Tavern on the Square

Sparrow is growing. With all of the new construction and remodeling, we have had to temporarily convert conference rooms to offices. Being the adaptable, innovative people that we are, we found space a few short blocks away for those late afternoon meetings. { :) } I would, in general, describe this place as good wine, great food, poor service. The "good" in that would be that you can carry on private conversations with very infrequent interruptions from the wait staff. It's normally a 3-5 minute drive from the parking ramp. With nearly every downtown Lansing street under construction, travel time and parking from Sparrow is about 30 minutes.

Tavern on the Square is not a big place. There is sitting upstairs for about 12-15. Downstairs has the usual bar seating and several seating areas: a grouping of lounging chairs, a grouping of ottoman type chairs and a couple of standard table & chair arrangements. There is some seating outside but it's too dang hot to appreciate that right now. We are supporting the lounging chair area.

With the growth of Cooley Law School in the area, there has been a reawakening of the downtown area eateries and watering holes. It's not the same as when Arbaugh's, Penney's and Knapp's had flagship stores in the pre-mall days. But never the less, it's good to see the activity and vacant store fronts in use.

311 South Fairview

When we were young (i.e. before becoming teenagers), we spent some time each summer with Grandma & Granddad Hammond in Lansing. The neighborhood was older but very well kept-up. There was an empty lot to the south (right) of the house and Morphy's lived to the north. Ray Chase and his family lived behind on Magnolia. Granddad was very particular about his yard, his flowers and the general condition of the house. I drove by yesterday and was very sad to see this very shabby house in a now very shabby neighborhood. We used to sleep out on the front porch and listen for the sounds of trains, ambulances and police cars--all very foreign from our little farm community. One year when we were visiting, we wanted to see the capital. Grandma had Granddad drop us off and told us if we could make the walk back to Fairview, to tell the police we were lost and they would drive us back. We were about 12, 10 and 9 years old. It would be considered derelict in duty for grandparents to do this today. But we toured and were excited about our ride home in the police car! Ivanhoe 4-7038---wow, how did I remember a phone number from eons ago!

Note to Dorrie & Rich: The heart remembers most what it has loved the best. I love you both and send you love and hugs.

Batik Wildflower Quilt

On Saturday, Van, Carol and I packed up our gear and trekked to Battle Creek for a day of sewing at the Marshall House Quilt Shop. As with every "great" day trip, we started at Beaner's! This quilt is hanging in the quilt shop and it is one that I am currently working on. I have chosen different colors and will add some batik sashing around each of the blocks. I like the "prairie point" border but think it would be for striking as an outer border. At this point, I have the blocks and flower pieces cut out and the layout organized. I heard a lot of advise on Saturday about how to add the flowers to the background squares. Some thought I should glue the on, some thought I should pre-baste all of the flower pieces so I could easily hand applique them to the fabric. Others thought I should use a needle-turn technique to hand applique them. Someone suggested I machine applique all of it. The glue is out for sure--as is the machine applique. I am still evaluating the work involved in the other techniques. The batiks are beautiful and the colors so vibrant. It was difficult to pick from all of the wonderful choices.

The Test of True Friendship

This week's YaYa get-together was a little different than the usual Friday nights on Mitchell's patio! Carol offered her brother her house and yard for his wedding. While Carol and her family cut up a lot of the food, four YaYa's arrived at her house on Saturday, prepared to act like they belonged on the Food Network. We cut onions and cried, we melted chocolate for the chocolate fondue fountain (although we burnt the first batch--and no, Beth, I was not in charge of that!). We made a wonderful Michigan salad with Romaine lettuce, dried cranberries blue cheese, cherry tomatoes and walnuts. We created beautiful platters of Roma tomatoes and mozarella cheese dribbled with olive oil and fresh chopped basil. We prepared mountains of pasta salad amd fruit salad. We put out the wonderful smoked turkey, beef brisket and pork prepared and delivered by a caterer from Jackson. There was no traditional wedding cake but rather baklava and chocolate layer cake for dessert.

