Goodbye, July

I want to climb on the rooftop and soak up as much July as I can before it's over. Too bad I'm afraid of heights. And well, not a fan of mosquitoes either.

Every year I go through this thought pattern, wondering where the heck summer went. I didn't see College Boy enough. I didn't golf enough. I didn't kayak enough. And I waited so long to start working on my "beach body" that I might as well skip it and move onto hoodies and sweatpants.

OK. Let's not exaggerate. I can wear either year-round.

I guess that means I should try to squeeze in as much as I can in August! Ha. Obviously my short-term memory can't recall how crazy Saturday was with every minute accounted for.

We do have some fun coming up in August. I will not think of it as summer's almost over. Technically we have two more months. I must re-train my thinking.

I will sit with Snoopy on the roof of his dog house (that can't be too high) and be thankful for a nice warm evening, sunlight at 8:30 p.m. and goofy tan lines around my ankles.

I suppose I can put up with those pesky skeeters for another month, too. Better than pesky snowflakes any time!

So long, July.

Stop and Smell the Flowers

Had to slow it down today to just recover from two very, very busy but enjoyable days!

While I did spend several hours digging up roots and crap from my future landscape area, I did relax as well. Even soaked my feet! But mostly that was because I had so much dirt come through my shoes and socks that my toes didn't come clean in the shower!

Hubby and I went to our last graduation party of the summer this afternoon for Carter's good friend Tony. Then we visited our neighbors Mike and Cindy awhile to help them celebrate their birthday-anniversary week (sort of like ours!).

Came home and finished up a design project and am going to bed early.

See? I know how to relax!

Don't have many flowers thriving in this dry weather. But I stopped to smell them anyway to prove I could.

Maximum Overdrive

I don't think there could have been a big enough square on our calendar to fit in all we needed to do on July 29.

And I say needed because everything was important. It was a priority.

I probably won't even bore you with photos or details since it is late and, frankly, we are exhausted. Just a quick synopsis...

At 8 a.m. our "summer landscaping" bricks were delivered so have that project to look forward to before summer really is over. At 9 a.m. Jim's sister picked us up and the three of us went to Rudolph for a funeral visitation for the brother (and son and uncle) of some friends of ours.

Got home and ran a few errands before Jim and I headed to church for a 1 p.m. wedding for our friends' kids. Just happened we knew both the Lubeck and Lysne sides of the bride-groom equation. After the wedding, we stopped at Robinson Park in town for a graduation party for our neighbor Emma. Couldn't stay long since we had to get home, change clothes and head to Madison.

Got to Madison a little after 4:30 p.m. and met up with our running and walking team for the Capital City Organ Donation 5K. This was our third year participating on Team Running to Remember Ben, who was Jim's cousin who died too young 11 years ago and they donated some of his organs. We had 90+ team members there, which was the most. I ended up running it with Jim's cousin Nancy, who has become my annual running partner for this event, which starts at the State Capital building and runs past Lake Monona to Goodman Park. Very nice setup.  We weren't exactly lightning quick, but we finished and got DQ dilly bars as a treat. Worth it!

Rushed back to Rapids so we could shower and get dressed up again for a retirement party and the reception and dance for the earlier wedding. Both were at The Ridges. We got there about 9:30 p.m. – in time to dance, dance, dance. That was a whole fun!

I have a feeling I might be a little sore tomorrow. Maybe even a bit tired. But these priorities were worth it.

Press Conference

Wherever two or more reporters gather, it is a press conference. Either that or a reunion 20-plus years in the making.

I'm sure you recall that the early '90s were legendary years for newspaper coverage in Marinette and Menominee (Mich.) thanks to ace reporters Laura and Kristin at the Marinette Eagle Star and me at the Menominee Herald-Leader. Today those legends returned.

I brought my 1992 Menominee Waterfront Festival t-shirt out of the archives last night. This morning my long-time friends Laura and Kristin and I met up in Green Bay (where Kristin flew in last night from her home in Seattle) and trekked up to our old stomping grounds. We were all fresh college grads when we were worked there, becoming the best of friends and making a million memories before going our separate ways more than two decades ago. I last saw Kristin in person when Carter was 1. And saw Laura last month when her daughter was playing softball in nearby Plover. This trip down Memory Lane today was a long time in the making! And it was awesome, awesome, awesome.

Our first stop was the Pine Tree Mall, where we enjoyed shopping at the Gap and I can't remember where else. Sad that the sign only shows JCPenney, which is closing in 4 days. The rest of the mall is pretty empty, but locals tell us there is about to be a comeback there. Good luck.

Even more sad is that our two favorite watering holes are now a boutique and, you guessed it, a bridal shop. What the heck. As long as we looked like a bridal party, we might as well get our photo taken by some dresses! Not sure it is just a coincidence that we leave town and the bars go out of business.

Had lunch on the waterfront at a place called the Serving Spoon. Since we are celebrities, we held a meet and greet with fans there over the lunch hour. Our guests included our friend and fellow socialite Stacey...

