Fond Farewell to February

Not like spring is going to arrive as we switch the calendar page in a few hours, but I won't miss February.

The snow will still be here. The ice, too. But not basketball season. Sadly, the boys lost a close one in regional play Tuesday and our girls lost a nail-biter against their nemesis tonight in sectional play. So dang. Even though one month from today is the opening day of MLB, I'd rather hoop it up a few more times with our Royals.

Since we just got home from Wausau, I better hit the hay. I'll have to mess with photos and other fun some other time. Next month, I guess. Haha.

See you in March.

Leader of the Pack

This brought a chuckle today. And, since I've read the classics, it reminded me of George Orwell's Animal Farm – which I've probably read five times and I'm sure I have a copy somewhere. Yes, I am dork.

Noted.

We are inching closer the fence line, though. After last night's "light snow," Wisconsin Rapids is on the leader board!

Whoo-hoo! At least we're good at something! So yes, another crap drive to work. Thankfully, the bright sun today (still below freezing) must have activated the salt because the commute home was much better.

Of course, since it didn't snow much today, it will return tomorrow and for sure on Friday. Why should I care? Well, I'm signed up to run the Point Bock Run on Saturday. Their latest news is this...

Since I have YakTrax, I'm not as concerned with the ice and snow as I am the temperature. The high is 22 (earlier it was just 14) but the low is going to be minus 9. So... brrrrrr. You'd think cold would make me run faster since I will want to get it over quicker. But it is a 5-mile course, and I'm not built that way. Now it's not just a stupid thing to do, it's a must do to be in the exclusive "I survived the 2019 Bock Run" club.

We'll see if Old Man Winter convinces any of us otherwise. So far, I haven't liked any of his ideas. Have you?

Our Happy Place

The "theme" for this year's Camp Crop-A-Lot was "Be Happy." It just means the decorations and activities were happy, funny and joyful. Our pages we scrapbooked didn't have to be – but a lot of them were. Remember I told you it would be an entertaining trip down Memory Lane for Julie and me.

And it sure was! She really dug up the archives from our grade school and high school and beyond. 

This treasure – and it's definitely a treasure – is from the very first day we met in 3rd grade. How do we know that? Because the kids at the two country schools – East Luck and Oak Hill (that's me) – joined the "town kids" and we all went to the Shrine Circus in St. Paul that day. That's the ticket right there. Julie distinctly remembers my twin and me because, well, we were the only two girls in our class of 6 at Oak Hill. Talk about an antique (sort of) and very cool memory to revisit.

We really haven't grown up much since 3rd grade, have we? It was fun hanging out in Our Happy Place for a surprise extended weekend, that's for sure.

We all had a great time and unexpected productivity. That's always a bonus.

Some of my fun pages were...

Finally getting to my nephew David's wedding – his son is now 5 months old. Ha.

When the Dirty Girls of Blue Jay Drive had some filthy fun at the muddy Dirty Girl race near Milwaukee. So gross. But so fun!

This just illustrates you can scrapbook about anything – even a visiting skunk who looks likes your cat at first glance!

And we had this to heat us up after being out in the cold! Somebody had to do it!

Speaking of the cold...

So this is after the first round of ice and snow Saturday night. When I did finally get de-iced and brushed off (on Monday), I needed a push because it was just ice under the car. No place to get the traction.

It was a two-step process. Brush off snow. Scrape ice. A lot of ice.

Almost lost my boot in the deep snow drift trying to get close enough for an artsy shot.

Close, but I wasn't going to hang around for too many shots. The wind actually took our breath away.

A little ice – plus snow drifting up to the window ledge of the dining hall – Our Happy Place Headquarters.

And a little ice cream. A non-blizzard delivered in the blizzard. I'm serious. My friend Becky (who organizes the camp with her sister) always has her birthday the weekend of Camp Crop-A-Lot and her husband and kids always deliver cake, balloons, and gift for her – and a Shamrock Shake for Robyn. I worried her hubby was going to lose his 9-year streak. But he came through. Literally through snow drifts, he came through.

