Goal Tender

I'm proud to say I accomplished my goal for the weekend! I have Internet access!

Well, that's the first goal. I had to stand outside on top of a hill to get it. Now I am freezing so I better blog fast... about the real goal I accomplished.

Just finished Carter's 7th-grade pages for his Middle School album. That was really all I wanted to get done for sure, knowing I'd lose a large chunk of my Saturday going to Carter's basketball tournament. And 31 pages later, it's time to move onto 8th grade!

My break yesterday was well worth it, though. Got to see our first two games of the day. First one we lost by 7 and the next one we won in double-overtime! I know -- what are the chances of two double-OT games in the same week? After that I went back to camp with a detour stop at home to pick up an adult-size sleeping bag. Was in a "cocoon" Friday night sleeping in Carter's bag. Whoops. (We ended up winning our last game by one point in OT to take 5th in the tourney.)

Got back to camp in the late afternoon and scrapped until 1 a.m. Today's first order of business was a 1-hour full-body massage. You're right. Other than the sleeping bag, this isn't your ordinary camp!

The massage gave me a late start to productivity, but I got into a groove. The fun part of scrapping in a group is stealing ideas (scrap-lifting) from others and feeling proud when you can inspire others a time or two. Can't wait to show Carter his book!

I am staying one more night so I will at least get a start on last fall's school fun. Might as well. It's not like this spotty Internet will let me keep tabs on the Oscars or as Carter pointed out, the NBA All-Star game.

Besides I gotta get inside and warm up. My period of roughing it at camp is over!

Back to Camp

I'm heading off to Camp Crop-A-Lot in a few minutes!

I'm excited, but the timing of this scrapbooking retreat is not good -- sandwiched between hubby's two work trips and on the heels of my ongoing anxiety drama. But this will be my 9th year going, so I really can't miss it, can I?

The Camp is at a real camp -- the Wisconsin Lions Camp in Rosholt, just up the road from Iola. I can't recall if we finally had Internet access there last year so this may be my "sign off" until Monday!

I have two, well three, goals in mind for the weekend. One, I will be starting Carter's junior high book and hope to get 7th grade all done. Two, I hope to be able (read: capable) of driving down to Nekoosa tomorrow so I can see part of Carter's last basketball tournament of the year. Three, I hope to relax and think non-stressful, non-anxious thoughts.

In other words, be a happy camper!

Showdown

The stage was set for quite a showdown in the Assumption High School gymnasium tonight.

Our girls hoops team, ranked #2 in the state, hosted Wausau Newman, ranked #1 and the only team to hand us a loss this year -- and that was only by 3 points. At stake was the conference championship. If we beat Wausau, we'd share the conference title with them. If we lost, well, they'd have it all to themselves.

The tension has been building up for this game since that loss waaaay back toward the beginning of the season! This week was like bonus Spirit Week at school, too. Everyone was encouraged to don their Royal Blue and attend tonight's matchup.

And I think they did.

When Carter and I arrived at 6:45 p.m., 45 minutes before tipoff, the gym was already packed. He went off to play in Pep Band and I found my friends who saved me a seat. Thankfully!

We had a pretty sad outing to start with, only scoring 4 points in the first quarter to their 12 and finishing up the first half down 22-13. We were bummed. But the girls rallied big time in the second half and we even took a 2-point lead. On occasion. At the final buzzer, though, we were tied! Overtime, baby!

You didn't even have to cut the tension with a knife. It was so packed and so hot in that gym, it should have melted away. Instead it was more like fuel to a fire. Uff da. This time at the final buzzer, the score was 40-40. Yes, another overtime! Unreal.

Oh I wish I had good news for the final, but we ended up missing some key shots and fell at the final (for real) buzzer, 49-45. So sad.

What a game, though. This is what high school sports are all about. All that school spirit. All that intense interest because these are our kids... or our kids' friends... or our friends' kids! What a great experience to be a part of tonight.

Now we just have to hope we do well enough in playoffs so we face them again. I think third time will be a charm and we can kick their butts! Or just win by a basket. Or even one point. We'd take it!

Whew! Hubby missed a good game. I texted him to keep him in the loop because his plane landed in Madison around the first OT. I'm lucky I beat him home. Now to wind down quickly and get to bed!

Uff da. Seriously.

Amazing Grace

Since I am one of those fickle Lutherans who isn't required to give up something for Lent -- unlike my Catholic better half -- I'm not doing it. In my mind my Lent has come and gone. I've already sacrificed everything from my health to my sanity and quality of living in the first 40+ days of this year.

If God is willing, I'd like to move on from here, please.

Still making progress. My witch doctor (and I told her I call her that) has done some incredible voodoo magic to sweep away some nasty old cobwebs and help me clean house in my mind and soul. (Perhaps one day it will even extend to my real house!)

So today, with hubby half a country away, I was able to drive to and from Iola, run some errands in town, pick Carter up from basketball practice and go to Ash Wednesday service and soup supper at church. Sadly, I couldn't have dreamed of doing those "normal" things just a few weeks ago!

