A Baseball Tournament near Frankenmuth

 We finally got to see our son Jake play baseball last weekend. He had a trip to Costa Rica that kept him from playing in two of the other tournaments. Anyway, for his age(16u) it was only a three-team tournament. 

Sat Outside where the Arches are

We stayed with family on Thursday, played some golf Friday afternoon then headed to Frankenmuth later that day.  After check-in at the Bavarian Inn, we met up with the rest of the team parents at the lounge and sat outside. We had drinks, listened to a musician sing some tunes and had a great time. 

We did some shopping in Birch Run on Saturday. Games were cancelled due to the weather. We did not make it over to the World's Largest Christmas Store. If you get a chance stop there. 

Another view from our room

The view from our room

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Back to baseball. The West Michigan Misfits lost the first game 1-3. Jake did not play that game. They came back the next game and won 8-0. Jake was 1-2 with and RBI and a walk. His hit was a nice single.    

In the championship game he was 0-2 but knocked in the only run we scored. We lost 1-11 and finished runner up.

putting the bat on the ball

  

truckin'

Some defense

All three game were played on Sunday afternoon/evening. It was over a 2 drive home for all of us but it was well worth it. What a great weekend!!!

Brisket, Wings and a Celebration

 Every year for the 4th of July weekend we go up to Higgins Lake. The kids meet us up there and we stay at my in-law's place. We also celebrate Amanda's birthday. This year Amanda asked if we could have wings with our brisket, so of course, I had to deliver. 

Higgins Lake at Sunrise

Pit Boss is Fired Up

 The sunrising over the lake was to beautiful to pass on. I had to get a picture. Higgins is such a big, beautiful and clean lake. Its hard not to go every weekend but Jake is still playing ball and summer tournaments take a lot of those weekends. 

 I prepped the brisket the night before, trimming the excess fat and adding the rub.

Anyway, I fire up the Pit Boss. In the picture, it is going through the start-up.

After start-up, I leave it on the smoke setting and put the brisket on. I used hickory pellets.

I use my MEATER probe for this cook. In case your not familiar with MEATER, its a Bluetooth thermometer you put in the meat. It gives you constant feedback. There is not a lot of range, so you need to keep the phone close, or you lose the signal. When you open the app and set up the cook it will look something like this:

Tracking the Cook

The green line is the ambient temperature in the smoker. The purple line in the internal temperature of the meat. This information is critical, for this cook we are looking to pull the meat and wrap in butcher paper at 175 or at stall. I should add that we spritzed the butcher paper with a apple cider vinegar and water mix. Then, my wife, swaddled the brisket like a baby and we out it back in the smoker. Turn the temp to about 250 and let it finish. When it got to 197, I pulled it, wrapped in a towel and stuck in a dry and empty cooler to rest. Total cook time for this one was just over 5 hours. I cooked it as low as I could until 175. 

About an hour later the wings go on the smoker. I prepped those the morning of. I used Meat Church Voodoo   on half and  Meat Church The Gospel   on the other.  I didn't do any saucing this time. We had sauces out, then everyone could do their own thing. 

Here we go.... THE BIG REVEAL 

Brisket is Done

Dinner is Ready

 I finally got the bark I wanted. The   thicker end defiantly juicer. As I've   learned the thinner part will dry out   quicker. Still great flavor.

 The wings came out great.

 The biggest reward of this kind of cook   is in the picture below. Everyone at the   table talking about the meal and just   enjoying each other. 

Love seeing the Kids at the Table

I need to add that my wife and mother -in-law had some great side dishes. 

After dinner, we had Amanda open gifts and had cake. 

All in all, a great day, with great food and a lot of togetherness. 

The Smoke Hits West Michigan

From the map above you can see all of the wildfires happening across Canada and some in the U.S. For us in West Michigan the air quality is becoming quite terrible. According to AccuWeather.com we at an unhealthy level. You can click the link to see the air quality report. Grand Rapids, MI Air Quality Index | AccuWeather.

It's nowhere near where New York was a few weeks ago when the skyline was orange. How Canadian wildfire smoke is worsening the air quality of New York & other parts of the US (msn.com). It is getting bad though. 

These pics were taken on the way home today. In both pics, if you look at the tree lines, you can see the haze. You can pick up the smell also. 

 In the building at work, you can see the air just hanging near the ceiling. It is just crazy what is going and the effect of the wildfires. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is advising that people with heart or lung, older people and young kids:

Avoid strenuous outdoor activities.

Outdoor activities short

Move physical activity indoors or reschedule.

Everyone else:

Walk instead of run.

Keep outdoor activities short.

and I love this one.....be active outdoors when the air quality is better. 

 Oh and I read that if you are going outside, they recommend N95 masks. I won't get on my soap box about the government treating us like idiots or rant about masks. Just make sure you are careful outside and listen to your body. 

