Bunny Duty

Since Peter Rabbit is in the doghouse – thanks to the slap situation above – I had to step in as Easter Bunny around.

Which is the same as other years, but I forget how exhausting it is. Hippity hopping is not for the faint of heart.

I had to get stuff for the "big meal," too. So I ran to one store to get a ham – went on sale today so had to get one while they still had him. Get to the checkout. I definitely didn't get the one on sale anyway. Dumb bunny.

Did get a few goodies for the baskets and went to another store to get the rest. I also got a few ingredients for Easter dinner and realized when I got to the car that I had everything for the cheesy potatoes... except the potatoes. That was the other reason I had to go tonight. Those southern cut hashbrowns go in a flash around holiday time. Every holiday.

So I make my third trip inside a store. Whew. Tired yet? I am.

Got home and made up the baskets now so that's done. But it's 8 p.m. and I haven't sat down. So I'm gonna squeeze in two episodes of The Crown since hubby's at his last golf night!

Note to self: Next year be the Energizer Bunny instead of the Easter Bunny!

 

Cat Hair, Don't Care

Today was Sylvester's day to have wild hair. No wind needed!

She'll lay still and let her human cut off the knotted clumps – you know, after he's given her a nice scratchin' back massage! And yeah, she does have a lot of hair doesn't she?! 

There's more little knots these days. We think maybe because she's 80 in cat years, that she's slowing down a bit and not having the energy for personal hygiene. C'mon, you all know that one old person that seems to forget to shower.

Oh wait, that old person is me in my "working from home" environment!

Seriously though, as much as I tease about her being our Princess Pukes-A-Lot or Poops-A-Lot, I adore her and want her around just a bit longer. She seems fine in every other way so I guess we'll just brush her more and give hair cuts as needed (and by "we" I mean Jim).

And really, how can one really tell when a cat slows down? I mean then sleep 15-20 hours a day. What's the tipping point? 

I figure since I want a dog, our feline princess will be around a lotta years yet! The hair apparent to the throne.

Troll Hair, Don't Care

As we say in my country, "Uff da! It's windy out there today!"

It was. Here we looked forward to the warmest day of spring so far – and 40 mph winds out of the south accompanied the gorgeous temps. As I told my girlfriends, if you're flying north today, you'll make great time on your brooms!

I think the wind advisory will expire while we're sleeping. About the same time, my bed head hair will look like my wind hair today.

Wild hair. Looking like one of those troll dolls! And not in the cute way. I may start parting my hair on that side. I guess, depending on the wind, it can go either way.

Besides a new hairstyle, I did get some steps out of it. Had to take advantage since the mercury roller coaster is going to dip down and few days before it slowly treks up to that high point of 70 degrees on Sunday. Allegedly.

And while I do like warm and sunny and dry, I know this is posing a fire hazard, too. My nephew out in Rapid City, SD, had fires and evacuations in their corner of the world today. All present and accounted for, but be careful out there. 

And Smokey Bear says, "Don't do anything stupid."

 

Must Be a Full Moon

Nope, that is not an avocado or an egg. It's a little tree stump with some white stuff on there. What could it be ?

Bleepin' snow, of course. When it's a full moon, it's like Mother Nature is off her meds. And it isn't pretty.

Thankfully, even though it was crazy windy and only 36 degrees today, the sun was out so the snow all melted before, yes, the full moon rose. A big, super Palm Sunday moon!

Also pretty fitting to have a full moon during March Madness! Alabama just pushed their game into OT with last-second 3-pointer! Does this really matter for my busted bracket? No. But, unlike the unstable Mother Nature, this is the good kind of March Madness you don't want to miss.

G'night!

Avo-idance

When you see those online quizzes about what foods you don't like or at least don't eat, I'll confess I've listed avocados before. Without even giving them a chance.

In my defense, I worked at Taco Hell in college and my idea of avocados stems from that awful guac. So yes, I've avoided them ever since. Just assuming, I guess, that I wouldn't like them or, heaven forbid, guacamole.

Fast forward 30 years and I'm trying new meal plan of sorts that calls for avocados – more than once in the coming 7 days. So I add them to my already too healthy and un-Robyn-like grocery list. 

