After a lot of serious looking for the past few months, we are putting an offer in on a property in Westland. They are asking $140K, but with the market analysis we feel that price is high, so we are going to offer $125K and keep our fingers crossed. It’s a nice two-story 3 bedroom (more like 2.5, one is small and has no closet), 1.5 bath with a 2 car attached garage and a full basement. Everything we were looking for. In addition there is another garage in the back that apparently used to be the owner’s late husband’s work shop. This will come in real handy for storing the motorcycle and lawn stuff so we don’t lose garage space. Now we wait and see…
Category Archives: Ed
The Final Straw (for the apartment)
Once again I have found damage on the motorcycle. Came home real early this morning from a night out at a friends place and as we pulled in the lights panned across the bike… on the ground, on it’s side. This makes almost exactly one year to the day since the last time the bike was damaged. This time it looks like someone may have actually sat on the bike and tried to move it, judging by how far forward it was when I picked it up. The police officer who came to take the report also feels that was the case. So we aren’t sure if it was a failed attempt at trying to steal it, or just someone being stupid. Either way, there is a good amount of damage. The throttle grip is cracked all the way through the throttle tube along with some scratches to the mirror and floorboards. This is the final straw for me, it’s time to move, time to get our own place. We’ve been looking for the past few years, but now that we are married I think we really need to get out of here. Well, guess I’ll need to have repairs done.
Mom’s Last Full Day
Seeing as today is the last full day that Mom will be in town, I decided to keep Kylie home from school so she could spend the day with Nana. We went out to Little Daddy’s with Tracey and the girls (Julian couldn’t make it) for lunch and then took the kids to play at Bishop Park. The weather started to get bad so we decided to cut the park and visit short and go to the mall so I could pick Mom up some headphones for her new Kindle Fire, and we get stuck in shelter due to a tornado warning! I had never had that happen before and it was an interesting experience that I don’t really want to repeat. Luckily we weren’t in there too long and were able to go get what we came for. Kylie was a little upset when it was time for her to go back to Tiffany’s house, but seeing as Mom needs to be at the airport early to make sure she gets through all the checkpoints for her flight, I can’t justify keeping Kylie out of school again. Afterwards we went back home to relax and spend the few last hours with Mom before she heads back to NY in the morning.
A Very Special Mother’s Day
This Mother’s Day is a little more special for me as it is the first year in at least 14 that I have been able to spend with my Mother. Thankfully she was able to come out for our wedding and stay a couple of extra days, thus allowing me this rare opportunity that I am very thankful to have. I always call and send a card but the distance has always prevented us from being together. I think that was one of the hardest realities of growing up and pursuing my life, having to leave those I love and pursue that life elsewhere. Regardless of this, I am blessed because my Mother has always supported me and offered her guidance and support, even over the miles that separate us. Thank you Mom, for everything you have done for me over the years, for being there for me, and always loving me. I am so happy and thankful to be able to be with you today. Happy Mother’s Day!
Husband and Wife
I am very happy to announce that today was a great success! It took a log time to happen, and many (including myself!) 
never thought it would happen, but today Melissa and I are finally husband and wife. The weather was beautiful (though a little windy) and Melissa was even more beautiful! The ceremony went off without a hitch and I was blessed to have my beautiful daughter, Kylie, participate in the ceremony. Additionally, my mother was able to come out from NY to join us for this celebration, and that means more to me than I can express. It was a small personal ceremony and we are very grateful that we were able to have the ceremony on the campus of the university where we met. Afterward everyone went over to Tower Inn to celebrate with us. The ceremony and reception were small and lovely, just like we wanted. While we both would have loved to invite more people to be with us today, we ultimately choose to keep it small and personal both for financial reasons and because planning anything larger was really causing us emotional stress. We are very happy with how everything turned out, and thank everyone for their participation, gifts, thoughts, time and well wishes! Photos from the day can be found here.
Rehearsal Night
Tonight was the rehearsal for tomorrow’s big event, and I am happy to say that it all went quite well. We first brought everyone who is going to be in the wedding (and their families) out to dinner at a local Asian Buffet. Everyone seemed to really enjoy dinner and because it was a buffet everyone certainly had their fill. Afterwards we all went over to EMU’s boat house so we could rehearse for tomorrow’s event. The rehearsal went smooth and we are looking forward to tomorrow.
Another Birthday
Happy Birthday Melissa!!
Tonight we went to dinner at Outback (Melissa’s choice) to celebrate and enjoy an evening out. I also surprised her with an Open Hearts necklace from Kay’s that she had been eyeing for a while now. Unfortunately because her birthday landed on a monday this year we really didn’t have anything large planned. Besides, all of our focus has been on the upcoming wedding. It was still nice to have a night out, even if it was only a couple of hours.
Daddy-Daughter Date Night
Tonight I surprised Kylie by showing up after work and taking her out to dinner. I didn’t get to see Kylie last weekend and I won’t see her this weekend either, because she is spending both weekends with Mommy. This week Mommy is out of town with Mimi, Aunt Sissy, and a few others enjoying a cruise for Mimi’s birthday and Neil has taken the week off to watch her and make sure she gets to school. Seeing that I missed her very much I arranged this little surprise with Neil. So when I knocked on the door and entered Kylie was very surprised and happy to see me. She yelled “Daddy!!” and ran to me with a big hug. She asked what I was doing there and I said “I am taking you to dinner, anywhere you want to go.” As I expected she choose Texas Roadhouse, and off we went. After we both enjoyed a nice meal and some very nice quality time we headed back home. On the way back she asked if we could get a McFlurry from McDonald’s for dessert, so we made a detour and each had a snack sized one and talked some more. Afterwards I brought her back to Mommy and Neil’s and came home. It was a very nice dinner and I enjoyed spending some much needed Daddy-Daughter time. I hope when she is older, she will look back and enjoy these memories as much as I do. Daddy loves you Kylie, whole bunches forever.
Engagement Photos Done
Melissa and I finally got around to having Engagement Photos taken today. The pictures were taken at a few locations around the area by Sarah Sturgill of Captured Moments Photography. She has done pictures for us in the past and so we are confident that the pictures will turn out great. I have to admit, having the pictures taken was a lot more fun than I anticipated. There are few non-self taken pictures of Melissa and I as one of us is usually behind the camera, so I find that I am anxious to see, and have, pictures of us together. Sarah will also be taking the pictures at the wedding, so this will also give us an idea of what we can expect from that as well.
Predators of Today
Today we went to our local district library for a presentation on present day Predators and Prey. The presentation ended up being a series of activities that we were all able to participate in preceded by a short talk about how all organisms interact with each other to create an interconnected web we call the ecosystem. There were three activities that we all took part in, mainly helping Kylie through them as they were mini science type experiments. One was designed to show the various impacts that humans and animals have on our environment and those of each other. The second was a mock dissection of various types of fish and the types of things we would find in them including different chemical elements that humans have introduced into nature that end up in the fish. The last one, and by far Kylie’s most favorite, was the dismemberment of a real owl pellet (the regurgitated non digestible portion of an owl’s meal). During this activity Kylie discovered the remains of an entire Shrew skull in her pellet and thought that was pretty amazing. The lecture and activities were presented by a member of the University of Michigan’s Museum of Natural history, which we found ironic as we just visited there two weeks ago. It was an interesting and engaging few hours and we look forward to attending other such seminars and workshops.