We Need Easter Miracles

If you asked me 48 hours ago what an Easter miracle looked like, I'd say it was a cross between a winning Powerball ticket and at least 3 peanut butter eggs all to myself.

I've since changed my outlook.

Yesterday I was feeling super blessed after a nice lunch with longtime friends Tom and Toni in Waupaca and a visit with Jim's Uncle Richard as long as we were in the neighborhood. But that feeling changed when later in the afternoon while I was inside the carwash at Kwik Trip I got a text that my sister Rachel was in a serious car accident.

In a nutshell, she was driving her Taurus at left in the picture and heading west to go to church when the eastbound vehicle crossed the center line and hit her head-on. It took emergency crews an hour to extricate her and then airlift her to the Twin Cities. She was in surgery for an estimated 8 hours. Needless to say, she's got a lot of trauma to her body. 

Broken bones in left arm, hip and leg plus some ribs, her sternum and a few vertebrae. Then there's the damage (not sure if major or minor) to spleen etc in abdominal area. It sounds horrific but it is indeed an Easter miracle that she's alive.

It was a long night and long day today awaiting updates. We hosted Jim's family for Easter dinner so that was a nice break, so to speak. I'll probably get over to the cities this week, depending on surgeries and Rachel's ability/permissibility to have visitors. There's 5 other sisters and brother all within an hour or so of the hospital. Plus our mom.

When I talked to Mom tonight she was understandably out of sorts. If you can believe that at 92 years old and having 8 kids, this is the first traumatic experience. Apparently God has been performing Easter miracles all along and we just didn't realize it or appreciate it.

Thank you, God! And happy Easter to all! Hope you all had miracles to celebrate.

P.S. If you're the praying type, Rachel could sure use a few. Thanks!

OK Friday

The thing about Good Friday is that we don't have a lot of good thoughts and feels associated with it. 

I worked today but was able to take a long lunch in order to sing with our choir at our 1 p.m. service. I had to rush home for a 2:30 p.m. work meeting so I didn't have a lot of time to reflect on the service. But of course, per usual, it was enough time to make me feel like a terrible and judgmental human being.

Seriously, any time I'm judging someone – based on appearance, education, anything – I might as well be in that crowd yelling "Crucify him!" 

And even though my mantra is to just BE KIND to everyone, I know I fall short. Good Friday just reminds us that we're forgiven for that. But hopefully prompts us all to do better.

My sunset photo was taken somewhere along Highway 13 tonight because I was trying to be kind – but not enabling. Obviously, parent point of view here. Ha. Carter and I went down to Baraboo, which we determined was about halfway between Blue Jay Drive and Platteville-ish area, so we could meet up with his girlfriend and she could take custody of him for the weekend.

I made him drive us down (my tough-love stance) so I only had to drive back. I survived the setting sun and deer "frolicking on the highway" hour just fine, thankfully.

Got home just in time to see Marquette lose to North Carolina State – located in Carter's most recent address, Raleigh, N.C.! Since the Wolfpack was a surprise, I didn't even have them playing in my bracket. But did have Marquette losing to Kentucky (who didn't make it past the first round) so my bracket should be good, right? Er, no?

Definitely, no.

Obviously, today is not the day to think that college basketball holds any significance in the scheme of things in our lives. 

I have friends and loved ones who today are grieving – not just Christ's death – but deaths of family members and pets, challenges of debilitating illnesses and long-road-ahead injuries, and un-necessary stress levels due to job, family, or unforeseen circumstances.

Sometimes it's OK just to have an OK Friday. We want Good Fridays and good days every day of the week.

Thanks, God, for keeping our stress levels and expectations at an even keel. Or, if not, at a level we can handle with Your help!

This Bud's for You

After the end of what seems to be a series of stressful work days, I got home, picked up the boy and headed back to Point. We had "technical" stops to make at Best Buy and Spectrum. We pondered stopping at some car lots but decided to wait a few weeks. So naturally, our next stop was B-Dubs.

