Permission to Play Hooky

It felt like I was playing hooky today. Because it was a Friday, before a three-day weekend, AND absolutely gorgeous out!

But for real, I had permission. Even though I didn't really have a good reason. I just figured if we have stuff going on each of the days of the three-day weekend, then I better add a fourth day just to get stuff done.

I did have my chores done – including mopping floors – by noon. Got a 3-mile walk in and really felt as out of shape as a person should after 6 weeks off of any exercise or cardio. It's gonna be quite the journey back.

This afternoon, since I had to be quiet when hubby had a conference call, I bonded with Mr. Deck Chair and finished the sequel to Beartown. Excellent book! Both are!

Meanwhile, Sylvester was not happy to be "locked" out of Daddy's office. She just waited there and meowed in a begging way – "I promise to be quiet" – until he let her in. I'm pretty sure he was closing the door to keep me and my noise out. But I didn't tell her that!

This evening, Jim went up to the Assumption football game in Loyal to help with stats. I did some shopping and then stopped by the Nekoosa game to take some pictures of my friend's son. It got dark quickly (as it does this time of year) so I left by halftime.

Did I really get anything done to justify a day off? Not really. But at least I don't have to squeeze in dusting, vacuuming, or mopping floors when I'd rather have fun this holiday weekend. That'll be worth it.

Mr. Deck Chair agrees.

Keeping Step

Pretty sure you've realized I am one of the most impatient people out there. One week out of my boot and I am wondering why I can't be running again already. Well, that's obvious, Robyn. You haven't mastered walking!

This week, I have been doing some walk breaks – like the old days – which equate to about a mile each time. But I haven't gone beyond that and strung two 15-minute breaks together. Until tonight.

When I got home tonight, my friend Cindy and I walked down to the end of Deer Road and back. Two whole miles. Do you realize that's the farthest I've walked since I turned 50? Sad, but true.

That was 4 hours ago and I am feeling no pain. I mean for real. So maybe I can keep easing into this using both feet business. At this pace, I could work in some running by Monday.

Hey, I didn't say which Monday. Patience, Grasshopper. One step at a time.

Spice Wars

I know. Haters gonna hate, but when you wake up to temps in the 50s, it just feels like Pumpkin Spice weather. I mean fall. And I honestly wasn't even thinking like a Spice Girl until my nephew Tim sent me this "notice" here:

Funny guy, right? He knows I love my PS. It almost sounded like a challenge. And since I just happened to have a meeting later at a coffee shop, well...

PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) #1! And no, I won't keep a running tab. But since the mercury's dropping to the 40s tonight, there may be a few more to count before we turn the calendar page.

The only Hot August Nights we're experiencing are due to my electric mattress pad. And my warm tummy filled with PSL. M-m-m...

Can't Soak It All In

We've been begging for rain for weeks and now it came. All. At. Once.

It's like the faucet opened on Sunday afternoon and no one can shut it off. Yes, we need the rain. But not so much so fast. The soil doesn't have the capability to soak it all in!

Just to the south of us in the Wisconsin Dells area they have had 10.4 inches of rain (and counting) in the past 48 hours. They're dealing with some flash flooding right now. Lots of places are.

Thankfully, so far, we are OK on our waterfront property. Which is only "waterfront" when there is a ton of rain so the Bloody Run Creek actually has water. It is not often the case.

And naturally, golf league was canceled this evening. Not completely because of the rain, but the accompanying sound and light show. If I could escape lightning while kayaking I am certainly not going to push my luck and golf in it!

So I spent an evening in. Sorting through a ton of photos from volleyball last night. And now will start studying. Fantasy Football draft tomorrow night!

The Swedish Chef Mafia has work to do!!

Be safe – and dry – out there.

A Touch of Selective Hearing

This week's column for the church bulletin...

A Touch of Selective Hearing

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.

—Psalm 34:17

I have a terrible habit of waiting until my husband is two rooms away, out of earshot, before I holler down the hallway with a question. I don't think I do it intentionally, I just happen to do it often. Either I assume he's still standing there or I have an anchor tied to my backside and I can't get up to find him. In the end, I can't always blame him for selective hearing because, well, I'm partially at fault. (I will never claim 100% blame, by the way.)