And former PD dispatcher "Grandpa Joe." Awesome to see them!

This stained-glass piece of art was hanging in the restaurant. I really should have bought it since I love that lighthouse! And yes, we did see it.

Toured around the marina after lunch. Forgot how windy and wavy it is off of Green Bay.

Always an assortment of impressive boats.

My lighthouse!!

They now have a pathway to make it easier to the get to the breakwall and walk out to the lighthouse.

Had some young lady take our picture. I guess I should have made it clear I wanted the whole lighthouse in the frame. Should have used our selfie stick!

We stopped at each of our former residences, too. I used to live in the upstairs apartment of this house. Sad that there is now a handicap ramp AND a Packers logo in the front window. There goes the neighborhood.

Also swung into the fire department because, well, history.

This was my newspaper office building across from the Menominee marina. We occupied the bottom floor. At the time, we were separate newspapers but both owned by the same company and both printed at the Marinette facility. Less than a year after I left in 1994 (those two got out of town before me), the two newspapers merged to become the Eagle Herald.

Thanks to our investigative reporter skills (aka Google), we tracked down the former Marinette editor. Larry is 86 years old and as sharp as a tack. He not only remembered who we were but plenty of details, too. It was awesome to see him!

From there, we stopped at the newspaper office to see who was still there that we would remember from 25 years ago.

We found Dan (middle), who is the editor now and was the city reporter when I covered Marinette council meetings, and Tim, a county reporter. The sports editor we knew is still there but wasn't on duty for the evening yet.

Had to walk into the press room to smell the ink and pretend to yell "Stop the presses." For as much fun as we had off duty, we honestly loved being reporters, writing stories and scooping each other.

But mostly we just loved our time together – crafting art projects or crafting shenanigans. We were pretty good at both. But that will remain off the record.

Hoping for Miracles

When there is ice cream for a good cause – I mean legitimately good cause – I gotta participate. It's the right thing to do.

Today was the 12th annual Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queens everywhere. For every Blizzard Treat purchased, $1 or more goes to help sick kids treated at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Did you know that every day CMN hospitals treat 16,200 kids with trauma, 935 kids with diabetes, 2,128 kids with cancer, 2,329 kids for surgeries and 925 babies in NICU. That's a lot of miracles needed on a daily basis. Glad my Peanut Butter Cup CheeseQuake Blizzard could help.

I'm also hoping a praying really hard for some miracles for kids tonight.

No matter what age they are, our children are still our babies. We love them. We fear for them. We hurt for them. We would do anything for them.

I have some parents (of adults and newborns) who could really use your prayers tonight. One friend has a newborn being rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery. Another friend has a 20-year-old daughter who is desperately fighting a drug addiction.

These "babies" deserve a chance to make it. They aren't just our children, they are God's children. Let's gently remind Him we urgently need a few of his miracles today.

On behalf of my friends, thanks for your support.

Finger-Lickin' Good

I had planned to say that the best diet for ice cream lovers is to just "wear" it. But as soon as ice cream came into my head, I had to run out to the freezer and get a Schwan's Root Beer Float Bar.

So now I'm typing one-handed while simultaneously eating my treat and shaming my lack of self-control. Who multi-tasks better than me?

I do love my Jamberry nail wraps. The ice cream ones are only sold in kid sizes so they pretty much go on my littlest fingernails. They are cute, though! And no, I am not having a party. Just wanted to share something that brings a smile to my face.

When we practice an attitude of gratitude, we need to remember the little things, too. Like I might be stressed about something out of my control (because everything is, isn't it?) but then look down and think, dang, my nails look good, though!

I might not be thrilled with the rain (again) but I sure am happy it washed away the first layer of bugs off my car anyway.

Baked a cake for a picnic tomorrow that we can't cut into yet... but then good-neighbor Cindy brought over some yummy zucchini cake for us to eat on receipt. Winning!

Whatever it takes to get you through the day, the week, the moment. Be grateful.

In fact, don't go to bed tonight until you can recall 3 things from today for which you're thankful.

I just finished blogging one-handed and didn't drip ice cream on my keyboard. #grateful

Let Go and Let God Paddle

Some days it seems that stress can come at you in all directions – and take many forms. That's when Tuesday feels like a Monday. And it's not that fun.

I was a bit overwhelmed with things at day's end. I almost declined an invitation to go kayaking with our friends, but then figured anything I had to do would still be there when I got home. So I went.

Did not take my camera. Was just going to relax, let go of the stress and enjoy myself.

Well, we had quite a bit of wind and wave action on the river tonight. There was not a lot of "down time." Just paddling to keep moving in the right direction. A lot of paddling.

My shoulder muscles were burning. But guess what? I wasn't thinking about any of those stressors in life. Who had time? Maybe it was good it wasn't a slow evening. I might have had too much time to think. And, you know, make mountains out of mole hills.

