New Year's Eve :: 2022 in Pictures

I saw a neat idea today to share "A Year in Review" through pictures – basically one picture from each month that represents that month. Here goes...

January :: We saw our first death in our immediate family when my brother-in-law Paul died. He had been battling heart issues and other health problems at the end of 2021 and just couldn't go on. He was the sweetest. We had many adventures over the years and we all miss him!

February :: Jim and I joined a group of about 20 friends and went down to Milwaukee for the weekend to see a up-and-coming country artist named Cody Johnson. Later in the year he won an award for best country video so I guess we were onto something. Mainly, it represents a year of getting to some live music and entertainment from Marshall Tucker Band and The Who to The River Dance, Pentatonix, and Book of Mormon.

March :: My mom went out to Phoenix to stay with Rayna after Paul's funeral. I had the privilege of going out there to spend a little time and be mom's much-needed travel companion on the flight back. Later in the month, we celebrated Mom's 90th birthday. She's doing pretty amazing.

April :: After 2 years of successfully dodging the 'rona, the virus caught up with me in late April. While it was a mild case, it still forced me (well, us) to miss two weddings of our friends' children. Darn COVID. I had the bouts of tiredness for a few weeks after, but otherwise it wasn't terrible. We're all caught up on all shots and boosters for that.

May :: Rising inflation was most evident in gas prices but we quickly noticed it in groceries and everything else. Thankfully, gas didn't reach $5 a gallon here. But it's still been quite a few years since we've seen it this high. Yikes.

June :: After 823 days of working at home, we returned to the office in June. We have a permanent hybrid schedule of working at home Mondays and Fridays and in the office Tuesday through Thursday. The exciting part, besides seeing coworkers I missed, was the return to golf league at SentryWorld. Jim golfed in a league in town so we both definitely got a lot of swings in this summer!

July :: We celebrated 20 years of wedded bliss and later in July, Casey and his fiancee Emily visited from Portland so we could see their wedding venue (and take in a Twins game). They'll be married this September over by the Durand-Lake Pepin neck of the woods in Wisconsin. Exciting!

August :: The month was basically booked with senior photo sessions. I got spoiled and got to sit behind the wheel of some awesome cars – including this Mustang and a replica of the General Lee.

September :: Nothing can really top seeing a president in person. For work, I attended a marketing conference in Boston and heard some amazing speakers, including Jane Goodall and Viola Davis in addition to Barack Obama. Pretty amazing!

October :: Per usual, one of the highlights of autumn is my sister weekend – this time up by the Spooner area. We can't take for granted how blessed we are that all 7 of us can take the time off – and actually want to spend it with family!

November :: In a word, the month was heart-breaking. First dealing with the sudden death of my long-time friend Cindy, then the next week losing my Aunt Gwen, then the following week losing Jim's mom the week of Thanksgiving. It made for some quiet holidays. But we have been so blessed beyond measure with the support of friends and family.

December :: Yes, we've had a ton of ice and snow already. But this picture also represents how helpful our neighbors (and many others) have been while Jim recovers from his two knee surgeries. He had the left one replaced in October and the right one in December.

He's doing well and we were both able to celebrate New Year's Eve singing in the guitar choir at Rudolph church and sing (and eat and laugh and whatever) with the guys for a few hours afterward, too. It was the type of fun, uplifting evening we needed! 

Here's to a year of many more blessings than tears in 2023. Happy New Year!

TGIF (Tree's Gone in Fifteen) Minutes

I'm one of those people who loves Christmas and normally hangs onto it as long as I can – usually waiting at least until the weekend after New Year's to take down the tree and any other decorations. But since I'm leaving town in a few days, I figured I better do it now instead of January 21st – the next weekend I'm home.

It was a quick process. Always is faster taking stuff down since I don't have to worry about the artful placement of ornaments that make them look random, yet balanced.

Got the house back to pre-holiday status in 15 minutes. Maybe a little longer. But kitty comes out from her nap and gives that "Where's my tree?" look. Sorry, Princess, your chair – yes, it's only hers – is back in that corner now. 

It's definitely not my style to push the season aside this early. I did watch two Christmas movies today to ensure I still had the spirit even if my halls were un-decked. 