It might be hard to see the wind blowing snow across the lake. It left little drifts that looked like waves. Cool to see but flippin' freezing to see any closer up. Between the wind and drifting and lack of plowed roads, it made safe sense to stay until Monday morning.

This was the intersection just down the road from camp. Can you imagine my Honda Accord trying to traverse an unplowed road with this much snow? Not a good idea. At all.

We had plenty of ice at home, too. Had to take a picture of this icicle on the back deck and send the photo to Carter. We told him we hoped it would be melted by the time he gets home – at the end of April. Man, I hope so!

This was my view leaving for work this morning. We've never had the snowblower edges that high in our driveway before. In fact, it's snowing another 5 inches tonight and we don't have many places to put it. Just keep stacking, I guess.

The roads are crap. They were plowed but all that ice that layered up first makes for a bumpy and/or slippery drive. Took me nearly an hour for my 30-minute commute today. Since we won't get above freezing for at least the next week, I suspect that will be the norm for a bit.

I need to find myself another Happy Place!

Holy Royal Rally

Forget blizzards, power outages, season-opening episodes of The Voice. The real drama tonight was in the Assumption High School gymnasium. The girls basketball regional championship drama, er game, against the Edgar Wildcats went something like this.

Act 1: Regardless of the final score, this was to be the game on the home court for our seniors. Always bittersweet.

Act 2: Edgar pulls out to a huge lead with their sophomore phenom hitting 4 three-pointers in the first several minutes. "Do not let #1 shoot!"

Intermission: Halftime score: Royals 16, Wildcats 29. (Not a typo. Uff da)

Act 3: Royals rally! I mean really, really rally. So much action! A last-second Royals three-pointer in regulation sends the game into OT!

Act 4: As in 4 minutes of overtime play for the championship.

Final scenes: Your Regional Champions! Final score: Royals 53, Wildcats 47.

Addressing the Royal Nation.

Please stay tuned for scenes from the next episode, er game... Sectional round one at Wausau Newman on Thursday evening! Go Royals! So proud of you ladies!

Getting a Handle on Winter

How are we coping with winter and this latest blizzard? Pretty much just shaking our heads. This winter is getting way too long and, you know, there's nothing we can do about it.

That's why I am stuck in rural Rosholt (or just Rosholt, ha). We are blizzarded in at the Lions Camp. After ice last night, then 8 or so inches of snow, we had 50 mph winds drifting it everywhere. The blizzard warning just ended at 9 p.m.!

I did manage to get through the thick layer of ice and start my car. But it's not going anywhere until drifts are plowed and the wind dies down tomorrow. There ARE worse things than being stuck at scrapbooking camp!

I feel guilty for having a fun, productive day because back home, the power went out at 4 a.m. (there's a lot that with heavy snow downing trees onto power lines) and did not get restored until tonight - some 17 hours later. Uff da.

I think hubby would have gotten a hotel room if not for the cat. They snuggled plenty today, I'm sure! Thankfully it got fixed so Jim can turn on both sides of the electric mattress pad tonight. He deserves  it!

All area schools are already called off tomorrow.  Between the outages and drifting, it's going to be a mess. Hoping I can get out of here.

Be smart and safe out there. And whatever you do, don't look at the forecast. Your handle on winter will fly off the handle!

Uff Da, Dat's Good Lutheran Humor

A couple of years ago, I had the joy (much joy and laughter) of seeing the musical comedy Church Basement Ladies. Tonight, I got to see one of the sequels to it – this time focusing on the church basement guys. Uff da. Church Basement Ladies – Rise Up O Men was a hoot.

Maybe it helps to be both Lutheran and Norwegian. Totally my kind of humor.

I know you're wondering how I could have time for such frivolity one night before Camp Crop-A-Lot. Well, I'm ready. When our friend Lisa texted hubby and me Tuesday night and said she needed a date to this, Jim passed and I jumped on it. So, I've kicked butt in the "getting ready" category and freed up my night.

