Tricks and Mostly Treats

What a holiday-crowded day! We've got both Halloween and the "fall back" to Daylight Saving Time action going on. Both are treats, if you ask me.

The only trick today was Mother Nature's doing again. It was downright chilly and there were a few flakes in the air. At least here, nothing stayed so that was good. I forgot to stock up on anti-freeze for my broom, though. With a windchill of 28, it didn't want to turn over this morning. So I had to run 4 miles instead of fly. That sucks. Halloween transportation is so unreliable!

This afternoon, hubby stirred up some witch's brew, er, turkey soup, while I worked on Christmas cookies. What, you didn't think I was just gonna eat those mint M&M's did you?! Now I have most of my cookies in the freezer for my family cookie exchange in November. That's a nice treat. I also made some bars for a Packer-Viking party tomorrow. Maybe I should dress up as Martha Stewart for Halloween next year!

As promised, Carter dressed up as some sort of gangsta-wannabe. I did end up buying a hat for the costume (which he hasn't taken off since) but he has to "work off" that 10 bucks. He already had the goofy bling and punk attitude to go with it. So that was a treat, too.

Following our tradition for the past several years, we went over to my friend Becky's house and trick-or-treated with her kids in her subdivision. There were a few extra kids (see photo) that joined us but her son Garrick (Nemo) was undoubtedly the cutest!

After trick-or-treating, we chose to spend that "extra" hour we get this evening eating... and eating... and eating. Had pizza and then some desserts, including leftover birthday cake. There is such a thing as too many treats!

After eating, we played Mexican Train Dominoes, another treat for me since I haven't played that since our last trip to Texas. I almost won but thought I'd be nice and let our hostess claim first place. (I'm just too competitive to ever admit I couldn't pull out a victory!)

Now we're home and we gotta change all the clocks back. This is a good thing. Us old people -- like hubby, me & Brett Favre -- need the extra sleep before game day.

Happy Halloween! Hope it brought you more treats than tricks!

A Means to an End

I really only had one thing to do on my day off today -- get everything ready for a birthday party for my stepson Clay. I'll admit the everything is almost more than a person can fit it into one day. But I succeeded!

It was a rocky start. I woke up when hubby went to work at 5 a.m. At that point, I had an upset stomach and couldn't fall back to sleep. When I finally did after 7, I slept hard until the phone rang at 9:22 a.m. Sounds late but it still didn't add up to 8 hours of sleep for the night and I was feeling it.

Since yesterday was spent running around, I had to get the house set today (normal dusting, vacuuming, etc) plus some laundry. Oh, and the food. I quick decorated his cake (nothing special as you can see) and then put a turkey in the oven at noon.

Why a turkey? We just happened to have it in the freezer so I figured we should eat it! I do them so seldom I, of course, had to Google "turkeys for dummies" or something like that, but I figured it out. I at least used the handy-dandy oven bag so I didn't have high-maintenance afternoon of basting and all that. That would have been way too domestic for me!

I did have to run into town to pick up a few things. I didn't get out of the house until 2:30 so I was hoping for a quick run through the store. Never happens. But it was worth it to shop thoroughly. Can you believe they were already putting out Christmas candy in the Halloween candy aisle? Guess who bought her first 2 bags of MINT M&M's and her first 3 bags of those MINT truffle kisses? Oh yeah, it was a good shopping trip.

The only bad part was this screaming kid (not mine) who I could hear from all corners of the store -- and obviously I was in all corners. The screaming was bad enough but when I saw the kid and saw that he is probably like 7 or 8 years old, I really felt badly for the mother. ...And said a quick "thank you, God" for my kid!

Later, I also thanked God for my stepson and my hubby's family. Had a very nice get-together for Clay's birthday. Food was fine. Company was good. It's always a treat to have the too-often-absent Clay with us (and the in-laws, too, of course).

Who cares about the crazy day leading up to it? It's just the means to an end and, in this case, it was a happy ending.

No Guts, No Glory

It's the state teacher convention -- or something like that -- so central Wisconsin school districts have today and tomorrow off. Me, too!

Carter and I had a list of errands to run today but didn't get going until after noon. Part of that was my fault. I had magazines I wanted to go in with the recycling. But I had to read them first (or at least skim through them). So I did that from 8 a.m. to almost 10 while watching Mamma Mia! (See, I can multi-task with the best of them.)

When I was done, I went for a quick run -- only because it was nice out (50ish) and I knew we'd probably end up at Dairy Queen later and I had to erase the guilt ahead of time.

Got home, showered, started laundry and we headed out. First we had to stop down the street where the neighbor girl, a 4th-grader, just got home from surgery -- gall bladder and appendix. She's doing awesome!

Then it was off to Wal-Mart for a few things, recycling center, DQ for that limited-time only Pumpkin Pie Blizzard, movie store, YMCA to sign up Carter for basketball, service garage to pay for CRV repairs, bank, pumpkin patch to finally get our pumpkins.

I had to quick bake a Wacky Cake when I got home so I can decorate it in the morning for Clay's birthday party tomorrow night. But after the cake was done and we had supper, Carter and I commenced to gutting those pumpkins!

No he's not McDreamy, but he did perform some cool surgical cuts on his 2 pumpkins.

Boo! Scared ya, didn't I? Pretty cool, eh? This is the first time Carter tried letters. Not bad at all. We put the other pumpkin out on the porch right away and then it was rainy so I'll have to get a picture later.

We had one pumpkin that was so hard that we couldn't cut through it to gut it even. So I tried something new and sort of chipped off pumpkin pieces (like an ice sculpting, ha). Some of you will appreciate my efforts...

Others won't. But hey, I know if we lose against the Pack on Sunday, I can take my frustration out and start smashing pumpkins. Should make some good pie, right? Pumpkin Pie, not Humble Pie.

Keep Yer Distance

Tonight was the Fall Festival -- what we used to just call a Halloween party -- at Grant Elementary School. Carter's last one!

This morning, in our daily call, we talked about whether or not he was planning to dress up. No, not really, he said. He has a costume in mind for Saturday but hasn't gotten anything together yet. He told me he wants to be a gangster. In my mind, I am seeing Al Capone in a pin-stripe suit or, better yet, Johnny Depp as John Dillinger.

