WTF is up with Michigan?

Who lobbied for this law? What was the driving force behind it?

I'd like to make an insightful comment about this whole thing but I can't because my brain hits a brick wall trying to figure out who thought this was a good idea. I have a hard time believing it was a super strong childcare workers lobby...but maybe it was. This is Michigan.

Red Rooster & All My Sons

Robbin and I subscribed to Timeline Theatre. The first show of the season was Arthur Miller's All My Sons. We had tickets for Saturday and decided to make a night of it going out to dinner as well.....and justified our not going out to dinner unless to be social rule by deciding that theatre night is special. We were going to go to Erwin since Timeline provides a discount there. However, the due to the popularity of The History Boys, All My Sons was in another venue, not close to Timeline.


This provided a good excuse to try Red Rooster. I've been wanting to try more French food and unlike my previous experience in Chicago, this was exactly what I was looking for last night. To be fair, I think if the service and mood had been different, Bistro Campagne would have been just as good. We had a beet salad and mussels Provencal for appetizers. I had Salmon with Cabernet sauce and Robbin had Beef Bourguignon. The appetizers were specials for the night and they delightful. The main courses were good, but not at the level of the appetizers. So, if you go, I recommend sticking to their extensive special menu.

All My Sons....good production; looking forward to more shows. The characters of Kate and Ann were very well developed and the actresses gave strong performances. Aside from Roger Mueller as Joe, the men's performances were not as impressive....but they're barely on the stage. The season tics were $120 each which was a great bargain. It's not the Goodman or Steppenwolf and I won't see Brian Dennehy or William Peterson. I won't be starstruck, but that's not really why I go to plays.

Banana Bread

I made banana bread this morning using Chad's cinnamon applesauce instead of oil and low fat yogurt instead of milk. It's awesome. I'm bragging.

Now if only it could figure out a way to make banana bread lo calorie.

Gran Torino & Stranger in a Strange Land

So, I didn't actually know Gran Tarino was a car. I had decided it was a neighborhood in L.A.

It's not. The movie takes place in Detroit. It is both good and bad. If they would have cut out 1 scene with the preist and the cops at the gangbangers house I would feel much warmer about this movie.

Stranger. Strange. Only inertia kept me reading once we entered the scientology - orgy like church stuff. The first third was really fascinating; but the major focus on sex was a huge intellectual turn off.

Dinner

Homemade
Sweet Potato Fries
Grilled Onions
Burgers

Probably should have had something green; but I'm satisfied.

Remember Me?

By: Sophie Kinsella

Very fluffy...which doesn't necessarily mean bad. But the entire time I kept thinking it would be a Lifetime Movie of the Week. The husband is too much of a caricature but some of the other characters are more subtle and real. Good beach read.

Honeymoon - Part 1.

On suggestion of my friend Chris, I am starting up the blog again with some honeymoon talk. We flew into Liberia on Monday and had a rough hired car ride to our hotel in Arenal, Volcano Lodge. The roads are up and down and wind around a bunch. When we got to the hotel, Robbin was ready to lie down for awhile....which sort of annoyed me because I was ready to plan the rest of our days in Arenal and eat. We eventually went to happy hour, had a few drinks & chips with the best guac I have ever had and planned the next few days. Volcano Lodge was wonderful. The scenery was great, we had a direct view of the volcano and a garden off of the porch of our bungalow with colorful flowers. The staff were exteremly friendly and anxious to assist. And for someone who knows about 3 words of Spanish, I really appreciated their knowledge of English. We spent all of the next day with Sergio, our guide for 3 separate private tours of the Hanging Bridges, Fortuna Waterfall, and the Volcano. The Hanging Bridges provided a great view and interesting overview of the wildlife. Sergio shared his vast knowledge of the floral and fauna; which he taught himself through books and learned the English words as he went. We took a dip at the foot of the waterfall but failed to get any good pictures.... On the volcano hike we only saw white and grey ash out of the volcano and the rock lava of some of the more recent eruptions. On that hike there was also a full tree of Tucans who we watched for quite some time hoping at least one would come closer; but we had no such luck. We finished the night at a resort with Natural Hotsprings. And they had a waterslide. That sounds like an odd combination but it really worked. I think I went down the slide 4 times. Click on the link below for the pics.

Honeymoon Pics - Day 1