THINK PINK!

It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

We've come a long way in the fight against Breast Cancer.  When I was growing up, you never heard about breast cancer.  I knew nothing about it.  But I was soon to find out a lot about it when my mother got it in 1964.  

Back then she had a mastectomy where her left breast was removed and the lymph nodes under her left arm were removed. Then she went to have Cobalt treatments.  She survived, which at that time was a miracle. She lived another 37 years and the cancer did come back in her lung and brain before she passed away.  But she lived to be 87. A good long life.  

Fast forward to 1993.  First of all, I want to say that my mother was in a car accident before she got cancer. A driver ran a red light and hit her.  She was bruised up, but otherwise fine. In the fall of 1993 I was driving home from my second job at 11 PM on I-95 when a drunk driver going northbound in the southbound lanes hits me.  I am bruised up but otherwise fine.  I was more upset about my car that I had just bought 6 weeks earlier!  

The following spring I had this nagging thought telling me to go get a mammogram.  To this day I swear it was an angel nagging me.  It was a stressful time then as my dad had been in the hospital for almost 3 months and with 4 children, 2 jobs and running back and forth to Gainesville to bring my mom to see him, it can wear on you.  I had my mammogram and was told that they saw something suspicious in my right breast and wanted to do a lumpectomy.  Following the minor surgery, the doctor told my husband that it look good and he didn't think it was cancer.  Well he was wrong!  It was cancer.  So they schedule another lumpectomy to make sure they got it all.  I then had 25 radiation treatments.  Since we had caught it so early, I did not have to have chemo. I was thankful for that.  

Did you notice anything in my story?  Both my mom and I were in a car accident.  After each accident, we both got breast cancer. My cancer was located right where the seat belt went across my body. Could that seat belt have caused my cancer?  I don't believe so, but I think it just helped start "the ball rolling".  I am so thankful that my little angel nagged me.  My mom and I were around the same age when we got breast cancer.  She was a survivor and I am a survivor going on 20 years next May.  God was looking over both of us.

We have a daughter.  I would be lying if I didn't admit that I worry about her.  Hopefully she won't follow in my mom's or my footsteps.  She has already started getting her mammograms because of our history.  But I believe they say to start getting your mammograms at 40.  Don't ever, ever put off getting a mammogram.  It could save your life! 

As Always,

Marilyn

 

GO BLUE!

Do you know who this is?  No!  Why it is the University of Michigan!  In our family we are all "Wolverines". Oops!  There is one daughter-in-law who is a Gator (University of Florida). We don't hold that against her. The rest of us including our other daughter-in-law were all born in Michigan and are Michigan fans!

There are some very famous people who went to the University of Michigan.  And they played football for the Wolverines.  Do you know who this is?

President Gerald R. Ford

He was one of the nicest presidents in my opinion.  Of course, I am prejudice as he is from Grand Rapids, Michigan, which was 35 miles east of our home town.

Bo Schembechler

This is my favorite coach of the Michigan Wolverines.  They called him BO.  Back when he was the coach, Woody Hayes was the coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes.  Michigan and Ohio State is probably the most popular of rivalries.  When Bo and Woody were coaches, the games between the two schools were Awesome!  Bo used to be an assistant coach under Woody at Ohio State before he became the head coach at Michigan.  To this day, the meeting between Michigan and Ohio State is "The Game".  It is always the last game of the regular season for both teams. This is the game we Wolverines wait for all year!  Michigan is the leader in this series with Ohio State with 56 Wins, 37 Losses, and 6 Ties!  Woohoo, GO BLUE!!!

BO & Woody

Here are some Michigan Wolverines that have gone onto play in the NFL.

                                                     

                                                            

Charles Woodson who is now with the Green Bay Packers.

Tom Brady who is with the New England Patriots.

Brian Griese went onto play for my "DA BEARS"!

Jim Harbaugh is now the head coach for the San Francisco Giants.

Denard Robinson (Florida Native) now plays for the Jacksonville Jaquars.

Desmond Howard won the Heisman Trophy in the early nineties. He went onto play for the Washington Redskins, the Jacksonville Jaquars, the Green Bay Packers, and the Oakland Raiders.  While with the Green Bay Packers, he ran a 99 yard return in the 1997 Super Bowl where the Packers won.  He became the fourth player to win a Heisman Trophy and the Super Bowl MVP Award in history at that time.

