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Yay!  It's mulberry time.  I didn't know this until I went walking on the path in Dexter, and the telltale signs of a stained boardwalk signaled the season.  I looked up, and sure enough, there were dark, purple berries on the "tree". The next day, John and I headed out for a walk, and I brought the colander.  I would pull the branches down low enough that John could pick with two hands (since we don't currently have a ladder).  It didn't take us more than 20 minutes to pick enough for a pie (along with picking the freshly fallen berries off the ground). The next day, we were supposed to take the missionaries to the temple, and I figured I would make them a pie.  I have taken it on myself to expose the missionaries to all good things Michigan (having discovered that they basically live in a cocoon of missionary life and don't really get out and see anything that Michigan has to offer):  Cherry Republic, MDen, Superman Ice Cream, Faygo, Vinsetta Gar...

Dear Glo, I realized today at church that I am forgetting some of the things that happened over the last 8 months that have been obvious blessings from Heavenly Father. One:  two days before the house inspection Rebecca and the babies were visiting and they were in the basement rooms sleeping.  On the day they were going to leave, I noticed that the tub was clogged.  I tried to unclog it and took the drain apart and plunged it and snaked it with my snake and could not get it to drain.  Then I noticed that the toilet was not draining either.  I tried to plunge the toilet and water started leaking out from under the toilet.  I turned the water off to the toilet and told everyone not to use the toilet or the bathtub.  As I was passing through the basement, I realized that there was a terrible smell coming from the basement furnace room.  I went in there and there was water all over the floor and a smell of sewage.  So, th...

I would be an ungrateful Aris if I didn't write a few words about our resident elder, Elder Thomas.  He was transferred this week (after six months in Chelsea), and judging by how sad the entire ward was to see him go, it was probably time. We first met Elder Thomas when John asked if we could have the missionaries over--I'm not sure what prompted him to ask that because I haven't wanted to feed the less-than-stellar missionaries we've had in our ward almost since we moved here--but I relented. Elder Thomas was a breath of fresh air.  He had witty answers to my questions, he was earnest in what he said (and didn't have that stupid missionary accent), and was just real .  When we sat down for them to give us a spiritual message, he asked at the end if they could bring an investigator over to our house.  In Elder Thomas' words, he thought the investigator would feel comfortable with us because we are so fun. Oh yeah baby....  49 and 52-years-old, and we'...

I’m in Norfolk, VA, for a couple of days for work. This is the second trip i’ve Taken here, and we’re staying at a different hotel than when we were in April. So of course I was automatically comparing when I walked into the hotel. And at first, it seemed like the other hotel was definitely better. We had to pay for parking here. My room is smaller, and the bed isn’t quite as comfortable as the last one. After tonight though, there really only is one thing that matters: location, location, location! The first hotel was over by the airport, and it was surrounded by highways. I remember going out and trying go running outside, and I ran out of sidewalk almost immediately. We also had to drive a ways to find any kind of restaurant where we wanted to eat. So the hotel was nice, but we basically had to stay at the hotel. Our current hotel is downtown, right on the Elizabeth river. And the difference is astounding! Tonight for dinner we headed out into the downtown area and found this reall...

Dear Family and Friends, I just wanted to write the story of what has happened to me over the past two weeks.  As many of you know, I had a hearing with the hospital where I work on Wednesday and Thursday, June 5 and 6, and it was possible that it would go to June 12 as well.  It did go on to the June 12 date as well.  Each night it would start at 5 p.m. and go to 11 p.m..  It was a hearing with a panel of three physicians who are staff members of the hospital, who would judge me based on testimony given at the hearing as to whether a suspension of my privileges that occurred on October 30, 2017 was warranted.  Even though the suspension happened on October 30, this was the first time I was able to defend myself and try to overturn the suspension.  It was also to defend myself from a recommendation by the Executive committee of the hospital on November 16, 2018 as to whether they should revoke my privileges at the hospital...