Chicken Quesadilla

 A couple nights ago, we decided to do some chicken quesadillas. These were pretty quick and easy with very little prep time. 

Let's see how we got there. 😊😊😊.

I season the chicken with Meat Church's The Gospel. This is a great all-purpose rub. It has more of a sweeter taste to it. Not spicy at all. I hit the peppers and onion with some Kosmos SPG. (Salt, pepper and garlic). I put it on just about everything.

I already have the Weber Grill and Blackstone Griddle heating up. Once they are good, I go out to the pit and get to cookin'. I liked cooking these pieces of chicken because they are more uniform in the thickness. I have them on a lower heat, so I don't overcook them. I pulled them off a 165.

The peppers and onions go until they are soft and a bit brown. 

Look at that nice color on the chicken.

When the chicken and vegetables are done, I bring them in the house and hand them off to Melissa. 

Melissa heats up the tortilla, loads it up with chicken, vegetables and cheese. KA-POW!!!! Some dang good quesadilla.

A Return to Work and a New Perspective

After my follow up on Monday, my doctor released me from any restrictions. He supported my request to ramp in the work hours for the next couple of weeks. So I returned to work on Wednesday. I worked Wednesday-Friday 4 hours each day. With some of the aliments still lingering, I wanted to see how I would hold up. The answer? I held up ok. Some pain in areas but not too bad overall. Next week I go to 6 hour days so we will see how that goes.

 I had plenty of people welcome me back and mentioned that I looked so much better. Of course, that always makes a person feel good. 

 Now I start in a new area. I have a person that does the mold setting and other things, so that will let me focus on my actual supervisor responsibilities. This leads to a new perspective. Things like, how can I make this area better?  What does the team want to accomplish? How do we stand out as one of the top bays in the building? 

 This gives me a chance to utilize my years of experience and make a difference. It has to be done in the right way. 

 There is a lot of mistrust with management right now and seems like morale is low on the production floor. To lift morale in my bay, I need to earn the trust from my team. They need to see that I will go to bat for them whenever possible, stand my ground with management and hold them accountable when needed. Management needs to walk the walk.

 I may lose some battles, but I will make a lot of noise doing so. At least, in my own sensible way. 

 From what I can see, getting management to walk the walk will take time. What I can have a direct impact on is how I go about my business. Organized, clean and attention to detail. It starts just by picking up, wiping machines down, sweeping the floor, responded to quality issues in the appropriate manner, etc. 

 That is all I have on this right now. I could go on and on, but it would be redundant and boring. I'll update as I get more settled in. 

Country Road.....

 Tonight, is an overcast night with a temperature of 76 degrees Fahrenheit. My wife and I decided to take the dogs for a walk. 

Tucker and Timber

Don't let this picture fool you, both dogs love their walk. The route we go is pretty quiet after 6:30pm. Tucker will get pretty ramped up when vehicle's drive past, so we have to make him sit. Timber is pretty calm all of the time so walking him is a breeze.

 There is a large field just down the street from us. We pass this barn on our walks. 

The Barn down the Street

We have some our best conversations and our most quiet moments on these walks. It gives us time to step away from the day, no matter what it threw at us, and  lets us decompress. 

The Road one Block Over

Sometimes we will see deer or turkey's hanging out in the field. Heck, sometimes they come through our back yard but that's another story.

But the walk, it will end up 1.5 miles. So, get out there and walk. Its easy, helps with stress and clears the mind. I also hear it can help with creativity. Which is why I need to take more walks. 😁

Turkey

Deer

 

A Father's Day Dinner Worthy of High Regard

 We decided to have T-bone steaks with potatoes, onion, rolls and a ice cold Coor's Light. Sunday morning, I got up at 6 am. Got the coffee going and took out the thawed steaks. I put the steaks in a large Ziploc bag and added Dale's Steak Seasoning (liquid form). Pulled them out of the bag at 4:30pm and added a bunch of salt. 

Threw them on the Weber Grill. 

Steaks

At the same time, I heat up the Blackstone Grill, put down some oil and get the onion and potato going. I could've started the potato sooner because they did take longer cook. But hey, The steaks needed to rest anyway so all good. 

 Potatoes

 Cooked the steaks to about 160. 

                                Potatoes are done:

      

Dinner is served:

 With Dale's Seasoning and some butter added while on the grill, these steaks came out great. My wife said they were "gas". (New lingo from today's youth, it means great) They had a ton of flavor. The Coors Light just topped off and paired really well. 

                   

A Saturday Morning Breakfast

 My wife, Melissa, loves to send me new ideas for breakfast, or dinner. I am learning to cook, especially outside. This is one of those ideas she found on Tik Tok. 

First, I fire up the Blackstone Grill. Let it heat up, throw down some oil and/or bacon grease, then get them hash brown's cooking. I gave them sometime because they take the longest.