There were some very significant ah-ha moments during the nearly eight hours we were in attendance. We worked very hard, but we had SO much fun working together. The wine provided by the hostess helped! Carol truly experienced how deeply our YaYa friendship has developed--she just left it to us as we wanted her to and enjoyed herself. And, lastly, her family and family friends commented on Carol's catering company-----maybe we've come up with alternate employment options!

PS: About the picture: only a true friend would change your dog's diaper!

Rose of Sharon

When we moved into our house in July 1976, there were three Rose of Sharon bushes on the property. They were in full bloom -- white, light lavender and dark lavender. For reasons long past remembering, all three of the shrubs were removed. Three years ago, I planted a light lavender bush near the deck on the south side of the house. It's had reasonable blooms for the past two years. Last fall, we cut the shrub back considerably. This year's blooms are not only many but there are many white blooms mixed with the light lavender. It's beautiful (and the bees like it, too!)

Wally's Girls

These are Wally's Girls: Evie, Kathy, Dorrie and Barb. We don't spend enough time together!

In spite of unbelievable grief and sadness, my sister and brother-in-law welcomed family and friends into their home this weekend to remember and celebrate Noel Christopher Rogers. My sisters and I are all the mothers of "only children." Thanks to our parents, our children became like brothers and sister. My parents took all three kids on many road trips around the country, starting when they were only toddlers. Because Beth was born so prematurely (28 weeks gestation) and was in the hospital for so long, Mom and Dad would bring Kyle and Noel to the hospital to visit. Even though they were only pushing 4 years old, every time they came they would tell the nurses that they were 12 years old so they could visit. The nurses would wink and smile and welcome them and the boys would giggle, thinking they really got away with something big. Beth's pediatrician was Dr. Knickerbocker. The mere pronunciation of his name would send them into fits of laughter. As she grew and became interested in cabbage patch dolls, they would torment her by drawing "boobies" on her dolls. Beth looked up to Noel as her big brother and friend.

Godspeed, Noel.

Noel Christopher Rogers

Noel Christopher Rogers, age 33, died tonight at Cape Coral Hospital following cardiac arrest. Noel, son of Dorrie & Rich Rogers, grandson of Barbara and the late Wallace Hammond, my nephew and a true sweetheart, is gone but will never be forgotten. Noel was a big guy with an even bigger heart. I can't even begin to understand the impact of this loss.

Let's Talk About the Weather

I I've had the last four days off work to spend time with my mom. I anticipated the weather to be horribly hot. To my surprise and enjoyment, it's been in the 70's with the hottest day being 82 degrees -- and sunny the whole time. We were able to sit outside under a shade tree on Sunday afternoon to read and relax.

Family

Mom and I met Kathy in Flint yesterday to spend the day together. One of the highlights was stopping in the see Kyle at work. We wandered through the Flint Farmer's Market, stopping for lunch and to listen to the music of James Brown via a trio of local musicians. It was a beautiful day for lunch and music outside

Binder Park Zoo

I haven't taken a field trip to a zoo in a very long time. Yesterday, 12 children, 3 adults, one grandma and one great=grandma went to Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. It was the perfect day for a trip to the zoo -- about 74 degrees with a mild breeze. The sun was warm and the shade cool. The children, for the most part, were well-behaved. They loved the carousel, the train and tram. But most of all, like me, they liked the giraffes. They fed them special "crackers" purchased from the zoo. The observation deck was at the head level of the giraffes-great for feeding them but not so great for snapping good photos. Long, purple, sticky tongues just begging for crackers----made the kids squeal with delight and fright. Beth & Jamie brought lunch. Peanut butter and jelly never tasted so wonderful!

