Introduction to Bing

Bing is my new baby. He is a delightful, comical, mellow, loving, born-deaf, 3 year old, French Bulldog. I have to confess, that "before Bing", I didn't really like dogs. I didn't see the point. DOGS seemed to just take up space, fart, slobber and wreck things. Then my college bound son decided he was going to get a bulldog. I told him it was the dumbest idea he ever came up with. I figured that, upon graduation, and moving to the big city, I would inherit the (gd) DOG. Well... it took only about 3 days of being around his DOG when suddenly I was driving around town with the sweet thing. I loved the DOG!! So much so, that for my next birthday, my husband and son conspired to get me my OWN.

Now, truly, the first few days I liked the puppy (pretty much) BUT.... realize, I had no more children at home, no responsibility, no need to leave work in the middle of the day, no one to wreck my new furniture.... you get the picture. So... even tho I liked the little guy, I doubted this decision. Also -- the other major problem was that, after a few days of having the puppy at home, we came to the realization that the DOG was totally DEAF. Now, I added to my concerns that he would be misbehaved, difficult to train, perhaps easily startled and aggressive. I was ready to send him back. Rethink this DOG thing. My husband, (the wisest man in the world) let me go through the motions. When I finally decided on my own, to give the dog a chance and not "anticipate" problems, but see how things went, my husband confessed to me that the dog was never going anywhere. Even if he had had to take him to work and raise him, the dog really was never going back.

Can you even believe that with those ears this little guy is deaf?

Or, that I ever thought of giving him back?

Well... I have to tell you that, I don't know exactly when it happened but now, "I AM a DOG PERSON!" I ADORE this dog. I get so much enjoyment from him, that I can't even believe it. Where I worried about having to leave work to "let a DOG out", I now can't wait to get home to Bing. He is totally my buddy.

Oh -- and the deaf thing??? No problem. We took him to Puppy School, and they taught us a hand gesture for every voice command that the other puppies learned. Bing does just fine. He knows LOTS of signs. And I'm someone that never trained a regular dog -- so if I can do it, anyone can. I think he is maybe even more loveable because of his deafness.

Me and A DOG, in love....go figure. ~ Liz

End of Lake Superior Shipping Season

Today marks the end of the Iron Ore Shipping Season. The last of the freighters shipped out from Marquette Monday in order to push through the Soo Locks before they closed Tuesday. The closing of the Locks ushers in the official winter break for the Lake Superior shipping season.

See you in the Spring. ~ Liz

Founders Landing Update

Well, the Marquette City Commission tonite decided to go back to the bargaining table with the Urban Project. Looks like they will negotiate out the resolution of the problems with the fill in the site, timelines for closing, and maybe tweak some details with the plans, etc. But most people seemed encouraged to have the city continue negotiations with this group. Maybe this summer will see some real decisions and progress with the area. Let's hope we will have a resolution that will mean a new tax base for the city, a complimentary area bringing more life into downtown, and a new quality real estate development for buyers!

I hope we get to represent buyers in the purchase of this exciting new development!

Keep tuned for updates! ~ Liz

The Weather Channel names U.P. as Winter Destination

Once again, Marquette has been recognized nationally as a destination. This time, the U.P. was ranked #6 in a list of “standout destinations” for a winter family getaway, by The Weather Channel. They dubbed us a “Winter Wonderland” (we should say, “confirmed” rather than imply that they came up with that name.)

Specific tourist attractions mentioned were the Porcupine Mountains State Park and the Copper Country State Forest, along with simply the wide array of winter sports throughout the U.P. (see more of the story at http://www.weather.com/.)

One of the things I find myself often expressing to newcomers to the area, is just how readily accessible our vast array of outdoor activities are. Oftentimes when people are moving to the area, they’ll mention that they want to be on acreage, or water, or in the woods, etc. in order to really live the U.P. life. For many that’s where we will end up. But I always try to make the point that, for the vast majority of us – you don’t have to HAVE to live in the woods to enjoy much of what our area has to offer in terms of recreation. You can be fishing, skiing, skating, walking, biking, hunting, snowmobiling, whatever your pleasure… in minutes… from the center of town! If that’s what you want.