In today's Psalm, we're reminded thankfully that the Lord does not have selective hearing. Not only does He hear our cries – from two rooms away – but He listens to our troubles and lifts them from us.
If we let him.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that prayer is not a one-way conversation. Why are we asking God a question if we don't expect an answer? Are we listening? Anyone in a relationship of any kind knows that there’s an art to listening. Not just hearing the words, but listening. God may not answer our prayers on our timeline, but He answers them. That's why they say patience is a virtue. It's not easy to practice in all situations, is it?

Then there's that need to control things... Why are we laying our worries and concerns before God if we aren't willing to let them go? Is there some part of us that thinks we can still be in control of the situation and get better results? In this case, I will take 100% blame for the mentality – all too often.

I love that this Psalm reminds us that God listens. And He cares. He doesn't want us to suffer troubles and heartache. Granted, we often bring this on ourselves when we take control of the wheel. But still, He looks beyond that and loves us for taking the time to talk to him about it.

I'll have to keep that in mind if I do need an answer from hubby. He can't listen if he can't hear, right?

Guardian Angels

I should have known God was sending guardian angels my way today. As always, when we sing How Great Thou Art in church I can feel my dad's presence – and Grandma Hedberg's too!

I distinctly remember that song from her funeral – the first time I ever saw my dad cry. So I always, always, always without fail tear up when I hear or sing that hymn. Today was no exception. And we did need at least one of my angels later.

After doing a senior photo shoot, hubby and I and the neighbors headed to the Wisconsin River to kayak. When we made plans last night, we envisioned a hot, sunny, lazy paddle today. Well, we did have humidity. But it was cloudy and storms were forecast for late afternoon/early evening. We figured heading out at 1:30 p.m., we'd be good.

It didn't take long before we heard rumblings. We hoped maybe it was one of the nearby paper mills, but it sure sounded a lot like thunder. We checked the radar on our phones and the storms were a few hours away. So we kept paddling.

And no, these two are not the guardian angels. From a distance, they looked like eagles but, of course, they're not. We're thinking just your ordinary hawks. Because don't osprey have more white on them? This River Babe should know this stuff by now!

When we looked up and saw what we thought were two eagles flying and fighting a bit. It turned out to be an eagle showing a lesser bird (again, a hawk?) that he means business. Wow.

And this guy did not build this nest. He's a squatter. The nest has been around awhile and we've seen eagles by it. There really must be some territory wars going on. Like the calm before the storm.

Speaking of calm, I did manage to get a few lily pad shots before we realized the storm was moving in more quickly than projected.

As we turned the corner at the west end of Big Island, we saw jagged streaks of lightning in the distance (we hoped) going straight down from cloud to ground. That's when our weather guides said it was going to hit in less than half an hour. And there is no way, even paddling our butts off, that we could make it back to the boat landing in 30 minutes. More like an hour!

So we paddled toward the opposite shore where we thought there was a boat landing. We had hoped our friends' son could meet us there and get Mike at least to the truck at the other boat landing so he could come back and get us. Well their son wasn't answering his phone. But we were paddling alright.

Nothing says "paddle faster" like lightning bolts when you're on the river.

When we got across to the landing area, there wasn't a shore area to disembark. Just giant rocks. We are lucky none of us tipped getting out. As luck would have it – or as the powers that be would have it – there was a guardian angel on shore. A man had stopped to either watch the lightning or maybe he saw us. I don't know. But he gave Mike a ride down to his truck. It was lightning pretty good by the time Mike got back to us with his truck. And the clouds were darkening.

We got loaded up quickly and made it down the road about 3 minutes before the rain hit. And hit hard.

Whew.

We definitely needed those hours of rain, that's for sure. Just so grateful we had angels making sure we could safely watch the storm from our living rooms.

How great Thou art, indeed!

Good and Plenty

My day was full but in a good way. A great way! Plenty going on and each important in their own way.