It's rather impressive

The new Sparrow West Wing tower is rather impressive. The crane left shortly after this picture was taken. The front scaffolding should come down in a few weeks. The Emergency Department and a couple of the nursing units will open in December. We will open our new six operating rooms in May 2008. I am very interested in comparing our OR construction to that of the University of California at San Francisco, Duke or Rush. Those organizations have created a hospital around surgical services to assure efficient workflow and patient satisfaction. We have had to adapt to a very specific footprint and continue to work near or be space-limited by construction. The new OR's themselves will be big, beautiful state of the art labs.

Noel's Quilt

I learned to sew from my Mom, Grandma Wood and 4-H a long time ago on a Singer sewing machine! I made many of my own clothes as a teenager. About 25 years ago, I took my first quilting class and loved it. Over the past 2-3 years, I have done very little sewing. Carol, Van and I have developed a pattern of sewing on Sundays. We sew, take turns bringing/fixing lunch and sometimes take field trips for fabrics. My new favorite quilt shop is Everlasting Stitches in Holt. Pam Henrys owns and operates the shop. It is very well stocked with beautiful moda's, wonderful batiks and a warm, friendly, helpful atmosphere.

This is Noel's quilt, finished. He picked out the fabrics and played with the fat quarters for weeks before I started the quilt.

Stella D'Ora Daylily

Northern exposure, beautiful color, very hardy, 3rd year blooming in this spot

Day Lilies

Given the number of orange day lilies in bloom in mid-Michigan, one might think it is the State flower! It's been a beautiful summer--warm days, cool nights and just enough rain for the flowers. The day lilies are pretty much no-brainers for those of us pretending to be gardeners. I found a nursery in Portland that sells only lilies. I now have maroon, yellow, and of course the orange. The orange lilies arrived after a sundown drive around Alaiedon township with a shovel!

There's nothing like a parade on the the 4th of July!

Noel rode his Tow-Mater bike in the parade on Wednesday. His friend rode her Lightening McQueen tricycle. Both trikes were decorated with red, white and blue crepe paper. Their little legs rode those trikes from the Mason High School, into town, around the court house square and back to the high school. It was a really nice home-town parade that included the high school band, politicians, right to lifers and about 3000 John Deere tractors.

Happy Birthday, America!

Team Building Retreat

We had a team-building retreat last week. The best part of it was this--all that remains from a colleagues orange.

Field Trip

On Saturday, the "girls" took a field trip to Jackson, Marshall, Battle Creek and Kalamazoo in search of quilt shoppes. Although we started out at our usual haunt, Country Stitches (only the Jackson version), our new favorite is the Marshall House in, well, Marshall, Michigan. The Marshall House is located in a former funeral home. There are many rooms, each with a fabric theme. At the Marshall House, they encouraged you to place the fabrics together to look at colors, to take it outside if you needed better light, and to look at "this." There was no pressure to buy, and once we brought our loaded carts to the cutting table, no complaints about the amount of stuff we wanted. I have just begun a new quilt through a Country Stitches class called Rambling Rose meets Jackson County. It's a pieced quilt with a variety of blocks in the colors of dusty rose, black and beige. Since I just invested in the fabric for this quilt last week, I tried to be frugal on Saturday! I did buy 15 beautiful batik fat quarters for a hand-appliqued wildflower quilt and six lovely moda's to border a Hummel embroidered block quilt.

Divine YaYa's

In the novel, Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells, the strong, lifelong bond among friends is explored. In this life, I do not think it possible to have too many true friends. This is our YaYa group. We don't wear funny hats, we don't blood-let. We do have a strong bond related to work and age. We are a support to one another and can create and "intervention" within a very short time if someone is in need. The intervention here is the news that one of the seven of us has accepted a new, exciting position. While we wish her the very best and know she won't be leaving town, we still worry that the group will change.

Our group started on the beach in Pensacola, Florida about two years ago. Several of us were attending the same conference. We were overwhelmed at how devastated Pensacola was from hurricane Charlie and how poorly the city was recovering. We were also very pumped from listening to Quint Studer talk about his successes in improving the experience for patients at the hospitals he has led.

