Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Michigan -- And Home

I'm here for a few more days, spending time with The Mama and family. It has been an unusual visit, but I've been happy to be able to hang out with a cousin here and there, and see our nieces and nephews. Unfortunately, several family members have some kind of horrible flu that's going around the state, so I haven't seen much of them. But that's the way it goes. I do NOT want to bring this stuff back home as a souvenir. 
     Life goes on. But sometimes it does that because you trudge through. 
     After getting snow for weeks, it's brown and dreary here in Michigan -- warmer temps and rain melted everything but the most stubborn snowpiles. Colorado, on the other hand, got paved with 9 or 10 inches of white! Go figure. But I'm supposed to get a snowy push home from the Mitten State later this week. 
Meanwhile:

50 books free to read -- from Project Gutenberg.  (the list, thanks to The Simple Dollar)

Where monarch butterflies go to spend the winter...in Mexico.  (a trip report from Kevin and Ruth)

Ten ways to clear out a smelly house.  (From Donna Freedman, via MoneyTalksNews)

Estate planning; how affluent art collectors do it. Buying for value, versus personal taste. Or doing both!  (From Wealth Advisor)

An early Rembrandt found in a basement auctions for a million bucks...then resells for $4 million!

18 ways people allowed themselves to be scammed. Ouch.  (From Cracked) Also:

5 secrets of famous movie costumes. Game of Thrones cloaks made from IKEA rugs?!?

Same theme, but focusing just on Star Wars costumes.  (From Co.Design)


Have a good week.