Eating Humble Fry Pie

When I had my holiday shopping treat of the coconut cream Amish fry pie for "breakfast" this morning, I had no idea I'd be eating some humble pie later on today.

I keep my life schedule organized on the calendar on my phone. But also put everything (I thought) on our kitchen calendar too. And urge (well, nag) hubby to do the same.

For as often as I've been checking the calendar to confirm we are indeed still in early autumn, I can't believe a completely empty Monday square didn't alarm me. At one point I checked the school sports calendar today thinking maybe I had another middle school hoops or game or something. Nope.

Did I check my phone though? Nope. I must have brain freeze!

At 4 p.m. my phone dings that I have my 6-week appointment with my hair artist at 4:30 p.m.! Whoa. THAT'S what I was missing. Or almost missed.

Since working at home on Mondays is a very casual dress environment, the first thing I said to Jim was, "Well I guess I do have to wear adult clothes today!" I quickly changed out of my warm and cozy "casual wear" and headed into town.

The first bonus was sitting under the dryer for 15 minutes and finally feeling warmed up!

The second bonus is that Miss Sarah does a fabulous job in front and back. Maybe I should have appointments at 6 a.m. so I can walk around all day with great hair and a "toss, toss" attitude! But I'd probably forget to set my alarm.

Whew. Crisis averted. (Hair artists are hard to get appointments with, seriously!) So I already have my Dec. 22 appointment on the kitchen calendar. In orange "alert" Sharpee. 

Now if only I could convince Mother Nature and Old Man Winter to look at their calendars!

One of These Seasons Doesn't Belong

Mr. Deck Chair and I are headed to couples' therapy after what he had to endure during the night while I was sleeping. I mean I honestly wouldn't have known the white stuff was a possibility until I had Up North sisters text me asking if it was snowing here yet. I guess it was on some Wisconsin or Minnesota weather dude's radar. Just not mine.

But sure enough there was a late-night deck shot and one this morning when the sun wasn't even up. Both shots so ugly if you ask me. It it is time one of these seasons stepped aside for a minute (or month!).

Naturally, I was like, maybe I could take some picture so this juxtaposition (oh my high school English teacher would be proud of that!)

So the park above and my church yard here were great photo ops to show that again, one of these seasons doesn't belong.

I honestly didn't pay much attention to the white stuff since I had church then BINGO. But apparently even a high of 30 degrees (below freezing in my mind) means the snow can melt if the sun is out. Either way, it's fine with me since the roads were clear all day.

I just hoped the "Nordic Fever" would blanket our Vikings with good vibes today. Ugh. I don't have a defensive reason for our loss since I was getting scoring updates at BINGO. 

But dang, I wish my fave NFL team could align with my currently undefeated fantasy team! Who knows? When I said one of these seasons doesn't belong, maybe football and BINGO don't mix. Then again... that means one of us deserves a big WIN!!

Very soon, please.

Looks Like Christmas-ish

There are certain people who cannot resist mint chocolate – especially during Christmas season and, well, during St. Patrick's/Shamrock Shake time either. Me. I am those people!

Today, since I was actually home on a Saturday with no solid plans, I checked out some holiday expo that was being held at the Hotel Mead. Well it was HUGE this year with 80+ vendors spread out all over the first floor of the hotel, filling conference/banquet rooms and the lobby. I ran into so many people I knew, too, making it the best social hour (er, 90+ minutes) ever!

I had no real agenda or shopping list in mind (rookie mistake) but I found plenty to buy – including the homemade mint-chocolate bark pictured. Also, Millers' Amish farm had Coconut Creme fry pies as their featured flavor of the day. I bought 2 for the "deal" and said I didn't plan on sharing them! I did buy some fresh garlic beef sticks for hubby (possibly to appease my guilt) and a few stocking stuffers, but not really that much. 

Still it really got me in the mood for the upcoming season. I may have to turn on Hallmark tonight!

When I got home, Jim and I went up to Stevens Point to visit an old newspaper friend we very much keep in touch with – who just had some back/neck fusion type surgery. Great to see Scottie, but wow, I would not do well being in a neck brace for 12 weeks! So many hugs and prayers, my friend.

Got home and decided to work on our family Christmas card because Walgreens has a 70% off deal until 11:59 p.m. TONIGHT! Well, that's been interesting. I asked the boys for pictures of them and their ladies. I didn't think I had to point out "from 2025" but Mr. Smooth had a nice picture from early 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. Nope. Mom says no. Follow the basic rules of family Christmas cards everywhere. Also, while I think he and his girl are super photogenic, people can be hyper-sensitive so I am respecting that.

And sending them the bill if they can't agree on something well before midnight for this discount!