Did you know they're actually a fruit? Didn't see that one coming. I found them easily enough, but didn't even have the option of buying just one to test it out. It was either "all in" while I had them in my hand or go to another store – and lose my courage.

So here I am at 50+ buying my first avocados ever. And, after Googling what to do with them...

I sliced my first one, removed the pit, and tasted a little bit of my first one. Ever.  It wasn't bad. It wasn't good either. It was just.. nothing. So I mean I'll eat them with this plan. I'm guessing they will be good with the toast and other things recommended. Maybe some yummy flavor is lurking.

I can't see myself falling in love with them, but at least I've proven you're never too old to try something new. 

Beautiful Intro to the Weekend

Right where our house is situated, it's hard to see sunrises (wouldn't necessarily be awake anyway) and sunsets. We've got trees to the east and trees plus houses to the west. So it's always a treat when I'm not at home and can see them!

Tonight was no exception. I had a DQ emergency and I timed it perfectly to see this gorgeous sunset. Yes I was driving and that's why I have one blurry shot to choose from. Still, you can see it was purdy pretty!

Between that and the 4-mile walk around the lake and the Thin Mint Blizzard, I closed out Friday and am ready for the weekend. 

And the most beautiful thing besides the sunset? No one. Single. Thing. On my agenda. Nothing. Zip. Zilch.

Check back tomorrow if I said, "Hello, spring cleaning" or "Hello, Netflix." I took a poll tonight and I NEED to watch both The Crown and Downton Abbey. So I'm halfway through season one of The Crown and will have all 6 seasons of Downton to watch. Then there's March Madness basketball and golf, too, this weekend.

Let's just pretend I had good intentions to clean. 

Have a good weekend!

Uno Dose

It was a big day for hubby and me. Not only have we survived 385 days in wedded lockdown (sort of), it was also Day 1 of fighting. Not each other, but fighting back against this pandemic. We celebrated with a date at the drive-in.

More like a drive-thru.

Here we are waiting at the airport to drive in...

When it was our turn, we got to drive into the magical building of sharp needles on a mission!

Honestly, I didn't even feel the shot. We got the Moderna vaccine and will get the second shot in 4 weeks.

We're pretty excited to the first dose out of the way. That's one step closer to possible normalcy. And one step closer way sooner than we imagined.

And we're not special. We're just two people in the 18-64 age group who got called up, so to speak. Now granted, we were on this specific list because they were allowing us through the school since we've got a coach and full-time volunteer in the house.

But we had signed up online through one of local pharmacies (Hometown Pharmacy) and our county health department. Last week, we got calls from both that our names were next on the list. So we would've had them by today anyway.

So my PSA (pandemic service announcement) for the day is GET YOURSELF SIGNED UP SOMEWHERE! Seriously, when they have extra doses, they don't want them to go to waste. They'll call whoever's next and you just need to be ready to go!

The sooner we all do this, the better, in my opinion. Plus you can sign up both you and your soul mate and make a date out of it. So far – knock on wood – a painless one with no regrets!

Boom Box

No clever squirrel or chicken stories on this rainy, windy day. Just want to thank the fighter jets in training for the three sonic booms today. That kept me awake during work hours. You did your job so I could do mine.

Then hubby went to baseball practice and golf league (indoors again) and I went to a scaled-down version of Girls' Night Out. Nothing sonic-boom worthy. 

There's always tomorrow! 

Neighborhood CSI (Chicken Scene Investigation)

Why do we care why chickens cross the road? What about their business – or potential business – concerns us? 

As regular folk, it's none of our business. As farm folk, they care. Especially if they're providing eggs for family and friends and neighbors.

We've got chickens – and cows and everything – right around the corner from us. Here's a few of them last week, not running away as I say "hello" ... until they heard the '80s music on my phone. Whatever. Birds of a different feather.

Today when I was finishing my lunchtime walk, I thought I was seeing the last of snow in a yard across the road from the farm. As I got closer, I saw it was a dead body. Why oh why did you cross the road?!

