As opposed to yesterday, I didn't put on any miles today. Well, maybe 2 miles of steps... but that was just from vacuuming and "Saturday" chores. I pretty much stayed close to home today. It was rainy and gloomy with patches of snow showers.
Earlier this week marked 5 months since my mother-in-law passed away. Some days it still feels like fresh grief for Jim, his sister, and dad. That's when I decided I should get Up North and see my own mom. Can't take her presence for granted.
So I hit the road at 8 a.m. and headed north. I had my route planned out with several stops to make during my 4-hour trek to Grantsburg.
Stop 1: Hawkeye Dairy in Abbotsford. Can't break my tradition of ice cream for breakfast when I'm going solo for the long haul.
Stop 2: Buy lottery tickets in Luck. Still want to be that hometown girl from Luck who got lucky!!
Stop 3: Say hello to dad. You can tell they had tons of snow since his wreath pretty green. The other sign that they had lots of snow that melted is that top photo on the way to the cemetery. I'm gonna start calling my Honda "Moses" after successfully parting the Red Sea.
Made it to Mom's a little after noon. Not bad. I told Mom we could go wherever she wanted for lunch and we could drive wherever. I was hers for the afternoon. She had "walleye fingers" on her mind – which she enjoys at The Pour House in Siren – but we decided to take the scenic route to get there. She wanted to show me some places she lived as a child and went to school.
By the time we turned off on the first super curvy road, I said, "Mom, it's like we're 4-wheeling! At least my Honda has 4 wheels!"
First historic site was where she went to grade school. While the Wood Creek School house is gone, they at least had a sign she could stand near. I made sure to get the street sign in there, too, so I'd know where it is!
From there we went to what is left of the homestead. She was not kidding when she told us she walked 2 miles to school! Uphill both ways! There is a steep ravine that had to be tough going up on the way to school and the way home. She told me about seeing a bear on the other side of it once. And said on winter days when it was really cold, her dad (Grandpa Ernie) would hitch up the sleigh to take her to school since the car wouldn't start in the cold weather either.
The genealogy nerd in me was eating this up!!
We also ate the Walleye Fingers and Buffalo Chicken Sandwich at The Pour House, too. After a leisurely lunch, she wanted to show me another place she lived in childhood.
She thinks it was at the corner of Dan Johnson and Olsen roads. How's that for Scandinavian heritage? I let her think it over while I captured a trumpeter swan out for a swim. She still wasn't sure but figured it would be familiar to her if we headed west on Olsen Road. Which, mind you, was a dirt (aka MUDDY) road with too many pot holes to mention.
I felt like I was in a video game zig-zagging around the pot holes. Then the game got interesting. My "low fuel" light came on. I said, "Mom, you better know how to get us back to town because if I have to call for help, I don't know where we are."
After much jostling and laughter, we got to a road that headed west.
Not muddy exactly. Just a fresh pile of dirt that the grader just laid. More laughter and more 4-wheeling adventures. When we got to a road with a sign that said Daniels 70, I asked if this was Highway 70 leading to Grantsburg. Mom's like, "Yes, we're in Daniels Township."
Well that must have been an Old 70 because it went back north. Meanwhile, I'm keeping a close eye on that Low Fuel light and hoping it's not too much of a wrong turn. At one point I said, "Mom, you realize when I get home and tell Jim about this he'll ask me why I was asking a 91-year-old for directions."
At least we made it to a gas station and her house for a little more visiting before I hit the road.
One final selfie for the road. As I left, Mom said, "Thanks for the date!" My pleasure. Haven't had one-on-one time with her in forever. It was awesome.
From there I headed home via Burnett Dairy Cheese Factory. I ran into Mike, who Jim and I worked with years ago at the newspaper in Rapids. He's been living just outside of Grantsburg – next to my aunt and uncle if you want to talk even smaller world.
Then my twin walked in for my second date of the day. We had a small bowl of Wisconsin S'mores Ice Cream for supper. Yup, my day came full circle with ice cream for two meals. Ha.
Yucky drive back in rain and road construction but Moses got me home safely. I see a car wash in my future tomorrow, though!
It's been a pretty stressful week, well, maybe month or so at work. Just lots of things to accomplish. All at once, it seems.