You're right, that is pretty Grinch-y. Maybe I will just head to the basement for a 2-hour Hallmark timeout. 

Looks and feels like the Christmas-y thing to do! Embrace the season, my friends.

Chillin' With The Boys (and old men)

When I woke up to this temperature on Thursday morning it did not surprise me when I checked the school sports calendar that the first basketball games were already happening.

So I had hubby charge my camera battery and after work I headed to St. Vincent's for 7th- and 8th-grade Royals hoops versus Stratford. Interesting that our 7th-grade team had one boy on the bench and our 8th-grade team, well, I think there were 17 on our roster. Wow!

And the Stratford Tigers sneaked by with wins in both games.

I think that's because my favorite Stratford High School graduate is celebrating a birthday this weekend! Yup, last week my dad would have been 98 (that really wouldn't have happened) so that means this week my father-in-law (a young 10 years younger) turns 88! We took him out to Anchor Bay tonight and they gave him a red velvet cupcake with a candle AND singing by everyone in the restaurant!

We also had more celebratory calories when we went to his place afterward. He really is the sweetest, kindest man. I am so lucky I still have him to call "Dad."

Hug your loved ones. Hard!

BACK (yes, my back) to Reality

Sometime in the middle of the night when I was getting up to do my business, my back decided it was out of order. About 3:30 a.m. I took Alleve and hoped for the best. But today ended up being a "back at work but not at the office" kind of days.

But, looking at the calendar, it was also the day for my monthly chiropractic adjustment. How does my body know? Also, since I usually do that on a Monday, my body (and back) were very in tune to the fact it was 2 days overdue.

It's so logical, I can't question it.

But the adjustment was good, as always. And I even got a deep-tissue massage scheduled for first-thing Friday morning!

On the way home, I remembered we were set to have a full moon tonight, which I spotted long before it was to rise over the trees in our yard.

Me stopping to take a picture? You know me!

Me zooming in to take an even better picture? You know how competitive I am – even with myself.

I might actually get a better view when it rises over our pines in the front yard. But I'm probably just going to "focus" on what will make my back better for the night. 

Sisters' Getaway

 

Our 27th annual sister weekend was more like a sister Sunday-Tuesday getwaway. We had an AIRBNB up in Eau Galle, Wisconsin, which must be an incredible spot in the summer. And was still amazing for us with the post-fall colors.

The house itself was amazing with plenty of room for all of us to have sleeping space – some on our own and some of us sleeping with our twin.

Naturally, Raylene and I did our annual opening act. This time we quickly transitioned from Bette Davis Eyes to she's got Tiny Hedberg Eyes. Only spooky at first!

Monday late lunch/early supper we were in nearby Durand along the Chippewa River. Had to get a group picture courtesy of our waitress! 

And today, when we were about to part ways, one sister (OK, me) insisted we try for another group picture without sun and shadows...

And today before we parted ways, here we are!

Right before we promised to love each other and keep in touch with each other!

Fright Night, Frigid Saturday

This is still a picture from work on Thursday – me all cowardly. Our Halloween was not nearly that exciting. Since school was on a fall break yesterday I couldn't return the mascot costumes. So I dressed up again for all the trick-or-treaters.

All TWO of them.

We night get the quantity of trick-or-treaters out in the sticks. But we sure got the quality. Cutest little pirate brothers on the planet! 

Argh! So that was that.

This morning I woke up to 37 degree outdoor temps with slight rain/possible snow mix. You know what that means... must be State Cross Country Day! 

Not enthused to be outside for hours, I asked Jim to drop me off at the entrance for the Division 3 boys race at noon. I just needed to photograph two Royal runners and they finished 4th and 14th so I call him back pretty quickly for a ride home.

Our full girls team qualified and ran in the Division 2 race at 2:25 p.m. Yup because this group in particular has been at state 4 consecutive years, they bumped us up to Division 2, thus competing against mostly much larger schools.

Our Lady Royals did not back down! Lucy finished the best at 6th place and our team finished 6th as well. Not bad for scrappy little Assumption! Gonna miss all these seniors!!

Got home in time to clean up and change clothes to go out to the Sky Club in Plover with three other couples from Jim's high school class. We do this at least once a year but always SAY we're going to TRY to do it more often!

The food was great and the company was fantastic! Always love that they welcome us 4 non-Royal spouses into the fold. They're the most genuine, lovely people. Jim is so lucky to have this history. And I by marital default, feel lucky too.

Then on the way home he reminded me when get an extra hour tonight! Well we spent that well. And I got my photos all edited and still get to catch the end of the exciting World Series. I'll pack in the morning for Sister Weekend (well Sun-Tues Getaway).

Happy November.