Had Book Club at 9 a.m. at the coffee shop. Always great to spend a few hours with my girlfriends! Then it was off to shoot a senior portrait session. This kid has such a ready, easy smile that it was an awesome shoot. Even got to the baseball field for a few frames. And opportunities for creativity.

Cam was so cooperative that we managed to get photos in three locations in less than 2 hours!

Had just enough time to sort through them and then get ready to go to Appleton. I picked up my friend Cindy and we went to a fundraiser for the memorial fund established in honor of my girl Emily. 

The Empowerment and Body Positivity Art Gallery and Silent Auction – featuring items like the one above – had art for sale plus raffle baskets. All proceeds will go to the Emily Klopotek Angel Foundation, who mission is to provide financial support to those experiencing barriers to eating disorder treatment.

I feel blessed to be a part of the process of getting this going. With the logo I designed and the opportunity to show support for my friends, we're all helping each other heal.

Cindy and I were glad it worked out that we could over there today. It was good for us to spend time together, too, with a yummy dinner and plenty of time to talk in the car. Plus a nice campfire at home on our return.

Busy days aren't bad when you're doing things important to you, your heart and soul.

And the Nest is Empty... Again

When I'm out of the country half of June and the College Man is working opposite shifts as me most of the time, I shouldn't be surprised that summer as we know it on Blue Jay Drive has come to an end.

Carter packed up the Civic – and I mean every square inch of space – and headed back to Platteville this afternoon. All by himself. The past two years, we've driven down there and dropped him (and all his stuff) off. That gave me 2 hours and 50 minutes to get used to the idea before saying goodbye. And another 2 hours and 50 minutes on the way home to cry about it.

Today was strange. Thankfully, the college junior was smart enough to wait until I got home from work before leaving. He knows we didn't get much time together this summer and also knows now that it's important to me.

He even obliged me with a goodbye photo. In our totally accidental matching shirts. Ha.

Even hubby was willing to pose like the hipster he is with our baby. How did I get so lucky with all these cool guys around?

After the boy hit the road, we went to the Assumption football game. Jim does stats. I take pictures and visit. It was rainy and chilly, though, so I left by halftime. One, I was trying to be smart and not stand too long. Two, I was trying to be smart and not get my camera wet since I have three senior photo shoots this weekend. And three, yes, I wanted to get to bed at a decent time.

Hubby says I can't close the windows – it's good sleeping weather! – so you know my side of the empty nest is heating up right now.  It helps with the chill and loneliness.

Finish Strong to Start Strong

Today was the first day of school for Assumption already. And the first official cross country meet as well!

I'm a weirdo who loved being a cross country mom so much I just keep going to meets even though my runner is way out of high school. That and I shoot pictures of it for the high school and middle school yearbooks. It keeps me on my toes anyway.

The Pittsville meet is always fun because it's the first one and the middle school gets to run, too. For the second year in a row, we have a full team (that's at least 5 members) for the AMS girls. And they are good. They finished first in fact. Yay, team! There are 3 AMS boys running, too. I don't know any of them but hope they stick with it!

Our varsity boys have been to state each year (as a team) since Carter was a sophomore. They are looking good already. They key is finishing the race strong so you can start the season strong. And keep the momentum going all the way to state.

They definitely did that! The first 3 finishers were Royals. And in the end, our boys won the meet! Nice!

Pretty exciting as well is that we have a full varsity girls team for the first time in 6 or 7 years. We basically have Sammy, our returning runner, and 4 new members. It was good to see them get their first race out of the way so they know now what to expect. I hope they all stick with it and eventually enjoy it! I already warned them there is no such thing as glamorous photos in cross country. Ha.

I do like the pictures of a strong finish, though. Love when they give it their all. And you can see that determination on their faces. A few of my favorites today...

Let's keep finishing strong, Royals!

Pinky Swear

I went for my second 3-week checkup today at the Bone and Joint Clinic. Or as math geeks would point out, my 6-week followup since there was no healing progress at the 3-week point.