No, Mom, not a gangster, a gangsta! A rapper dude. He needs a flat-billed baseball cap and low-riding sweats. Whatever. I'm not buying anything toward that cause. He'll have to use what he's got! And, trust me, it will take until Saturday to get that together!

So he said he'd just go as Carter and then said, "OK, I don't want to sound mean or anything, but when we go, can you just stand by the neighbors like last year and talk to them?"

I knew where he was going with this. "Carter, don't worry, I'm not gonna embarrass you and hold your hand while you're waiting in line," I said.

"Mom, it's not that I'd be embarrassed. I just want you in one place so I can find you... So I don't get lost."

Really? I wonder how many 6th-graders are getting lost at that little Fall Festival?

At least he was trying to politely dismiss me. In the end, I got out of it anyway. Daddy volunteered to go so he could stand around B.S.ing with the neighbor dads -- and I could stay home, lay on the couch and catch up on Mad Men. That was nice. I'm all caught up now. And I guess the only thing I really missed at the party was some cute girl picking on Carter.

I wonder if she'll still like him when she finds out he's a gangsta...

Self Exam

Just by coincidence, it was sort of an annual health check-up day for me. I started out the morning with a mammogram (that'll wake you up!) and ended with an eye exam. What's next? Getting my head examined? Or is it too late for that? (Don't bother answering...)

The mammogram is one of those fun things about being 40 and older. As far as I know, I have nothing to worry about. But you know they make you wait a few weeks before sending you the results just to keep you a little on edge wondering.

My eye exam has occurred the last week in October since I had my lasik surgery 6 years ago on Oct. 30. "Which is better? One? Two? Or about the same? How 'bout now?" They just want to make sure I'm still doing fine -- and that they can brag the surgery was a success, I'm sure. I still see 20/20, but no matter what, I will eventually need reading glasses. That's just another joy of being 40 and older -- but hopefully much older.

Now that my pupils have been dilated, I can't really read or watch TV for awhile. Good thing I know this keyboard by heart. I can still blog!

We did have one other "exam" today, too. When my favorite garage looked over our CRV, they found that the indicator light on the dash was on because it was, well, indicating an actual problem. Dang. I was hoping it was just a glitch. So there is some O2 sensor that needs to be replaced ... just a mere 60 days after the warranty ran out. Another dang.

It feels like all we're doing is writing big checks these days -- the car, the roof, the CRV. Good thing my other, equally important health exams today are fully covered by insurance.

I guess I should have enjoyed them more.

Break my Stride

Once in awhile you gotta change things up a bit so you don't get stuck in a rut. Or just feel like you're stuck in one.

Today I got an opportunity to do a different job at work. Someone was out sick with the flu so I helped out with our auction business. We have a big one coming up with a lot of sports collectibles. I was just doing rapid inventory, but it was cool to see things like autographed baseballs and footballs and some signed photos of famous athletes like Muhammad Ali and Gale Sayers and even one of Korey Stringer, the Minnesota Viking who died unexpectedly a few years ago. Neat stuff.

Kind of mindless work, but it was nice to see a different side of our business. Plus, my computer really didn't want to cooperate with me anyway. (I guess no one likes Mondays.)

To keep up with "try something different" theme, hubby went grocery shopping with me after we dropped off the CRV at the garage. (Hopefully nothing major -- just having them check why a warning light is on on the dash.)

The grocery thing didn't go so hot. I mumble too much, lose patience when Jim can't read my mind and, well, was just plain cranky tonight. I think I just need to get some sleep. Now there's something new!

I've got Carter reading on the couch and Jim watching TV downstairs. I could sneak off to bed and no one would be the wiser. Unfortunately, I have to wait for the clothes to get done in the dryer and, of course, for my mattress pad to heat up. Nothing new there. Can't totally break my stride in one day!

Home Sweet Home

You know when hubby is blaring polka music in the shower at 7 a.m. it can only mean one thing -- it's Sunday and we're getting pumped up for a road trip Up North. Thankfully the polka was short-lived once we got going. But we still had about 4 hours of classic country. (Groan.)

We hit the road by 8 and made a pit stop about half-way at UW-Eau Claire to pick up Casey. Clay (who is celebrating his 17th birthday today) opted not to go with this time. It was nice to see all my siblings -- within driving distance -- make it, along with several nieces and nephews.


As promised, we celebrated Tony's short but sweet homecoming, and several holidays, including Christmas. My sister Raylene even decorated a Christmas tree with just Tony's ornaments from childhood -- and a few newer, patriotic ones, too. Tony also got a brief Christmas program with Carter and my great-nephew Anthony playing Jingles Bells and few of their favorites on the trumpet. Nicely done!

With our visit sandwiched between two 4-hour drives, we had quality family time over quantity. So we ate, visited, ate some more, watched the Vikings lose, ate (comfort food), played some games, then hit the road by 5 p.m.

Dropped Casey off on the way, then had a foggy final 2 hours. We are beat but very happy we got to see everyone, especially Tony who, by the way, is thoroughly enjoying his leave (due only in small part to today's party). Good for him. It's so great to have him home safely, it's going to be tough to let him go in another week.

I'm certainly praying for strength for my sister, but mostly for safety for Tony and all the troops. In just a short 6 months, we'll have him home, sweet home, again!

Crop-toberfest

Had quite the busy Saturday. Got up and at 'em and over to my friend Becky's house by 9 a.m. to scrapbook at her "Crop-toberfest."

For those oblivious to scrapbooking lingo, a scrap workshop is also called a crop. See, now you went and learned something -- on a weekend no less.

The crop was all day but I took a break to go see Carter play his last soccer game. He didn't score any goals but he had a save when he was goalie. The game -- a tough defensive battle -- ended in a 1-1 tie. There were a lot of good games this season. As the coach said after today's game, they all really raised their skill level this fall. And I got lots of pictures for scrapbook pages, so everybody wins.