Desmond Howard

The University of Michigan Football Stadium

Did you know that the U of M Football Stadium is the largest college stadium?  It seats over 107,000 football fans.  That is HUGE!

So, again, as you can see I am a huge football fan!  In the fall you will see me carrying my U of M purse and wearing my U of M earrings on Saturday and my Chicago Bears earrings on Sunday.  I have even worn one Michigan earring and one Bears earring.  I love my Wolverines and my "DA BEARS"!

And one more thing.  The best fight songs ever are "Hail to the Victors" followed by "Bear Down Chicago Bears".  Enjoy your football season!

As Always,

Marilyn

"DA BEARS"!

Football season!  Yes, I love football.  "DA BEARS" from Chicago is my favorite team!

Remember, in my previous blogs I told you that I LOVE Pinterest.  I have several "boards" on Pinterest. One of my boards is titled "DA BEARS".

On Pinterest you can follow other people and they can follow you and your "boards".  I have to say that the board that I have that is followed the most or that people "pin" pictures off of the most,  is my board "DA BEARS".  I cannot believe how many people have pinned pictures off it.  Every time I find and add new pictures to it, those pictures are going onto other boards.  It blows me away!

Of course, my favorite year for the Bears was 1985.  They went onto win the Super Bowl in 1986.  What a team and my favorite "BEAR" of all time was Sweetness.  Sweetness was the nickname of Walter Payton, number 34.  What a player!  And his nickname said it all!  He was the sweetest guy ever!

Walter "Sweetness" Payton

My other favorite Chicago Bear was Jim McMahon.  He was the quarterback for the Super Bowl Bears. He was always the one who liked to "fight the system".  He used to wear head bands.  The NFL told him he could not wear any that had name brands on them.  So he wore them and put different names on them.

  This head band says PLUTO.

My two favorite BEARS!

I just LOVE this picture of Jim and Walter!

The coach of this winning Super Bowl Team was Mike Ditka.  What a coach!  I have a football that is signed by Coach Ditka.  Have to tell you that one Christmas I caught our two oldest boys out in the yard tossing the football back and forth.  What?  Noooooooooooo! I was a little bit upset!  You don't play with that football!

 Coach Mike Ditka, William "Refrigerator" Perry and Walter "Sweetness" Payton

                "DA BEARS" doing the Super Bowl Shuffle

Now the guys on the Super Bowl Chicago Bears made a record. One of the songs was called "The Super Bowl Shuffle". We own this album and will not part with it.

This year the Chicago Bears  have a brand new coach.  Hoping they can soon repeat history and win the Super Bowl again!

   
As Always,

Marilyn

My Addiction to Pinterest!

One Pinterest Idea 

Remember from a blog that I did last month I told you I was addicted to Pinterest?  Well, have you checked it out yet?  No!  You definitely need to check it out.

One of the ideas I found on Pinterest was how to lay mulch and keep the weeds out.  Well let me tell you, I was all over that article. My biggest pet peeve is laying mulch down and then a week later, weeds coming up through the mulch!  We have bought the mulch that is supposed to keep the weeds away for six months.  Yeah, right!  Doesn't work.  We have tried the black "screening" material that we laid down and put the mulch over it. The weeds still find a way to come up through it!  

So a couple months ago I found this article on Pinterest that says lay newspaper down around your plants first and put the mulch over the newspaper.  It will take 18 months for the paper to "dissolve" and by that time any weeds or grass seeds will die.  So we tried it.  Of course try to pick a day to do this when it isn't windy.  It was a little windy the day we did this, so it was a challenge to lay the newspaper down and get the mulch on it before the newspaper blew away.  I am sure the neighbors had fun watching my husband and I tackle this job!  It has been one month since we laid the mulch down and no weeds!!  So far, so good!