I didn't want to jinx it like last time, assuming it was all healed and have my toe nails painted and a nice sandal ready for my left foot. In fact, when the doctor came in after the X-ray today and said "It's healing nicely," I expected a "But... you still need to wear your boot for 8 months."

You can't imagine my joy and surprise when she announced I could part ways with das boot!

Of course, I still had to wear it back to work without my backup shoe with me. But tomorrow I can wear a matching pair of shoes for the first time since early July! Yipee!

An no, I'm not jumping into heels. The doc said that might take 6 months, seriously. But I don't ever wear heels anyway. Seriously. I do have to be sure I am in comfortable, not-too-snug shoes for awhile as it continues to heal.

I asked about walking and running and all that. And she's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You haven't even been walking for six weeks. Don't start running out of the gate!" I know. I have to build back up to walking 10,000 steps a day without pain before I can think about starting my running routine all over – again.

And I still can wear the shoe/boot around the house instead of bare feet so I don't bend it out of proportion. Or god forbid, step in cat poop again.

I swear – no, I pinky swear – that one of us won't survive that again.

Getting Back in the Game

This former commissioner and general manager is coming out of retirement! I had a 20-year streak going with competing in fantasy football leagues. But a few years ago I decided to overcome my August-January obsession and quit cold turkey.

I could once again leave the house on a Sunday afternoon – free and clear of any breaking news on the ticker at the bottom of the television screen. I imagine there's an app now so I could just take those scoring alerts with me wherever I go.

And I may need that.

Because I am back in the game.

True, I still know nothing about current players and best picks, but I have a week to research (aka look up cheat sheets) before we have our draft for the league at work. Naturally, my first challenge is coming up with the clever name. Got any thoughts?

I've had Momma's Boyz before and I don't know what else. Something reflective of me or my likes and hobbies. Swede Hearts... Skol Men... Princess 3-Putz... I Like Big Putz.. House of Dysfunction... River Rats... Swedish Chefs...

I'll keep thinking. You do that, too. I am hoping a clever name will distract my opponents from judging my performance. Maybe my team just be Physically Unable to Perform??

New Release :: Skol Sisters in Scandi-Hoovia

Hot off the press! Finally figured out how to share my Skol Sisters in Scandi-hoovia scrapbook with you. Hopefully this works! If the first link doesn't work, try the second. Or, if it's easier, just tell me you want to see it and I'll show you the real deal!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Or click here to go directly to book: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZs2TRmzasWT3w

Thanks for coming along on the whole journey! SKOL!

 

Snacks, Drinks, and Humble Pie

At the risk of ticking off the menfolk in our congregation, here is today's column/devotion for our church bulletin...

Snacks, Drinks, and Humble Pie

Ladies, nod your head if you've had this conversation with your man.

Hubby: I was thinking of having people over after the football game Friday.
Me: Oh. OK.
Hubby: You don't sound thrilled.
Me: I am. It's just that I work the rest of the week and have meetings at night, so I won't have time to get anything ready.
Hubby: What do you have to get ready?
Me: Sigh...

I suppose I could blame Martha Stewart for killing my sense of spontaneity. I can't just "have people over" without presenting a clean house and decent variety of food and refreshments. What would they think?

Yes, we place unnecessarily high standards on ourselves sometimes. Well, often times. But maybe it's not Modern Martha's fault. Maybe Medieval Martha, er Lady Wisdom, played a role.

I can totally relate to today's reading in Proverbs 9.

Here we have Wisdom – presented as an independent woman – preparing to welcome guests in her home. But first, Wisdom must build her house. Then she crafts seven decorative pillars, which in those days meant she either chopped down trees or carved stones.

The party planning continues as she butchers her own fresh meat, mixes her own wine, and sets her table. (Can you say “overachiever”?) Then she probably created some gorgeous invitations to send out with her serving girls, who invited anyone and everyone who needed some Wisdom – whether they knew it or not. 

I don't think our little snack parties can compare. One, that's way too much work. And two, in my experience, conversations don't get any wiser as the night progresses! If only we could feast at her table and, as a result, leave our "simple" ways behind to live and walk in understanding.