I ran across the road (no one questioned my motives) and got the farm lady. She came back with me and and the gruesome scene didn't even ruffle her feathers. She lifted up the carcass to carry home. It was almost flat like a cartoon. Weird. 

There wasn't any blood so we ruled out fowl play, er an animal attack. There were some feathers but we didn't see a sign of a struggle. Early clues lead us to believe the chicken was crossing the road – for unknown reasons – and likely got hit by a passing vehicle and was flung 6 feet into the yard. 

If that's the case, now the Neighborhood CSI (Chicken Scene Investigation team) has a hit-and-run on our hands.

Meanwhile, when I took a short walk after work, I think I smelled fried chicken at the farm. Hmm... Motive?

(Thanks for reading through to the end. We adore our neighbor and feel bad for her and her loss. And no, I did not smell fried chicken. It was raining so I didn't even go for a walk after work. And now I don't dare.)

Blind Squirrel

The saying goes that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile. This applies to my rare good golf shots and the occasional great action shot with my camera.

It does not apply to my blind attempts to capture an image of a squirrel.

While walking around the lake after work, I saw a big fat squirrel hauling a big leafy branch. I thought hey, that would be a cute picture. He's big and the branch is big. So I grab my phone out of my pocket and try to get the camera on – still not a pro with this after a week and 2 days with my new smartphone. By that time I was shooting blindly up the tree and did manage to get a picture of him in his nest.

After he plopped in there and out of sight.

So there's my non-wildlife picture of the day. I will say I learned something though. I always assumed nests like that were for birds. I didn't know squirrels build nests. I guess I've watched too many cartoons and they all live in a hole in the tree.

That's something I'm probably not going to investigate any further. 

Guess I'll have to practice using my camera while I watch The Voice tonight.

Oh hi, Nick Jonas! I'll be seeing you a few minutes! 

Circle of Pandemic Life

For some of us, it turns out the circle in the Circle of Life during a pandemic is actually what shape our bodies become. The Quarantine 15 is a real thing. And I've got it.

Since this fun began a year ago, our church has been closed for worship. Instead we've had our services online through Facebook Live and YouTube or on TV through public access. The only one's present at services are the pastor, her husband, the organist, any guest singers, the reader, and the sound booth people. Today I was the reader so I got to go in person.

It was nice to be back! 

The first struggle after having to set an alarm was finding finding something "grown-up" to wear. I think I've only had to wear "real life" clothes a handful times in the 381 days I've been home-ish. All I can tell you is something is wrong with my closet. It shrunk my clothes!

I squeezed into something and found out later that I was on-camera after all, just the scripture words were on screen with my voice.

Next time I won't waste my time curling my hair. Ha. But I did realize with my tight clothes and my double chin that this would be my last post-church latte treat for a while. 

I took a walk around the lake to get some steps in (while hubby golfed outside actually). Still am going to have to figure out something to prevent this Quarantine 15 from sliding up to 20 or worse! Any ideas? Please don't tell me it's something hard like eating right and exercising!

Hello, Spring

The official first day of spring according to the calendar – and it actually felt like it for once! Sunny and breezy, but look at that temperature!

The snow is finally gone from our yard so what to my wondering eyes should appear but... some recipes my neighbor Cindy had put in our mailbox in January. On a windy and snowy day in January. By the time I got out to the mailbox that day, they'd blown out from the newspaper box area and were buried in snow. Somewhere.

I now have recipes for instant chai tea and crockpot lasagna soup. Pretty sure I can make those in any season, right?

Today was also the last day to do the virtual Point Bock Run. It usually falls the first weekend of March. This year they had to do it virtually and we had three weeks to get our times in. So Cindy and I walked around the lake plus another mile to do the 5-mile "event." Had someone along the route take our picture since we already got the shirts a few weeks ago! It was a gorgeous day for a long walk! 

We also let some fresh air into the house. And since it was so nice out, hubby and I had brats on the grill for supper. Just tastes like summer! 

Of course, I closed off the first day of spring with the most winter-like thing possible: ice skating.