I also created a pile of clothes waiting for placement in a suitcase. I figure I'll look at them again on Sunday to see if I can't downsize that failed attempt to not overpack. But then again, summery clothes are smaller and lighter, so maybe they will fit. I'll wait a few days to bring up the suitcase and see. Hubby doesn't want our green-eyed princess to get anxiety that he might be the one leaving. Trust me, it's a real thing.

And he could go somewhere, too. Today he did a little test drive and went to physical therapy all by himself. The right (newer) knee is coming along nicely. He even got down the basement stairs and back up without issue. A slow process, but that's great news. He'll have no problem getting kitty food and water (and removing litter box gifts) while I'm gone.

Everybody wins.

I mean it's not a competition, but I'll probably have a better January. Let's get through December first.

Enjoy your last Friday and Saturday of 2022. Be careful out there!

Winter Break = Break in Winter

Did you notice the colors of spring today? The lower left side of my dash shows the noontime temperature of 43 degrees. The other clue that it was more springy than winter is the colorful soap in the car wash.

And the long line to get in there in the first place. My car was crying salty tears – very salty – so it was worth the wait.

And yes, even though it got up to 46 degrees, we have to remember winter is still another good 3-5 months. As someone said today: "Look at this weather being all springy and cute like it didn’t just try to kill us last week."

Right? At least it takes us out of 2022 on a high note.

That and vacation. 

I had today off but did work in the office yesterday. Ended up being a late night since I went to two high school basketball games at UWSP for the Sentry Classic. Assumption lost a barn-burner in OT. Fun and nerve-wracking to watch and take pictures. I didn't even get to those pictures until this morning since I was up late editing photos from the Rapids girls game that I went to earlier in the day. So I didn't take time to blog. 

Not that I have anything interesting to report beyond the weather.

Hubby got a ride and ventured out to choir practice tonight so I finally got the living room AND the remote AND the Christmas tree to myself long enough to watch a holiday movie. Not that I've been short-changed in that department. I've watched my share in the basement. But there's something about looking at the tree at the same time as I'm soaking in the corny plot line that add to the atmosphere.

It was also a good reminder that even though we had a break from winter today, it's just hiding out in that thick fog somewhere. It'll be back so we might as well keep enjoying the Hallmark season, I mean Christmas season, while we can.

Be careful out there!

Goodwill to Women

Move over, 12 days of Christmas. I've got 12 days to pack! When I realized today we can almost check the 10-day forecast for our cruise, it was time to find my swimsuit.

That's never any fun any time of the year, but I'm sure there'll be quite a variety of bodies on this ship. My oldest R sister and travel partner suggested I bring 2 suits so I don't have to put a wet suit on if it doesn't dry between dips in the on-board pool and in the turquoise waters of Aruba or the waterfalls of St. Lucia or... you get the picture. Putting my itinerary in one document today definitely got me in the mood!

I only one found one suit so I ordered one online, which is always a gamble, but I can suffer through a wet suit if the new one is not built for my version of a beach body.

In the meantime, though, I did fill up 4 bags for Goodwill. This time Goodwill toward the women's section. Oh there's plenty more where that came from, but like I said yesterday, I gotta space out all my vacation fun. The trips to the recycling center (where the line indicated it must be a national holiday to recycle Christmas gift boxes) and Goodwill were enough for one day.

Tomorrow I do actually have to go to the office to get a few things done. It should be OK to leave hubby unsupervised. And the weather will be decent so he should be fine.

Speaking of weather... the 10-day forecast is mostly lows of 70s and highs in the low to mid-80s. Where I'm going anyway. 

In my mind, Christmas is way over and we R ready to cruise!

Goodwill to a Few Anyway

I let the spirit of Christmas carry through today since it was our "Christmas observed" day off. I specifically focused on the "Peace on Earth, goodwill..." part.

In other words, I tackled the basement for a while and hauled 4 boxes of the kids' clothes to Goodwill. Don't worry, they set them aside awhile ago as clothes to either sell or donate. I decided today I don't need them gathering dust until garage-sale season so I let them go. 