We can. The key word is humility. First, we set aside our egos and know-it-all ways. Then we humbly ask God to guide us to do his will. We may not have the wisdom to understand it, but there’s no shame in dumbing it down for us simple folk. Like considering “What would Jesus do?” before we act. That’s a start, right?

No need to slave away building the perfect banquet hall and serving a seven-course meal either. Start small. Maybe some cheese and crackers with humble pie for dessert.

To Do and To Did

I wasn't anticipating I'd have time to knock anything off my To-Do List today since it had been blocked off on my calendar for months. But my obligation suddenly disappeared so my day was free.

Hubby was off golfing down in Sand Valley and Carter spent the night at a friend's so I got down to business. Coffee first, of course! Actually got some dusting and vacuuming done. And windows. Yes, I do windows. Not very often but I do them.

When I went out to get the mail, I ran into the neighbor girl. I was scheduled to take her senior pictures tomorrow but told her we could get them out of the way today if she wanted. So we did!

Mya is such a sweetie and has an easy natural smile so it was fun and the pictures look great. Probably helps I've known her since she was a baby so there was that comfort level!

When I got home, Carter was around and we decided to finally spend some time together. Granted, we were shopping. But still. Time. Went to Younkers to get a few clothing items since they are going out of business. Then we headed up to Gordman's in Wausau to find a few items to hang on the wall of his room at school. Or any wall in their house, I guess. He found a few things and we both found great deals on more clothes. Two peas in a pod.

It was almost 8 p.m. when we got home. So I didn't get anything more done on my To-Do List. But I sure like what I did!

Drought Monitor

A local news channel released this recent Drought Monitor. The areas in yellow – which include Wood County just below and left of Stevens Point – are considered abnormally dry. While the new areas in tan are now upgraded to moderate drought.

I could have told you that! Our whole yard plus my effort at landscaping plants and flowers are dead. Brown. Dry. Dead. The Robyn Drought Monitor is off the charts.

But I'll take my crispy flowers to wildfires any day. This evening we had somewhat smoky skies again due to wildfires north and west. Like way north (Canada) and way west (California). That's crazy. Makes for a pretty picture but that's about it. C'mon rain clouds!

Granted I didn't want rain Wednesday due to golf. And probably it should skirt around Adams County to the south tomorrow when hubby has his big golf day. But other than that, break on open, clouds!

Since we didn't have rain, the opening of high school football kicked off tonight. The Royals were way down in Whitefish Bay (just north of Milwaukee), where I just heard they lost 9-6. Since I wasn't able to travel for that, I took some pictures of my friend Nicki's son playing for Port Edwards.

Here he is (#24) about to assist on a tackle. It was very strange watching 8-man football but a lot of smaller schools are turning to that these days to keep their program going. Port lost to Phillips, 38-8, but it was still fun to see my girlfriend – and see high school football again!

School is not in session yet but all the other fall sports will swing into action next week, too. Just in time for College Man to start his summer "vacation." Yup. Today was his last day at the paper mill. To say he is glad it's over is an understatement. But he did earn some decent cash this summer and had a life lesson about hot, dirty, manual labor.

I think a nice rain would be refreshing for ALL of us!

Playing the Non-Executive Course

Typically, when we refer to an  "executive golf course," it's a course that's shorter in length than a standard golf course – more par-3 holes – and therefore, shorter in time to complete. No surprise then that the term "executive course" comes from the business world. If business people – and specifically business executives – want to get in a quick nine before or after work or maybe even sneak away to the golf course during a long lunch, the odds of doing that successfully are higher on a shorter course that takes less time to play.

Yesterday, though, we sort of turned SentryWorld into an executive course. Well, execs – and we non-execs – enjoyed a round of 18 holes to benefit the local United Way.

Our usual league foursome of Tom Bosley (T-Boz) and his 3 Angels (Ann, Lisa, and Robyn) competed as a team. Using the term "competed" loosely. But still, not a bad afternoon at the office, if you ask me. And for a great cause!

Thankfully, the weather man who said this past weekend was wrong when he predicted is was going to be a high of 72 and a big chance for rain. On the contrary, it was sunny and quite warm and absolutely gorgeous. Our golf game may have been ugly but the weather was beautiful.