I love you all, my YaYa sisters!


On another note: Our friends, John and Judy are doing well. Beth accompanied Judy on a wheelchair ride about the Ingham Medical parking lot Saturday and John was determined to attend the NASCAR race at MIS on Sunday!

My "Wildflower" Garden

This will be the latest edition to my perennial garden! It currently resides with a friend, waiting for it's new home to be constructed in the backyard. Billy is erecting a fence along the current farmer's fence at the back of our yard. The fence will block the view of the field weeds and allow a better view of the perennial flowers planted all along the edge of the fence.

Environment or Genes

What was once a shelving unit Billy was going to use in the pole barn is now a pile of boards and a handful of screws! How is it that a three-year old boy is so adept with a screwdriver?!

Grammy, I want Ice Cream

It was another rainy day in mid-Michigan. There was so much rain in so short a time this afternoon that many roads had 6-12 inches of standing water. On the side road to Leo's Outpost (I'll always remember it as DeMarco's!), a car sat in water up to the door handle. Since we couldn't cook outside, we went to Applebee's for supper. Guess what Noel had?

Noel's Friend Clint

Noel refers to our neighbor across the street as "my friend Clint." Clint & Lynn are near his Grammy's age, but Clint has a John Deere Gator, and a tractor and bees! Noel and some of his friends from the daycare took a field trip to Clint's to "catch bugs." Notice the net and the bug box!

Good Neighbors

We moved into our house during the bi-centennial celebration in 1976---31 years ago. For all of those years, Mr. & Mrs. Smith have been neighbors, good neighbors. Nicky and my dad planted a seedling in my front yard from a red bud tree in Smith's yard. Today, the tree towers over the house and is beautiful lavender in the early spring. Yesterday, I noticed this curious peony bud growing in the base of the tree.

Entranced through Technology

Beth and Billy bought a new Tahoe, complete with built-in DVD player. Once Noel had a Sponge-Bob dvd in place, he was entranced by the movie. It's a great device for long trips!

It's hard to believe

Beth and I were sad today as we visited our friend, Judy Lay, at Ingham Regional Medical Center. Judy went into the ER with chest pain and had a cardiac cath on Monday. Since then, she's had several bypass procedures, is on life support and dialysis. Judy was Beth's care-giver from age 1 through 6. In most recent years, she has been a support to Beth in questions about day care centers and child development. Judy and John's three daughters, Trina, Dawn and Vickie were there when we went to show support for John. They have grown into very beautiful. strong women with ten children among them!

The front yard smells deeply of lilacs as our bushes grown into full bloom. They are really much more "lilac" than white as in this picture. I remember when we moved into this house in 1976, there were 3 mammoth deep purple lilac bushes in the back yard that were a selling point to the house. We had to have them removed not long after we moved in because their dramatic root system interferred with the drainage system.

Night at the Mueseum

With my grandson, I watched the commercials for the new Ben Stiller movie, "Night at the Museum." It looked good, I bought it when it came out on DVD, and we have watched it a trillion times! (Dumdum, I want gumgum!!) Anyway, Noel and I went to Best Buys to scout out new cameras (more about that later this week). There was a life-size poster display advertising the movie/DVD. When Noel saw it, he said, "Grammy, we've got to go to the museum! My first thoughts were h-m-m, it's four hours to Chicago, 2 hours to Detroit, we only have an hour and one-half, how are we going to do it?! Then I remembered the MSU Museum. Not sure if it was even open, we adventured on campus the day of MSU spring graduation. The Museum was open, free and with very few visitors. I don't know which of us had a better time. I was stunned at the impact the movie had on him that neither his parents nor I picked up at home. In each room we visited, he would hold up his hand and say, "Stop, Grammy. Be careful of the animals. " In the rooms with the big dinosaur and tiger exhibits, we skirted past the doorway--because he was afraid that they would walk. So, was the amusement of the video overshadowed by a new fear that all of these museum animals and people could come to life?

