I would be been find spending my weekend taking in the view above, but unfortunately, that wasn't to be. This was actually anything but one of those lazy Winter weekends I have come to enjoy in the northern part of the US. Give me nowhere to be, a couch to lay on, and a football/basketball game on the TV that I may or may not watch while I am drifting in and out of sleep and I am happy.
I did get some basketball this past weekend, but it was in a much different manner than what I described above.
The snow started coming down around noon on Friday and continued until later into the night. I took down our Christmas decorations in the front of the house, but I left the lights up on our deck in the back so we could have something nice to look at while in the kitchen.
I woke up on Saturday morning to a fresh blanket of about two to three inches of snow covering the snow that was still there from the last weather event that moved through. I got the snow blower started and within about a half hour I had the driveway all cleared so we could get on the road to watch my niece and nephew play basketball down in the Flint, MI area.
It doesn't look like much in the photo above, but I had cleared it enough that by the time we got home, our driveway was completely visible. A little wet, but there wasn't a single spot of ice or snow on it.
Although our driveway was clear, the roads were not, and we decided to take the truck to go pick up my mother in law and father in law so they could ride down with us to the games.
First up was my youngest nephew. I'm definitely a bit biased, but he was basically a one man show out on the court. I don't remember what the final score was, but he was stealing the ball, grabbing rebounds, and making a ton of shots down at the other end. It was pretty impressive to watch. I actually think they lost the game because the other team was quite organized and well coached.
Don't tell that to my brother in law who is actually the coach of his sons team.
They just seemed to understand the fundamentals a bit more and worked a little more cohesively as a group. I think my nephew has the potential to do well in basketball if that is the sport he decides to pursue. He currently plays football, basketball, and baseball and he is quite good at all of them.
After his game we had about an hour and a half to kill, so we decided to grab some lunch before we headed off to my nieces game at a different location. The nephew who was playing in the morning and his dad had to take off to go to practice for a different basketball league, so we didn't see them the rest of the day.
We found ourselves at a nice little bar in Flushing, MI called Johnny's Pour House. It was a cool little joint and it actually wasn't as busy as I expected it to be on a Saturday afternoon. Perhaps if there had been college football games (besides the playoffs), it might have been busier.
As you can see, it was established in 2010 and we were quite impressed with it. The service was good, the food was decent, and the prices weren't too bad which is a win in itself these days!
If you have been following me for any amount of time, you can probably guess that the wrap is what 
This was the Greek Chicken wrap with all kinds of things you might expect in a gyro. She said it was quite good. I can testify as well that the onion rings were exceptional!
I was having a hard time with the lighting on my end of the table, but I got a couple shots of my dish. I went with a whitefish reuben sandwich. It was basically like a traditional reuben, but instead of the pastrami or corned beef they used a whitefish filet. The sauerkraut was exchanged for coleslaw, swiss cheese, and they used a thousand island dressing that was infused with horseradish.
The flavors was good, but it was a bit of a bear to eat and it actually ended up being too much breading for me. I ended up discarding most of the bun and just eating the fish filet with the other accompaniments.
I probably wouldn't get it again, but I have never seen anything like this on a menu before, so I was glad I tried it.
My father in law is a sucker for a good traditional club sandwich. That's what he ended up getting along with the same homemade chips that I got. I like the idea of club sandwiches, but for me I feel it's too much bread, so I seldom ever order them myself.
My mother in law got the Turkey Reuben which is quite similar to what I got but instead of the fish filet she got deli sliced turkey. I'm not sure if her dressing had the horseradish in it like mine did either.
Then of course she got onion rings to go along with it. Her daughter and her are more similar than they realize sometimes!
I didn't get any shots of the food at the other end of the table. It was kind of lame anyway. A cup of soup, a burger, and probably chicken fingers or something like that.
From there we headed to my nieces game. She plays on a league at one of the local churches where they do a little sermon for the kids at halftime and then they play six five minute periods per game. It's called Upwards and they have it all over the US and probably outside of the US. This might be her last year playing in this league before she ages out. I am not sure. It's always a bit chaotic, but it is fun watching the kids trying to be superstars on the court!
Sunday welcomed me with a snow drive in to church so I could sit with my parents and visit with them a bit before the sermon.
Then I came home and made myself a poor man's chicken and waffles. A toaster waffle with a frozen patty from Costco all warmed up and drizzled with hot honey. It was absolutely delicious. The rest of the evening was spent watching Michigan State basketball and the NFL wildcard games.
It was busy, but not a bad weekend at all!
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or