Went straight back to Becky's after the game. I wasn't going to leave her house until I got my 40th birthday extravaganza pages done. I did. Yay! Now I am officially half way through my 2008 book (not to give my age away). It sounds good but like I told hubby, I'll never really catch up. After my family books -- the chronological ones -- I still have our vacation one, Carter's school books and so on. I'll never be done. But that's a good thing, right?

When I got home I decorated a birthday cake I made for my dad (for tomorrow's party at my twin's house), then made Christmas cookies (for tomorrow's party at my twin's house).

She has this great plan that since her son is home from Iraq for only 2 weeks, we'll celebrate all of the holidays with him that he'll be missing. So we'll have turkey for "Thanksgiving" and ham and cookies for "Christmas." You get the idea. I'll just be happy to see Tony -- and sad that he has to go back so quickly!

After my Martha Stewart stint, I ran for awhile on the treadmill and am using this computer time as my "cool down." Whatever works. I can't even imagine turning my blanket on tonight!

Of course, that shower will probably cool me off just enough...

Dateline :: Friday

Raise the Roof: We slept under a new roof last night. No, we didn't go anywhere. Just got a new "cover" on top of our humble abode. Since hubby is editor of a metal roofing magazine, we had to go metal or else! It looks nice. If it ever gets sunny (or just NOT raining), I will get some pictures. I'm looking forward to an energy-efficient home this winter without any leaks when it's icy. Yay!

Rained Out: Speaking of rain.... It rained again all day. Poor Jim had to drive to Chicago and back today for work. He was just glad it wasn't snowing like north of here! Carter was supposed to have soccer practice. We did last time it rained so I booked it home from work only to find out it was called off. I'm secretly glad. (Well, not too secretly.) Not like it would have mattered to me since I would have been one of the wimps in their cars. Tomorrow is his last game so we'll see what the weatherman brings.

School Closings: No matter what happens this weekend, there has already been a decision made to close one of our junior highs on Monday. Our district has a threshold of a 30% absenteeism rate to consider closure. So far, the elementary schools are doing OK with the dreaded Swine Flu. Maybe Carter really did quit kissing the girls. I wonder what's going on at the junior high, though...

Birthday Boy: My dad turned 82 today. Amazing to think of what he has all seen and done in his 8+ decades, isn't it? I still haven't gotten ahold of him so either one of his other generous children (who live closer) is taking him out to eat -- or he found a birthday "treat" at a casino that was irresistible. Hmmm. Kids these days. They don't let anyone know where they are!

Chocolate Cravings: Since Carter just finished the book Charlie and Chocolate Factory this week, I promised him we'd rent the Willy Wonka movie. I didn't want him to watch it before he tested on the book since movies and books don't always jive. I made sure we got the old-school Gene Wilder one instead of the newer one with Johnny Depp. Nothing wrong with spending 2 hours with Johnny Depp, mind you, but you can't beat Gene Wilder's sarcasm in the original. Love it! Of course, now we're both craving chocolate!

At least we'll have sweet dreams.

Men are from Mars...

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus is a book by John Gray offering many suggestions for improving men-women relationships in couples by understanding the communication style and emotional needs of the opposite gender.

We often joke that men and women are rarely on the same page -- or same planet for that matter. Probably a good thing Carter learns this early.

Last night I was on the computer and he called me into his room. I said, "I'll be there in a minute."

I finished what I was doing and went into his room. "3 minutes and 41 seconds," he says, holding a stopwatch.

"Huh?"

"That's how long it's been since you said, 'I'll be there in a minute,'" he says, really stressing the word minute!

Oh boy. Next time I better just tell him I'll get there when I get there.

I guess Daddy didn't teach him yet that when Mom says she'll be ready in a minute, it's never 60 seconds. In Mommy language (probably originating on Venus), a "minute" can range from 3-15 minutes, easy. I shouldn't say just moms. He'll learn that some day with a girlfriend or wife, too, but I am so not gonna even think about that now.

Maybe in a minute.

Rain Gauge

I don't think it ever stopped raining today. I was grateful for 2 things, though. 1) The roof did not leak by me at work (but I had the bucket handy). 2) It wasn't snow.

Oh and 3) We have new awesome-working windshield wipers on the car (so we have new timing belt, water pump and wipers!). Yeah, we're ridin' in style.

So I have nothing to complain about. I'd gauge it as a pretty good day. Work was very busy. I was trying to fix something online and, honestly, my head hurt. It still isn't the way I want it but that's why there's always another day.

To ease my brain tonight, I spent a good 2 hours in the Scrap Cave getting stuff ready for a crop on Saturday. Truth be told, it didn't really give my mind that much of a rest. I had to be on top of my creative game to get the right papers, letters, etc. assembled for the pages I plan to do. You know, that pressure to be perfect.

So now I'm a bit drained, which explains why this blog is rambling with no particular point. Oh yeah, we were talking about rain...

Looks like tomorrow will be rain-free for a while so the roofers might come give us some new protection overhead. They obviously got rained out today and Friday it is supposed to snow
-- hopefully not here -- so tomorrow would be ideal. I'll tell you more about that when it happens.

Right now I have an 11-year-old begging to get on the computer
-- 10 minutes before bedtime, of course -- to try out a new game. It's just as well. I can finish the book I'm reading and maybe find some inspirational words to greet you here tomorrow.

Stay dry!

This Little Piggy...

I am trying to determine if I am over-paranoid (as opposed to just regular paranoid) about Swine Flu these days.

I asked Carter if there were lots of kids missing from school yet and he responded, "Oh yeah, Mom. They're dropping like flies." I hope they are just dropping from the attendance rolls and not permanently out of commission.

The schools -- everywhere around here anyway -- will hold H1N1 vaccination clinics sometime in the coming weeks. But I'm wondering if that'll be too late. I already had a co-worker and his 2 kids get it last week. Now the neighbor boy across the street has it. My girlfriend's kids have strep and they hope that is all.

I am washing my hands every half hour it seems and I find myself pausing to diagnose every feeling. Am I hot? Cold? Is my throat too dry? Is this just a normal stress headache?

I really, really hope this bypasses our household -- mainly for 2 reasons. 1) Who the heck likes to be sick? 2) We've got a busy weekend planned, including scrapbooking all day Saturday and a party Sunday to celebrate my dad's birthday and my nephew's "visit" home from Iraq. I don't want to miss that!

