Fresh Family Dinner

I had to get past a fierce security guard in order to put dinner on the table tonight – but it was worth it!

Carter and Mamie got to town this afternoon and we put together a very fresh family dinner.

Freshly harvested green beans from the neighbor's farm...

And some early baby red potatoes. So yum!

Jim had also picked up a few racks of ribs from the store yesterday to BBQ up. Farm to Table + IGA to Table = Delicious!

After dinner, we went downtown to hear our friend Pam's band perform at Whiskey Rapids Saloon. They always put on a good show! And it was great to hang out with the kids, of course.

My lesson from today: Support local farmers, local grocers, and local music! 

Getting Smarter by the Day

I don't know much about Smart Siding other than it's $mart $iding. But I am loving the look of the new siding and the contrasting frames/borders to go with it. 

Side note: The corner and window "frames/borders" match our sexy soffit! So I'm living the best life right now.

Working from home today was much quieter than Monday but they still made progress. The west side of the garage is done and they started on the front side. Getting excited. Now I just have to find some "before" pictures so you understand why.

Stay tuned for the Blue Jay Drive Extreme Makeover!

Summer Water Sports

Summer has been so sporadic with the weather. Either it's super hot and we're sweating like dripping water, or we're doing something on or near the water, or the water is raining down on us from heaven.

Last night, since Jim had golf league and I didn't, I caught the Wednesday evening show of my favorite Shermalot Show Ski Team (shown above). I didn't get through the pictures because my stupid computer mouse was dead and needed recharging while I slept. I'll get more posted soon, I promise.

At work today, I kept an eye on weather all day knowing I had golf league tonight. I was pretty discouraged with my downpour view on the trek from Stevens Point to TriCity. Knowing it was going to be a wet round, my partner and I got a cart instead of walking. But when I got to the golf course, it had faded off and somehow, knock on wood 20 times, it did not rain the rest of our round!

The air DID stop moving, however, so Mr. Fox and I were in our much to often "melting" situation!

Still, I managed a great round. If I hadn't ended up in the very wet by then sand bunker on our last hole, I would have carded my best round yet. Dang. And when we were done, it poured rain my whole drive home.

You gotta love summer water sports! Just gotta choose which way you hope to participate.

Oh My Sweet Soffits!

The joy of having a home improvement job being done while you're out of the house and in the office means you come home each to little sweet surprises. Today was the starting work on the soffits.

Did someone say soffits are sexy? Me, I just said it.

This is a "before" photo from the back side of the house, which hasn't been touched yet.

And the "after" (in progress) after electrical work yesterday to install these new lights along the front side of the house and today's start of soffit installation. As soon as hubby texted me a photo, I said, "Wow, we've got sexy soffits!"

If it's not a thing, it should be now!

Of course, now I understand why a "siding project" isn't just slapping on stuff in a day and calling it done. I am appreciating their thoroughness and care. And great ideas. Any new thing basically came from the builder dude. He's smart and creative. Am loving every step of this transformation. 

Who knew home improvement was the new language of love?

Just Another Manic (or Migraine) Monday

My plan today (before weekend plans changed) was to take today off in order to sleep in if we went to see our nephew race in Slinger last night. While we didn't end up going, I still looked forward to a restful night and day off.

Then 7:36 a.m. happened.

I was abruptly awakened by what sounded like a jackhammer outside my bedroom window. Though I know in reality that wouldn't be the case for a construction crew ready to prep our house for new siding. Needless to say, there was no sleep happening after that.

Though I did try so very hard! 

But today was destined to be the day they removed all the nails and trim that we could not reach – and wrap our home in love. Or whatever "HomeWrap" is.

I forgot they have to start with the soffit before they get into the siding. I realize every day I know less and less about construction and home improvement projects. Definitely just pay the experts!

The Dumpster keeps filling up with totally legal stuff. We haven't had time to declutter our home with suspicious items we can live without.

And at the end of the day we were pretty much surrounded by HomeWrap. This view of our garage's west side is encouraging. We had terrible windows that let in all the frigid air. We hope that by siding over that (and the addition of a new, snug door in the back), we actually will retain some heat this winter. I'll keep you posted.

Just a few spots left in the back for them to move onto step 2 – which of course I have no idea what that is.

Today, I'm just glad they not only uncovered one more bees nest (with Jim still in the house) and laid the foundation, so to speak, for our home makeover. 