Another Pinterest Idea 

My husband and I decided we would paint the outside of our house!  We figured if we took our time and did one side of the house at a time, we could do it. It took us three days over a week (about 10 hours) to paint the house.  It was a job, but by not painting every day and spreading it over a week helped.  As you can see above I found another idea on Pinterest.  You take a rubber band and spread it over the middle of you pail and then you use the rubber band instead of the sides of the pail to remove excess paint each time you dip the paint brush in the pail. This helped with not getting paint on the sides of the pail and then it dripping down the outside of the pail.  I did the detail brushing around the windows, doors, etc. while my husband rolled the paint on the stucco.  We bought this great paint at Lowe's that is made for contractors and it is supposed to last 15 years.  It is a semi-gloss paint and it really turned out great and looks good.  My hubby and I both agree that we won't be painting the house next time!

So if you haven't checked out Pinterest yet, why don't you give it a try.  I am pretty sure you will like it and may get addicted like me!

As Always,

Marilyn

CELEBRATE!

My dear friend, Kristine, over at The Foley Fam - Unedited, is celebrating her 2-year anniversary of her blog. She is giving away prizes. Check her blog out and enter to win. Plus check out the other fine blogs below. Good Luck!!!

Much Love, Illy :: Chasing Zoie :: Messy Dirty Hair :: Nonsense Things :: Absolute Mommy :: Shaping Up To Be a Mom :: Big Apple Mami :: Mal Smiles :: Homegrown and Healthy :: Her and Nicole :: Always Chasing Life :: CozyCountryLiving :: Gift Bags N More :: My Life of Travels and Adventures

 

Please note: there is only ONE mandatory entry in the Rafflecopter below.
The other entries are optional. 
You'll want to complete them all because these ladies are worth getting to know, and a bonus it increases your chances of winning! Click here to view The Foley Fam official rules. Good luck buttercups!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Enter to win Blogiversary #2 worth over $200 in prizes here, and
Blogiversary #1 for a $50 Target Gift Card here

PINTEREST - I AM ADDICTED!

Is anyone else addicted to Pinterest like me?  Come on, be honest. I know there are a lot of you out there that LOVE Pinterest!

So today, I am on Pinterest browsing and come across a picture of a shop, Fortino's, from my hometown of Grand Haven, Michigan.  I couldn't believe it!  My hometown on Pinterest?  So I did a search. I put in Grand Haven and hundreds of boards (pictures) came up. So, of course, I had to set up a new board on my Pinterest account titled "My Hometown".  I went down memory lane looking at all the boards.  It was great!

Grand Haven is probably best known for being Coast Guard City USA!  Every year, over the first weekend of August, the Coast Guard Festival is held.  A carnival, parade, craft show and an enormous fireworks show is held.  Coast Guard ships come into the harbor and you can tour them.  

This is a huge sand dune across the harbor that has the world's largest musical fountain.

During WWII, the Coast Guard ship Escanaba that was stationed in Grand Haven, was sunk by an enemy torpedo in the Atlantic. There were only two survivors. All that remains today of the Escanaba is her rigged mast, her lifeboat, and a few other items, which are part of the memorial park in Grand Haven.

The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw sailing into Grand Haven for the Coast Guard Festival.

I mentioned World's Largest Musical Fountain?  Here it is.  It plays every night during the summer around dusk.  It is a beautiful sight to see.

Beautiful!!!

Grand Haven has been picked as one of the top secret beaches in the U.S.  I love the pier and lighthouse.  Grand Haven does have one of the best beaches in Michigan in my opinion.

Absolutely Beautiful on Lake Michigan!

Grand Haven is also known for PIZZA!  Now here is where my hubby and I differ.  There are two great hometown pizzerias in Grand Haven.  One is Fricano's Pizza and the other is Clover Bar Pizza.  

This is my favorite hometown pizza.

Clover Bar is my favorite pizza place.  TJ and his brother, Steve, own it.  No matter how many years it has been between visits, when TJ sees me walk in the door he knows what drink to make for me.  It is a Singapore Sling.  I drink one nowhere else but Clover Bar!  And their pizza is absolutely AWESOME!!

This is my hubby's favorite hometown pizza, Fricano's.

Fricano's has been around since 1949 in Grand Haven. See them lined up waiting to get in?  A regular site at Fricano's.  The pizza is good!!!

My hometown has the BEST Pronto Pups EVER!!  What is a Pronto Pup you ask?  It is similar to a corn dog, but you cannot compare them.  A Pronto Pup is by far the BEST!  

