Were Not Kwadin Anymore

What a long week, but it sure was fun. First I went downstate last Friday for a job interview that went very well. It’s an accounting administration position so it incorporates that two things I enjoy the most. So start crossing fingers and toes. Then I went to Mommy’s to see Adrienne and await the arrival of Jackson and Erika. The TV was muted to the Pistons/Pacers game while we watched Jackson, and we looked up to catch what we thought was the end of a rare fight in basketball. It turned out to be only the middle of an outright ugly brawl. Another black-eye for Detroit sports. One article I read regarding this disturbance mentions John Stewart’s take on Detroit sports when he is discussing a massacre of five people, in his book John says, “this is back when 5 people dead was a massacre and not just a Detroit Piston championship celebration.”

Saturday and Sunday were busy with the kids and getting things ready for our trip to Kewadin. Mommy and Adrienne got here Sunday afternoon, after the Lions disappointing loss to Minnesota, and we went off to Ponderosa for dinner. Sunday night was relaxing in front of the TV with American Dreams for Adrienne and Mom and football for Gordon and me.

Monday morning we were off to Kewadin with Mom and Adrienne on the bus and Gordon and I following in the car. We started in St. Ignace where we said hello to our angry bees and pouting gophers. We had lunch in the new restaurant at the casino and Mom and Adrienne boarded the bus to continue to the Soo. Once we were checked into the hotel and unloaded into the room we ventured down to the casino for a while and then took a ride to Brimley for Bay Mills Casino and then King’s Club for gambling and dinner. I don’t think I have been on a Monday before and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of crowds at any of the casinos. Usually we nap around 8 pm during the casinos’ busy time and go gamble around 3 am, this time we were able to continue gambling throughout that time period and go to bed at a decent hour.

Up early (early is a relative term) to get Mom and Adrienne back on the bus to collect their package in St. Ignace. The hotel was great and allowed Mom to check in for Tuesday night before the bus left so we were able to just move our stuff down the hall instead of having to load it up and then unload it later. Gordon and I followed the bus down to St. Ignace and collected Mom and Adrienne, we gambled there for a short time and then got back on the road, more casinos to see. With a stop in Hessel we returned to the Soo and crossed the bridge to the Canadian side to check out what they had. We dropped Mom and Adrienne at the casino and Gordon and I went to the mall to pick up some favorites that are only available in Canada (Aero candy bars!), of course we were not able to leave without checking out all they had to offer. We found a great place called the Bulk Barn that had the best display of bulk items I have ever seen, and many, many items that I had never seen. I found the coolest thing there the fact that they rented cake pans and had hundreds of them lining the walls. They also had an extensive display of cake decorating items including colored sugars and sprinkles in every color imaginable. Gordon picked up some salt and vinegar popcorn salt that smelled so strong I immediately declared that it could only be ate when I wasn’t home. In Zellers we found the Aero bars and a Hershey bar called Sidekick, it is like a Three Musketeers with peanut butter in it. We also found some sea salt and pepper potato chips by Lays for Gordon. We went back to the casino to meet Mom and Adrienne who declared the casino a wash so we went back to the US to gamble there. We had dinner at the casino and drove back to Brimley in an attempt to earn enough points to get Gordon a birthday package. Unfortunately the points earned on this trip will go towards next year’s birthday but we did qualify for a $10 gas coupon. We had filled up before going to Canada so we didn’t need a lot of gas, and the coupon was only good at the Bay Mills gas station so we refilled up on the way back to the Soo ($3.45 worth, but out of habit Gordon pumped in the cheap gas), back in the Soo we played the gold tokens that Mom had accumulated. Playing $90 in tokens we cashed out $56 in quarters and split that 4 ways. By then it was nearing midnight and I was done. As Gordon and I made our way back to the lobby to go to the room we heard music coming from the concert hall in the casino. The Guess Who was scheduled to play the next day and they were rehearsing. Right out side the concert hall was a lounge area with comfortable couches and coffee, so we got comfortable and listened to them rehearse. At one point Gordon said that he wanted to go in and tell them that he would like to hear American Woman, and sure enough they started playing it. Mom joined us after a while, and they stopped playing. The lead singer came out to get a cup of coffee and we thanked him for the entertainment. With the show over we went up to the room for some much needed sleep.

Wednesday we checked out and drove down to St. Ignace for senior day (OMG Gordon qualified!) and more gold coins. We said goodbye to our gophers and bees and returned to West Branch just before the arrival of Erika and Jackson and the start of the snowstorm. Mommy and Adrienne met Erika at the hotel and helped her unpack. Gordon, Megan, and I met them up there after Megan got out of school for pizza and swimming. We then came home to begin preparation for Thanksgiving dinner.

The turkey was juicy, the potatoes perfect, and the company awesome for dinner on Thursday. Jackson absolutely loved the cat, Erika not so much. After dinner things got hectic as more people started arriving, soon we had a houseful of kids and parents. Adrienne had her camera going so look for pictures soon. We slowly threw them out of the house – although some are still sleeping on my couch.

Friday started at 5:30. Since I had not gone anywhere on Thursday I had to clear the now frozen solid snow from my car and then I made my way to Wal-Mart for the mad rush of shopping. I was extremely impressed with the way they ran the sale, as you came in they handed you a printed out sheet with their main sale items and what aisle they could be found in. They must have had every employee working as anywhere you turned there was somebody there ready and eager to help, with cashiers standing in front of the registers. I picked up everything that I remembered I wanted and was out of there by 6:45. I came home, finished my email to the interviewer from Friday, typed this up and am awaiting the boys in about an hour (Sabrina just woke up, had breakfast and is now reading a basketball card to me – did you know that Jay Humphries is a ga uh a rd?). Mom and Adrienne are stopping by before they leave for Indiana, but I’m guessing that Erika and Jackson are already on the road.