Worth it.

Very fun Church Ladies Night Out. Like my hubby, Lisa is Catholic, but there were plenty of jokes for "those people who eat fish on Fridays." Saw several friends from my church, too. I'm pretty sure they'll agree it was pretty spot-on.

Just nice to get out, not think about any "to do" projects, just listen and laugh.

Now it's off to bed because my weekend starts NOW.

My Teenage Life and Hard Times

I accidentally opened Pandora's Box tonight. And I am still crying. Laughing hard crying.

This coming weekend at Camp Crop-A-Lot my high school bestie Julie will be joining me again. While I'm going to be working on my 2013 album, she's going to start her childhood and up scrapbook. To be helpful, I said, "Hey, let me check to see if I have any pictures of us or old newspaper clippings or anything you could use."

Oh, I do. When I went into the "archives" tonight, I found plenty. Makes me think I should do one, too! A few highlights – or lowlights when you think I've been holding onto this stuff (OK, hoarding) for 30+ years now.

I kept a lot of information on calendars. Sort of like my pre-blog, I guess. If you wanted to know top songs for the week, I usually found a spot for them!

And I definitely noted all the times we were grounded from TV. Yes, a month at a time. Notice my countdown on the week before the 14th. That is counting to when we could watch TV since the last time we were grounded. Then, less than 5 days later, we were grounded again! No, we were not bad kids. Just not good enough, I guess. Judging by my calculations, we're still grounded until June 7, 2021. (Side note: that says Read Poem, nor porn.)

I realized I did keep a journal of the summer trip my twin and I took with our parents to Canada. Basically up to Thunder Bay area and back. Notice, I was even a picky photographer then: "Well we finally made it to Canada. I'm so mad. Dad wouldn't let us stop to take a picture of the sign."

Bwaahaaa. My life and hard times, alright!

Did those things scar me for life? Maybe. Look at us. What are we, a Devo party? No, just wearing strainers on our heads on New Year's Eve. Judging by the clock, this was 2 minutes to midnight. Whooping it up! By the way, that's me on the left and my scraping partner Julie has the little pink funnel on her head. No judging.

You'll understand again why I was blessed there was no social media around for the first 30 years of my life!

I did find some copies of newspaper articles:

Plus copies of our graduation announcements, the program and, naturally, my speech!

Good gawd! And it's no wonder hubby said: "But neither one of you are hoarders, right?"

No. Not sure I understand the question.

Needless to say, we're going to have some fun this weekend. And productivity, of course.

Why Cats Hibernate

If I had a choice, I would definitely hibernate through winters like this one. I think Sylvester is in the same boat.

When I see the sad sack laying like this on Daddy's recliner, I just know she's thinking, "How much longer is this stinkin' winter going to last?"

At first I feel bad for her. Then I remember she's an indoor cat, she'll get over it. Plus, she's been stealing my chair when I haven't been looking! I have proof now.

I peeked over the back of my recliner and she's like "What? I just got here, I swear. I thought you were going to bed."

Next time I pass through the living room, some human has reclined my chair a bit for her, and she finds a comfy spot on the back. Defying gravity. Wow. Does your cat do tricks?

Not impressed, Miss Seat Stealer!

Wish all cats were friendly like Carter's over in Germany.

I think I previously shared who his student apartment building has adopted this stray cat. Somehow, a little bed and carpet showed up. Then food. Then a checklist of who has fed it and when. And now...

Upgraded accommodations! Check that out! And it's grateful! Yes, strange type of cat who actually enjoys humans, is nice, doesn't mind being petted by strangers... and doesn't steal seats.

Of course, she or he may also just be happy they are not having the same type of winter over in Germany as we're having in the Midwest. Could certainly explain why Carter's in a much better mood than we are these days. 55 degrees there the other day, he said.

