CCHA

Congrats to the U of M hockey team for winning the CCHA championship as a 7 seed. Great job boys!

Awesome weekend for food, music, and hockey!

What a terrific weekend! First, and probably most important, U of M swept Michigan State to advance to the CCHA finals this weekend. Go Blue! Go Louie Caporusso and Steve Kampfer and Carl Hagelin and Matt Rust and Luke Glendening and David Wohlberg and Shawn Hunwick and the rest of the Michigan Wolverines!

Second, what an awesome show at The Ark. Band of Heathens, out of Austin, TX., delivered an outstanding concert. Part jam band, part alt country poster child, this band transported me to Nashville, one of my favorite cities, where I could picture myself with a cowboy hat and a beer just having a great time. Well done, Heathens. Visit the Heathens at http://www.bandofheathens.com. For dinner before the show, we visited the Jolly Pumpkin and sat upstairs for the first time. Great food. I had the chick pea panini and a Bam Biere, my perennial dining companion had the Asian Salad. Great service and excellent food. The Bam Biere is not to be missed. http://www.jollypumpkin.com/.

Sunday brought our first visit to Bill's. Amazing coney dogs and root beer. Summer is coming. It is! Yummy!

Welcome, Calista!

I wasn't sure I was ready for another kitty so soon after losing Phoebe, but my perennial dining companion said a lot of kitties were waiting for homes in shelters and I agreed. Welcome, Calista!

Great CCHA playoff weekend for U of M

Welcome back, Louie Caporusso. A hat trick from Caporusso, two goals from Sweden's Carl Hagelin and a fine fourth effort by back up goalie, Shawn Hunwick, lead Michigan's hockey team to a 6-0 victory over Lake Superior State and a sweep of the series. Michigan advances to the second round in the CCHA playoffs. Let's hope senior Chris Summers returns to the ice for next weekend's series against Michigan State. Let's Go Blue!

The Cats Part - Saying Goodbye to Phoebe

My perennial dining companion found Phoebe at the Capital Area Humane Society in November of 1998. She flopped in her cage to let him rub her belly and he knew she was the kitty for us. Phoebe’s ride home from the Capital Area Humane Society was legendary. She chewed through the cardboard carrier they gave my perennial dining companion to transport her home and he played a gentle game of “whack a mole” with her all the way from Lansing to Farmington Hills. 12 years later, Phoebe was still flopping for belly rubs and surprising us with her determination.

Phoebe was the quintessential cat. Small and striped, she could hear a tuna can open while asleep on another floor of the house. Feisty and determined, she could open folding doors with one paw. Our constant basement companion, Phoebe, the sports kitty, survived many important sporting events in the basement, including 2 Detroit Stanley Cups, Michigan’s victory over Florida in the Capital One Bowl in 2008, and the Detroit Tigers World Series Appearance in 2006.

When Phoebe was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure in November, she amazed us with her determination to survive and to thrive despite her failing kidneys. Phoebe never gave up. A bad day would lead to a series of good days. She never quit giving head butts, belly flops and love to her family. Over the last week, our little fighter kitty lost the battle of wills with her body and we had to say goodbye. We were lucky to have her as part of our lives and she will be sorely missed.