Great Lakes Mega Meet

For the second year in a row, Beth & I attended the Great Lakes Scrapbooking Mega-Meet at the Rock Financial Center in Novi, Michigan. It's awesome, sometimes tiring and overwhelming. The Mega-Meet allows one to buy supplies from over 400 in one location, take classes, learn techniques, meet friends and have fun! We left early Friday morning with the obligatory stop at Beaner's to get started. This year, we used Friday to focus on the vendors and spent Saturday in classes. It is amazing the number of people who scrapbook and the amount of money spent to mount photographs!

It's An Addiction

The updates on my blog site came to an abrupt halt on January 23, 2007. That is the day, with directions from my sister Dorrie, that I signed on to Pogo.com! It started out innocently with "Poppit." Then it was "Lottso." Then "Hollywood Slots." Through it all, Noel has learned to play "Poppit" very well, using the mouse and right & left clicks. When I realized this morning that it's been almost four months, I decided to get a grip! My previous goal was to blog every day. My revised goal is to add a blog every week---or more often!

Against all odds

This weed is thriving in the crack between cement blocks of a huge plaza. It is the only weed in site, has no visible source of water or nutrition, and has survived the many feet that traverse the area. Why can't I keep a simple house plant alive and well?

Cape Harbour Marina

We had lunch today at The Joint, one of the restaurants and shops at the new Cape Harbour Marina on South Chiquita Boulevard, Cape Coral, Florida. It was an absolutely balmy 80 degree day for a walk around the marina. Lunch at The Joint was light, the service excellent. The bistro-type pizza (I had the tomato, basil & mozzarella) was a 12" personal pizza served like those we had in Italy. The crust was thin and crispy, the toppings generous but not heavy or overwhelming. I also had the house salad, a variety of greens with roma tomatoes, slices of bell pepper and small pieces of cuke drizzled with the an oil & vinegar vinagrette. The "house" reisling was excellent and a perfect accompaniment to the pizza and salad.

Sanibel Overpass

A major thoroughfare, Summerlin Road, is being widened. This roadway is the primary route to Sanibel and Captiva Islands. There is major traffic snarling during "season," and this improvement is intended to help with that ( and hurricane evacuation). It appears that the construction of this roadway will further distance "regular citizens" from access to the public areas enroute to Sanibel.

Crab Legs & Lobster Tails

Wow-what a meal. Dorrie & Rich invited us to their house for dinner. Crab legs & lobster tails, boiled potatoes & corn on the cob, carrots, and pina coladas. We sat on the lanai, enjoyed the beautiful balmy weather, the fantastic food and the fellowship of family.

Peaches Marie Rogers

The darling 2-year old daughter of Dorrie & Rich! Notice how she is sitting in the chair waiting for her dinner.

Memorial Service for Claudia

Dr. Julie Dodds organized a memorial service for Claudia Bakeman. Colleagues remembered her at the service in the Sparrow Auditorium on Wednesday afternoon. I was very impressed with the pastor who spoke. She seemed very compassionate, offered ways to promote healing and included Kent (Bakeman) in the discussions.

Hi Great Grammy

Nature's Diamonds

It's finally acting like winter....

We woke up this morning to freezing rain that quickly changed to snow -- a great day to do more quilt blocks.

Michigan Capitol Dome with Night Lights

St. Brigid's cross

This brass version of St. Brigid's cross is a prized "souvenir" from one of my trips to Ireland. This cross is also a favorite of the key character in Father Andrew Greeley's stories, Bishop Blackie Ryan.