If you know me, you know it's a big deal for me to let go. And not think "Ooh this is worth XYZ" or "I could sell that and get something good for it." 

Nope. Not today, my peace on Earth was decluttering and spreading it to Goodwill.

My other big accomplishment was breaking down a ton of boxes. A ton of "I should save this – this is a good box" boxes. Am I the only one?

I must pile them up all year thinking I can use them to wrap presents at Christmas. Since 90% of our gift-giving was cash or direct-shipped, I didn't need the boxes anyway. Since I did the Goodwill run today, I'll do the recycling center run tomorrow. Gotta space things out. I can't have all my vacation fun on the first day.

Hope you're enjoying some peace in your corner of the Earth, too!

Merry Christmas!

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas! Thought I'd share our Christmas card since we didn't send a card to every person we know – but quite a few.

And the back side, which you probably can't read so here is the text:

Happy Holidays! It was a fast but full year. Highlights included Jim golfing a ton this summer before having both knees replaced this fall. Robyn got lots of swings in, too, and returned to the office in June after working from home since March 2020. Our live music fun ranged from Cody Johnson to the Marshall Tucker Band (front photo) and The Who! The photo above is when Jim took all 3 boys to see them in Portland in October. Fun guys trip for them! Casey and his fiancee Emily came home from Portland in July. (Front photo is from their visit.) Counting down to their wedding next fall! Clay and Becca live in Wisconsin Rapids and are busy with their jobs, 4 cats, and perfecting new creations on their smoker. Carter and Mamie are pictured in front of the Rockies. Since he got his first REAL job and works remotely, they lived in Denver for 6 months. Why not? 

We did have some sadness this year that included losing a brother-in-law, a dear friend, and Jim's mom right before Thanksgiving. But we're still counting our blessings and hoping you'll receive many this holiday season and the new year!

Hopefully you all had a joyous Christmas today! It was pretty low-key here. I thought I was being the sneaky one playing Santa, but Santa found my hiding place and put something in my stocking too! I was excited to give Jim a few Celtics items I picked up for him when I was out in Boston in September. And he got me a very nice gift card to use at my favorite golf course, SentryWorld. 

And we got a few other nice gifts from family, including this ornament from our nephew's family. Love it!

This afternoon we went into town to visit his dad for awhile and try to spread holiday cheer. Then we pretty much lazed around watching Christmas movies – John Wayne for him and definitely not that for me. Ha. It was peaceful, though.

May the feelings of peace and love and joy continue through the week as we wrap up 2022. Tomorrow is my "Christmas observed" holiday so I'll have to repeat this relaxation vibe another day. Hope you can, too!

Merry Christmas!

Silent Night

After closing our Christmas Eve service with Silent Night, I realized yes, it was going to be a pretty silent night on Blue Jay Drive. 

I went to 1 p.m. church since choir was singing and then went home to watch the end of the Vikings game – SKOL! – and get the Christmas Beast dinner going.

Yes, Santa confirmed that the victory on a 61-yard field goal means I am on the Nice List this year. Well, I mean someone in our house is. Maybe both? Either way, SKOL to a 12-3 record! Wow.

Clay and Becca came over for dinner at 5 p.m. The thing about Christmas dinner is that even though it was just 4 of us, you still prep it like you would for 8 or 12. Right? I did ham, cheesy potatoes and Jim's mom's famous dressing recipe. Got it right this time!

It was a nice quiet evening and by default, Clay and Becca got all the stockings and presents, ha!

Jim got all 3 boys the official poster from The Who concert they went to in Portland. We framed them and they're pretty cool. Only Clay got to open his, of course. Carter will have to wait. And I have to ship Casey's yet. Pretty awesome remembrance.

Don't you love that Clay's socks match Becca's hat? Perfect match, those two!

Even got Jim to stand by the tree. He got around a bit today without any assistance of a walker or cane. Thanks for the new knees, Santa!

Speaking of Santa... I tried to leave him Candy Cane ice cream in a special Rudolph cup but this Sly elf wasn't about to share! We'll see if he visits. If not, we know who to blame.

Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas weekend surrounded by your loved ones. It's tough having empty chairs for the ones who are far away right now. (My heart was filled with joy when Carter called me this afternoon from Alabama, where they're with his girlfriend's family).

