Being Pen-sive

I'm having a blast watching the Stanley Cup Finals (On NBC in the US, CBC in Canada)... It has been a hoot hearing from some of the Burgers from the steel city. They are convinced that the Penguins are going to come back and win this... I just keep my peace and enjoy watching the series. I hope the Wings wrap things up soon... lol
Other than the sports stuff, not much is going on in my world. Lou is doing better and is supposed to be released from nursing home rehab place on Sunday or Monday. Terri had chemo a couple of days ago and is trying to bounce back. She still is fighting. I don't know how she does it. She is so much braver and stronger than her little brother. I'm not saying that to put myself down, just pointing out obvious facts. Namely she's had to fight this battle on her own, most of the time. She has to try and take care of Lou when Lou is at the house. And Terri somehow is able to do it... I sit in amazement of her. She handles adversity a whole lot better than anyone else I know.

(Death) March of the Penguins.... GO WINGS!!!

Okay, just so you know, this entry is a sports entry about the Stanley Cup hockey finals (best of 7)... I am a HUGE Detroit Redwings fan and they are playing the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Cup. I don't like Pittsburgh period. For anything at all... can't stand the Penguins, hate the Steelers, feel embarrassed for the Pirates and am not much for the city as a whole. One of my best friends lives there (and he's from Michigan no less) and we refer to the citizens of Pittsburgh as... well, "burgers" I can't think of a much better way to put it. They think they've already got the Stanley Cup won and are planning for the parade because they have the young phenom Sidney Crosby in their lineup and are supposedly going to dominate. I just smile when I think about it... and then to take things to a mean extreme, the Detroit Free Press has a little game you can play on their website called "Whack The Penguin" that is an absolute hoot. Go check it out by clicking here ... But for those of you that think somehow that it's a mean game because it involes whacking a penguin (for distance, not to kill) I understand if you pass on it. It's not an anti-animal game but rather a anti-Pittsburgh game.... getting ready for the Stanley Cup finals... Now if you decide to go and give it a few whacks, let me know how far you were able to whack the penguin... My best so far is 322.9

My (Much) Better Half...

Hey y'all,
I hope you had a decent weekend. Or at least tried to. Me, I got to spend a little quality time with the gal pal. Always a treat for me... We had fun together. I think the reason our relationship is so successful, is because even though we are both crazy about each other, we don't get to see each other all of the time. So the thing we focus on the most when we are together, is each other. Even though she isn't 100% healthy, she is constantly giving me her attention and is far more worried about what's going on with me than I am about myself. Me, I don't think at all about myself when I'm with her. My sole focus is on her. And all this time later, we haven't changed in that behavior. In the beginning, sure the physical attraction to her was great. (okay, it still is... I'm a GUY after all...lol). But as time has passed, the passion and desire goes to what's in the heart and soul. I am amazed over and over again by what I see and feel when I look at her. I went with her to PT and watched her work out. I saw the effort she put into her session and I could see the grit and determination in her face. She made me realize how much I take things for granted without saying one word or even knowing that she was teaching me. All of this was going through my head and in typical fashion, when I told her how proud I was of her effort, she completely downplayed what she was doing. “It's no big deal”. Well, to me it was. It really was. Because sometimes when I am feeling tired or just blah because of work or other areas in my life outside of her, I look at her and I get an instant attitude adjustment. She is younger than I am, but I look up to her... She inspires me more than anyone I know on this earth. Geez, after reading this, you'd think I was in love with the woman or something...lol.. (hint: the worst kept secret on the planet: yes I am)

What? More Cornball Humor? Here's Another One

Thanks to my friend Judy for the email that had this joke. Another oldie but it's still pretty funny today...

An old man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his tomato garden, but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Vincent, I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me. Love, Pop

A few days later, he received a letter from his son:

Dear Pop,
Not worry for nothing, but don't dig up that garden. That's where I buried the BODIES.Love, Vinnie

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son:

Dear Pop, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances. Love, Vinnie

Toilet (?) Humor... ;)

Oldie but a Goodie.... have a good day y'all... ;)

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would remove them, and the next day the girls would put them back.
Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses).
To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required.
He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

The Song Remains The Same (my apologies to Led Zep)

Hi kids....
More insanity rules the roost here in Mik-world... Things are crazy with the girls again as Lou is back in the hospital. For a while, the doctors thought she might be on the road to losing the other foot, but she's doing better and responding to treatment. It's a catch 22 situation for her... She needs to work on her activity level to continue to remain mobile so they want her to do lots more physical therapy. But the docs don't want her standing up for the next couple of weeks in order to allow the wound on her foot to heal. She's healing up and will have to go for a couple of weeks of in-patient PT rehab. I'm not glad she's there but it will give Terri a break. Terri had chemo a couple of days ago and part of the process is that she's supposed to rest and allow things to work inside of her... Of course, the operative words there are "supposed to"... But she's doing what she can to battle this disease so I keep hoping the chemo will help and as for what may happen, I'll leave it up to God.

Twinbill Doubleheader (and we're not talking baseball)

I had a fun time talking to one of my childhood friends, Bill, who lives out in Southern California. Bill and I have known each other since 2nd grade and the funny part is that we weren't good friends in grade school. We didn't particularly like each other very much. As we got older and played baseball, we were polite to each other since we had some of the same friends we were tight with. In high school, we didn't see each other much till about junior year. Then we came across each other again because of mutual friends. And this time, we discovered we had a similar interest... music. We really hit it off because of musical tastes and especially after graduation. We and a couple of other friends spent all kinds of time together, going to concerts, partying, y'know... all the crazy stuff you do in your youth. Well, after a while, Bill got the itch to move out to California. That was about 20 years ago. Bill went to work and made some friends and ended up recently getting married (for the 1st time) out there to a girl a bit younger than him. Of course, the warm, caring, sensitive, supportive friends he has back in Ohio had to express ourselves the only way we know how. I think the nicest thing we said to him was "gee Bill, just think, in August, you can take her shopping for all of the 'back to school' sales...woo-hoo".... Well, she's not THAT much younger than him, but you get the idea of our relationships. Yesterday, Bill's mom calls me. She is just going bananas because finally.... finally. Bill and his wife are expecting. Then I call out to California to give Bill some crap for the fun of it, and then of course he has this stunned shock in his voice.... they're expecting twins. Oops. He was freaking out especially since twins don't run in either family. I was the second buddy to call him out there to congratulate him. Robert was the first and told him that the since his wife was expecting that when she goes to buy diapers, she won't feel so awkward about buying diapers for THREE... I laughed my butt off... Poor Bill. A first time dad at the age of 45... with twins? Bill doesn't stand a chance... they'll bring him to his knees in no time flat.... I can't wait!