Don't these look good?

Have you ever heard of Story & Clark pianos?  These pianos were Made in America for years and years.  Story & Clark had piano factory in Grand Haven from 1900 to 1984.  Today the Story & Clark factory has been converted into condos, retail shops & offices.

This is what is left of the Story & Clark smoke stack.  The condos are in the background. 

This is one of the Story & Clark buildings turned into retail shops & offices.

These are just a few of the things of interest in my hometown, Grand Haven, Michigan.  We moved to Florida in 1985 and we love it here because of the weather.  But we do love to go back to visit our hometown whenever we can.

Thank you for touring my hometown with me.  I hope you learned some things.  And if you are ever in Michigan and driving up US 31 on the western shore of Michigan, stop in and take in the sites of Grand Haven.  Grand Haven is located on Lake Michigan due west of Grand Rapids.

As Always,

Marilyn

SO GLAD!!!!!

I am so glad to be back home in Florida!  Don't get me wrong, I like Maine, but weather wise Florida is for me!  You can ride your Harley all year around for one thing.  Yes, it does get hot and humid during the summer, but you can cool off a lot faster in air conditioning than you can warm up in a heated home! That's my story and I am sticking to it!

I was in Maine to work at the New England Made Gift Show.  I was with Mr. Moose Mills.  He was glad I came up to his neck of the woods.  He is always visiting me down in Florida, so this time I went up to New England.  The show was great and we sold a lot of Moose Mills Products!

I had the opportunity to see some of Maine as I had to travel an hour north of Portland to visit a customer.  I went through some beautiful New England towns.  The drive along US 1 was beautiful. Since US 1 is the same as US 1 in Florida, it would be so neat to travel up US 1 from Daytona Beach to Portland, Maine and even further north.  Especially on a motorcycle!

Wiscasset, Maine

A church in Wiscasset, Maine

On my drive back from Newcastle to Portland, I drove through the beautiful town of Wiscasset.  I stopped into one of the stores which was absolutely full of collectibles.  The church up on the hill as I drove out of town was so beautiful that I had to take a picture.  Typical New England!  Loved it!

I also drove through Bath.  I believe that is where I saw the ship building yards as I crossed the bridge.  I even saw a fisherman fishing in the water as I crossed one of the bridges.  I told myself that no one would believe me if I told them there was someone fishing in the middle of March.  

That night on the Portland, Maine news they were talking about Elver.  My ears perked up as they said they were fishing for elver. (Boat with fisherman I saw?  Maybe my answer?)  I am not a fisherman, but with my dad being a die hard fisherman in Michigan, I do know about different types of fish.  But an Elver????  They are small transparent looking eels.  This supposedly is very big in Maine in March.  These little eels are worth a lot of money!  I believe they reported $2,000 a pound!  Wow! Who knew!  I learn something new all the time.

I had another customer in Old Orchard Beach, Maine to visit.  This is a small town right on the Atlantic Ocean south of Portland.  Only a few stores were open as this is a tourist town.  It must be "hopping" during the summer.

The Pier in Old Orchard Beach, Maine

The rest of The Pier going over the Atlantic Ocean

Someday it would be nice to visit Old Orchard Beach during the summer.  There are so many nice towns up and down the coast of Maine.

Big Moose Harley Davidson in Portland, Maine

And I could not visit Portland without going to the Harley Davidson Dealer.  I never got a chance to go there last year, so I made it a point to stop by this year.  And come to find out it was just down the road from my hotel.  Look at how big that moose is!  He was huge!  

So I am keeping very busy and I like it that way.  I feel it is the only way to stay young!

As Always,

Marilyn

TIME FLIES!!!

They say time flies the older you get.  And I have to agree with them.  Wasn't it just Christmas a little while ago?  And here it is March already!  Soon it will be St. Paddy's Day!!  Very soon!!

 

Speed Weeks in Daytona have come and gone.  Loved the races.  The Daytona 500 was good this year.  At least it didn't rain like last year!