It's tougher still having an empty chair that won't ever be filled again. We sure miss Jim's mom and I know so many of you are missing someone this holiday season. Just know I heard a lot of angels singing today so they're definitely nearby. And always in our hearts.

Have a blessed Christmas!

Christmas Eve Eve and Festivus Double Feature

'Twas two nights before Christmas and all through the land... it was cold, windy, white, and I was dreaming of beach sand.

OK, seriously, it's pretty – but pretty wicked out. In central Wisconsin, we got just a little snow yesterday and then it was sunny and windy and well below zero today, but I'm not sure why they're still calling it a winter storm here. Other places yes, but we're OK here.

Unless you don't have a brand-spanking-new furnace or you have a job where you have to work outside or you are snowed in because of drifting. Knock on wood, all good here. Only had to leave the house for therapy today – Jim's physical therapy and my massage therapy. Merry Christmas Eve Eve and Happy Festivus to me!

Otherwise home bound today since we both had the day off. Got some cleaning done, some Hallmarking done, and holiday treat-eating done, too. Here comes the Festive Five again. 

It was the year of friends dropping off plates of goodies. We're enjoying a taste of the season as we celebrate all these television-inspired fake holidays leading up to the real one. Based on the volume of calories and sprinkles still sitting on the kitchen counter, we may need to invent a few of our own next week, too. Yum!

Not like we're going to go outside and get exercise. Oh no, no, no. I mean I did go out to the mailbox and back in record time today. Tell me again why we live somewhere where the weather hurts our face.

Be careful out there and enjoy your Festivus and Christmas Eve Eve celebrations!

World's Tallest Elves

In round one of our Christmas winter storm, we got about 3-4 inches of snow in our neighborhood. I worked from home anyway since schools were closed and I figured roads would be crappy – and I had the afternoon off.

I heard some noise mid-morning it was Santa's tall elves snowblowing our driveway! Teamwork! Thanks Mike and Mike. You're definitely on the Nice List!

I did venture out to get some last-minute things that took me hours to get, thanks to a bazillion people doing the same. Uff da. I can't even imagine what tomorrow will be like. If you're going to shop on Friday, keep this in mind...

I was glad I didn't have much gift shopping to do this year. Most were shipped or delivered electronically. And since hubby rested in the recliner most of the afternoon, I was able to wrap his gifts at the kitchen table and he was none the wiser. 

So I'm all set to enjoy all of tomorrow off for what is supposed to be the windy-blowing-drifting snow part of the winter storm action. I've heard wicked things about temps and windchills from friends and family in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Y'all don't have to send it this way every stinkin' time! 

Saying prayers we'll all be safe and get where we need to to celebrate Christmas this weekend. 

I realize not everyone is blessed to have the world's tallest elves living in their North Pole neighborhoods, so be careful out there!

And So It Begins

I'm not going to say "Happy First Day of Winter" or "Happy Winter Solstice." When you wake up to sub-zero temperatures, there's not a lot to be happy about. Unless...

You caught your 33-year-old furnace dying a slow death before it reached its end of life moment. A good thing hubby's been mostly homebound for 2 months. He could tell the old thing was making a racket. When Santa's elf came to look at it Monday, we were fortunate he had a new one in stock at his workshop.

Jim told him: "This is great because my wife and I couldn't figure out what to get each other for Christmas this year." 

Merry Christmas to us! 

We're grateful to have a new, far more efficient unit heating the house especially when we are heading into the holy polar vortex holiday weekend!

This was my morning commute temperature. I had to take a screen shot because who puts subzero temps and tents together? Not my first thought today at all.

Especially when a winter storm is set to arrive tonight. Yup, schools are closed tomorrow already.

The snow will be followed by high winds that will impact visibility on Friday and plunge us into this Arctic windchill blast for Christmas.

Maybe our old clunker of heat would have survived til the new year. So glad Santa came early. Apparently, we've been really good this year. Or he felt sorry for us.

Does it matter? Nope. Gratitude  – and a new furnace – go a long way toward surviving winter.

Be careful out there!