Somehow the winning foursome finished 13 under par. Not sure how they managed that but we were happy, honestly*, to finish at even.

(*You know how competitive I am. But I shouldn't be competitive when I'm not bringing much to the table, right? Simmer down, Robyn. Have some fun! Be grateful you're not "working" inside on such a lovely summer day.)

After the round, we had dinner and raffle prize winners announced. I came home empty handed but Lisa in our group won a nice golf bag and cooler. So that's nice. As much as I'd like a new bag, I'd rather it had new clubs in it, too.

That would help my game, right? Practice. Shmactice.

Sudden Departures

I haven't been able to stop thinking about my sister Ro's family this week. A very close family friend died unexpectedly. He was only 38, had had a surgery last week and was home doing fine. Then got a blood clot of sorts and died. What a shock!

This is exactly the same scenario of our dear friends who lost their dad last winter. Knee surgery. Home. Blood clot. Gone. Without a chance to say goodbye.

So yes, I've been a touch weepy. Thinking about them all – and my friend who should be packing up her daughter (my girl Em) for college right now. But she left, too. No goodbye.

I shared the following thoughts today and it caused a lump in my throat just writing it. I didn't mean to overlook family or friends who may be in the same painful frame of mind, but these three were close at heart...

Somewhere in my sister's house there's an empty chair where a dear family friend would enjoy her homemade treats. Somewhere in my girlfriend's house there's an empty suitcase that should have been filled with clothes for her daughter's first year of college. Somewhere near Assumption, there's a girl heading off to Loras and her grandpa's not around to kiss her good luck.

Everywhere there are people missing someone today who left without a goodbye.

Hug the ones you're with.

Frame It

Give me a free night and you know Mizz ADD is going to get restless. And when that happens, I have to shoot photos, write ... or create!

Tonight I decided to create "frames" for all the fall sports at Assumption so Royals fans can make them part of their profile picture on Facebook. Like this...

Why yes, I do have a ton of crap to clean and organize in my office. Thanks for asking. Oh, I could use free time for that, too? Wow. Thanks. I'll note that.

And ignore that.

Hate when the committee in my head tries to over rule me. Ha. They must know it was a busy day at work and then voting. But since I do still have some time before lights out, I guess could get started.

On a new book. G'night!

Be Ye Kind

This week's column for the church bulletin was based on our reading in Ephesians. I decided to take one of my kayaking pictures and make into an illustration. For the blog anyway...

When All Else Fails – Be Kind

Ephesians 4:32 is at the heart of one of my favorite songs I learned in Sunday School...

Be ye kind, one unto another; tenderhearted, forgiving one another; even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you. Doo-doo-doodley-doo. Ephesians 4:32.

If you know it, I hope you sang along. It’s one of the few times we see “doodley-doo” in the Bible, after all.

During my childhood, the message was timed perfectly with the re-release of “Bambi” in movie theaters and Thumper’s message: “If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all.”

In other words, when all else fails, be kind.

Sounds easy enough. Yet, we live in a society where bullying – in its various forms and among all age groups – has claimed the national spotlight. Not just the acts themselves, but the stories of those trying to cope with it. And those who sadly couldn’t.

Is it really so very difficult to love and respect others? To share God’s love? I’m a big hugger, but I know that’s not in everyone’s comfort zone. How hard can it be, though, to say a kind word or, at a minimum, smile?

As Pastor Cheryl has alluded to often, we have a lot of brokenness in our church family. Look around you. The person in the pew right in front of you may be struggling with something overwhelming. Something monumental in their mind. We don’t know how much they need to hear your “Good morning,” your “Nice to see you!”, your “Peace be with you.”

Your gesture of kindness could be the difference between hope and despair for them. Even if just for today.

Can we make the effort? Throw in a “doodley-doo” or two if you have to. I know that lifts MY spirits.

Slowing Down

It took me awhile, but eventually I slowed down a bit today. I reminded myself Sunday is the day of rest... but I had a few things to get done first.

