Raped AT The Pump!

My bank account, that is! I am bitter about having just spent nearly 40 bucks to fill the tank of my little pee-pot Hyundai Accent! This is having a huge impact on how i ro! In fact, I foresee an Agoraphobia epidemic emerging as the result of this crisis. People will not leave their homes for fear of rising gas prices. Rumor has it $4.00+ per gallon this weekend for the Memorial Day weekend and possibly as high as $5 during the summer vacation season. According to Chicken Noodle News (CNN) an anti-trust lawsuit is being leveled at OPEC unless they agree to increase production. Wonder what sort of global crapstorm that will cause? Meantime, wouldn't it be handy if we could come up with a green solution to all of this and create an alternative fuel from something that has limited uses, propagates exponentially, and has an extreme surplus...say zucchini...or maybe rabbits(just kidding-don't call PETA or send me hate mail)! Perhaps I will have to resort to riding my new bike to work every day. Aside from the fact that I probably still need training wheels, it doesn't help that there are no shoulders on our road, no sidewalks, no bike paths and 18-wheelers barrel through here like suicide bombers on a mission! I wonder if we're going to have to go back to locking gas caps(circa 1980's) and finding crowbar-proof gas door latches to prevent thieves with redneck credit cards (siphon hoses) from jacking the gas in our tanks while we're parked somewhere. Is this leading to more drive-offs at gas stations? Will crime rates increase as people resort to committing burglaries or robbing banks to support their driving habits? Instead of muggers saying, "Your money or your life", will it be "Empty your gas tank or I'll shoot"? Instead of giving candy or flowers for Valentines day or diamond rings for engagements will it be gas cards? Where will this all end? Any ideas? 

Lana's PREYEAR starts now!

Today is my day! Happy Birthday to me!This is my PREYEAR: one year to go before the big 5-0!My day began with devotions and an exercise session with Leslie Sansone. I picked up extra-fattening doughnuts from V's  for the girls this AM.  Already I've been blessed by the kindness and love of my friends who have sent cards, emails, have called me, and I recieved a beautiful bouquet of my favorite Gerber daisies! The Beatles were right. All you need is love!  I'll be spending the day with my peeps at Body Perfections getting pampered with massage, manicure, pedicure, facial, lunch from DeBoer's(I am anticipating the yummy cran-raspberry chicken salad), topped off with makeup and a new hairstyle. I am dressing up in an adorable dress-my favorite dress, in fact,it's the dress I wore for my college graduation. It looks mahvalicious!After which I will be going immediately to the Secretary of State's office to have a hot and steamy license photo done(LOL-we know better about license photos!) and then to DeBoer's to pick up my custom made birthday cakes for myself and my classmate Nina who shares the same birthday and is also having a preyear birthday(29). We're having a celebration at school with goodies, cake and ice cream. 
Look for the official birthday montage coming soon to this blog....
The BIG birthday event is taking place over the skies of Freemont on Saturday when I leap with reckless abandon from a perfectly good airplane! Video and still photos to follow...I will be accompanied by my son, Trevor. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous on Saturday. Being a former Girl Scout, I have never forgotten the motto: Be prepared! I WILL be wearing a Depends-just incase!

Christmas Party at the Blue Chip

Christmas party in April?? Yep! Well worth waiting for...Our bosses generously treated us all to an overnight stay at the Blue Chip Casino and Resort located in Michigan City.  We checked in to our beautiful rooms and then met downstairs for dinner. The buffet was amazing! There were crab legs and shrimp, prime rib, and other meats to choose from. A huge selection of pastas, salads, vegetables, breads, and desserts galore! Drinks of every kind. We ate like queens! My passion for good food was fully satisfied! This casino had an incredible selection of slots, poker tables, blackjack, craps, and roulette. I tried my hand at blackjack for the first time. Great fun but it didn't take me long to lose my gambling budget for the night. There were several winners in our group: Pam won on slots, Heather and Lisa at blackjack. Then it was time for dancing at the bar and the partaking of a few adult beverages, of course. The first group, the Afrodesiacs, were doing 80's music. They were the bomb! What I love about those songs is the fact that everyone knows the words and it's fun to sing along while you're dancing.  The second band was a mix of 80's, 90's and now. Also very good tunes-they did a lot of Sublime(one of my favs). Most all of us stayed up until the music stopped, the bar closed, and the gamers in the group wrapped it up. As the saying goes, "A good time was had by all"! The unanimous consensus was that we'd be back next year...

