Michigan Pro Hockey Tour - November 1997

Hi everyone!

I decided to write a letter just about once a month so you aren't inundated with a ton of mail from the Trboyevich's, just one long letter every once in a while. I'm also doing it directly in the email so you don't have to open finicky attachments. That should make it easier.

My new employer (Wayne Leistra) sent me to a two day seminar in Philadelphia two weeks ago. The seminar was on Wednesday and Thursday and he gave me Friday off so I could visit Colleen in D.C. for the weekend. I did the tourist thing in Philly on Friday morning before I drove to D.C. I saw the Rocky statue, Vet Stadium (where the Eagles play), the Liberty Bell, Independence hall, City hall, Penn's landing site and a million sculptures on every corner of the city. I've never really given Philly a second thought as being a city that I wanted to visit, but it really was impressive. I was surprised at how clean it was and there really is a lot of culture. The hotel I was staying in was in a nice part of town, but I took cabs all over the place to see the sights and never went through a bad neighborhood except for Chinatown. That area was a toilet bowl.

On Wednesday night, the seminar attendees were invited to tour an ad agency called McLaughlin & Morgan. Now, there's a main street in Philly called Broad street and the address we had for this place was 146 Broad. When the cab dropped us off, there was a 125 Broad and the next building was 154 Broad. No #146. Well, one of the ladies had her cellular with her (not me, I was an embarrassment to the AT&T Wireless name for not having my phone with me at all times) and she called the agency to get further directions. Turns out, the address is 146 BREAD st. (typo on the memo), and not one cab driver in Philadelphia had ever heard of Bread street! When we finally found our way there, we figured out why - it's nothing more than an alley and there wasn't one road sign to be found. It's right in a downtown, hip-hop area - there are lots of clubs and restaurants and art galleries, and I guess it's really packed on the weekends with all the club-hoppers. Well, the owners of this agency were very proud of the renovation work they had done, which is why we were offered the tour. They said this building was originally built in the 1850's and began as a stable. He told us all the things it had been over the years and before he bought it, some architect had owned it and made it into a dance studio for his wife. Now it's an ad agency and it is totally hip. We walked off this alley-street into a crumbly looking building into a whole new world. It reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. The hallways started out small and expanded in all four directions so by the time you got to the end of it, it was very wide, and they were all painted bright yellows and purples. The creative department was up in the loft and they had a pool table and a kitchen stocked with beers and wines. The whole atmosphere was wide open, studio style, except for 2 small conference rooms for client meetings. Even they were only enclosed with glass blocks, though. It was really neat. It looked like a very fun, creative place to work, but I kept wondering where everyone parked, there was absolutely no room on the alley-street.

I did discover one thing about being in a big east coast city - cab fare is horrendus! Thirty bucks one way from the airport! Good thing I got to expense all that because I'm too cheap to pay for it myself. I was too chicken to take the subway by myself, too. I've never been on one before and I was scared to attempt it alone the first time. I took a picture of it though - ha ha - what kind of a dork takes a PICTURE of the subway? Just an Alaskan girl out on her own in the real world. I'll get up the courage soon enough, then look out.

The Rocky statue is smaller than I thought it would be, I guess the camera angles in the movies make it look bigger. I did run the steps, though, and feel like I am now qualified to be on a Wheaties box. "Getting strong nooooowwww...." I turned around to look at the cityscape and the cab driver was following me up the steps. He said he'd lived in Philly all his life and had never seen the statue, so he joined me to look at it and he even took my picture with it. I hopped up on the base and kind of hung off the side of the leg. It's probably the closest to Sly Stallone's thigh I'll ever get. (swoon) Vet stadium was right across the street, so I took a picture of that, too, even though it really wasn't on the list of things I wanted to see.

Then I went to see the Liberty bell and Independence Hall. That was interesting, too. What history in that town! The bell is enshrined in a glass building in front of Independence Hall and you don't get to just look at it, you have to take a guided tour and listen to the speech. Also, nobody is allowed to touch the bell, we had to stay five feet back. Those tour guides took their jobs seriously, too, let me tell you. Five feet means exactly five feet. Also, right around that area, they have a lot of horse drawn carriges, just for the novelty of it, I guess. I saw a statue of George Washinton and a couple other sculptures. The city hall building was one of the most beautiful, ornate buildings I've ever seen. It was ancient, but restored to perfection and it is definitely the city's crown jewel, if you ask me.