Today our church had a Worship in the Park service at Robinson Park. It's always a fun service because we have a guest band – today was Dixie music – and of course, food and raffle prizes after! Didn't win anything, but had an excellent lunch. And it was nice to visit with friends, too.

After the picnic, I met up with a friend who wanted a family photo done before her baby boy flies the nest this month! Gotta support my fellow mothers of college kids. It's not an easy transition.

In fact, one of my favorite pics from the photo shoot is them walking up to the next spot for a picture. It's so reflective of the situation. When's the next time they'll all be headed in the same direction with same goal in mind? So much changes when even part of the nest is empty.

Still, got some really nice happy photos, too!

After I got home, I sat around as much as possible. That's not as easy as it sounds. I am an ADD restless sort but I need to rest this toe so it heals! So I watched the PGA Championship while finishing my book club book. I know. It's sad that I must always multi-task. I just don't know that my brain can function in just one gear.

But I found out today, my body can. That recliner is pretty comfortable if you give it a chance!

How to Saturday

How do YOU Saturday? Apparently I've been doing it wrong. Because my Saturday looked nothing like Sylvester's. Not that I wouldn't have minded. Just had things to do, places to go, people to see.

My morning multi-tasking involved dusting and vacuuming while treats were baking in the oven. First I made a Hornet's Nest Cake for the church picnic tomorrow. Then I baked those Monster Cookies I mixed up last night. I tried not to taste test. But ohhhhh, soooo good!

Had just enough time to clean up my baking mess since Martha Stewart's TV crew weren't around to do it. Then I was off to senior photo shoot #3 of the season. Today was the son of my friend and former Renaissance co-worker Jodi. Her son Ryan goes to Nekoosa so we did some of my normal settings on my "senor picture route" and a few football ones, too.

On the photo above, I am actually laying on my stomach at the edge of a bridge and hanging over as much as I can to get this shot with some water in the background. I am either dedicated or stupid. Either way, no one was hurt and no one got wet. Oh, and my camera equipment is intact!

I have to give Ryan some credit for sticking it out since it was about 90 degrees at the time. Yikes.

Had just enough time to go home and change into racing gear. Well, fan gear. And head up to Marshfield. We picked up Jim's dad on the way. When we got there and it was 87 degrees – matching Colin's race car number – I thought that was a good omen.

And it was. Colin qualified with fast time! He started around 8th place for the 75-lap feature and worked his way up to finish 3rd. It was a close race and fun to watch.

We didn't stick around for the fireworks after the races. The sky was hazy due to wildfires in Canada or in the West or both. Plus, it was late for us old folks! If I did a better job of Saturday-ing, maybe I wouldn't be so tired!

Kitty, help me out on this one.

A Good Walk, er Ride, Spoiled

The beautiful streaks of sunlight in the morning sky seemed to be carrying a message. Something like: "Today is going to be a gorgeous summer day. Don't waste it on work."

So I didn't.

Not the whole day anyway.

Since it was going to be sunny and warm with temps in the mid-80s, I figured I'd use some of my "floating holiday" hours and take the afternoon off. Hubby said he could be convinced to go golfing. So we did.

I had a birthday gift certificate for The Ridges nearby so we golfed 9 holes there. Yes, we needed a cart since I'm still in da boot another 2 weeks. And despite having a few great rounds of golf with the da boot, that streak came to a screeching halt today.

Jim's been golfing amazing. So glad he had another good round today.

Me, well... I struggled. But I figured an afternoon of three-putts is still better than working, right?

I did get a few things done at home, too, plus mixed up the dough for Monster Cookies so I can bake those at some point this weekend. Might as well have the oven on since the temps will be in the 90s. I know. Poor planning but I feel I should make something for Carter's lunches just once this summer. Plus they freeze well so he can pack them with his must-have college supplies in a few weeks.

We'll see when I get around to that since the weekend is booked. There may be a few opportunities to multi-task. You know how I love that. Maybe I should have left the other tasks out of my head today so I could have concentrated on the task at hand!

Putt... putt... putt...

Live and learn.