Trifle Tuesday :: Candy Cane Kiss Bliss

With family and work holiday parties in full swing, it's not too late to play the potluck hero. This is how I cobbled together some Candy Cane Kiss Trifle Bliss for today's team Secret Santa exchange party. 

Bottom layer is what I'll call chocolate peppermint cake:

• Mix 2 cups milk and 1 tsp. peppermint extract with white chocolate pudding mix
• Fold in a chocolate cake mix (dry) and stir about 50 times.
• Place in bottom of greased 9 x 13 pan.
• Layer one bag of peppermint chips on top.
• Bake at 350 about 20-25 minutes.

Next layer is white chocolate pudding colored red with food coloring.

Next layer is crushed peppermint bark. I had a devil of a time breaking it apart with my rolling pin. Ended up pounding it quite a bit with the end of the roller! Might opt for something different next time. Not sure what.

Added a thin layer of Cool Whip then repeated.

Top is garnished with Hershey's Candy Cane kisses. I also used my cheese grater to grate a kiss to add pretty peppermint shavings on top. You know me, putz, putz, putz!

It was soooo yummy. I could have eaten the whole bowl full. A sure crowd pleaser this season so go for it! Good luck and happy holi-graze!

Side note: If you're local, the only store I found white chocolate pudding at was Baker St. IGA (none at Pick and Save or Walmart, just FYI).

Many Angels Among Us

We continue to be blessed with friends and family who are reaching out to comfort us after Jim's mom's passing – and comfort Jim after his knee surgeries. Some friends dropped off this beautiful cardinal ornament on Sunday with the encouraging message below...

If you can't read it, it's basically reminding us that cardinals often serve as spiritual messengers – usually sent by our loved ones in Heaven to watch over us. Cardinals seem to have a deep connection with lost souls. People have often reported that after the death of their loved ones, they begin to see cardinals frequently. Seeing a cardinal for the first time or more frequently than usual can be an indication from your loved one that they will always feel your love and will be near you.

Since we see cardinals in our neighborhood but they don't stay at our house long – we don't have a feeder – it's nice to have this pretty ornament close by this season.

Jim's dad stopped out for a visit today. Since Jim can't get to him until he recovers further, then my father-in-law came to us. We showed him the cardinal and he said continues to receive cards or calls or messages of support. 

This is going to be such a tough Christmas!! If you pray for anyone in our family, pray for him. All the cardinals in the world won't bring back his wife of 60 years. But I'm hoping our endless hugs, prayers, and occasional plate of cookies will help. 

Sending out special hugs to those missing someone for the first time this holiday season. Remember, if you do see a red cardinal, it should also serve as a reminder to embrace the new beginnings ahead and have faith that they will comfort your soul. In the meantime, give and take as many hugs as you can from the friends, family, and angels among us.

Bless you!

Can't Win Everything

I thought after yesterday's luck with the Vikings' win, I'd get lucky everywhere. Not so. In essence, I was one corner short of a 4-corner BINGO. All day.

Since it was only 15 degrees out, my friend Cindy and I opted for BINGO at Assumption instead of snowshoeing. Just 5 more degrees, and I think we would've gone for it. Instead, we made our $20 investment last hours longer than it would have at some silly old casino.

Did we win? No. Were we close? Oh yeah. Lots of times. But close doe$n't count, ya know.

In the end, she should've gotten coverall BING but got distracted for a minute and missed a number.

Meanwhile I was 2 dobber spots away. But I bet so was everyone else! Still, it was a fun afternoon inside!

Hubby can't quite leave the house yet other than PT, so he stayed home and watched football games I no longer care about since my pathetic fantasy football team did not make the playoffs. His didn't either. Both Jim and I will not be keeping custody of our traveling trophies or champion titles from last year. Don't know where our minds have been!

So I guess we just take the wins where we get 'em. And apparently, that's NOT during Sunday BINGO! 

Let's try to have a good week anyway.

Almost Missed That One

This 100% sums up today's Vikings game. And the jaded fans in this house almost missed the historic moment.