So I'll just ignore these paranoia-based phantom symptoms and hope they'll go away. Now, if I can just get Carter to stop kissing all those girls, we'd be in good shape. For today anyway.

Homework Helper (or Helpless?)

Shhhhh. I'm hiding out in the computer room. Carter is looking for help on his homework and I cannot give it to him.

Seriously. I'd love to help. But it's math. And it's word problems. And it's almost like algebra. And, obviously, I haven't done it for at least 25 years. I really cannot help.

Give me English, history, science, even some biology. But not math. Math keeps changing. They are teaching it differently all the time. When I do try to help, it's like, "Mom, that's not how we do it." So I'm thinking, why Mr. Math Whiz, did you even ask then?

Oh well. At least he thinks enough of our brainpower to ask for help.

I just heard him close his book so I guess it's safe to go back out there now. First I gotta find a red pen so I can edit the rough draft of his latest story.

Now that's more my speed.

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

It's Sunday. It's October. It's Game Day.

Of course, every good Sunday starts off with church and Sunday School. I dropped off Carter and his sleepover friend at Sunday School, got a few groceries then joined Carter for church. Going to the late service requires a timely exit after the service to get home for kickoff. Even with communion, we pulled it off, arriving at home with seconds to go.

Not that the Vikings are more important than church, mind you.

The thing with having a halfway decent team this year is that they had already scored a touchdown by the time I got changed from church clothes to Game Day gear and got back into the living room! Not that I'm complaining.

As much as I want to think this is a new team. A better team. They still pull the same tricks of every previous group of Purple People Eaters. They get a lead, slack off on defense, then practically blow it. They do not make it easy on their fans!

I guess all's well that ends well. And I can say at least we're not Tennessee fans getting their frozen butts handed to them in snowy New England. What's up with that?!

When I saw that and looked out our windows to our sunny, mid-50s day, I knew I better get outside and enjoy it while I could. I took a quick run -- yes, I knew it was 3 miles this time -- and enjoyed the pretty leaves and sunshine.

Got home and did few things for work and served up supper. The other thing about Sundays, in the chilly months especially, is I usually put something in the crockpot after church so supper is easy. Am I thinking or what?

Now I just have to get Carter doing some leftover homework while hubby and I await the next new episode of Mad Men. (Another reason Sundays rock!)

What does Sunday mean to you?

The Sweetest Thing

Today is Sweetest Day. Sweetest what? Yeah, I know. It's totally a Hallmark holiday... created so people spend their money on more cards just to say the same thing they do on Valentine's Day -- and hopefully every day in between.

Don't know too many people who actually "observe" it, but for some reason hubby and I always have. Well, he has. I don't always remember.

My biggest excuse, and I do have one, is that I have usually been off on my sisters weekend on Sweetest Day weekend. I'd come back from that to a special gift from him and all I have to offer him is a hug and maybe leftover chocolate (but c'mon, there's rarely chocolate left after a Wild Women's Weekend). This year WWW was in September so I actually remembered this romantic non-holiday.

I actually got a card ahead of time and a new book about the 1975 World Series (with hubby's Reds) that he is very excited to read. I didn't even bother with chocolate.

What did I get? I'll tell you.

This morning was our turn to put in our 2 hours in the concessions stand for soccer. I am almost always the one who does concessions -- mainly because I sign Carter up for the sports but sometimes because Jim is coaching or assisting.

Today we wake up and it's something like 32 or 33 degrees out. My sweet, sweet, sweet hubby says he'll go work the concession stand this time. I can just stay in the warm bed. What a gift! Seriously, it wasn't a whole lot warmer at game time (noon) so I knew it was a chilly morning for him. What a sweetie!

We enjoyed some time with our other sweetheart, too. We watched Carter make 2 goals today in a tough 4-3 loss against the best team. Later, the 3 of us played Monopoly on our special edition Vikings board. Now that's sweet. But wait, it gets better. Those 2 were so sweet, they actually let me win for the first time ever. Trust me, that's probably their story but I'm here to tell you I honestly kicked some butt today!

Tonight Carter has a friend sleeping over so I don't expect they'll be any more romance happening. But we gotta spread it out you know. Valentine's is still 4 months away.

Miss Judge, er, misjudge

Misjudge: To judge, estimate, or value wrongly or unjustly.

Remember that one time I figured we only needed 5 bags of white rock to landscape the front garden and it turned out we needed 48? I had one of those miscalculations again today.

I worked at home today and planned to take a break when they called to say our car -- with its brand spankin' new timing belt and water pump -- would be ready. My plan was to just jog on over to the shop and get it since I figured it was only about 3 miles away. Then I could get some exercise and wouldn't have to bug anyone for a ride. Just in case the weather was crappy, my father-in-law was on standby.

The call came at 11:10 a.m. I was smart enough to ask if they closed for lunch and she said yep, from noon to 1. So I said, "Great! I'll run on over now." I think she probably thought "run" meant drive since really, don't we always say, "I'm gonna run into town" or "run an errand" and we never really run?

Looking at the clock I figured I'd change into running clothes quick, be on my way and get there by noon. By coincidence, my father-in-law called just then to see if I still needed a ride. "Nope, I got it covered," I said. "I'm guessing it's only about 3 miles so I'm just gonna run over and get there before they close up at noon."

About a mile into the run I thought, wow, I did not calculate this right. This is going to be over 3 miles, easy. Actually, probably closer to 4. So now I really have to step it up and, no matter how tired I get, I really can't stop and rest or walk. Not if I wanted to get there by noon.

I had my sports watch on so I knew by my time when I'd hit the 3-mile mark. And that garage was still quite a ways away. A big ways! At that point I was going up a hill and had to power walk 20 feet so my legs wouldn't turn into rubber. It was getting brutal.

When I saw on my watch it was 11:58 and I was sure I had at least a half-mile to go, I was praying my watch was fast. I mean I usually set my other ones fast! So I kept chugging along and thought, worse case scenario, I get there, drop the check off and drive back later to get the key (I had the spare on me) and the receipt.