I love the fact that our high school students can ski every day - after school and before dinner – how lucky they are!! I had a client once that picked Marquette right from a map and the Weather Channel because of how much snow we received. He purchased a home with the snowmobile trail in his backyard. He was in heaven! I remember one time when I showed a home about 5:30 in the evening, on the banks of the Chocolay River, and there was a guy that I knew on the opposite side of the bank hauling in a great big fish. It totally looked “staged.” Instead, it was just a great example of our easy, casual, available lifestyle.

What a great place to live! ~ Liz

KitchenAid 2 Drawer Dishwasher

I love doing the dishes. That isn’t right, is it? Honestly, I always disliked doing the dishes. Until – during our recent remodel, and the purchase of our new KitchenAid 2 drawer dishwasher. What a joy. It was destined to be one of my “favorites” that I would recommend to others.

You can spend less on a dishwasher. But this dishwasher is oh so clever. The 2 drawer feature creates an unbelievable amount of space. If you think about it, the sprayers are laid across the bottom of the drawer, so there is no pole sticking up in the middle where you are trying to cram a large pot into one half side of a rack. The drawer set-up completely eliminates that constant fight to “fit” pots and pans. It also allows you to separate pans from glassware if you would like – two dissimilar loads that you might want to run under different settings.

The racks for once are designed for function too. They are perfectly built to accommodate tall stemmed glasses for example (which my last dishwasher couldn’t even handle in any configuration.) Plus they keep stemware safe and not touching with drop-down stem fitting racks. It even comes with little clips that hang onto Tupperware so they aren’t all upside down, filled with water when you are done!!

Plus every rack just pops out if you need to make more room for something. There is also the versatility of running just one drawer when that’s all the dishes you have. You don’t have to wait around for more dirty dishes. This feature is great for us empty-nesters that aren’t creating as many dishes as an entire family would.

Need I go on???? I’m sure we all have better things to occupy our time than all of our mundane chores, so when a product addresses our needs and makes life easier – that’s a very good thing.

Falling in love with your dishwasher – go figure. ~ Liz

Marquette UP 200 Sled Dog Races Slated for Mid-February

Another uniquely UP event will be the upcoming UP200 Sled Dog Races beginning in Marquette. 2008 Race Dates are: Feb 15, 16 & 17. The outstanding “START” out of Historic Downtown Marquette, is one of a kind. Tens of thousands will gather downtown, warmed by the excitement and spirit of the event. Please consider catching some part of this event – you won’t forget it. For additional information keep checking back here, or go to http://www.up200.org/.

What a fun Valentines Day weekend! For those visitors that would like to live the Marquette Country lifestyle and would like to see some fitting homes this weekend, give me a shout ahead of time. I'll get you into some beauties!

Go teams go! ~ Liz

Heikki Lunta Winterfest

The 2008 Heikki Lunta (Hey-key-loon-ta) Winterfest is set for January 18-20 in Negaunee. What a crazy yooper tradition.

The big guy is thought to be a mythological Finnish snow “god”, but the Finns are not necessarily laying claim to the legend, so I’m thinking that he may have been made up by the locals over a beer or two at Tino’s in downtown Negaunee.

The scheduled events include a Fishing Derby, Pasty Sales, Horse-Drawn Sleigh Rides, Bonfires, Fireworks, and Blooperball (a form of baseball in the snow). Plenty of family fun! I’m only hoping that the last few days of 40 degree weather and rain won’t ruin things for some of the events. But – afterall – Heikki Lunta is the snow god himself isn’t he???

For more info please go to http://www.negauneeirontown.com/ or phone 906-486-8084.

THINK SNOW! ~ Liz