Not me. Just a dozen or so young ladies I know in the 2021 Ice Show by the Wisconsin Rapids Figure Skating Club. Brooke (pictured) invited me and of course there were several other Assumption students, plus two young ladies from my church. Lots of talent, that's for sure.

I'll confess it's much more difficult to shoot than hockey. More like the challenges of a dance recital. Low lights, spotlights, and several people performing at once, all over the place. I'm pretty sure I'll be disappointed in most of my pictures, but if I get a few decent ones of each of those kids, I'll consider it a victory.

And say goodbye to winter once and for all. 

March On, Bucky

I stink at March Madness. I mean the part where you pick all the winners in a completely legal bracket. This year, especially. With quarantines here and there and inconsistent game schedules, I just blew it (college hoops season) off this year, maybe watching the Badgers twice.

Still, when it comes to filling my bracket, I'm going to pick them to at least win Round 1. More of a hope and heart move than a knowledgeable one. 

But this time I was right. Yay, Wisconsin!

Missed several other game choices already, but keep marching on, Bucky. If you are going to get hot, now's the time. Can't wait for game #2 on Sunday against No.1 seed Baylor!

I don't foresee any other game capturing my time and attention this weekend – especially since it's supposed to be sunny and around 60 degrees. 

Goodbye winter, hello spring and all its madness!

Secret Reflections

As a self-proclaimed photographer, I've learned over time to not only look through the view finder at the focal point of your photo, but the details surrounding it. 

Don't have a person stand where it might look like the post in the background is coming out of their head. Use your flash if you're taking a photo of someone be a sunset – otherwise the back-lighting will leave their front side in shadows. And so on and so on.

When taking a quick picture out the living room window of the sunset last night, I didn't realize my phone was also picking up the window's reflection of the living room. Thank goodness I was watching something "decent."

Yup, you're eyes aren't playing tricks on you. I was hanging out with Winston Churchill, lighting stogies. Or at least John Lithgow playing WC in the series The Crown. Now you know what I decided to binge next on Netflix. And yes, I realize I am 4 years late, coming to the party. What terrible etiquette!

I really enjoyed the movie The King's Speech. It's like this series picks up where that left off. And I'm liking it! Since this is my "down time" on my social calendar, I figure I can get through all 4 seasons before spring sports starts – with none other than the Royals. 

Just slap me up if I start asking you to bow and kiss my ring or my camera lens. Thank you, loyal subjects... er, readers.

The Luck of the Non-Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My hubby is about an eighth Irish, I believe. So that counts! As a 100 percent Scandi-hoovian and zero percent Irish, my only luck is that I'm from Luck. 

How do you find Luck on St. Patrick's Day? You might need GoogleMaps, but it's there. Think northwest Wisconsin. Nope, not Eau Claire area. Keep going!

The town, er village, was so big we have two water towers. Actually the one up top is the newer one, but this one is still standing on the north end of Main Street. (As of Sunday anyway, when we drove by.)

Our high school yearbook was the Horseshoe. Our newspaper was the Cloverleaf. And our mascot was... not a leprechaun. Definitely not a leprechaun. Too many Scandi-hoovians in the area! They went with the bland cardinal for a mascot. At least it's red and pretty.

Hopefully, it's Luck-y too!

Of course, in true Irish poser fashion, I celebrated wearing green today (and I do have green eyes), wore shamrock sunglasses during work Zoom meetings, and sucked down a Shamrock Shake after work! Now Jim is gone to indoor golf league and this little leprechaun from Luck might just start watching a new series on Netflix.

Who's lucky now?

Perfect Timing

Timing is everything when it comes having a good vacation. Four years ago this week, Carter and I enjoyed a sunny and sunburn-worthy vacation in Arizona with my oldest sister Rayna and her husband Paul.

The highlight, of course, was seeing the Grand Canyon. And thanks to a perfectly sunny and clear day, we could see a lot of it. For miles and miles, it seems.

Fast forward 4 years and my sister Renell is out there visiting. They had quite a different view today.

I didn't realize it was ever not sunny and warm. I mean it looks like a sandy desert – in a bowl. 