I was less than a quarter of a mile away when I saw them leaving the shop. Thankfully, I got there and waved the check in the air. Hey, who's gonna turn away a very sweaty, red-faced old chick carrying 500 bucks?

On the way home I made sure I reset the odometer and retraced my route. Guess what? It was 4.3 miles! Waaaay miscalculation!

But you know what? I also misjudged myself and my abilities. I actually ran 4.3 miles today!!! Me! I did that! Now that is waaaay cool for this old lady!

(I'm not saying I'd do it again... Let's not get carried away.)

A Quiet Evening at Home

For some reason, what appears on the surface to be a quiet evening at home, is sort of chaotic in how it gets there. I think the only reason it was quiet is because each of us was off on a different tangent, doing our own thing in our own corners of the house.

Carter was on a mission to finish a book so he could test on it tomorrow. He practiced his trumpet, ate his supper then said he was going to his room to read at 7 p.m. until it was done. He just finished about 10 minutes ago.

It's Thursday night so hubby didn't want to miss one of his favorite shows, The Office. He watched that down in the basement where there were likely to be fewer interruptions. Later, he proofed an English paper son #2 emailed him. Then he got his "stuff" together for an early morning road trip. He's leaving at 4:30 a.m. to head up to my neck of the woods, Rice Lake, to visit a job site for photos and a story. So he's trying to force himself to fall asleep at my bedtime. It ain't working.

The second reason Jim relegated himself to the basement is so that I was upstairs on Schwan's watch. I didn't mind. Then I got the couch and blanket to watch Grey's. It never fails, though. The Schwan's Man always shows up during Grey's. I thought if I had my list ready, it would be a quick order and he'd be gone. But we had to talk football and baseball and weather. We're so close, ya know!

The strangest thing about our evening at home together is that both the boys are in bed before me. And I could actually sleep in tomorrow since I just have to walk to my desk and not drive an hour to it. It sounds good, but it's not.

When the garage was changing our oil today on the Civic and checking over a few things, they realized we need a new water pump. I can't believe a vehicle with just 186,000 miles would need anything new. But whatever. Here's your 500 bucks. Unfortunately, they can't install the new pump until tomorrow so with Jim leaving town, I am without wheels.

Good thing I recently subscribed to a special GoToMyPC connection so I can work from home. (It's quite handy!) I might actually be more productive. I'll have only the cat to talk to and I won't be distracted by those tempting chocolate treats at my desk.

See? There's a bright side to everything. I just hope in the future that my expensive "surprises" are more in the line of jewelry or clothes or airline tickets -- not water pumps.

The Shack

I just finished reading the much-talked about fictional best-seller The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. Wow. I've had friends recommending it for months, but didn't lay my hands on it 'til last week -- when I finally bought my own copy.

I don't want to give away too much about it, but if you haven't heard about it, this is what it says on the back cover:

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

Sound intriguing? It is.

Many have called this book life-changing. I can see that. The book itself won't change you, though. What it will do to the open-minded reader (in my opinion) is make you take an honest look at yourself, your relationships with God (have you ever been angry with Him?) and each other, your actions, your fears, your behaviors, everything. Then you decide if you want to change anything about it.

I realize it's only fiction but it certainly gives the reader a different view of who, what, where God is. And, frankly, what a lot of us are missing. There are endless messages in this story!

I won't spoil it. But do urge you to pick up a copy (or borrow mine) and give it try. If you want to learn more about, visit The Shack Web site http://www.theshackbook.com/.

I'd love to hear what you think about it.

Tuesday Tidbits

Suuuu-eeeyyy: Is that how it sounds when you call a pig? I don't know. Just letting you know a friend of mine at work has swine flu. So yes, it does exist. And yes, you'd be wise to at least look into what the symptoms are, etc., and remember to wash your hands and those good things your mama told you. Carter at least has had a regular flu shot and they will do the H1N1 shots at the school soon. Here's to your health!

Playing it by Ear: People who can literally play something by ear are really gifted musicians. Carter is trying to be one, too. Just one month into this trumpet business and he was attempting to play the intro notes to Europe's Final Countdown and Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire -- without sheet music. I was the lucky audience member. He says, "That sounds just like it, doesn't it, Mom?" Sure, honey. I mean it did a little bit ... after he told me what it was. At least he's got goals.

Quite Capable: Jim went to parent-teacher conferences tonight for our much-loved somewhat-reformed truant. Of course all the teachers like Clay. What's not to like? He's a great kid with a big heart. He just needs to keep showing up for class and, while he's there, turn in his assignments. "He's quite capable," they said. "He just needs to apply himself." That probably holds true for all of us.

All Gone: That snow completely left us. Not a trace of it. Could I have dreamt that? I know we didn't dream up the temps in the 20s. They're still here, clinging like those last leaves fighting to hang on the tree one more day. If I had it my way, I'd prefer the festive foliage stayed and the chills took a hike. But when do I get things my way?

The Sweetest Thing: One of my girlfriends has learned that life really can change in the blink of an eye. Her husband (who is my husband's age!) had a heart attack last week. A heart attack! Thankfully they got to the hospital in time and he'll be fine. As fine as someone can be, that is. With Sweetest Day coming up, I think the sweetest thing you can do for someone you love is strive to be healthier -- and support them in their efforts, too. I'd sure like it if you all could hang around longer.

Happy Columbus Day

Today, while we observe Christopher Columbus Day with no mail (is there really any other way we observe it?), I made a few discoveries of my own...

I discovered I shouldn't talk smart about living in an anti-snow globe. I knew it would catch up with me! It snowed all day today but, thankfully, we were on the edge of the system (yes, I will be obsessed with radar now until spring) so it was kind of rainy at times and nothing stuck. Yay! I'm not ready for winter just yet.

I discovered I do have a minute amount of self-control. Carter and I noticed that they already have eggnog in the grocery section at Wal-Mart. I bypassed it since they didn't have any of the "light" stuff. But honestly, I don't know how long I can hold out. Especially when it's snowing. (Shouldn't we be Christmas shopping soon?)