Once them hash browns start to brown. Then I get some eggs going. Slap that bread down in the egg. Give it a minute. Flip the bread with the egg over. Once the bottom of the bread is lightly toasted, add ham, cheese and maybe some bacon.

Don't forget to add the hash brown's. Next you add the top piece of bread and BOOM!!!!!

You got yourself a very filling breakfast sandwich. 

This was a fun cook to do. I really enjoy using the Blackstone grill. I'll do this one again.

A Lot to Catch Up on Part 3

.....Just after the struggles with the appliance, I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon. Remember when I said I had to record my fluid output? Well, it turns out, I was severely dehydrated. My kidneys almost shut down. Though I was drinking my fluids, it was just coming right back out. Emptying the bag got really old, real fast. Just so you know, the maximum output for a day is 1500 fl oz. I was over that almost every day. I felt like crap, but I thought it was surgery related. I ended up staying in the hospital again for five days. 

We get the appliance right; I get rehydrated with a much better understanding of what I am supposed to do. We go home armed with Imodium and Lomotil to help slow things down. 

Mid-March, I finally got to a point where, I could change out the appliance myself. I figured out that French fries really slow things down. We started to find some humor with the situation. I have to say this....it is very hard to be intimate when that dang bag is rustling around. If you take a plastic bag a crunch it up, it kind of sounds like that....what a turn off.😬

May 2, 2023 time for the reversal to reconnect and put everything back into its home. I will have a wound that looks like I took a bullet to the stomach. Everything inside is functioning properly. I should be able to return to work next Wednesday. There's one more minor detail. I now have to figure out why my hips and knees ache and aren't working properly.

 We now have a good plan in place to stay on top of this issue. The battle is not over and with Crohn's, it never will be. 

A Lot to Catch Up on Part 2

 ....as for me, I'm doing better now. For those that don't know me, I've had Crohn's Disease since the late 90's. I've had to bowel resections over the years. They have given me good results but they don't last forever. Crohn's comes back!!! Let's back track to July 2021....

 I go in for a CT scan, after drinking 3 bottles of the contrast, I had to go back the hospital because the contrast induced a flare. Gastro doc puts me on Prednisone. I was adamant that I did not want to be on it long term. Well, it turned out long term. At the same time, Humaria started to become ineffective. Skip ahead to February 2022....

I find out that my current Gastro doc left on permanent leave. Flare up's were starting to increase but I could manage them. It took two months for the office to get me another Gastro. He ordered another CT. I refused to drink more than two bottles. He puts me on another biologic and keeps the Prednisone going. 

I had an allergic reaction to the first biologic, so puts me on another. That did not really work and by Aug 2022 another hospital visit due to a flare up. Increased Prednisone again, with a third biologic. Guess what, late Oct 2022 back to the hospital again. This time a partial blockage with a flare up. For the first time, I had to have an NG tube put down my throat. That was a long 5 days. 

Dec 2022 Gastro doc finally admitted defeat and referred me to the U of M Medical Center. Mid-January 2023. We have a plan in place to get me back to right, but it was going to take a major change....

They could not do a straight bowel resection because of the length of time I was on Prednisone. My insides needed time to heal. So, the first surgery ended up with me having an Ileostomy. 

Here is this major change, and the one I feared the most. I mean I was pooping into a bag. How is that not a shot to the ego!!! My wife and I had to learn how to change the appliance out, record the output and stay hydrated. A few days later we go home. Three days after going home, we had to change the appliance. It took us three days and fifteen tries to realize we needed a new style of appliance. Once we changed, I didn't have to worry about fluid running down my side. We shed a lot of tears over the struggles with the first appliance. Talk about character building. But hold on there's more...... 

A Lot to Catch Up On

 Hello there....glad you stopped by. 

 I see that my last post was in 2012. It's now 11 years later and I am going to try again. I do not want to catch everything up in one post. It would go on forever and some would probably fall asleep. So instead, over the next few posts I will get a lot caught up. 

But where to start.....Well my son Cody will be married in October, He made us grandparents to a wonderful little girl named Lilly. She is 7. There has been so much growth with Cody. Lilly and Aliana (daughter-in-law) have made him a better man. I'm so proud of him. 

Daughter Amanda is married. Her and her husband are figuring things out. Melissa and I coach them along the best we can. They have a wonderful home with our two grandpups and a real nice yard..

Son Jeff is not married. He is figuring his life out and what he wants to really be doing as a career. He has a free spirit, so it'll be interesting what he does.

Son Jake. He is going into his senior year of High School. He just got done with an amazing run with his high school baseball team. He leaves for Cost Rica tomorrow. The trip is through his Spanish class. When he comes back, he will start with summer ball. 

Melissa continues to be an amazing and supportive wife. 

As for me, I'm doing much better now.......That story will be coming soon. Hold on because it is a doozy!