Kinderplaats

A continuing family tradition, Kinderplaats, is the first event of Tulip Time each year.  The year we moved to West Michigan,1996, we took Tyler and Trevor to Kinderplaats. It's fun to be able to relive that experience now with my grandson.  This is quite a deal-there were 5 or 6 blow-up stations that offered obstacle courses, tunnels, trampolines, and slides. It seemed as though there were thousands of little kids running cattywampus everywhere! For a while I thought I'd never see Jayden again since the vast majority were little blond-headed kids just like Jayden and he kept pulling the trick of doubling back in the blow-up obstacle course by going out the in hole while I was standing at the end waiting for him!I had to keep running back to the entrance to see if he was fooling me again! This definitely reminds me of his dad, Tyler! Hence, Granny has a head full of gray hair!! There were all kinds of trucks that kids could climb up in and get their pictures made. There were farm animals and miniature ponies.  A puppet theater. All kinds of crafts. Dutch dancers. Junk food galore! Jayden's favorite activity was the bubbles. He spent a good hour there and by the time we left he was soaking wet and had soap from head to toe! We capped it all off with a big box of popcorn and a photo opportunity posing by a bed of tulips. I'll be adding this to our list of traditions until the sad day arrives when Jayden gets so big that he no longer wants to come to Kinderplaats with his Granny. For now, we'll both savor the moments.

On the rare occaision...

Since Christmas we haven't been just hibernating in our cave...although, with the frequent snow storms this winter past, it was a tempting thought! We did get out to do a few things.

On November 18, 2007, as part of Trevor's birthday celebration, the boys and I went to the Van Andel to hear the Newsboys. They were on tour with New World Son and Kutless. That was one fantastic concert! We have a few pictures to share from that:

The Newsboys do a great job keeping the concert exciting with confetti, lights, special effects, some pyrotechnics, and a neat little stunt where the drum platform elevates, tilts, and rotates-while the drummer is performing! Pretty cool...the other bands were great, too. Everyone at my house loves Kutless. New World Son is a newer group. They have a more funky, jazzy sort of sound. Good stuff.

In January, instead of the traditional Super Bowl party, Tyler and I opted to go see Lou Diamond Phillips in Camelot at the DeVos Performance Center. We went to downtown GR early in the day to look around, eat at Friday's, and check out the ice skaters at Monroe Center:

Lou Diamond Phillips was fabulous as King Arthur. The entire cast was wonderful. You can sure tell the difference between a Broadway production and a local one! The sets and costumes were so elaborate-it was worth going just to see that! I haven't seen Camelot since middle school but it's surprising how much I remembered about the play and the musical pieces. This was the first time I had been to DeVos Performance Center. Beautiful. Note to self: take in more cultural and artistic events. Both Tyler and I had a wonderful time. The down side-a terrible snowstorm hit while we were in the play. Driving home looked like the opening scene from Star Wars with all the little white specs flying at you!

In February, Tyler, Trevor, Courtney and I went to see the Blue Man Group at the VanAndel Arena. I loved the show this year. It was much improved over last year's version. The musical pieces are fascinating to watch and done with a lot of playfulness and humor.

We entertained ourselves with trips to Deanna's Playhouse with Jayden, trips to the Children's Museum, and our all-time favorite, Meijer Gardens. We saw the butterflies twice! We also got in on the Bonsai Society event again this year. I know it sounds like a big YAWN but the art of Bonsai is really quite intricate and fascinating. Let me tell you, these people are passionate about their little trees!!

Tulip time came and went. The only event I attended was Kinderplaats with Jayden. I did take some pictures and will hopefully get those posted before Labor Day!

Mother's day was nice. I got a bike rack and helmet as a gift, went out to dinner, and to see the new movie, Iron Man starring Robert Downey, Jr. That was a fantastic movie if you like action types and movies of the Batman and X-Men ilk. I thoroughly enjoyed it-worth going to see!

Took in Echoes of Pink Floyd at the Intersection this past weekend(May 17). This was a great cover band. They did three sets and had good video backgrounds, lights, and pyro effects to add interest to the music. I was amazed at how many people were there who were older than me! I saw a lot of parents there with their twenty-something kids. This is definitely a group whose music has endured and captured several generations of listeners. For the last set I went up to the stage and it was fun standing there watching the band-all of whom were young. So many of the younger people there knew every word to every song-amazing-even I, a die-hard Pink Floyd fan-could not accomplish such a feat.

That's pretty much it for now...stay tuned though, I am jumping into my pre-year(49) with both feet! You'll see what I mean when I do my birthday post!

Mom and Dad's 90th Birthday Celebration

February 9th,2008, the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren gathered to honor the 90th birthdays of Oliver and Lillian Baker. Oliver was born on January 27th, 1918 and Lillian on February 14, 1918. Oliver and Lillian have known each other since the age of 5 and have been married since age 20-they will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on July 15th,2008! The gathering took place at the home of Randy and Gina Naranjo in Clackamas, Oregon. As usual, the food was abundant and the fellowship was joyful and warm. This family has truly been blessed to have the patriarch and matriarch for such a span of years. God-willing, there will be more celebrations yet to come! To see the entire album of photos, click the sidebar of this blog that lists Picasa Web Albums or go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/baker.lana9