Now it is Bike Week in Daytona.  They say around 500,000 bikers will make their way to Daytona this year.  All the more reason that the hubby and I will probably not ride as much right now.  We have been out twice so far and probably will go out once more when it WARMS UP!!!  Supposed to be near 80 on Saturday, so maybe we will venture out again.  Have to show you this bike we saw up at Destination Daytona last Friday.  It had Indiana plates on it, but I sure hope he didn't ride it down here.  But, maybe he did!

To each his own, I always say! 





Next week I leave for the state of Maine!  I will be on business and working a gift show in Portland, Maine.  I will be working with Mr. Moose Mills.  He is so happy that I am coming up to his neck of the woods.  I need to dig out a lot of warm clothing!  I am looking forward to it, but not looking forward to the cold weather!   Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Enjoy your St. Paddy's Day!

As Always,

Marilyn

                      

                                                  

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???

Someone upset the Nascar guys this past Sunday!  Danica Patrick is the FIRST woman ever to take the pole for the Daytona 500! She will be starting FIRST in the Daytona 500 this coming Sunday.

I think it is AWESOME!  It's about time that a woman is first in the Daytona 500.  This race is the "Super Bowl" of racing.  It's a BIG DEAL!!

If you follow twitter, there are a lot of people out there that don't like Danica.  Why?  Who knows.  Probably because she gets mad when somebody hits her in a race, damages her car and sometimes puts her out of the race.  It happens to the guys and don't think they don't get mad!  We were at the Nascar Bristol race last August, and witnessed Tony Stewart throwing his helmet at Matt Kenseth as Matt came out of the pits. Tony was mad because he felt Matt wrecked him.  Tony's helmet hit Matt's car.  It bounced off Matt's car and Matt continued to race.  Guys get mad when they get hit, so why can't Danica get mad?  It is no different!

I have seen Danica have "attitude" at times.  But I have also seen many guys have "attitude".  The late Davey Allison and the late Dale Earnhardt, Sr. got mad and had attitude at times.  Tony Stewart was known for his temper for a long time.  But since he has become an owner/driver, he has calmed down a lot.  That incident of throwing his helmet at Matt was the first time I saw him that mad in a few years.  The "Bad Boy" this last year was Kurt Busch.  Hopefully this year Kurt has calmed down.

Every sport has their guys with attitude, tempers, etc.  I think a lot of people like that.  It makes the sport interesting!

What I love about Nascar is that the drivers are very accessible.  In my opinion, this sport is Number One when it comes to the drivers interacting with their fans. There are a lot of drivers who are on Twitter that  talk to you.  Brad Keslowski is number one in interacting with his fans on Twitter.  He is famous for talking on Twitter during the red flag stop of the Daytona 500 last year.

So back to Danica.  I am happy that she took the pole for Sunday's race.  I hope that Danica does well this year as she will be racing full time.  Her boss?  Why it is none other than Tony Stewart!  He sees something in her racing skills and he is a good judge.  I have to say that Tony is probably one of the best drivers in all kinds of racing.  He is always racing.  Whether it is Nascar racing, dirt track racing or Indy racing.

So Danica, I wish you nothing but the best.  Go out and WIN the Daytona 500 and shut those naysayers up!  Make us women PROUD!!!


As Always,
Marilyn

IT'S ALMOST TIME!

Can you hear them?  No?  Well, neither can I.......yet!  But 10 more days and the BOYS will be in town!!  Who are the boys you say?  Why the NASCAR boys!!  When they are in Daytona, you can hear them going around the track from our house and we are 8 miles away! 

As I have mentioned before, I was born and raised in Michigan.  Up there we never heard very much about the good old boys in the South that raced cars.  When I knew we were going to move to Florida, I decided to watch the Daytona 500 that year.  It was 1985 and Bill Elliott won the race.  I kind of liked watching the race, but I still didn't know a lot about racing.  Well, that was about to change for me.

We moved down here in August of 1985.  During December and January they had testing at the Daytona track and you could go sit in the stands for free and watch the drivers test their cars. Only a few cars went out on the track at a time. I fell in love with hearing the cars roar by. 

The following February, my friend took me to the local bowling alley to see the Nascar boys bowl in a charity event.  I saw and met a lot of drivers.  Richard Petty, Terry LaBonte, Alan Kulwicki, Tim Richmond, and Neil Bonnett just to name a few.  I got pictures and autographs.  I have to say that Neil Bonnett was the nicest and he became my favorite driver.  Unfortunately, he crashed here at Daytona testing a car for Dale Earnhardt Sr and he died as a result of that crash.

