Michigan Trip - Independence Day!

This is the 4th post in my Michigan trip report! To start from the beginning, click here!

After sleeping in, we plied into my in-laws's truck because it was big enough to hold us all. We had Todd, Emily and I, my mother in law and father in law, plus Todd's brother, Scott, and his son, Austin.

Our first stop was an ice cream shop. Now, the thumb of Michigan is a strange place. There can be nothing but farms and wind machines for miles. Every once in a while, you'll come across a place like this ice cream shop which has nothing around it.

But when we got there, it was packed. This place specialized giant scoops of ice cream. I made the mistake of getting two scoops (like I usually do at our local ice cream shop) and I couldn't finish it. Emily couldn't finish her one scoop. But it was yummy!

After we finished our ice cream we got back in the truck and headed off to Caseville.  Emily and Austin had a couple of activities to choose from, and they picked mini golf. We all got balls and clubs and started playing.

We kept score for a while, but because there was so many of  us we just stopped. Emily and Austin

had a blast and Emily even got one hole in one. After we were done, we let the kids play a little in the arcade.

At this point, I was starting to not feel so well. I had been drinking a ton of caffeine in the form of Coke all week and it hit me like a ton of bricks. By the time we got back to my in-laws house, I had a raging migraine. I went directly into the guest room and took a long nap.

By the time I woke up, it was dinner time. Todd's brother had made steaks on the grill. I was feeling a little better and was able to eat dinner. Afterwards, Todd and I got our things mostly packed up and Emily's stuff into her suitcase since she was staying for another week.

I headed to bed because my head was still hurting and I needed to drive some on the way home the next day.

Up Next - The Long Journey Home

Be Considerate With Fireworks!

My fellow Americans love to celebrate our nation's birth by blowing stuff up. I don't mind fireworks at all. I love watching them, especially the ones at Disney World. But most firework displays only last an hour so even if you don't like the bangs it's only a limited time.

At least it is if you don't have neighbors who are dicks. Sad to say, I have some neighbors who were real dicks last year. 

As long time readers of my blog know, I suffer from chronic migraines. Logically big bangs and migraines don't really mix. Some firework noises don't bother me too much, but I have my limits.

Last year, my neighbors shot off fireworks that I'm sure were illegal. It sounded like bombs were going off outside my bedroom window for hours at a time. And they did it on both July 3rd and July 4th. I was in so much pain and really twitchy for probably close to a week afterwards.

My poor Willow cat was really upset too. She hates loud noises a lot so she spent the holiday cowering in fear in our bathroom. It was very unpleasant for us. While I was in pain, I thought about any veterans who might live in our neighborhood. PTSD is a real concern for a lot of people.

I was a little afraid that my neighbors would be shooting off fireworks last night but I'm super thankful that they didn't since I'm working today. I have tomorrow and Monday off so I can hibernate with earbuds if need be.

But if you, kind person, decide to shoot off some fireworks remember that the noise might not be welcome by your neighbors. So try to keep it short and use legal fireworks. I, for one, will be not shooting off fireworks but we are going to do sparklers in our back yard.

Drunken Fireworks

This past weekend, The United States of America celebrated its' independence. Many people enjoyed a long weekend off and had BBQ's and lit sparklers. And some people got really drunk and lit explosives. One man even died after he lit a firework that was on top of his head.

I like fireworks. I like watching them, especially at Disney World. But I did not enjoy any fireworks this weekend at all.

I had spent most of the week in a migraine flare that I really tried to manage by resting. We didn't have any plans for the holiday and Todd volunteered to work overtime on Friday and Saturday. Friday night, I was sitting and relaxing in my bedroom when my neighbors started shooting fireworks off.

The fireworks were super loud and sounded more like cannon fire. From the sound of them, there weren't fireworks you would have bought at Walmart. I'm pretty sure that they were illegal.

Friday night, they set them off for hours and the bangs were louder than the show I was watching. My pain levels rose and I even started having a panic attack. My cats were freaked out too and after every bang I could her a chorus of dogs barking in the distance.

I was super sick on Saturday because of it and spent most of the day in bed. I came up with plan to take my abortive migraine medicine and go to bed as soon as I had gotten Emily into bed. But they had started shooting off fireworks before the sun even went down. I took my meds but it still took me a long time to go to sleep because of the war being waged outside.

Todd came home from work at 11 pm and he said that they were still shooting off fireworks of the distantly illegal kind when he got home.

I don't want to be a party pooper but it was a rough weekend for me. I wish my neighbors would have stuck to just Saturday for their fireworks displays and I really hope we don't have any veterans' who live in our neighborhood. As awful as it was for me, I can't imagine how it would be for someone with PTSD.

Next year, I'll be prepared with noise canceling headphones. Thankfully it didn't wake Emily up either night.

Happy 4th of July!

Summer Fun!

Happy Independence Day to all my American readers!

We generally don’t do a lot for the 4th of July. Todd has off from work but I’m working a normal shift today. And honestly there is something I’m more excited about today.

99 days from today we will be heading to Disney World. We haven’t been since our honeymoon and I've been looking forward to taking Emily to my favorite place since I found out I was pregnant.

I’ll be posting more about Disney later. I hope everyone has a great holiday today!