Oh yes, it was on TV.  But when we trailed by an embarrassing 33-0 at halftime, hubby changed the channel to golf and I finished editing posting my JV basketball pictures from last night. Even my sister in Arizona texted me asking what was up and I said between the interceptions, fumble, penalties, and more, it was a Christmas stocking full of purple missteps. I might have thought a stronger word, believe me.

When I was done editing pictures, I checked the score on my phone and not only had we missed the 3rd quarter, but we missed some Viking scoring.

I went out to the living room and said, "Honey, we're trying to make a game of it." No response. So I said, "What channel is this on so I can watch in the basement?" He told me the channel and then added, "Sucker!"

I know, right? We are lifelong Vikings fans so we do have a long jaded history behind us. So many "so close" moments that weren't close enough.

But still, I didn't want to miss out in case, as I texted to Carter, "We pull off a miracle here."

We kept scoring and closing the gap and I kept pacing – you can check my FitBit – and yelling the score up the stairs in case Jim cared. It was unreal. They kept saying that if we won, it would be the largest comeback victory in NFL history. No pressure, guys.

And then it was OT and we found ourselves with little time on the clock and in a situation no Viking fan wants to see...

Needing to kick a field goal to win. It has actually happened in our favor this season a few times, but we can't forget moments when we really needed it – like NFC championship games, Gary Anderson and Blair Walsh! Uff da. Instant tears, headache, and teeth grinding. Today wasn't going to be season-ending if we lost or tied, but we had the opportunity on the line to clinch the North, which doesn't happen often and definitely not when there's a few weeks of the season let to play.

So we held our collective breaths across Purple People Land...

And it was good! A historic comeback! A division clinched! And there was much SKOL-ing and rejoicing! I think my heart rate will come down by Christmas. We couldn't have scripted this any better.

That was a way happier ending than the two Hallmark movies I watched to day. No offense, Hallmark. Believe me when I say that unlike my favorite NFL team, you've never let me down yet. 

Find your happy this holiday season. Keep believing!

Random Acts of Appreciation

In a random coincidence tonight, I received three gifts of appreciation while I was shooting pictures at the boys basketball game (including these lovely flowers above). 

There was no way these three people planned to do this the same evening. I think they just figured I might be there taking pictures since it was a home game.

There was also no way they knew I had the crappiest, most stressful day at work and I really, really, really needed something uplifting in my life. I guess God knew. Thanks for putting these three in my path so that when I was frustrated and filled with self-doubt today, they were there to boost my self-confidence by pointing out how my talents touched their lives.

I needed that so much!

I can now commence to weekending with a smile on my face. Yes, even though our Royals lost a tough battle with Edgar, I will still think positive thoughts and move forward.

Thanks for being special and thinking I'm special, too!

Technically it's Still Autumn Right?

The brownish-green grass disappeared overnight and now the only color out there in our winter wonderland is white and a few brown and orange autumn leaves holding onto their season for dear life.

Sadly, they're not long for this world.

As predicted, we officially got 6 inches of snow in Wisconsin Rapids. I think only 5 on Blue Jay Drive but it all still weighed in at "heavy and wet." Schools were closed so most of our team worked from home again. 

And while I was working, the neighborhood snow angels swooped in to clear our driveway. I love that even though hubby is the one laid up, they treat me like a helpless female who can't remove snow. I don't mean that sarcastically. I love that. And am so grateful that for today I didn't have to try and remember how to operate the snowblower. Thank you, Mike and Mike! Jim thanks you and my back thanks you, too!

To illustrate how heavy that snow is... remember these straight trees (at right) from our front yard yesterday?

Mother Nature likes to bend them apart so they look look like fuzzy rabbit ears. Or, as a friend pointed out, wings. Maybe snow angel wings? I tried to get a selfie in front of them to look like an angel, but as Santa pointed out the other day, my name does not appear in that column either!

Over lunch, I did break out the lens ball and got this somewhat creative shot. I need more practice but I still think it's cool! Since winter hasn't technically started, I'm guessing I'll get a few more chances.

We could still get another inch or two tonight. At least I know I don't have to travel in the morning since Friday's already a work-from-home day. We were also lucky we didn't have to deal with power outages here either. It's been a very long couple of days for many of you.

Take care, enjoy the last days of fall, and be careful out there!