Sunday Day of Rest (Mostly)

Wasn't too buzzy or busy of a Sunday. Had a nice relaxing day with my sister. Pretty much. I mean we went to church, then scouted a few senior photo shoot locations.

She was my designated senior (citizen, that is). Beautiful, right?

Since it was a gorgeous day – not too hot or muggy thanks to a breeze – we headed out to Anchor Bay to enjoy lunch by the river. Yummy food per usual and nice scenery!

And breezy! Did I mention that?

After lunch we relaxed around the house and the neighborhood – visiting the ones Rayna's met before – and it was after 6:30 p.m. when we both realized we forgot to do something very important during her visit.

Yup. Go to King Cone!! How that slipped our minds, I'll never know. But we got there before it closed and tried to resist eating it on the way home since Jim was bringing us supper. Spoiler alert: We didn't completely resist. But did enjoy some pizza for supper and had room for the rest of our dessert!

Priorities!

Rayna heads out tomorrow on her way to another sister's house in Minnesota for a few days. I'll still get to see her again in a few weeks before she heads back to Arizona. Was awesome having her here even though it seems like the weekend flew! 

Guess we'll have to visit her in the desert. Sometime when it's 10 degrees here and ice cream honestly is the last thing on my mind!

Special Visit-R

Got a special visitor for the weekend. In attempt to escape the Arizona heat, my oldest sister is spending a month or two in the Midwest. Today was my turn on her tour! And it was hot and muggy, sorry.

She rolled into town shortly after noon. Oh not in this truck, thankfully. This was part of our afternoon agenda. A party at our friends' place in rural Rudolph (if that's a thing), where they have a ton of Americana-type memorabilia on display. 

When we saw the milk cans – which always remind us of Dad – we thought, here's an example that some people who hoard, er collect, things actually do something with them! 

Well done, Lars and Ashley! So glad I finally got to see it! And you and the family of course. And Rayna got to meet Carter's FORMER babysitters (not OLD sitters) as well. Turns out they went to high school with Rayna's friends who she was just visiting in upper Michigan. Small world all around!

From the party, we continued up to Marshfield to watch Colin race. Glad I took a few pictures of his car during the early heats because it was after 10 p.m. before his feature race was going. Crazy. He had a hard-fought finish for 6th. Like by a nose (or less)! Pretty exciting.

Made for a long night, though. It's midnight and we need rest IN CASE we want to do something tomorrow. Or we can just sit around and relax. My oldest sister has threatened to sit on my lap to keep me in place if I try to do too much.

NeveR miss with an R sisteR!

Fri-Yay

This is the perfect illustration for someone like me who was all excited to have the day off. Then started my to-do list and realized I needed more time!

It didn't help I slept in until 8:46 a.m. WHOOT! That's a TGIF right there! But then I felt behind. I haven't been home long enough lately to get chores done or run errands or anything. So today... Got some chores done, edited photos from last night, got my oil changed (and wipers, too!) and delivered flash drives of pictures to people. Oh and then took senior pictures late this afternoon. Then headed to the Rafters game. 

See why I'm the T-Rex and can't quite clap my hands over TGIF?

The Rafters did win, but I didn't see much of the game. Of course I was socializing! But also helping out at the 50/50 raffle ticket table. Tonight it was a fundraiser for Royals baseball. The players sold the tickets, the coaches' wives tore them apart, and the coaches supervised. Just kidding. Head coach was a good money handler and assistant coach Austin was a good barker. Is that what you call them at the ballpark?

"Get your 50/50 tickets here!"

Anyway, it went very well. raised $800-plus for our baseball program. And the Rafters won 6-5. 

Now we can start the weekend, right? Like normal people who worked today?

Have a good one!

Busy with Beautiful Things

Who says the Walmart parking lot can't be beautiful? Walked outside tonight and I wasn't the only one snapping pictures. What gorgeous skies! The foreground – not so much. But I knew the color and light show would be over before I got to a nicer setting.

And it was only my 1,200th photo in 2 days.

OK, not really exaggerating there. I'm in senior portrait mode. One session Wednesday night and one tonight and one tomorrow. Of course I can say they're going well. My subject matters are super models in the making. Not really exaggerating there either!

Last night... Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome!

And tonight... Move over, Brad Pitt!!

Yup, it's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it! Three down, 13 to go. It's going to be a fun month. Might not blog much, but just know you don't have to worry about me. I may be saying Uff Da a lot.

But definitely in a good way. 

Sweet dreams!

Full Viewing Schedule

My viewing schedule is packed tonight. First, my friend Cindy and I went to the movie Where the Crawdads Sing. We read it for our book club 3 years ago and, as a group, gave it a 4.88 out of 5 rating. So we were excited to see the movie adaptation. Two thumbs up from us!

Got home in time to actually see my Twins on TV. That only happens when they play the Brewers so I better watch. They're tied up 6-6 in the middle of the 7th. So who knows if I'll be in the mood to blog when it's over.

Let's go, Twins! Hit the ball as far out as the crawdads sing! How's that for tying it all together?

Gotta go. Game's back on! 