I discovered I actually do have a few fond memories of high school after all. Tonight we went to a Fall Concert at the high school. I was having flashbacks to our choir days at Luck High. We had a lot of fun and we always felt like we were totally impressing our parents with our songs! Tonight my stepson Clay impressed us, too. He's in the A Cappella Choir. They sang one of my old favorites, Shut De Do' by Randy Stonehill. To give you some idea how long I've been singing that song, my brother "burned" a copy of it from his album to a cassette tape when I was in high school. Thanks for the memories. (Oh wait, that's a different song.)

I discovered (well, I knew this one) that I really can't do the whole staying up way past my bedtime thing 4 nights in a row. I better hit the hay soon. I actually have to work 5 days in a row this week. I know. Who does that any more?

Bye Week

I like when the Packers are on bye because that's about the only time they air the Vikings games in my neck of the woods.

So we got to see them stomp on a winless team and we liked it! I have to give props to our defense today. We certainly aren't ready in our household to give that No. 4 all the credit!

By the way, one of the comedians last night said something funny about Brett Favre. "If I'm ever commissioner of the NFL and someone retires twice and comes back, I am going to make them start every game until they're 65." Good call, Tim Wilson!

After the game, I changed out of my Purple Pride gear, went for a quick run (well not really "quick" by real runners' standards) and then had to switch into my lucky Twins clothes. I even re-did my fingernails red & blue.

Carter and I did everything we could to get those Twins to win. Before the game we wished on the wishbone from last week's turkey. We ate our Twinkies. We were waving those Homer Hankies as hard as we could... But those damn Yankees!

The one thing I don't like about a bye week is when it literally means "bye" ... as in goodbye, so long, see ya next spring, Twins.

Gotta go pack up my Homer Hankies now. I'll just use regular Kleenex to wipe my tears. Don't want to ruin whatever good karma is left for 2010.

The Bypass

I sort of feel like we're living in anti-snow globe today. It seems everyone around us -- north, west, even south -- got snow overnight and we got nothing. Somehow it totally bypassed us in Rapids.

And I'm OK with that.

It still was pretty darn cool -- hovering around the freezing mark when soccer kicked off at noon. We made sure Carter was dressed in layers -- but not enough that he couldn't move freely (picture Ralphie's little brother in The Christmas Story!)

Jim and I basically threw on the same clothes as yesterday. Hey, if it kept us from freezing to death one day, it should work the next!

The game started out pretty good. When we score first, we figure it's going to go our way the whole time. Not always. Carter played some good defense, stealing the ball as much as possible. He did get called on one penalty for pushing, but it's better than standing around doing nothing, right?

He claims he didn't get the ball much but that's because was goalie for awhile (didn't let anyone score on him) and on defense, too.

He still had plenty of opportunities to kick it! Unfortunately, the other team kicked it more and ended up winning 5-3.

We were cold. He was tired. But we all survived.

I figured since it wasn't snowing or raining or even cloudy here, I better go out for a run today. That felt pretty good. Glad I put a stocking cap on. The wind was/is still a bit wicked (and our naked trees can attest to that!).

Tonight, Jim and I are going to a comedy show featuring several comedians we hear on Bob & Tom on the radio each morning (The Bob and Tom Comedy All-Stars Show). We have tickets to the late show (which doesn't start until 10) so now that I've got my exercise in and even the housework done, I'm contemplating a nap.

Even if it's not a snowy day, burying myself under a warm blanket on the couch seems in order, doncha think?

Oktob-r-r-r-fest

We knew going into today that it was expected to be quite chilly. So we dressed in multiple layers and stuffed ourselves into the car like Mr. & Mrs. Pillsbury Doughboy.

It helped. It was mostly cloudy, windy and cool in La Crosse so instead of the normal ice-cold sodas or ice cream treats at the races, we had piping hot coffees and cappuccinos to keep the blood circulating. You know what else helps? Getting really, really excited about what's happening on the track.

As usual, we had occasion to do that.

Qualifying started at 2 p.m. We got down there by 3 and Colin's super-stock division was the last to qualify anyway so we didn't miss a thing. While our 15-year-old nephew is used to getting fast time during qualifying, today he did one better. He set a track record, too. Or "crushed it," as the announcer said. Waaaay coool.

I hope he remembers that great feeling when they were bragging about this 3rd-generation racer because the rest of the evening didn't go as well.

In the feature race he started 14th and worked up to 2nd. For the last 10 laps he was battling for the lead but just couldn't get by the guy. In the very last lap, the very last turn before the finish line, he tried to pass and somehow the two cars made contact and the leader spun out. No, they didn't give the win to Colin even though he crossed the finish line. Instead, they sent Colin and the other guy to the back of the pack and restarted for one more lap. Obviously, there was no way for Colin to win then.

What a bummer! It was so exciting watching him work his way to the front. I'm sure he's extremely disappointed in the finish but how many kids can say they skipped school today to go racing, set a new track record and get mentioned by name by the legendary race car driver from Wisconsin Rapids -- Dick Trickle -- who was a "guest star" at the races?

So even though we were chilled to the bone, it was still worth it to play hooky as well so we could be a witness to all this. And, no one can accuse us of being fair-weather fans -- though I can totally see how that phrase came about!

Fill in the Blank

After I picked up Carter at the sitter's, we got home and Carter heads straight for the TV and says, "What channel is it on?"

"What channel is what on?" I ask.

"The Twins game!" he says.

"Oh honey, they don't play tonight."

So now what? We've had these high-intensity evenings all week and suddenly nothing?! How do we fill the void? Fill in this blank?

For one thing, Carter had homework. I also had some cleaning to do since I hadn't touched anything all week. Plus, Sylvester must be doing her fall "shedding" because I had to vacuum -- which normally can wait Saturday to Saturday.

I timed it so I was vacuuming upstairs (main level) while Carter was practicing his trumpet downstairs in the basement. Not that he's bad. He's actually way better than I expected. I just thought we should do all the noise at once... be courteous to kitty, who by the way, hasn't even slept in our bed with Daddy not there. Fine by me.

We had to run over to Jim's sister's house tonight, too, to get some stadium seats to use at the races tomorrow night. Yes, we've got one more race to go. Colin and his uncle Flyin' Bryan Reffner will both be taking part in the Oktoberfest races in La Crosse.