Is it too late to hibernate? Please, may I? I'll even make room for the cat!

Unpopularity Contest

One four-letter word I remember from grade school is LICE. I can't remember which came first – did we have "lice checks" and someone would get sent home? Or did someone have it and that prompted a check fest for the rest of us? Either way, the lice kid was the most unpopular kid of the day.

Until weather forecasters.

If we don't have a Be Kind to Weather Forecasters Day, we probably should soon. Because...

See that little target I created in the middle of the 4-6 inches circle? It is supposed to serve as a reminder to not shoot the messenger. Aim your rage at Mother Nature instead. Or just complain about it.

Obviously, I do both – and they're equally ineffective.

There are at least three things I can think of that we can't change: The weather, the past, and people. For everything else – including lice – there are things we can do. Including being patient. Because...

Take that, you lice-infested groundhog!

A Be-Attitude Adjustment

Hot off the press... I'm actually sharing my column from the same day it appeared in our church bulletin. (Hint: this means it was a very low-key, boring day prepping for scrap camp!)

Be-Attitude Adjustment 

You know who’s crabby these days? Oh, anyone who’s had to shovel their driveway, dig out their car, drive on slippery roads, put up with “bored” kids home on a snow day. Basically, everyone who lives in Wisconsin could use an attitude adjustment (author included).

Thank goodness we have the beatitudes to remind us that even when things are bleak, there is hope. The poor will find riches, the hungry will be satiated, the brokenhearted will find reason to smile – even laugh.

The blessings and woes we read about in Luke today are sort of like the groundhog. In the frigid depths of winter, Punxsutawney Phil emerges and tells us we’ll have an early spring. (Full disclosure: He’s a rodent. He does not hold a meteorological degree!) Still, we realize that even though we’re suffering now, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. And we hope it’s bright enough to melt the snow.

This past week, my beatitudes went something like this:

• Blessed are the snowplow drivers, for they shall clear the path.
• Blessed are neighbors who help shovel, for they shall save my back.
• Blessed are emergency workers, for they shall be our life line.
• Blessed are the telecommuters, for we were safe and just fine. 
• Blessed are all who made it to their jobs, for they shall be paid well to serve.
• Blessed are the parents stuck at home, for they shall find their last nerve.
• Blessed are the children, for they shall play outside without a care.
• Blessed is our church family, for they shall be remembered in prayer.
• Blessed are the forecasters, for they shall change their tune.
• Blessed are friends in warm places, for they shall get a visitor soon!

I hope this has helped you adjust your attitude about winter! Even with snow, we can feel blessed with the warmth of family, friends, and good furnace. Stay safe!

Celebrating Lives

I've often heard it said that life isn't fair. You know what? Death isn't fair either.

Today I drove over to Minnesota to help celebrate the life of my cousin Dan (above). Someone who had been to Hell and back and was finally moving forward... then cancer. Stupid, unfair, devastatingly quick pancreatic cancer. He was only 55.

It's always interesting to realize we have so many circles of friends in our lives, based on age, schooling, sports, occupation, and geographic location. Plus our family on top of that. It was interesting today to hear stories of Dan from high school friends. That's the age I remember him best, too, because when you're young, you get together with cousins a lot because you go where you're parents go. And it was always fun visiting Viking fans , er family, in the Twin Cities.

So his friends remember this brainy and good-looking athlete – who really knew his WWII history. His current circle of friends spoke about this kind and generous man who was working hard to help others learn from his own mistakes and encourage them on their road to recovery. And in between those groups, we have family who have been through it all with him or not with him, but praying for him.

To a person, I could tell Dan touched their lives in some positive, memorable way. At the end of the day – or even at the end of a life – that is what matters. Do good. And be kind.

Special prayers for his mom – my aunt Barb who also had to say goodbye to her husband, Uncle Ray, just this past summer, for his lovely sisters and their families, and for his two grown boys, who have witnessed everything from heartache to hope then heartache again. Bless them all, Lord!

