separate from the Presidential Library. Gerald R. Ford's Library is located in Ann Arbor.

The week in review:

The circus was in town so we took Spencer and Garrett. It had been a long time since I had been to the circus. The kids had a good time and it was nicely done.

My cousin Angie had a get together for the entire family. It was good to see lots of family. The kids played on Kamber's new play structure and large sandbox. I enjoyed all of the good food and laughing with the family. And to make the day complete, we had a bonfire with S'mores.

We spent some time geocaching in the area. I didn't find any, but Mom, Dad and James did (even in the rain). We also played card games which was fun because the Reagans are so competitive! Shane gave us a tour of the fire hall and Lee gave us some fresh vegetables from his garden - yum! We also had Buddy's Pizzas and Achatz Michigan Four Berry Pies. And got to drive the Ranger and go on a ride back east through the woods and farms. Can't wait for next summer to come so I can return to the lake.

Here are some pictures from activities from the week.

Spencer, James and Garrett in the backseat of Dad's truck ready to go geocaching. Spencer loves to sit in the third row seat of the SUV!

Spencer and Garrett bowling in Big Rapids at The Gate.

Grandma Reagan reading with Spencer. An activity they love to do together.

Grandma Reagan and Spencer on the dock at Emerald Lake.

Spencer on the steps to the lake that my Uncle Kelvin and cousin Lee built.

My cousin Shane and Spencer at the Evart Fire Hall.

Garrett playing with a fire hose at the Fire Hall.

Grandpa Reagan and Spencer at the circus.

James and Amy at the circus.

Garrett and Spencer playing in the Muskegon River in Big Rapids.

Garrett helping Grandpa Reagan put together a new storage box. Garrett almost put the whole thing together by himself!

Spencer and Garrett laying on the airbed while I blow it up.

Weekend in Mobile, AL

I spent last weekend near Mobile, AL at my friend, Michelle's parents beach home. 8 girls in all went on this adventure way down south. What an amazing house and beautiful location on the water. It was a very, very hot weekend even for the south - record heat well into the 100's. Even the water was hot! But we had a great time playing beach volleyball, swimming, playing card games on the patio, shopping and eating food Michelle's Mom sent along with us (southern mac and cheese, lasagna, and fried chicken). Can't wait to go again!

Las Cruces, New Mexico

is located 40 miles northwest of El Paso, TX. It is home to New Mexico State University and one of the best Mexican restaurants, La Posta. After another long day in Juarez, Mexico we ventured to Las Cruces for sight seeing and dinner. We met an elderly man downtown and he recommended eating at La Posta. He and his wife have eaten at this restaurant every Tuesday night for the past 35 years so we assumed it would be alright to eat there and he was right. It was some of the best Mexican food I have ever had and I have eaten a lot of Mexican food over the years. Plus the atmosphere at this restaurant was amazing. In the center of the restaurant it has an open roof so trees, plants and sunshine can thrive. There is also a hallway with little rooms that represent stores where they sell jewelry, clothes, pottery, food, etc. And at the end of your meal the family comes to your table to see how your meal was (grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, children, etc.). I showed off my Spanish skills at that point and talked to the grandma about the delicious tortilla soup. Of course the recipe is a family secret! A place we will return to during our business trips.

And even more sad news...

Mr. Vern Morrow past away today from a massive heart attack. Mr. Morrow was a great family friend and I will miss all of his knowledge, stories and history conversations we had especially about Detroit. I will always remember going to the theatre, symphony, Tigers and Lions games, and eating at many restaurants with him. If he rode with us to an event, we never drove directly to or from our destination as he had to educate us on something that day. He will be deeply missed.

My Grandpa Popp

past away late last night at the age of 90. He was a generous, caring and funny man. There are so many great memories I have of him and so many sayings and stories that I will never forget. Grandpa, thanks for the Lions tickets.

Alamogordo, New Mexico

While in Juarez, Mexico last week, I actually took some time to venture out and see more of the southwest. I usually don't have time to do such travel since I am extremely busy with work, but managed to get done with meetings early on this particular day. I spent a few hours in Alamogordo, New Mexico visiting the White Sands National Park and the nearby mountain range. What an amazing area and views. The white sand dunes cover about 275 square miles with wildlife and vegetation and is the largest such area of dunes in the world. Of course, I didn't have a camera to take any pictures. The change in temperature was also weird to experience. At ground level it was around 102 degrees, but up in the mountains was 72. Check out the below links to see some on-line pictures of the white sands and the mountains in the background.
http://www.sacredsites.com/americas/united_states/white_sands.html
http://www.nps.gov/whsa/

Happy Birthday America!