I did all this sightseeing on Friday morning then I picked up a rental car and headed to D.C. It's only about a two hour drive and autumn on the east coast is breathtakingly beautiful. There's more than just birch, they have aspens, maples, oaks, and a million other varieties so all the leaves are bright purple, red, orange, and yellow, not just sort of yellow-orange, like in Alaska.

Colleen and Mark are doing well, it was so good to see them. They have a beautiful new home although they're still not completely unpacked because they're making some changes inside and they're both working ridiculously long hours. I slept in Jimmy's room, which was a trip because he has glow in the dark constellations all over his ceiling (Colleen's brilliant idea) and since I can't see a thing with my contacts out, there was just sort of an eerie green glow in the room all night. Spooky, but cool. I want to do that for my kids someday, I think.

They have a really sweet live in nanny/housekeeper, her name is Mercedez. She's really great with the kids, she's teaching everyone Spanish and she's quickly becoming part of their family. She even ironed Colleen's pajamas! Forgive me, Colleen, for getting a little intimate here but I was laughing. I think it's a big relief for both of them to finally have someone there to help. Mark's mom had moved in temporarily to help until they found someone, but she is extremely sensitive to smells, so they couldn't turn the gas heat on. Well, you know that went over well with me, Miss Frigid America. The moment Colleen walked in the door from work that day, we went to Home Depot and got some electric space heaters - that helped a lot. Mark's mom is really great, though. When I got there, she and Jimmy were gone. She had taken him to the Museum of Natural History (part of the Smithsonian) for an outing. They took public transportation into the city and Jimmy got to ride the subway.
I was jealous. She's teaching him chess, too, and that's something I've always wanted to learn, too, but never made the time for it. Oh well. Someday. That's embarrassing to admit that a six year old boy could probably whip me at chess.

I talked with Mark at length about his PhD studies - it was fascinating. Right now, one of the classes he's taking is abnormal psychology - I now know why some grown adults think it's stimulating to wear diapers or expose themselves on a busy street. I don't remember if that was something that I WANTED to know, but it was interesting anyway. I learned that it's very important that children have innocent, non-traumatic childhoods, even in infancy, because it could develop into deviations later on and since people don't remember their infant life, it's hard to know why they're deviant or abnormal. Mark told me that the deviations develop when, as a child, some traumatic event is paired with some sort of sexual stimulant. Hmmm.

We also got into a very brief but deep conversation the next morning over breakfast about medicine being limited by what you can measure. For example, until the microscope was developed, we couldn't measure molecular activity and other "small stuff." Once they develop ways to measure psychiatric patterns, the field will grow by leaps and bounds and there will be medical breakthroughs. Mind over matter, the Pygmalian effect (if you BELIEVE you're going to get better, your actual chances of recovery are much greater), etc. We haven't even scratched the surface of what the human brain is capable of. We even talked about what could happen if we could somehow measure someones spiritual activities. Whoa. Psychology intrigues me, which is good because it's a big part of marketing and advertising - consumer behavior, buying patterns and such. The rest of the day was much more lighthearted, but I enjoy deep, thoughtful conversations like that. Dean doesn't engage very often, he prefers to keep things light and joking. I have to satisfy my cravings for discussing the mysteries of the universe elsewhere.

After breakfast, Colleen and I hit the town. Macy's was having a sale so that was first priority. It was packed so we had to share a dressing room and we were giggling like little girls. We snuck (is that a word?) more than five items in the room and wondered what happened in our infancies that made us such evil delinquents. Ha. Then we saw the Pentagon, but we could only drive around the outside. They don't give tours of the building that houses our national security. We couldn't really decide which of the five sides was the front and we wondered if they do a "mall walk" for employees during lunch or after hours. What do you think? Just kidding. We saw the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We wanted to raid that building in a bad way so we could go back to Macy's and the heck with the sale. We wanted the good stuff! No luck there, either. That place is a fortress. I also got to see where Colleen works - it's right in the middle of everything. Appropriate for her, don't you think?