Oh, That's Nutty

Love this. There is definitely joy in finding people who love you for your weird self. Though "weird" is subjective.

On Saturday as we were driving through Green Bay on the way to a wedding, we got to a stoplight and hubby says something along the lines of "Dang. And here I thought YOU were the biggest nut in the state."

Then I turn my head and see he was looking at this...

Funny guy, eh? And yeah, I know I'm nutty, but nutty can be funny. Right? Right? 

And side note: I didn't ask him to elaborate if I was just a "nut" or a "nut job" or if I just have a screw loose. Don't need to know the details. He's stuck with all 3 of me! I mean, I'm sure he loves all sides of the weird, strange, and nutty me. 

And he also knows I love a good pun. So calling me a big nut in this case was well played. Very well played. I'll laugh about it eventually – when I get over my disappointment that I didn't come up with it first!

Hope you find your own joy this week!

Weekend with a Few Friends

Hung out with a few friends this weekend! OK, the people above were part of the state waterski show team championship today, but we also spent time with a smaller crowd yesterday.

Traveled over the Green Bay to see our friends' lovely daughter get married. We all survived a 91-degree wedding in a chapel with no air-conditioning just fine. Seriously, we were too busy drying tears and sharing laughter to notice.

And before we new it, the happy couple were smiling their way down the aisle to start their happily ever after! Taylor has a had a smile that can light up the whole room since she was a little girl. Now she's got another reason to smile. And Kolin is up the task. Great guy. Great couple.

They had their reception and dance at a place called the Gathering on Broadway. Neat venue. Super delicious and the DJs were great. I did at least 10,000 steps worth of dancing with my girlfriends! Fun, fun, fun.

Got back to our cool historic hotel after midnight and hit the road this morning.

Since I've been shooting the Shermalot Waterski Show Team this summer, I went over the Lake Wazeecha to catch their act. As the reigning champions, they got to go last. 

Couple challenges. Every team today had to deal with wind and waves more so than last night. And since Shermalot won last year in Division 2, they automatically moved up to Division 1 now. Tough competition. They did very well but ended up placing 7th. I hope they're OK with that. If people don't stick landings, so to speak, or fall off, etc, they don't earn the points. At least I know everyone was entertained since our (my team now, ha) emcee got a Showmanship Award. That was awesome to see! 

And it's just a fun environment overall. See a show somewhere if you ever get the chance. The skiers are basically like 3 years old and up!

So now it's off to bed. Between dancing, traveling, and shooting and editing pictures, this old lady (who will never get up on skies) is plenty tired. 

Let's have a great week!

Friday With A View

Let's welcome the weekend with a gorgeous sunset view from our nation's capital. Through Carter's eyes, that is. 

Sometimes it's fun to have your family and friends spread across the U.S. so you get a different view now and then. Washington, D.C., seems far away right now, but probably not a ton further than Denver. Either way, I miss seeing my baby! So glad, though, that he is embracing adulthood and enjoying a job that takes him to D.C. for two weeks to take foreign exchange students on tours around the historic city. 

Other than the 95-degree heat and 1,000% humidity and widespread COVID, it sounds fun to me!

Here's some news coverage of the students who were hosted by Wisconsin families this week. They'll be in Carter's capable hands next week, and his current group will fly home tomorrow.

Glad he took a stroll tonight and captured this photo – and remembered to share it with me. Now we're both going into the weekend with a nice view!

Enjoy yours!

Thursday Brief

 Too much going on, yet nothing at the same time. I gotta catch some ZZZZs so my Thursday in brief...

A co-worker was leaving today so I let her request her Goodbye Trifle. She wanted something with caramel and chocolate. So here is the Roll A Rolo To A Friend Trifle! Layers are cake, white chocolate pudding with caramel mixed in, and crushed caramel cookies. Plus a Rolo here and there and everywhere.

I think it was gone in record time!

Had golf league after work. Simply gorgeous evening! Little breezy at times but I don't hit my ball high enough in the air for it to matter! We thought we should name our trio so we called ourselves T-Bar and the Nice Misses since Nancy and I had some accidentally good shots with our nice misses!

Home at a decent time and finally went through my senior pictures from last night. Some pretty nice ones. Now I'm really excited to do the other dozen sessions on my calendar! Let the season begin!

Family Trees

I was excited that my first senior photo shoot of the summer was for a girl I have a longtime connection to. Her grandparents were the ones who basically helped raise Carter – babysitting him after school from first grade on. They also watched their baby granddaughter Hailey when she entered the world around not long after that.

Since the babysitters operate a Christmas tree farm as well, Hailey wanted to step back into her roots and have a few pictures at the farm. I mean it is a family affair after all.

And since her grandma is regular blog reader, I figured I better share a few pictures here! What a cutie! Can't wait to look through all of them from our adventures around town this evening. Definitely a great kickoff to the season.

Senior photo season, that is – not Christmas. Yet.

Proud As A Peacock

It's senior picture season so I was checking out some of my locales to see which ones were primed and ready for me. The flowers are not blooming yet at the zoo. But this fellow sure had color.

He was just waltzing around and pecking at the ground. So I had to follow him.