I was really excited about this about a month ago. But now, after seeing the forecast, am really talking myself into getting excited. I did go out and buy some new long underwear. Tomorrow morning I'll have to run quick into town and get some of those hand warmer things that I hope I can put anywhere! (Like in my shoes, in my back pockets... What were you thinking?!) I painted my fingernails Reffner Blue, too, so really I am all set. Just need the attitude adjustment and a whole lotta layers and we're good!

While all this was going on, Jim was delayed in 80-degree Tampa and now, just called a few minutes ago and is delayed in Chicago. So I'll be sound asleep by the time he gets home about 1:30 a.m.

I could stay up and wait for him, but honestly, if I'm going to fill in the blank for the evening, I choose sleep. Gotta stock up anyway. Lord knows what time we'll get home from the Deep Freeze tomorrow night!

Time Out, Sports Fans

I apologize to the non-sports fans who read my blog. I certainly didn’t intend to get so wrapped up in professional sports this week. But I tell ya, it certainly has been a pleasant distraction!

My mind has been free from those everyday nuisances like not-quite-reformed teenage truants and not-so-everyday concerns like friends losing jobs, loved ones who are sick or need extra prayers. I guess, selfishly, it’s been kind of nice.

Even my boss commented that I’ve been in too good of a mood this week. I suppose it would be considered “too good” when I’m surrounded by non-winning Packer fans and non-playoff-bound Brewer fans. Not that I rub it in. I just keep to myself and smile a lot. (People might just think it’s because hubby’s out of town!)

I do have a good number of people on my prayer list these days. Part of me feels grateful I have it good (for today anyway) and part of me feels so helpless that all I can offer is my prayers. Why can't they have it easy?!

I was reminded, however, that even when it seems we are in our darkest hours, we wouldn’t want to be in someone else’s shoes either. Yes, we may have it worse than some, but honestly, we are better off than many.

A friend of mine who was in the hospital last week then at Mayo Clinic for tests told me about someone she met there. While waiting between appointments, a little girl, about 4 or 5 years old, toting her own IV, came up to her and asked her where her “owie” is. My friend told her and the little girl, who had a scarf wrapped around her head, responded, “I have an owie in my brain.” Turns out little Hailey – who smiled at my friend and offered her a special Band-Aid – has brain cancer.

How would you like to be that girl’s mother? Or her father? Or even an aunt, uncle, grandparent or friend?

My eyes tear up just thinking about it.

Do you know how blessed we are? If you have forgotten, take a look around you. Does it really matter if your favorite team wins or loses? Not in the grand scheme of things, no. But I wouldn’t trade a minute of this week – especially the bonding time with my baby who, by the grace of God, is healthy today.

And This One Belongs to the TWINS!

It's probably a good thing they don't televise many Twins or Vikings games in central Wisconsin. I can't handle all the stress!!

My plans were simple today. Hubby left the house at 4 a.m. to go to the airport (work trip). I was going to go in early, work through lunch, leave early enough to get home by the 2nd inning of the Twins game (which started at 4:07 p.m.), then spend a quiet evening at home with Carter.

Who knew we'd sit through a nail-biting 12-inning 4 1/2-hour game?! AND it was worth it!

This was the tie-breaker game for the Central Division Championship -- much like last season's tie-breaker with the Sox. Only this one turned out better. Much better.

We fell behind early probably because I didn't get the Homer Hankies out until the 6th inning. Then things turned around. When we were batting at the bottom of the 9th (still tied), I said to Carter, "Ohmigosh! We forgot to eat our Twinkies!" So we raced to the kitchen, each grabbed one and, I'm not kidding, ate them in like 3 bites. It's all about good karma, you know!

We did a lot of screaming during those extra innings. And boy, when it was over, we were shaking those hankies and hugging and screaming -- and only the cat was around to roll her eyes at us. (I think Daddy would have taken it easy on us, too.)

Now we just need to calm our hearts, catch our breath and try to get a good night's sleep. I told Carter we shouldn't even be thinking about playing those Yankees tomorrow. Let's just enjoy for one day what we (as in our Twins) accomplished since September. Incredible!

And we just bought ourselves a little more time (hopefully) in the Homer Dome.

Welcome to October!

Purple Pride

Kermit the Frog once sang, "It's not easy being green." I can tell you that it's not easy NOT being green (and gold) in central Wisconsin. But I suck it up and wear my purple pride on my sleeve (and socks and pants and bra...).

When I first learned a week or so back that we were having a tailgating potluck at work today, I thought I'd dress to the hilt for the "best dressed fan" contest. I'd wear my Vikings lounge pants (yes, to work) and throw on my Helga helmet and beads. Then I was reminded that my hubby defected to the Lions (at least temporarily) so I'd have to go it alone. So that took some of the wind out of the sails on my Viking ship.

Then, after the exciting weekend of baseball, my mind was saying, "Who cares about the stupid Viking-Packer game, let's get on to Tuesday's action in the Dome!"

So my heart wasn't totally in it. I still wore some Vikings garb (and hubby had his Lions t-shirt on under another shirt) and walked into the tailgating party in a sea of green and gold. I heard some comments, saw some sneers, but to their credit, none of them threw food at me. My husband and one of my friends (true friend, I guess!) escorted me and sat with me. It was a nice party.

When I left work, I warned the guys that sit near me that I was staying up for the game so I'd early be tired on Tuesday morning or tired and cranky Tuesday morning. Good thing I'll just be tired.

This was the first Vikings game I was able to watch this year. So much hype was built up because of the whole Favre circus. I just wondered how I was going to be able to actually cheer for a purple No. 4 without throwing up a little in my mouth. OK, you think I'm extreme, maybe? Maybe. But it's tough to get used to.

As usual, it was a back-and-forth battle. The kind where you have to stay up for the whole game. (Though we did send a disgruntled Carter to bed shortly after half-time). But in the end, it was worth it for this little non-green person.

At least this time.

The Day After

The only bad thing about late date nights, wedding dances, etc. is having to get up early the next day and be productive. And really, today is Sunday so I could have taken a nap, right?