Then we parked the car and set out on foot to "the mall." That's what they call the strip of land that has most of the main sights you go to Washington to see. It's about 25 blocks long. We saw the White House but didn't get there in time to take an official tour of the inside. It's smaller than I always thought it was. It must look bigger on the inside because of all the underground tunnels and secret doors that you hear about. Do you think the Secret Service takes each new President on a tour the first day or do they just reveal those things if and when it's necessary? Another one of those things that makes you go hmmmm. Right next door there's an old Executive Building, which is where Hillary's office is and a few other dignitaries. Pennyslvania Avenue was closed off to traffic and there were a bunch of rollerbladers on the street playing a game of hockey. Teenagers just have no respect these days. Ha. I took a picture for Dean because I knew he wouldn't believe me. On the way to the Lincoln Monument we walked past the American Red Cross Building and the Daughters of the American Revolution. We also took pictures of statues of Andrew Jackson and a few other people we didn't know. Then we saw the Lincoln Monument, and read the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation. They're both engraved on the walls inside the monument.

We saw the reflecting pool - that's the rectangle body of water that crowds of people gather around when they're demonstrating. Remember in Forrest Gump when Jenny ran out into the water while Forrest was giving his speech about Vietnam? It took $600,000 to build the pool in 1918. That was before we had cars, let alone bulldozers and back hoes. It must've been just men with shovels and picks. Colleen told me, also, that they keep the water circulating so it doesn't ever freeze over in the winter.

Then we walked by the Vietnam Vets Memorial Wall. Wow, was that a powerful experience. Neither one of us was prepared for the feelings we felt looking at that wall. I'm too young to remember the war, but old enough to know people who served there. The wall is dug in a V shape down into the ground and at it's deepest point, it was very quiet and reverent. There were a lot of people there, but everyone spoke in whispers. I always thought all the names were engraved there in random order and if you wanted to find someone in particular, you just had to search, but that's not the case. They're engraved on there in the order in which they died. There's a book that's posted nearby that is an alphabetical cross reference so you can find the numbered marble slab that the name is on and start from there. There were a lot of flowers left there and one person had even written a letter and left it there. I didn't read it because I knew it would probably make me cry. There were a couple people there making rubbings of a name on a piece of paper, too. It was definitely very moving.

Then we saw the Washington Monument. That's the tall skinny tower with the pointy top. It's solid marble and cost over a million dollars to build in the mid 1800's as a monument to George Washington. It's also the only structure in D.C. that is higher than the statue on the top of the capital building. It's a city ordinance that no building can be taller than that statue. We saw capital hill but only got close enough to take a picture. Our feet were killing us by this time and we were ready to go home. We walked past the Smithsonian Institute on the way back to the car - that place is MASSIVE. I wanted to search for the Declaration of Independence and read the original document but I'm going to have to do that another time. We were beat. We were going to go out to dinner that night, but we were so exhausted that we ordered in pizza instead.

On the way home, Colleen showed me where the "red light district" was. I was looking really hard, but I didn't see any senators coming out of the houses. Hee hee. We also drove around one of those "circles." This is where the road goes around in a circle, then branches off in about 6 or 7 directions like the spokes of a wheel. Each spoke is a different street and it's very confusing to drive on. People cut each other off like crazy to get over so they can get on the street they want or stay off the street they don't want. Remember in the movie "The American President" where Sydney Allen Wade kept getting stuck on DuPont circle? I can now sympathize, it was awful. Colleen told me that when the city was originally designed, it was done in such a way that was supposed to be intimidating to foreign dignitaries who went there. That's why they made those circles. It was definitely confusing and I was glad Colleen was driving so I could just observe to figure it out.

The next day, I got up and said good-bye. I took a few pictures of Colleen and Mark and the kids (and the dog, Tigger) and then went to go see Arlington National Cemetary by myself before I headed back to Philly to catch my flight. Arlington Cemetary is huge! I had no idea how big it is. It's a 20 minute walk to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is about in the middle of the cemetary. I didn't realize how big it is, so I didn't leave enough time to walk that far, but I did see the graves of JFK and Jackie O. There was a flame burning above their headstones and signs everywhere that said, "Silence and Respect." This was another quiet place where you could feel the reverence in the air. I also would've liked to have seen the changing of the guard at Kennedy Center but, again, I didn't leave enough time. All the headstones are marble and it was really ornate and beautiful. It was raining that day, which felt appropriate, I guess. Who wants to visit a cemetary on a sunny, cheerful day? When I left, I got stuck on one of those circles again and I must've caused about four accidents trying to get over in time to catch my road that veered off. Absolutely nuts, but I made it.