He (or she) is so pretty! He wasn't opening his feathers for me. He was just making a U-turn to get away from the crazy camera lady and the wind caught under his tail feathers. Cool, huh?

All my other spots are good to go. My only other feathered friends out there were the Canadian geese, eh? Instead of walking along water or on grass, they took to the sidewalk for their evening stroll.

These streets are made for walking... And that's just what we'll do... Quack! Quack!

I Don't Know Squatch

In the category of "You see the darnedest things at the grocery store"... how about this Big Foot search vehicle? I mean OFFICIAL search vehicle. I laughed and at the same time wondered if there had been a Sasquatch sighting around here. 

Got Squatch? I sure hope not!

And tonight I didn't know Squat (short for Squatch, right? Er no?). Met up with some work friends for dinner and trivia at Guu's on Main in Stevens Point. I could contribute to a few answers but there is a whole wide world of stuff out there I know nothing about.

Still, we finished 4th out of 14 teams. And we had a darn good time getting there!

Yup, I know it's a "school night" as we used to say. That's why I'm home by 10 and will be in bed shortly. I'm old enough to know some old trivia and old enough to know I need my sleep! 

Have a great week, everyone!

Sunday Son-Day Drive

Nice hot day to sit outside for 4 hours, right? It sure was! Especially when you're sitting at Target Field! We picked up Casey and Emily in town at 8:30 a.m. and headed to Twins Territory. 

Got there in time to enjoy some of the outdoor fun spots around the stadium...

Like sitting on TC Bear's lap.

And sitting in the big glove. Hubby pointed out I was the oldest person in line and I didn't care! I was in my happy place!.

And we all got in it in the end, anyway!

View from our seats in the upper deck behind home plate. Thankfully in the shade all day.

Emily's parents had tickets for the four of them in row 3 of our section. We sat two rows behind them in row 5...

Along with my niece Caryn!

And her kiddos plus one. So awesome to see them all! 

Well you saw the temperature above. And it's National Ice Cream Day. So, duh.

Oh and how was the game? Awful. White Sox kicked our butt. But it was so fun to BE THERE again for the first time since the pandemic. So I had an awesome time – even with a loss. Plus, we're still on the winning side of our record. And there's plenty more ball to be played.

And seen. Hopefully in person again at some point! Go Twins!

 

Weekend Visiting Hours

We were blessed today to have two surprise visitors in the early afternoon, then four more visitors later in the day! 

For the past two days, my sister Rachel and our mom were down in the Milwaukee area. Rachel had a wedding and Mom was her plus-one. They added an extra day so Mom could finally see the painted chimneys around Greendale. She saw them on a TV show or in a magazine a few years back and has wanted to go ever since. Since all roads lead through Central Wisconsin, Rachel called me this morning on their way back up north to see if they could swing by and see us. Of course!!

Haven't seen them since Mom's birthday party in early April, so it was so nice! The four of us went to a nearby cafe for lunch and then I sent them home with fresh-baked Hornet's Nest Cake. It was a short visit since they had another four hours to go. But we got our hugs in!!

Later, the big boys and their special ladies came over for dinner. Clay actually prepared the prime rib on his fancy Traeger grill. He and his girlfriend Becca brought that out and I made a few sides to go with – including Apple-Snicker Salad. Gotta stick with the favorites. Thus, the Hornet's Nest Cake for dessert. (The irony of Clay being the area Orkin man was not lost. He could get rid of the hornets. AND the cake!)

Love this picture. Miss the baby brother but he is in Washington, D.C. for the next two weeks anyway.

It was just awesome to have a nice family dinner. Probably be some time before we can do it again. Hopefully before next year. It was Emily and Casey's last evening in Wisconsin, but we'll see them bright and early to take them to her parents in Minnesota.

If I haven't said it before, family time is the best. Planned or unplanned. 

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend, too!

TGIF :: Thank God it's Finally Stopped Raining

Woke up to a little bit more than morning dew today. Unless we can measure dew in inches! 

It rained hard during the night. Really hard. At 8 a.m., we had more than 4 inches and it was still coming down. Looks like we tapped out at a little more than 4.25 at our house. And that was almost "officially" accurate. See...

The only time our little unincorporated wide spot in the road gets official mention is when Kellner gets a lot of rain or snow or heat. So there we are at 4.30 inches overnight. Wow. 

At one point I could hear Mr. Deck Chair calling Noah. I swear! 

And the other phone calls coming in were from Jim's golf partners. They were supposed to do the Assumption scramble today at the Ridges. The morning session was canceled. Unsurprisingly. But since Jim was also golfing with a different foursome in the afternoon session, he was still able to have some fun.

Meanwhile, my work day was incredibly boring compared to yesterday. But since I had no plans for the night, I bonded with Mr. Deck Chair – a cleaner Mr. Deck Chair, then watched a Cinderella musical on Prime while crocheting a baby blanket, and I might sneak in some ice cream. 

I mean speaking of princesses... Sylvester is looking at me like she needs me to give her a bowl to lick. It's the least I can do for her. Hope she like coconut and chocolate. It's a fabulous new frozen yogurt I found. 

TGIF :: Thank God it's Frozen treat Friday!