THE CROSS
Brigid wove a cross of rushes by a dying chieftain's bed." "Brigid, what is that you're making from the rushes there?", he said. Brigid said, "A cross I'm weaving, like the cross where Jesus died." "Who was Jesus?" asked the chieftain; "Why was this man crucified?" Brigid told the gospel story to a dying pagan King. Lying silently he listened, never saying anything. Then he kissed the cross of rushes saying ,"Brigid, thanks to you, I have come to love this Jesus; I will follow his way too!"
By Emma Finnegan

Fiesta Lime Chicken at Applebee's

It's advertised with rice, but you can substitute smashed potatoes; the chicken is served on strips of tortilla chips; and this combo meal comes with dessert (chocolate fudge brownie with ice cream). The best part--------they do the dishes! Today's weather--nothing new

Electrical Engineer

For my 25th anniversary at Sparrow, I chose a Tiffany lamp from the gift book. The lamp, with a heavy metal base & a very beautiful pieced-glass shade, has graced my living room for almost ten years. For the past three years, my grandson has had an attraction for the lamp. He has spent a lot of time turning it on and off (it has pull chains within easy reach of small hands), he has accidentally hit the shade with a variety of balls, and has inadvertantly knocked the thing over onto the floor. Through it all, the lamp has worked well, but the shade has taken on a distorted, sinister look. The last assault put 90% of the shade on one side of the lamp. My daughter and son-in-law replaced the lamp for me yesterday. The old lamp was placed on the floor while the new lamp was set-up. In the short time it took for that chore, the future Electrical Engineer had completely dis-assembled the old lamp in the middle of the living room floor. Every screw, attachment and appendage was removed. Papa would be so proud of him! Today's Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy, 44 degrees F

St. Lawrence OR Management Company, LLC (LLC)

Today was the kickoff to celebrate the beginning of the St. Lawrence OR Management Company, LLC. This view of Sparrow's St. Lawrence campus does not do justice to what lies beyond the doors. As this picture illustrates, we could use some better, attractive signage at this significant entrance. Beyond the doors of this building, remarkable things happen. Besides the behavioral health units, the Sparrow Specialty Hospital and Hospice House of Mid-Michigan, the Surgical Services areas thrive in this building. The surgical services provided here are essentially outpatient. Patients, physicians and employees all rate the experience at this facility very high. The St. Lawrence OR Management Company LLC is a joint venture operation between Sparrow and a group of 28 physicians. The LLC will manage the surgical services operations at this campus through a physician committee structure (oversight, operations & efficiency and quality). The LLC has hired Ms. Joni Krontz as the on-site manager.

Weather today: Sunny, 30 degrees F, No Snow, No Rain

Grammy, I like this horse

Weather today: 29 degrees F, wind chill 10 degrees F

Claudia Bakeman, CRNA

We received word early today that our friend and colleague, Claudia Bakeman, died in her sleep - reportedly from a massive myocardial infarction. Claudia was young, essentially healthy, a runner -- too many rights to have this happen. Her passing has had a profound effect on those of us who worked closely with her. We will miss her in so many ways. Godspeed, Claudia!

Today was a perfect Sunday. I spent time sewing with good friends, had a wonderful roast pork dinner and then spent quality time with my grandson at WalMart looking for the monster truck, Cowboy. I started a new quilt today. It's a machine-appliqued child's quilt with very colorful fabrics and designs (frogs, trains, balls, bikes). I was able to complete two blocks today, the train and frog. During our trip to WalMart to look for the truck, we picked up boys's socks for Noel. He also spied bags of powdered sugar doughnuts and talked me into his own bag. While we were in the toy section, Noel spotted a battery-operated "monster truck" that he could sit in. He got in both doors to try them out, lifted the hood and trunk and inspected the wheels. People were looking on smiling at the thoroughness of his inspection. When he lifted the hood and exclaimed that the battery was missing, they laughed out loud! On the way home, we stopped for chocolate milk shakes. I know most grandparents brag about their grandchildren, but Noel is the sweetest, most sensitive child! Weather today: 32 degreas F and freezing rain and snow flurries.

40 degrees farenheit

There is more to talk about than the weather, but honestly, doesn't 40 degree weather in January in Michigan warrant comment?