I spent the 4th of July in El Paso, TX and Juarez, Mexico. Needless to say I was not happy to be working on a holiday and to spend most of the day in a foreign country.

I have been blessed to meet and become friends with so many people from different cultures. It makes me appreciate where I was born and what I have. We must remember that we share a border with a third world country and every time I am in Mexico I understand why they want to come to America. For what they lack in wealth, they make up for in compassion for family and friends.

I spent the evening of July 4th in El Paso, TX with some of my Mexican friends. They did not want me to be alone on such an important day for Americans so they came across the border to spend the evening with me. We started the evening with the most important 'Ds' - drinks, dinner, dessert! After we stuffed ourselves silly, we went and watched the West El Paso fireworks in the mountains. I have always been very patriotic, but never felt so proud to be an American as I did watching the fireworks with hundreds of thousands of Mexican-Americans, who call themselves Americans. I am sure many of these people are not American born citizens and this is why they are so proud to now be Americans and live in this country. I have never seen such enthusiasm, pride, tears, and joy all at once each and every time a firework was launched. There was so much shouting, laughing, dancing, and partying. I couldn't even tell you if it was a good fireworks display or not. I spent most of the evening people watching and listening to my Mexican friends tell me how lucky I am to be an American. I ended up enjoying being in El Paso for the 4th.

I learned on this 4th of July that it is truly awesome to be an American. It doesn't matter how you received your US citizenship; the important thing is that you have it.

The Sopranos - Series Finale

I started watching The Sopranos from the beginning (I was always a week or so behind watching the episodes because I didn't have HBO. One of my US Steel co-workers at the time would tape it for me so I could watch it the next night. A few years later I finally got HBO). I was hooked right away; maybe because I have always been intrigued by 'The Mob' or 'Mafia'. I love watching those types of movies.

If you are a Sopranos fan, the series finale aired on Sunday night (and will air again and again if you missed it - do not read any further if you want to see the final episode - I don't want to ruin it for you!) and there are a lot of speculations to the ending. Here are my thoughts and what I believed happened:

He was killed....

In fact, the ending was great, if you've paid attention to the show or are just a fan of well developed, well thought out plots that all tie together, and if you have a great memory to remember it all. The ending was simple; he got killed, but let me tell you why I think this and explain in detail...

There were 3 people in the room who had a reason to kill Tony. The two black guys were paid before to kill Tony, but he was only shot in the ear (this was in one of the earlier seasons). The truck driver, who was sitting at the bar stool, was Nikki Leotardo, Phil Leotardo's nephew (he was in one of the early season episodes where Phil and Tony have a sit down).

When Tony walked in the diner, the camera focused on him, then it switched to his perspective, and you see him looking at the booth where he is going to sit down. The camera switched back to Tony's face, then it once again switched to his perspective. You then see Tony looking at the door and watching people come in to the diner.

Every time the door opens, chimes sound. Carmela walks in, chimes. AJ walks in, chimes. Then Meadow finally parks the car and starts running in to the diner. The door is about to open, Tony looks up and no chimes, no music, everything goes black (I thought my cable went out at first and I thought, "Great! Now I won't know how it ended!" Then the credits started rolling. What an awesome ending.)

In one of the early episodes of The Sopranos, Tony talks to Bobby about what it must feel like to die. Bobby said, "At the end, you probably don't hear anything. Everything just goes black." So in the end, the Journey song was playing, the chimes on the door sounded, but when Meadow came in to the diner, the guy in the trucker hat came out of the bathroom and killed Tony. The reason you didn't hear or see it happen is because it is from Tony's perspective...and everything went black.

The ending has received mixed reviews by the 11.9 million people who saw it. I will watch it again!

Alex's Lemonade Stand

What an amazing story! http://www.alexslemonade.org/

Shortly before her first birthday, Alexandra "Alex" Scott was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a form a childhood cancer. At age 4, before one of her surgeries, she told her mother that she wanted to help her doctors raise money for other cancer children. And thus began the Lemonade Stand legacy. She and other children have raised over $1 million! What impresses me most is here is a 4 year old girl who hasn't been formerly educated, but was already smart enough to figure out a way to help others. We all can learn so much from her.

San Juan Islands

During my visit with my brother's family, we spent a few days on the San Juan Islands. We took an hour ferry ride to Friday Harbor, WA on the San Juan Islands. Even though we arrived at the ferry dock 2 hours ahead of departure time, we were still put on standby for boarding the ferry. If we missed this ferry we would have to wait another 2 1/2 hours to catch the next one so we were very excited to board this ferry.

The San Juan Islands are located on the western coast of the United States in Puget Sound off the coast of WA. Victoria, BC is about 5 miles from the islands. The ferry ride was incredible as we viewed many islands and enormous homes while commenting on the beautiful blue color of the water. My pictures do not do it justice.