Still gorgeous, of course. And when they head back to Phoenix, they'll have the sunburn-worthy weather. While we hope it gets up to the 40s so the snow we woke up to today is gone by tomorrow or Thursday.

I guess my sister's timing is pretty good after all. Have fun!

Daylight Snoozing Time

It's just an hour. A measly 60 minutes. Why is it so difficult to adjust to each and every year? I just want to trick it somehow.

But nope. The Monday after we spring forward always looks like this. There is not enough caffeine to get me through the day. 

It didn't help that I overslept. I had upgraded my smart phone on Friday and apparently haven't figured out the snooze yet. Instead, I shut my alarm off and promptly fell back to sleep. Woke up at 7:37 a.m. and I had a on-camera Zoom meeting at 8 a.m. I'm guessing I looked like someone who battled Daylight Saving Time and lost.

Heading to bed early tonight so I can go another round with it tomorrow! Put up your dukes!

Daylight Family Time Begins

With the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, the geese are flying north and so is this Robyn to see her momma. Hubby and I did the 400-mile round trip to see my mom for the first time since Labor Day weekend.

She's had both vaccination shots and could accept company in her home. (That's her bird light above.) We were all masked up, but dang, nothing replaces a personal hug with your mom!! We took her to lunch and my sister Renell joined us. Then is was back to Mom's apartment.

I brought a Mom-sized trifle as a pre-birthday treat – she'll be 89 next week – but of course Mom had baked a homemade carrot cake so that won out for dessert!

Still, my little pistachio trifle survived the 4-hour trip intact, so I was grateful for that!

Mom enjoyed her gift of a "recliner blanket" I made her. You see why I had to include purple? She loves purple. Not the Vikings, just regular purple. And she looks good in it!

My twin sister and her husband stopped by, too, so I got to see two R sisters (Carter's godmothers) besides the almost-birthday girl. Very nice visit. Hoping I can return around Mother's Day time and see the whole R gang!

We swung by to say hello to Dad at the Laketown cemetery. I thanked him for watching over all of us and keeping us safe. I know he heard me because we saw an eagle not 5 minutes later. That's always my sign with Dad.

Got home around 8:30 p.m. Am happy report it was still somewhat daylight at 7:30 p.m. Not sure how I'll adjust to all this when a real day (aka Awake early and work 8 hours) comes tomorrow. 

At least I had my daylight family time that I'll be saving in my memory bank!

Keep Springing Forward

Despite the digital age we live in, I wanted a hold-in-my-hands book about Alaska to help preparation for my trip with my sister Renell in 93 days, 11 hours, 8 minutes and 27 seconds. Well 25 seconds, 20.... OK, you get the picture.

So I was pretty excited at the efficient of this book about the specific area of Alaska we'll be bee-bopping around: Anchorage, Denali, and Seward and Homer in the Kenai Peninsula. I forced it to sit on my cupboard so I could work yesterday (and play) and get stuff done today like housework and shopping and walking.

I even saw a glacier at the lake! Ice is breaking up! The big spring meltdown! I think we came close to 60 degrees today so at least a third of Lake Wazeecha was open water. On the west end, though, the Wazeecha Glacier is slowly breaking up.

Was so nice out, in fact, I didn't get around to looking at that book yet. So I'm going to set the clocks forward an hour now and start my "bedtime reading." 

Then I'll be 93 days, 10 hours, 8 minutes and 27 seconds away from our trip! Keep springing forward!

Awesome Sauce

When you have a hobby you enjoy and it makes other people happy, too, everybody wins! 

There was a small gathering this evening to honor the girls 8th-grade basketball team who, if I have this correct, haven't lost a league game since they started together in 3rd grade. Pretty commendable! I've been able to shoot pictures of them the last few years and cannot wait to see them take the court in high school next fall! 

In the meantime, we celebrated their accomplishment and gifted each with a poster I created. I was just expecting to be part of the free food and drink, but the appreciative moms got me this amazing mug (above) and some special treats. That's awesome! They're awesome. I was feeling the love.  

Here's the posters for your viewing pleasure. Ha. If you can't read the quote, it says: If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you.  ~ Les Brown

Go, young Lady Royals! You're AWESOME!