When I got home, Dean had missed me so much, he was beside himself. The house was immaculate so I know he was bored. I was glad I got to make a road trip because now he knows how I feel when he's gone. You know how energetic he is, when he's not here, the house is so quiet and nothing moves, I swear. One of the guys on the team was having a pig roast that day and when Dean picked me up at the airport, we went back to this guy's house because the party was still going strong. He and his wife actually dug a hole in their back yard and dropped in a whole pig to cook on the coals in the bottom. It was very cold (about 20 degrees) that day but all the guys still stood outside to monitor the cooking. Must be a man thing. Some of them were in and out of the hot tub on the back deck, too - crazy. It had been going all day and by the time I got there that evening, everyone had been drinking for about eight hours and it was getting wild. I felt like I was in college again. Wierd feeling, but we had a blast. The only difference was that some of the couples left a little early because they had babysitters. Didn't have that happen in college.

The following weekend Dean and I got an invitation in the mail from Dave & Carol Van Andel to go to their church and then brunch at their country club with them. The church was a Christian Reformed church so it was a little more liturgical and ritualistic then what I'm used to but it was more like the church Dean went to growing up so he was very comfortable there. If that's what it takes to get him to go with me, then that's where we'll go, I guess. I really liked a lot of things about it, the building was absolutely gorgeous, there was the most beautiful stained glass the whole side lengths of the main chapel and more behind the pastor in the front of the chapel. The people were really nice and the whole atmosphere was very friendly andwelcoming, albeit very reverent and hushed during the service. Afterwards, all the adults gathered in a gym area for lattes and bagels while thier kids went to another 45 minutes of Sunday school. It was kind of different, but nice, because nobody went straight home. It was very social and chatty and they seemed to be a fairly close group of friends, even though it was a large church (about 1000 people.)

The country club, needless to say, was to die for. Dean couldn't come with us for that part because he had practice but Dave and Carol insisted that I come with them anyway and Dean could come next time. Like I said before, they're very down to earth and warm. They have four cute blonde boys and they can all eat like no tomorrow. They were telling me while we were eating that with their travel schedule, they can't have pets, even though the boys have asked for dogs. I asked Carol if she had a housekeeper that could take care of the pets while they were gone and she said she doesn't have a housekeeper. She has a personal secretary and a bodyguard, mind you, but no housekeeper. I didn't ask why because I didn't want to pry, but I did wonder. The brunch was a buffet and some of the best gourmet I've ever had, Dean really missed out. There was a pianist playing in the background and a big fire in a huge stone fireplace. There wasn't a main, big ballroom, but a lot of little rooms all connected so the atmosphere was intimate even though the place was fairly large.

We drove separtely because I had to drop Dean off for practice and I ended up getting there before they did. I was waiting on a couch by the fireplace and an older gentleman in another chair nearby struck up a conversation with me. While we were chatting, he told me that he owns a development corporation in Grand Rapids and when I told him what I did, he said he was looking for an ad agency to market a new development of apartments and condos he was building. What an opportunity, eh? I have an appointment with him this week. Wish me luck.

I asked my boss the other day what it would cost to join a club like that one and he said probably about a $20,000 initiation fee and about $700 a month. I told him I thought it would be a great place to network and could I just expense that? I thought he was going to pee his pants from laughing so hard. Oh well. In all honesty, though, I thought that was cheap for Van Andel caliber. Dean said he's one of the top 20 wealthiest men in America and I've heard of country clubs charging as much as $200,000+ just for the initiation fee. Obviously, those clubs are very exclusive and the fee keeps out riff raff like me. Maybe there just aren't enough wealthy people around here to justify a club like that, it would just be VanAndels' and DeVos' families. I don't know.

We had one small snowfall about two weeks ago (the day of the pig roast), but it warmed up to about 45 degrees again and it all went away pretty quickly. Just enough to get my car dirty. Argh. Here it is, November, and even though the air is cold, we still have green grass. It feels strange. All the trees are fall colors, though, and it is just gorgeous. It's about 30 degrees when I drive to work in the morning, but warms up a little bit more by noon, then cools off again at night.

I'm settling into my job nicely, the drive is only 11 miles and takes about 20 minutes in traffic. Quite a change from 25 miles and 45 minutes, living in Eagle River. Since this was a new position that they created for me, I'm helping write my own job description. They actually want me to do more than account exec work, so they gave me a different title. My business cards say "Senior Marketing Manager" and I'm wearing three hats right now. It's about 50% bringing in new business, then I have to service those accounts like an account exec, then the rest is PR work. I guess the multiple duties is to be expected in a small business situation. As we grow, I'll let go of some of the responsibilities as they hire more people. Meanwhile, I'm doing regular press releases about changes in the agency, I've joined toastmasters and will get on the local speaking circuit, and I've joined the American Marketing Association and the Business Marketing Association so I'm "lunching" all the time. I'm also expected to donate time to some charities, but I haven't picked any out yet. The Senior PGA tour plays a tournament here every summer that I'm going to volunteer for, too, so that should be really fun next summer and the town is also putting together a Grand Prix race that will go right through the downtown streets. Wayne is going to be a sponsor so we'll be involved in that, too, I'm sure.