And it was just fine I didn't have my fancy camera. Saw an eagle in flight and a Canada goose skirting away from me, but that was it for the wildlife. The last leg, though, before getting back to the boat landing, God put some pretty clouds and streaks in the sky to remind me Who is in charge.

Not me, thank God. I mean really. Thank God.

Think I'll sleep good tonight. Tired mind and body. Life is good.

Talk About Lost Focus

If you wonder why I can write my name in the dust on the coffee table, it's because I accidentally spent my evening futzing around with a potential photography logo. Yup, certified dork here.

But what do you think? I wouldn't watermark a photo and have it this big, but I wanted you to see it as examples... (I think you can click on the photos to make them larger.)

Anyway... I don't know. I want to use the lens as the O in my name but I don't want to necessary copy ideas from other photographers I've seen. So we'll see. Honest feedback appreciated.

I won't spend any more time on it the rest of the week.

Maybe. I do have a few other projects that have actual deadlines. And as long as I can still just blow off the dust from the furniture, we're good.

Right?

Focus, focus, focus.

Lost Focus

You know what they say about the best-laid plans... They just don't come to fruition for me. Call it ADD or plain ol' laziness, but I will happily choose fun over, say housework or freelance projects. Today, I lost my focus on the tasks at hand and, instead, focused on some daughter time.

Since 3 of my "adopted daughters" were playing for a tournament championship down in Mauston, I thought, what the heck, why I don't pop on down and take photos.

I was trying to talk myself out of it. Trying to focus on work. Couldn't. Even asked hubby to be conscience. He just said, "Take a gas card and have fun."

So I did.

The Woodside Sports Complex is a unique setting. Some 6 or 8 fields there and it is all turf. Like running on carpet, I suppose. Selfishly, as a photographer wanna-be, I like the setup because there are some low fences to shoot over and some net fencing so I can "move" the fence out of my way, sort of.

Got some good action shots. The girls team – called Fire Pro Elite 16 – had a command performance beating their opponent 12-2. Wow. Very cool.

Here a just a few of my favorites...

Sliding on turf has to be weird. Don't know if it's harder or easier than dirt.

 Ouch.

Trying to see around the first baseman to watch the pitcher.

 Running to third.

 On your mark... get set...

This cracks me up because the ball and bat are still in the air after a bunt. See the fake dirt that sort of kicks up when the bat hits the ground?

Lots of angles, including some shots from behind home plate.

Making contact!

It was a good outing. I was going to take some waterski pictures today, too, since it's the state championship weekend here. But I'd rather focus on people I know and care about... and, oh yeah, focus on some to the projects I had to get done.

Despite my best-laid plans and way-laid plans, it all worked out.

Roadies

Been to a few race tracks in my time as a "roadie" following the adventures of our nephew Colin. Today was a new one.

We drove down to Jefferson (some 2 hours away, sort of near Madison) to watch him race in the third leg of the Tundra Series. Each of the 6 tracks that are part of this series are a little different in layout and length. Jefferson is a mere 1/4 mile.

The track goes right up the bleachers practically. Thankfully we saw there were bench-type bleachers on the western end so we didn't have to sit in the blazing sun today nor have to face it at sunset. So that worked in our favor.

Also working in my favor, at least, was the sunny skies so I could snap some pictures with my new camera. For the most part, I was happy. Just didn't work that great under the lights at dusk/nightfall. But that was to be expected.

It was a pretty good night for Colin, who came into the day 2nd in points for the Tundra Series. He qualified 6, finished 3rd in the heat race and took 5th in the 75-lap feature. As expected, with a track that small, there is not a lot of room to pass and there is plenty of opportunity for error – especially from the many drivers who are not used to this small of an oval.

Colin's vehicle stay intact, thankfully. So it was a good evening of racing. Other than the heat and the mosquitoes, of course.

I even got an autograph! They had a driver autograph session after qualifying so I made sure to get a nice shot of me and my favorite driver. Yeah, he's kind of a big deal. Ha. (Do you see why people think Colin and Carter are brothers?)

Was glad we got to see him in action and get home by midnight. That's how these 2 roadies party anyway.

Healing Touch

Sometimes, when the planets align, I force myself to stop. Stop doing anything. No work. No freelance projects. No running around. No nothing.

This evening, since the boys were gone and my neighbor broke her toe and it was raining, I got the movie The Shack, went over to Cindy's house and we stayed in. She with her foot propped up. Me trying to eat some popcorn while my furry boyfriend Buddy whined and begged for me to drop some on the floor for him.

Both of us had read the book. The movie took a few different turns than the book, but we really, really liked it. Of course, I was a blubbering mess but it took my mind off the "things to do" that normally run through my head! Hopefully it helped Cindy keep her mind off her throbbing toe, too. A healing touch!

It was a emotional movie with its ups and downs, but you finish watching it and feel blessed for the relationships you do have and thankful for the amazing gifts God has given us.

Looking through our river journey from last night, and I see those gifts... hubby, friends, nature, peace. Enjoy...

Good night and God bless!