So when our marketing writing team decided to do a volunteer project and get out of the office, I was thrilled. Our company generously pays us for some volunteer time off each year – even during work hours – so 9 of us writers left the office at 1 p.m. yesterday and headed to the Bridge Street Mission in Wausau.
We knew it was going to a be a sketchy weather afternoon of manual labor – not usually my thing – consisting mostly of raking and picking up sticks and other random spring yard work. Just as I was approaching the guy in charge who was giving our group instructions, I heard him say, "And if anyone is particularly angry today and wants to burn off steam..."
I yell, "Me, me. I am!"
So he gave me a sledgehammer and told me to break apart some old planter things.
Man, that felt good! Except, sigh, the hammer was really heavy and I knew after one swing that it would not be good for my back. So I reluctantly gave it up to one of the guys on the team – who did not admit today if he was sore or not. I know I was hurting today just from all the raking and picking up sticks. We don't do any of that in our own yard. My body usually knows better.
But the folks at the recovery house were super grateful, so it felt good to do it, that's for sure.
And warm fuzzies always trump stress.
So does taking pictures. After I got back to town, I was able to take some photos of Royals softball (they beat Edgar) and baseball (we unfortunately blew a lead and lost). Then tonight after work it was rinse and repeat. Minus the sledgehammer.
Oh, and post-game fish fries with friends also help manage stress or anger.
Follow me for more life tips! And be careful out there!
I hope this video snippet below works because it's more dynamic than a still image!
So true.
I thought I was being smart and planned ahead to shoot pictures of middle school baseball after work. I brought my camera to work and even brought it up to my desk so it wouldn't get too cold in my car. After work, I headed straight to Mead Field to catch the first pitch at 4:30 p.m. It didn't take me long to realize I forget to pack something.
A winter jacket. Or at least gloves.
Game time temperature was around 46 degrees, I think. Thankfully I had some fans in the crowd and one of the baseball moms at least loaned me some gloves for a bit!
Think it through, Robyn.
Got a few decent pictures and when my camera was slowing down, I figured it was time to get it out of the cold and head home. All for the camera, you realize, right? (They ended up losing to Pacelli by 1 run, dang.)
Coach Austin and the varsity boys were on the road to Edgar. Was able to catch the final score on the much-appreciated Game Changer app. The final score (a 10+ run loss) was not so appreciated.
I'm starting to think April 25 is not such a perfect date after all. C'mon, Royals. Plenty of season left to grab some W's – no matter what the date!
So literally after learning about this bobcat seeking warmth in someone's grill – just over the county line – you kind of go on high alert for wild animals nearby. So do you question my freakout when I saw this dark figure exiting our front yard?
Is it a bear? I mean they have been sighted everywhere around here recently.
New angle and I see the tail. Or is it a black panther? They've been seen recently, too.
I'm guessing – hoping, really – that it's this "black panther" who was in our garage the other day. A neighborhood feline with a cute collar, but still looking suspicious, you know?
As for the wild Lions...
Be careful out there. And let's go, Royals!!
For Earth Day, uhm Saturday, hubby and I carpooled. To the grocery stores together – too many people! And later onto Rudolph church for the guitar choir. By default, I got to sing with them and then enjoy a bit of musical social time afterward.
Love this guy, too. But you already know that! 💜
After some fun at the fabulous St. Philip's Welcome Center, we headed over to District 1 Brewery in Stevens Point for a birthday party for one of Jim's classmates. They're all turning 60 this "school year" so there's been a few parties.
On the one hand, it was great to finally have spring sports resume today after several weather delays and cancellations this week. On the other hand... B-R-R-R!
Yes, I would say 45-degree temps only draw out the die hard fans and maybe one fair-weather photographer.
Does heat rise? Nope. I was on the roof of Witter Field and it was not any warmer. Not even by the stadium lights. Darn.
Another cloudy, gloomy day where we feel like it's almost night-time and time to go home – all day long at work. When I got an email from Shutterfly tonight about unlimited free pages this weekend, I thought I should continue work on one of my vacation digital albums.
And also thought we could use a glance at some pages from my Caribbean Cruise. We could all use a beach day, couldn't we? I took some screenshots of digital pages. They're in no particular order. Just look past the gloom and doom and enjoy!
Ahhh. The ocean is calling and I must go! Who's with me?!
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