The confirmation students and parents are responsible for serving the soup suppers during Lent and cleanup. We grownups sent the kids upstairs to church while we wrapped up K.P. duty, which took another half hour. So I missed the ashes, but heard the end of the sermon and was there for communion.

Now Sunday, I was unable to take that giant leap forward. My stomach was in such knots and my head was practically spinning at the notion of walking all the way to the front of the church for communion. Tonight, though, I just kept taking deep breaths and praying and, well, singing.

Totally fitting that we were singing Amazing Grace:

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come;
'tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.

Grace is amazing, isn't it? I made it up front, albeit a little shaky, took communion and made it safely back to my seat -- and stayed upright. Then we got in the car, and grace did lead us home!

Thanks be to God.

Fat Tuesday

It is my fervent hope that this year Fat Tuesday will be followed by Slim Wednesday. But you know what they say about wishing... you can wish in one hand and put chocolate in the other -- and which is going to fill up first?

Or is that empty first?

I really could have gone all out for the "holiday" today and no one would have been the wiser. Hubby left for the airport at 3:30 a.m. Carter went to school at 7 a.m. And it was just me and one final tub of Peppermint ice cream. Tempting, yes. But since it wasn't my Schwan's brand Peppermint Stick ice cream, the temptation passed.

Due to an appointment first thing this morning, I opted to work at home so I wouldn't waste precious time on the commute. When I was eating my usual "10 o'clock banana," I thought, "Wait a minute, why am I eating healthy on Fat Tuesday?" But I didn't stray.

Honest.

I actually had hoped to get out for a walk. But it was snowing and I had too much work to do. That's a good thing. Bad for exercise, but good for snacking. I didn't get too far from the computer until Carter came home.

For our "fat" treat, we made smoothies with fruit and frozen yogurt. We both could really go for a Shamrock Shake, and that still is in the realm of possibility. We are going to town, after all. Our girls basketball team is ranked #2 in the state and we've got two important home games this week. So I'm going to go earn some beads!

Oh wait. I just re-read the memo and it says show your spirit.

My bad.

Go Royals!

Thank You, Mr. President

For some reason, our company gives us Presidents Day off. I won't fight their decision.

It was nice to sleep in and ease into my Monday! Ran a few errands in town, then hunkered down to business in the Scrap Cave and got everything together for this coming weekend's Camp Crop-A-Lot.

Is it wrong to be counting down to another 3-day weekend before the first one is done? I don't think so.

After I got that together, I did get a little work done. Just had to do it. Hubby actually drove to Iola to do his work -- but he didn't have much choice. He's flying to Florida in the morning (again) so he had to get three days of work done.

This time I won't be so jealous that he's somewhere warm. I really can't complain how mild it is. Today it topped 40. Sunny but quite windy -- which I discovered when I went out for a run. Did 3 miles again but kept to the run/walk schedule. Every time I finish and my hip feels fine, I run up the front steps like I'm Rocky Balboa! It feels like that big of an accomplishment!

After that, I really allowed myself to be lazy. I made supper for Carter -- since Jim is gone to help with baseball signups again -- and now am waiting to watch The Voice. Yes, I have a day off AND I get the remote tonight...

Thank you, Mr. President!

Mild is Good

The sun was shining... the brats and burgers were sizzling on the grill... and Carter was ready to swing his baseball bat.

Sounds like a typical summer day around here. But no, this was a Sunday in February in Wisconsin. I know we could still get dumped on a whole big bunch, but I for one am enjoying this mild winter. And tasting into a good grilled burger made it even better.

I realize that technically, we could grill out all winter. But we can't necessarily stay outside to flip the burgers without freezing. Today I got to stay outside. Not in shorts or anything silly. But a nice light windbreaker. With the sun on my face. Loved it!

That, unfortunately, was my only venture outside.

We got up early and went to church... my first return since I was sick. I didn't faint or anything... but also didn't have the guts to walk up in front and take communion either. It was just good to be back!

After church, we practically had to chain Carter to a chair and make him sit and work on a research paper about the pilgrims all day. While he did that, I worked a little in my Scrap Cave, but mostly kept an eye on Carter and kept his momentum going.

We did take a break at 2 p.m. to work on a German video. Sounded easy enough. Carter had to give a tour of his room and point out some objects and speak in German only. This was only supposed to take 2 minutes. But first, he had to clean his room -- or throw things on the top bunk or under the bed, out of the camera's view. Then he had to write a script and look up words he didn't know. Then he had to memorize it. We sort of cheated, er improvised, here. I taped a big ol' cue card on the front of my shirt and he could sneak peeks at that while I ran the camera. Seemed like an hour's work for a 90-second video. But I suppose that's how commercials work, too. The only thing is I don't know how to edit anything so he had to make the whole thing work in one take. Well, 4 if you count the ones we deleted.

After that, we cruised down to the batting cage, where hubby was helping kids all afternoon. Did a brief stint there then headed over to Jim's sister's house. Our nephew Colin turns 18 tomorrow so we had a birthday gathering for him. Good food, good cake and good visit.

Had to keep it short so Carter could return to his research paper. I hope at least by now the Mayflower has landed.