To end the day on a positive note, we had a get together to celebrate my Aunt Gwen's upcoming 90th birthday! Since Uncle Ray died last year, we are down to just three remaining siblings of my Dad. If you want to talk about celebrating life, Aunt Gwen definitely knows how to smile, laugh, and have a good time. A sweetheart!

Got to see Mom today, too. I don't know if I'll see her next month, so a shout and early happy 87th birthday to her, too!

You know who felt young? The twins! Suddenly 50 looks good on us. Ha.

It really was great to see my immediate family plus many cousins. It's always unfortunate when it's a funeral and not a wedding or reunion when we see each other. But still, a hug is a hug. And Hedbergs give darn good ones!

God bless you all!

Love Is...

You don't have to have a spouse or significant other to appreciate Valentine's Day. You just need love! To follow the lead of my favorite Valentine friends at Peanuts, love is:

• Three brown-eyed bandits who have the world's best dad.
• Getting a 1 a.m. "I love you" on Valentine's Day from someone 7 hours ahead of you.
• A funny card from hubby that shows he seriously loves you.
• Friendships that have lasted decades.
• A steaming pile of love from kitty – even after I fed her!
• Knowing she gave her favorite human a similar pile later.
• Hugs from friends.
• Special time with people you are proud of – and privileged to know.
• A date at the basketball game. (Unfortunately, the boys lost.)
• Girlfriend time in the bleachers.
• Welcoming babies to the world of our friends and family (cousins, not us).
• Giving a practical gift – slippers a.k.a. work shoes – and it's "just what he wanted."
• Having the most amazing family from siblings and in-laws to nieces and nephews.
• Being appreciated for your gifts and talents.
• A mint chocolate bar hidden at the bottom of the gift bag.
• A good book in hand with the electric mattress pad heating your back.

Sweet dreams! I hope you found some love today! Happy Valentine's Day!

The First Immaculate Reception

I got distracted by Mother Nature and forgot to share my column from this week's church bulletin. The fun about writing about any of the Gospels is the most of us know all the stories. We just don't always think about how they relate to our daily lives today.

The First Immaculate Reception 

Please tell me I wasn’t the only one who found the Super Bowl a bit on the boring side last Sunday. My main excitement was checking the scores at the end of each quarter to see if I was getting any returns on my, uhm, investments. (I did, by the way.)

Usually, my reprieve from a less-than-stellar game is the commercials. Everyone releases their really good ones for this incredibly large viewing audience. This year, though… meh. Nothing that great, if you ask me.

One commercial that did stand out? The one where more than 40 current and former NFL players appeared in the league's tackle-filled commercial, called “The 100-Year Game.” It culminated with, what else, one of the most famous plays in the history of American football – the Immaculate Reception. It even had former Steelers fullback Franco Harris in the scene to re-create that historic and controversial play. Pretty cool.

In today’s gospel reading, we read about a different kind of “catch.”

We find ourselves by the Lake of Gennesaret – a.k.a. the Sea of Galilee. Jesus sees some fishermen who have had an unsuccessful day of it. He urges them to cast their nets one more time. Despite skepticism, they do it. And soon find themselves knee deep in more fish than they know what to do with. They’re thrilled and, at the same time, probably pretty freaked out by what just occurred.

“Do not be afraid,” Jesus says to them, “from now on you will be catching people.”

Catching people? Yes, catching people. I remember a song we used to sing in Sunday School when I was a girl. “I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men, I will make you fishers of men – if you follow me…” (There were even some fun actions, too, that I can demonstrate when no one’s looking.)

And what made for a good catch? Oh, people like you and me. Not perfect, but humble enough to know we need God’s help, guidance, and love to get us through life. Willingness to open our hearts, let Him in, and share His good news.

Did Jesus and his team do an end-zone dance after every catch? Probably not. But I’m sure they were joyous and thankful. In God’s eyes, catching each one of us has been an Immaculate Reception. Praise the Lord for that!