Tomorrow through Thursday, I'll be on the road to the office in Point before they arrive. Looking forward to a week of pleasant surprises. Without the noise.

Creatively Escaping the Heat

Saturday was another super hot and humid day. I do love the heat, but I'll admit I don't have the stamina to handle it like I used to. So the first highlight of the day was driving in the A/C to an air-conditioned book fair at Lake Arrowhead. Found three must-have reads because of course that's what they were selling!

Got home and had a surprise Amazon package delivered. Who needs a neon ice cream sign?? THIS birthday girl! I texted Jim, Carter and my twin to see who was responsible for this cool moment of joy on a hot day... and my twin did not disappoint!

I had hoped to photograph the water ski show later, but we got hit by some pretty hard and steady rain in the late afternoon.

Quite a bit in a short amount of time. So I stayed home and turned my attention elsewhere. To Shutterfly, in fact, and their recent text that they had a screaming deal for the weekend. Unlimited free pages AND free shipping.

So look at me finally finishing a vacation album from 10+ years ago!  

I mean I could also make some headway on a Maui vacation from 2016, but I don't think the 5 hours between now and midnight is enough. On the plus side, they do often extend the "unlimited free pages" coupon another day after the holiday. So there's a chance I can start it tonight and have all of tomorrow to scrap away. 

But let's not forget, this was a 5-day weekend with all intentions of "relaxing." Ahhh, decisions... decisions...

Hope you had a relaxing and SAFE holiday weekend!

The Anni-Birth-ery Palooza Wrap

All July 4th means to us is that our personal celebrations of two birthdays and one anniversary are over – and America takes over the spotlight.

I took a mini-getaway Up North on Wednesday so I could do a post-birthday celebration with my twin. First, I had lunch with 4 of my sisters (who I've always called the Older Girls) and 2 brothers-in-law.

Good lunch and visit and then they surprised me with some birthday ice cream.

If you ever wonder how I feel about getting birthday attention or a treat of any kind, it's pretty evident by the huge smile on my face!

After lunch, I connected with my twin and we opened some appropriate ice cream-related gifts from our sister Romey. The "cones" are actually ceramic candles. Just twist off the top and light for a yummy vanilla sugar smell!

From there, went to Lene's house and changed clothes and then headed out on Mudhen lake to kayak and eventually swim – on purpose. No kayak flips, honest.

Our cousin loaned me a kayak so I didn't have to haul one up (and drive Jim's big truck). Thanks, Candy.

The weather was perfectly warm with a light breeze – and the presence of 3 eagles! Oh how I wished I had my "real" camera and not just my smartphone to rely on. I guess since this was my first time out on the water this season, I was definitely out of practice.

After our paddle and swim, we headed back to Raylene's to change into dry clothes and exchange gifts. The "car coaster" above, which is meant to absorb water and condensation in the cup holder, is something I got at a Cracker Barrel in Nashville in April! When Raylene and I were singing on the wedding shower circuit in adolescence, "Bushel and a Peck" was always a song we sang!

I also got my lovely red-tractors-only farm girl a wind chime that is allegedly solar so perhaps lights up the tractor headlights? I'll be curious to learn more.

We continued our birthday adventures at Adventures restaurant in Siren. So excited they had my favorite – coconut shrimp – on the menu. Happy birthday to me again!

It was just so nice to have some one-on-one time with my twin to catch up on all things "secret sisterhood."

From there, I headed south to Luck, to spend the night at my sister Rachel's house.

Somehow, it's always the Golden Hour in Luck, Wisconsin. Am I right or am I right? So nice to catch up with her and see her amazing progress since her last surgery. She can't put weight on her left leg yet, but when she can, she'll resume her title as a "walking miracle" again!

Headed back to Rapids about mid-morning yesterday so I could spend Jim's birthday with him. We later went to a new venue called the Lake House at the River Ridge campground to hear some live music with friends.

The entertainment was Tanner Gomes, who was on Team Kelly on The Voice in season 19 (2020). He happens to date or is engaged to someone we know. Somewhat. He was very good and very entertaining. Great to see several friends too!

Today was just a "weekend" day of cleaning and vacuuming (me) and removing more nails from the siding (not me). Carter and Mamie were going to come home for the weekend but an unexpected family emergency on her part has them postponing their visit 'til hopefully just next weekend.

So we'll just celebrate our "freedom" tonight by doing nothing. Since that's our right.

Be safe and careful out there!