Mackinac Problems

A week or so ago we invited a few friends over to celebrate Allen's 50th birthday. I planned the food, I planned the beverages, I planned the entertainment. However, I forgot to think about where I could stash all the snowmobile helmets. It really surprised me - I am a total planner and I don't usually forget details like that. Plus, this is my 25th Mackinac winter, so you'd think I would have encountered this before. Apparently not.

My takeaway from the evening - we really need to have people over more often!

Breakout

The day before winter break my co-teacher and I treated the 4th, 5th and 6th graders to a Breakout Activity. If you aren't familiar with BreakoutEDU, in a nutshell they're activities that require kids to think critically and creatively, while working as a team to solve a series of  puzzles.

The teams did a great job finding the clues,

 solving the puzzles,

 and finally freeing the elf.

I owe my good friend, Kelaine, a big shout out for introducing me to BreakoutEDU, and another to our school custodian, Mike; he kindly added hasps onto six old cash boxes so we could lock them. You guys rock!

Screen Free

This picture perfectly sums up all of the crafting going on at my house lately. Knitting and stuffed critters, in all shapes and sizes, are the current favorite projects.

It's amazing what happens when screens aren't an option...

Time to Change

If you know me, or if you've been reading my blog for a while, you know my son has had long hair for quite a while now. He actually started growing it out back  in August of 2013 so he would have the right hair for his Halloween costume. (We don't do Halloween half way!)

 

Despite regular trims, it had gotten really long. After a week or two of looking at various haircut options, he decided to take the plunge and make a change.

 

A very drastic change.

 

But a change for the better, I think. 

He decided to donate the 15 inches he cut off to a Michigan charity.

S chose to donate to Children with Hair Loss because they are a nonprofit organization that provides free hair pieces to kids.  It really bothered him that Locks of Love charged kids for wigs, even though it was on a sliding scale.

Now, every time I look at him, this little diddy starts running through my mind:

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Mackinac.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful day!

Video courtesy of  Grand Hotel.

I Wonder

Until last week, I'd never seen a toilet paper rose. Now I'm just wondering, did my doctor's office recently got a new cleaning person, or has some lovely woman been quietly leaving them all over town?  Either way, it put a little much needed joy into my morning.

It Wasn't Me

 

My daughter noticed this on the table when we were out to lunch this afternoon. She tried hard to keep a straight face as she insisted she knew was me who carved "Liz" into the table. Her unstoppable giggles clued me in that she knew better...

It's That Time of Year

Most people think the Island completely closes down for the winter, but that's not exactly true. In fact, in some cases, this is the time of year when things begin to start - building projects for example. 

I walked by this spot on Market Street yesterday, soon there will be a new B&B.

Today

I think riding my bike to school this morning may have been a mistake.

Photo by Carlie Bertrand

Me, Too

I was nineteen and working at a small, family owned, grocery store as a cashier. He was a stock guy, and he scared the daylights out of me.

Every day, at work, he would ask me out, and every day I would turn him down. Day after day after day this went on. Until, after turning him down yet again, he grabbed me by the arm and said, "You don't understand - I get what I want and right now I want you." I jerked my arm away and said something back to him like, "Well that's not going to happen," and went back to work. 

Later that night, when the store closed at eleven, I started walking home. It wasn't far, maybe a mile or so, on well-lit, streets. All was well until I was walking onto the porch of my house and I realized someone was walking toward the house from down the street. It was him; he had followed me home. And now, he knew where I lived. Oh crap. As you can imagine, I didn't sleep much that night. Luckily I lived with lots of other people, so I was rarely in the building alone.

The next day (after arranging with a friend to come walk me home) I went into work early. I took the owner aside and asked if he had a few minutes to meet with me. We sat in his office; he chain-smoked while I broke down into tears and told him everything. I'll never forget his response to me. He took a long draw on his cigarette, exhaled slowly and said, "Go home. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."

The next day, when I arrived for my shift,  Creepy Stock Guy wasn't there; nor was him name on the new schedule posted on the wall. The owner took me aside later, "He won't bother you again," he said, "In fact, if you even see him around town again, let me know."  Despite only having worked there for a month or so, I hugged him. I was so appreciative of his support. To this day I have no idea what my boss said to the guy who followed me home. Thankfully I never saw him again.

"If all women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me too' as a status, we might give everyone a sense of the magnitude of the problem." - Alyssa Milano