We visited the Whale Watch museum which was fascinating as I learned so much about the orca whales. The scientists are currently tracking 3 different pods and one of the females in the pod had a calf. We then were off to catch our boat to our whale watch tour. We saw lots of orca whales, including the calf and the oldest orca whale and she is 91 years old. Many came so close to our boat. It was amazing. A great trip!

Lighthouse at Lime Kiln Point State Park. This lighthouse is used for whale watching and whale research. We hoped to see some whales from here, but no such luck.

No whale sightings at Lime Kiln Point State Park, but I did see my first bald eagle! Amazing!

We spent about 4 hours on a whale watching tour. Saw lots of orca whales, which I wasn't expecting to see any. Trust me, there are 3 whales in this picture.

Spencer and Garrett waiting for the ferry boat to Friday Harbor.

Garrett on the ferry boat.

Spencer looking for whales on the ferry boat.

View of the islands from the ferry boat.

Friday Harbor, WA

Some More Pictures
from my trip to Seattle

I was able to see 2 of Spencer's T-ball games. Here he is ready to knock it out of the park!

Spencer, the Catcher, ready for action!

Spencer and Garrett having fun playing on the slide.

Garrett, knocking the ball out of the park, literally!

Spencer playing with his new birthday gift (an automatic baseball tee). I am not sure who had more fun, Spencer, Garrett (below) or me (not pictured)!

My Seattle Vacation

I spent a week with my brother and his family in the Pacific Northwest. I had been almost 2 years since I had visited them in Snoqualmie. I had a great time seeing everyone again and playing with Spencer and Garrett. Here are some pictures from my trip.

A clear day in Seattle allowed us to see the Olympic mountains.

A view of the downtown Seattle skyline from the Space Needle.

The famous fish throwing at Pike Place Fish Market. We enjoyed the biggest and best king crab legs I have ever had for dinner. And can't forget the world's best clam chowder and lobster bisque soups.

The Space Needle

A hard to see view of Mount Rainier (way in the background).

A Year in Review

I can't believe it has already been 1 year since I left my beloved state of Michigan and moved to the south. I've made my home in the metro Nashville area which is a new experience for me to be so close to a major city. I love having the option of going to downtown Nashville to hang out with my new friends. And Nashville has a small town feeling with big city attractions. I really like the community I selected. It is a growing area with a new library, police station, community center, mall and train depot (the four corners near my subdivision recently replaced the 4-way stop signs with an actual traffic light). I also picked this area because it is a short commute to work and the airport. Housing values continue to rise in the Nashville area with all of the business growth with Nissan and Dell.

Work has taken up a lot of my time. I actually spent 119 days away from Nashville this past year traveling to my customers in Mexico. There are some definite changes that I am still getting used to with living in the south.

• Life is a lot slower in the south. My driving habits have changed and I don't drive as fast anymore (I can't because I can't speed around the slow cars in front of me!).
• Sports are a bit different down here. The majority of southerners are into college football and basketball (in that order) and not too many follow pro sports. And of course NASCAR ranks right up there.
• No state income tax!
• High sales tax 9.25% because there is no state income tax (keeps me from shopping!).
• One of the best things about Middle Tennessee is the weather. It is sunny and warm most of the time.
• Country music - still can't get into it!
• Central Time Zone - only 1 hour difference from Eastern, but I still cannot get used to it. It seems I am always an hour late watching something on TV!
• I have great neighbors who look out for each other.

For the most part, I am happy I chose to move to the south. I can't wait to see what's in store for me as I enter my second year in middle Tennessee.

What a Storm!

I am once again on another business trip to Juarez, Mexico. The one nice thing about going to visit this particular customer is that I stay in El Paso, TX and cross the border to Juarez daily. I heard there would be storms in West Texas but I assumed storms are storms. Boy, was I wrong! It started with 65 mile per hour winds, then came the thunder and lightening. It was cool to see since it is desert and very warm so the storms are a bit different in the desert. The best part was the hail. Grape size hail fell from the sky and there was so much of it that it was hard to see through it. We watched the majority of the storm from the Concierge Lounge at the hotel then we went downstairs to gather up some hail pellets because we couldn't believe they were that big. The worst part was El Paso and Juarez then experienced flooding because the desert doesn't absorb water. In order to fully understand the magnitude of floods in Juarez is to drive there and try to dodge all of the pot holes (holes that would swallow a small child or car - no lie). When there is standing water you can't see the pot holes! What a thrill when you driving! Now I know why Hertz always gives me a dented up vehicle when I say I will be going to Mexico for the week.