Dreaming of a White... Sand Beach

I think it's been established that I'm a dork. It's also been proven I like to have fun and don't care what people think. Thankfully, Mr. Deck Chair always goes along with it.

Today at work we had planned to have an Aloha celebration to get us revved up to the golf tournament we sponsor on Maui in January. By celebration, I mean a couple thousand employees wearing matching teal Aloha T-shirts and posing in a tropical photo booth – and eating cake. There's always cake for big work parties!

With the snow storm that was coming, a majority of us worked from home today. So we were asked to take pictures of what Aloha spirit in Wisconsin really looks like in December! 

You didn't have to ask me twice! Though I will admit I didn't last long in the flip-flops. 

At least it put me in a good mood. That and the fact that we didn't get nearly as much snow as they predicted. Maybe 4 inches? Light enough to shovel.

Don't worry, I put on boots and even a jacket for that! I may be silly, but I ain't stupid.

Be careful out there! Aloha! 

Who's in Charge of our Future?

Who's in charge of our future? While we'd like to think we are each in control of our destiny, it isn't always us. Sometimes it's divine intervention and other times it's those darn weathermen.

For example, when the weather alert this afternoon indicated we were in a Winter Storm Warning tomorrow, we stood up and took notice. Especially when they predicted 5-8 inches of snow versus the 3-5 inch projection yesterday.

And when later forecasts put my house (red dot) in the 6+ inches region, I began to take it seriously. Who knows what will come during my morning commute time? I hope it's actually nothing so I can participate in some  fun "Last Day in the Office Before Christmas Break" activities. 

I'm realistically thinking that won't be the case since my school district and the Stevens Point one (where I work) are both calling off classes tomorrow. 

I'm grateful I can work from home any time I need. Hope you all can stay safe tomorrow too! 

Santa Knows I've Been Good

Santa must know that I've been good this year. First of all, in our Secret Santa reveal today, my friend Emily had me and gave me a mini Mr. Deck Chair bird feeder! How cool is that!?

I had my friend Hannah (who sits right next to me) and she definitely knew it was me. So much for being sneaky! Still, she loved her gifts – even though the final one hasn't arrived from wherever. Hopefully I can give that to her this week yet.

When I got home after work, I was pretty excited that my other Secret Santa (OK, it's ME) had a gift delivered too.

I think I've shared before that although my hubby is an accomplished organist, I know nothing about playing the keyboard so I made up little Post-It notes to guide me while practicing choir songs. On a whim during our ride home from Minnesota Sunday, I thought I'd see if there was something out there for other novices like me. There was!

So today my little keyboard cheat-sheet, so to speak, arrived!

And I immediately could play my songs for our church choir Christmas performance! Just a random joyful moment this holiday season.

Hopefully you have a few of those, too, whether Santa agrees or not!

My Preferred Winter Whiteout

I think we can agree that there's only winter whiteout condition we like – when our teams have their white nights on the field. With just a splash of purple to make it beauti-SKOL.

Oh how I wish they would've played yesterday while we were still in Minnesota. Because besides 3 Deep flashbacks when Cris Carter and Jake Reed honored Randy Moss tonight, my favorite Minnesota Twin ever Joe Mauer was there to lead the SKOL chant and sound the gjallarhorn. That would have been a dream game!

At least it's on TV since MNF. We're leading at the half but I better get back to my recliner since I'm wearing my lucky Vikings socks and the same Vikings sweatshirt I wore in Minnesota yesterday. We can't push our luck when the Bears are actually showing some defense.

Uff da! 

Let's SKOL! 💜💛💜

O.G. Family Christmas

This weekend flew by pretty quickly after taking Royals hoops photos Friday night then hitting the road early Saturday for my Hedberg family Christmas in Minnesota.

We thought we'd have all 3 boys there but Clay's girlfriend ended up being sick so they stayed back in Wisconsin Rapids and Carter & Mamie were pretty much ice-bound down in Iowa. Dang.

So for our part of the traditional family Christmas program, Casey, Emily, Jim and I put our hands together when we said:

The weather outside is fright-SKOL.
But the fire is so delight-SKOL.
And since we've no place to go
Let's SKOL! Let's SKOL! Let's SKOL!!

Bless my Minnesota nieces and nephews who appreciated it !

We had a fun and entertaining program as usual, then my sister Renell's family (who hosted us) had a part of the program that included lighting a candle for Mom (aka Grandma for many there). Kind of lost it there since we were all missing her and her reminder how unusual it was for us to get together and keep getting together whether physically or spiritually!

My twin and I did enjoy our Christmas gift exchange. I love my lighted Santa fox decoration she gave me and she liked my White Christmas jigsaw puzzle about "Sisters."

Jim and I were grateful to sleep at our niece's house so we didn't have to battle the sleet and slush last night. We just had dense fog this morning during our route back to Wisconsin.

No worries. We got back by noon and my chance to play Assumption BINGO... and lose. Good thing we have no emotions tied to OUR team playing today, anyway! We'll just keep the happy family Christmas feelings going!

That Hibernation Thing, Though...

When I hit the snooze this morning, I totally understood why bears – and my spirit animal the fox – hibernate in the winter. They can stay snuggly warm and not have to brave the elements. Ever.

Seriously, when your weather app shows a temperature of -8 and a "real feel" of -22 degrees, why get out of bed? Especially when I was up way past my bedtime editing hockey pictures (with no time to blog) and got less than my required 8 hours of sleep?

I guess the only reason is that I had to deliver another Secret Santa gift. And receive one, of course. And participate in our Marketing Department's White Elephant gift exchange.

Our VP of Marketing encouraged everyone to gift "crap" that you don't want or need. And that's what I got. A pretty gift bag with some "basement-smelling" craft kits to make a wallet or bracelet. When I was out of eyesight so I wouldn't offend the secret gifter, I just put it in my garbage. 

And no, I wasn't the only one. That's the point of White Elephant. It's so bad you either want to trash it – or attempt to re-gift it in next year's exchange. I couldn't handle the musty odor, so that was a hard no for me.

Still it was fun to see some strange gifts and enjoy free pizza at the same time!

By the time work was over, it had jumped up to 4 degrees. Uff da. Even with underground (slightly exposed) parking, it was cold but at least my car started so I could do a bit of Christmas shopping. But am not ready to brave the cold again after I'm home.

Plus, after not really being home any night this week, I have to catch up on the final performances from The Voice AND find out the winner! No spoilers. I deserve this evening of blankets, a recliner, and popcorn! 

Be careful out there. And bundle up!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

It's that time of year again when I renew my special relationship with chilling temperatures and Mr. Zamboni. 

Tonight I stayed a little late at work in Stevens Point before heading to Ice Hawks Arena to shoot pictures of the Pacelli Co-op team (which has at least one Assumption member) AND take pictures for Parents Night.

I left after the 2nd period when we were tied 2-2 versus Northland Pines. Only because I had taken 2 periods of action photos, the parent photos, and I had a 30+ minute drive home. 

I do usually get to shoot at least 3 home games in the season. Hope they all are mild weather with a few snowflakes outside and the ice, ice, baby limited to the inside!

Let's go, Cardinals!