I'm also acting like a one person activity committee, and they need it in a desperate way. Morale was really low three weeks ago when I started, but I've already sold Wayne on some ideas. We've implemented a bonus program, recognition programs (they didn't even have a cheezy employee of the month award), started work on the Christmas party, bought logo'd denim shirts for everyone and I set out my candy bowl and have kept it well stocked. That's been a challenge, believe me. The office is mostly men (16 compared to only 4 women) so anything with food is a big hit. I brought bagels and fruit to the last Monday morning staff meeting and they attacked like a pack of wolves. It's paying off, though, I finally got the compliment I'd been waiting for last Friday from Randy, our copywriter. We were in a meeting discussing ideas for an agency newsletter I'm putting together and he said we need to put the things I'm doing in the "peoples" section. He said that attitudes had definitely improved since I came on board and to please keep up the good work, they really need it. That made me feel good - I just hope I can keep up the energy. It takes a lot, but things are starting to warm up around there and it feels good to be making a difference.

They guys were on the road in Chicago in the middle of the week last week so all the wives got together Wednesday night and went to dinner and an Elton John concert. I've never been a huge Elton John fan but I really enjoyed that show. I figured he would sit at the piano all night and it would be kind of blah, but it was really lively. At one point, he was under the piano, playing with his hands curved up around to the keyboard. He played laying on top of the piano, turned around backwards and underneath. He's an AMAZING pianist. He was pounding on that thing so hard and so fast for three solid hours, I can't imagine how strong his fingers and hands would have to be. It was truly impressive and we had a great time. Elton John is one of those people that has recorded so many songs over the years that when you hear one, you recognize the song, but don't realize that he was the artist until you hear him in concert. Then you say to yourself, "HE sings that song? Cool!" Although I kept waiting to hear "Circle of Life" and "Candle in the Wind", he didn't do either one. I guess he said he'll never do Princess Diana's version of "Candle" because that was a tribute to her on that day only, but I don't think I agree with that. The whole world mourned her death and that song was such a big part of the event, I think he has an obligation to play it for everyone. I guess if I become a famous songwriter, then I can call the shots.

Speaking of music, Dean got his guitar fixed and also bought an amp, an electrical tuner and some learning videos. He hung up the chord poster I got him and he's practicing a few hours every day and has even asked for lessons for Christmas. I told him maybe Santa would get him lessons if he would learn to play Christmas carols instead of Kiss and AC/DC. He also got his first point of the season since I've written last - a game winning assist in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Yeah, baby!

The booster club threw a welcome party at another country club last Wednesday night, that was fun, too. All the guys ended up having to sign autographs all night long but it was a good time anyway. There's about 300 members of the booster club and some of them are really dedicated, even going on the road trips at their own expense so the guys will have a cheering section in other cities. They introduced all the guys one by one and told funny locker room stories about each one. They introduced Dean as "Mr. Turbo" and he got some whistles and woofs, he was laughing. It was pretty entertaining. For Saturday's game against San Antonio, all the wives were invited up to the Van Andels' suite to watch the game. Free food and drinks and a rowdy time, they sure like to have fun. I was trying to finish off my roll of film from Arlington Cemetary so I took my camera and Dave had a friend of his take a picture of him and Carol with all the wives around them. I guess he was laughing because all the guys were giving him a hard time about schmoozing their wives while they were busy playing a game. Dean told him, "Dave, I've seen your moves. I'm not worried." Ha. We went out afterwards for something to eat and dancing at this three story bar across the street called "The Bob." It's all balconies and a live band on every floor. Another good time out on the town.

Anyway, that's the news for this month, it's been one big action packed party but we're loving it so far. I want to hear what's going on with you, too, so please write back. It's one of the only ties I have with home and I love hearing from you. I find myself racing home every night and I turn on the computer as soon as I walk in the door to see if we've heard from anyone on email. It makes it a little easier to be away from home and all my friends and loved ones. I miss you very much.

Take care,
Tiff