We went to see our first Daytona 500 in February 1986.  It was neat hearing a few cars go around the track. but someone told me to wait until I hear 43 cars start their engines.  They were right, it gave me goose bumps and it was LOUD!!  I was "hooked"!!

Since then my hubby and I have gone to several Nascar races.  We have been to Atlanta, Richmond, Darlington, Bristol, Indy, Charlotte, Las Vegas and Michigan to see them race.  My favorite track other than Daytona is Bristol.  Bristol at night in August is the BEST race in my opinion. 

We go up to North Carolina a lot every year and we love to visit all the race shops.  My favorite driver is Dale Jr.  We have been to his shop several times.  A couple years ago we met his dog, Killer, at Dale's shop. We walked into the lobby of JR Motorsports and there he was lying on the couch.  He let me have a picture taken with him.  So laid back!  Doesn't fit his name at all!

 

Here is a picture of me and Dale Jr!  The first time I saw him as I walked into his shop, I thought "Really, he is here?".  But as you get closer you can see he is not real.  But I think he looks pretty close to real!

 

 

So soon we will be heading to Daytona for the races.  The Dual Races on Thursday before the Daytona 500 are my favorite.  They race in the Duals to qualify to be in the Daytona 500.  I am "hooked" and  "hooked" good.  But I wouldn't have it any other way.................

 

 

As Always,

Marilyn



 







Memories!

I have been busy lately cleaning.  I do NOT love to clean, but it is a neccesity.  I don't want to live in clutter and dirt.

I decided the other day to tackle a closet in the spare bedroom which is no longer a bedroom, but my office.  I have to share it with my husband as he likes to get on his computer and look at things.  I used to call his computer the "Danger Zone" as every time he went to it he would get this urge to buy something.  I will admit that he has gotten a lot better the past couple of months.  He looks a whole lot more instead of buying something. 

Back to cleaning out the closet.  I had plastic bins in there with items I hadn't seen in a while.  So going through them, I found items that my mother had saved.  My mom saved everything!  I found these little pink baskets. 

Now I can remember these at one of my birthday parties when I was around 10 or so and they had little mint candies and peanuts in them.  Why I remember that, who knows.



I found these two old hand fans that my mother had.  As you can see, the one on the left is of the Mackinac Bridge that connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.  The fan on the right shows the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.  If you ever get the chance you need to visit Mackinac Island.  You have to take a boat to get there (it is located between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan) and there are no automobiles on the island.  You either walk, ride a bike or take a horse drawn carriage.  It is 8 miles around the island and a lovely bike ride.

I found this birth announcement.  Nothing was written in it, but wondering if my mom saved it and these were what she used to announce my birth XX years ago.  (Put those XX there on purpose!)

In this box I found a puzzle.  I looked on the back of the box and the date was 1918!  I told you my mother saved everything!  Kind of glad she saved this. 

I want to work more on our "Family Tree".  In Ancestry.com I have been going back on my side and my husband's side as far as I can.  On my dad's side, I got as far back as the 1500's.  On my mom's side I wasn't as lucky as my grandma was pregnant with my mom when she came to the United States from Poland.  I hit a dead end in Poland as the records were most likely destroyed in WWII.  Same on my husband's side, as the records were likely destroyed in WWII.  But my dad's heritage is Dutch, English, Scottish and Irish, so I lucked out on going so far back on his side. 

It is so fascinating to learn all this history.  A few years ago I found out that my great, great, great, great grandfather (may have missed one there, not sure) fought in the Revolutionary War.  He lived in Conneticut.  So I may have long lost relatives in the Northeast.  I was born and raised in Michigan.  Our whole family was and is from Michigan.  My husband, our four children and I moved to Florida in 1985.

My goal is to leave our children as much history of our family as I can.  It will take a while, but I enjoy doing these kinds of projects.  Just need to fit it in with everything else I am trying to do!  History is important!  So try to get your family history to pass down to your family.  They should appreciate your efforts.

Until next time.........................

As Always,

Marilyn