At a glance, my schedule doesn't sound like much, but it was just enough to keep me awake:

• Sunday school
• Grocery shopping
• Read some of The Shack
• Go running
• Make cake for tomorrow's tailgating potluck at work
• Watch some of Tigers/White Sox game until Twins game starts
• Put turkey in the oven
• Listen to Twins game on radio (not televised here!)
• Eat a Twinkie for good luck
• Sort through 2009 pictures while listening
• Cross fingers they don't blow their lead
• Celebrate we've got one more game in the Homer Dome
• Bake potatoes (that bag is truly magical now!)
• Serve supper
• Paint fingernails purple for Game Day
• Catch up on last 3 episodes of Mad Men
• Tuck Carter in
• Blog
• Watch new Mad Men

Then SLEEP. Yay! I knew I'd get around to it!

A Win-Win Situation

Today was Carter's second fall soccer game (I missed the first during my sister weekend). This year he is in a new age group that plays on a much bigger field with a much bigger goal to defend. If you recall last year he loved playing goalie because he could boot the ball from his goal down to the opposite goal. It didn't quite work out that way today.

While he did have a few critical saves, he also let 2 get by him in the first half. At halftime, his team was down 2-1. In the second half, he was a forward so he got to handle the ball more. He had one assist and kicked what ended up being the game-winning goal! So his team won 3-2. Yay!

Here are few pictures. (I apologize in advance for the low quality. It was a cloudy day and the camera batteries were totally out of juice.)

Nothing illustrates determination quite like a goalie lining up to make a huge kick!

Carter prepares to kick quite a long shot for the goal. I think even he was surprised it went in without anyone stopping it.

Carter celebrates after the score!

I had hoped out loud that if Carter's soccer team could win, surely my Twins could. And, wouldn't you know it, they did! Who knew I had such power?

We were gone to a wedding dance tonight so I missed the entire Detroit game, but I see they lost so this ain't over yet. I may actually find myself watching baseball tomorrow on a football Sunday. How strange.

But I like it!!

A Day Off, Seriously

Sometimes those "nothings" in life add up to a lot of little "somethings" and our schedule is just always busy -- even when we think there's nothing going on. I was reminded not too long ago by my eldest sister that I have to remember to slow down once in awhile. Give myself permission to relax.

I did that today. Well, to the best of my ability anyway. I still need to work at it.

There was no school today for the elementary students. Some teacher in-service thing going on, I think. I don't even ask anymore. I could have worked from home, but decided earlier in the week I'd just take it as a vacation day. A real one. Just hang out with Carter and not make any plans.

So we slept in -- seriously, past 8 a.m.! Rolled out of bed and ate our cereal while watching a few movies. I did take a shower by noon, so I wasn't completely lazy. (Although the housework and laundry were completely ignored. Until Saturday anyway.)

We had some errands to run -- the kind you can't run when we work out of town (post office, city hall, etc). Got those done and stopped for lunch at a little restaurant I knew served breakfast all day. As Carter and I ate pancakes and stared out the window at the non-stop rain, we decided chili sounded good for supper so we stopped at the store and picked up ingredients for that.

While I was mixing that up, I got some phone calls made (again, the kind of appointments I can't make from the office). Got the chili going in the crockpot and headed back into town for soccer practice. I knew it was going to be chili, er chilly, and possibly wet so I brought a book to finish in the car. Smart choice. Kids didn't seem to mind the weather!

Hubby worked today so he got home a little before we got back from practice. Chili was a good call on a damp fall day!

The rain let up enough after supper for Carter and me to cap off our vacation day with a few minutes in the hot tub. See? Despite all the errand running and phone calls, I did relax! Now I'm listening to the Twins kick some tail. Hopefully they'll hold on, since Detroit lost, and keep this weekend interesting.

Tomorrow will be back to my "not much going on" sort of day that will become ultra-busy. I can see that. Soccer, a wedding dance and maybe, if the weather's nice, the Nekoosa Pumpkin Festival -- but only after the dusting, vacuuming and laundry are crossed off the list.

Yikes. I might just have to force myself to relax some more before this ball ends at midnight!

Bright Spots

They say the sun is the center of the Solar System. In our world, the son is the center of our Universe. Even on cloudy days, he provides a bright spot in our lives...

Daddy was giving me some grief last night because Carter said something funny and I hadn't written about it in my blog. "What? I thought you put everything cute Carter does in there!" Apparently, I've been neglecting to feed your Carter need. So here is a blog all about Carter (which is really not that different from any other day, in my opinion)....

Caller I.D.: Carter has this need to be the first to check for phone messages when we get home. If there are no voice mails, he still checks the Caller I.D. to see if anyone called. I don't know who he's expecting (and I don't want to know). The other night he said, "No messages, but Office Show called." Who? "Office Show." Daddy grabs the phone and says, "It says Show Office!" Carter replies, "Well I thought there was a comma!" So I guess if Grandpa calls it says "Austin, John" so when some Show Office calls (we still don't know who it was), he just read it as, "Show, Office" and transposed the words. I know it's not really funny, but for some reason, that just struck me as funny and I got the giggles, big time. Just one of those "kid logic" things!

All Grown Up & No Place to Go: Got Carter's new school pictures back (above). No, these aren't his senior pictures, but he sure looks grown up! He said he doesn't like them because his teeth aren't showing. I said I like them because they seem like his natural smile (or smirk, if you will) when he is trying to hold back a laugh. He just looks like he's up to something, doesn't he?

Sound the Trumpets: Carter has been very diligent about practicing his trumpet. He doesn't have to be told and, on a few painful instances, has invited Mom or Dad to sit in and listen. (Daddy always volunteers me for some reason.) I was impressed -- but you know that happens a lot -- when he could play a song already after only 2 weeks into the program. We were going to call some family to hear it over the phone but then thought, why not put everyone through it -- I mean, let everyone enjoy it!

Adrian "All Day" Peterson: Do you like the shirt he's wearing in the video? I discovered that I (yes, just me) have been spoiling Carter too much when it comes to his admiration for the Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. This week, in anticipation to Monday's match-up, he has worn a different AP T-shirt each day and today wears the #28 jersey. Good thing there's no school tomorrow or I'd have to spoil him so more.

But he's worth it, don't ya think?