A couple of things we learned. Of course it would be crowded because March Madness games resumed tonight. Thankfully, we beat the first tip-off time.

Secondly, we learned that on Thursdays, they have Buy One, Get One deals on wings so Carter was basically a free date! We also beat the BOGO crowd, too. Just by minutes! There was a line out the door.

Since one of our meals was free, he convinced me to try the Fried Pickles appetizer. Not bad. I liked them – even with the honey mustard dipping sauce which was OK for this anti-mustard chick. Of course, 2 hours later I'm still burping up the pickle taste. I KNOW you wanted to know that!

Since we were living in BOGO Land, we both got 10 boneless wings. Here's my review... I had 5 of them as the limited-time-only Honey Sriracha. I'll tell you it had a pleasant taste but it was not really spicy in anyway. I was surprised by that since I add Sriracha to many a thing – being the Spice Girl that I am. My other 5 were Thai Curry. Jim and I both love these. Great flavor with quite a kick!

Needless to say, I had to save a a few of those for hubby. We both were full anyway so for this time, no room to stop at King Cone! Dang. I gotta learn to think things through.

In addition to hoops, opening day of baseball (Twins won today, by the way), field hockey, NBA and NHL, I suddenly saw the legendary Vikings coach Bud Grant up on one of their 187 or so screens. I think it might have been an outdoors show focusing on his deer hunting exploits. Still, it was a pleasant surprise for 2 lifelong Vikings fans. 

We got home about an hour ago and I am still so full I can't breathe. Thank god we didn't get a side of those filling carrot sticks!

Hump Day Heritage

 

It was an unusual Hump Day today. I brought a typical well-received trifle to work. No big deal. Then went to choir practice after work. 

But in between, I did my Easter meal-and-treat shopping (uff da, inflation!) and went to choir practice to rehearse Good Friday and Easter Sunday numbers.

While I was doing that, Carter was cleaning out one of the dressers in his old room. It turned out to be quite a blast from the past. Lots of memories from his childhood and from his older brother's journey to adulthood.

I'll have to scan in a few entertaining things. But for now, think of hump days 10 years ago -- not just recent weeks ago. So much we can learn, appreciate, and decide to repeat or not repeat.

Be careful out there -- and be appreciative!

Getting By With a Little Help From My Furry Friends

Although I firmly believe you can never trust a puppet (thanks, comedian Heywood Banks), I don't mind that once in awhile on a super stressful work day that you have a furry friend nearby to cheer you up.

Our team joked a few weeks ago that we should have puppets on hand (pun not intended) to deliver good news and bad news. Today I just got a "you look like you could use this" visitor to my desk.

Yay, stress. That's why they call it work, my late mother-in-law often said.

Anyway, I got through it and came home to a naked yard. All that snow... gone! There's still some stubborn flakes flying about, trying to stake their claim. But I don't think they'll stay.

The good news is that despite a bit of a day, Cookie Monster prompted me to buy some Thin Mint-wannabes at the store and whip up a Tuesday Trifle for work tomorrow. Celebrating a couple of birthdays and I'm so lazy I combined it into one...

Delicious-looking (and hopefully tasting) Thin Mint Madness trifle! And now that my "work" is done for the day, I can watch The Voice – and maybe Sesame Street if I have time.

Have a stress-free week and be careful out there!

Manageable Monday

Turns out we go exactly what the weather dudes predicted. More than 3 inches but definitely less than 6. Fine with us.

Good neighbor Mike snowblowed our driveway so Jim could get out for morning baseball practice – inside the gym, of course. And I work from home Mondays so I wasn't in a rush to get anywhere. The roads cleared up pretty quickly – mainly because the temperatures were above freezing and it was raining.

And raining.

I think it will rain tomorrow, too.

Tonight we ran into town and it was starting to fog up quite a bit. Say a prayer for our boy, who's driving home from Dubuque tonight. Rain and fog and dark roads make for a challenge.

I say I'm going to bed shortly, but we'll see how relaxed I am!

Be careful out there.

(Oh, and happy birthday to my mom, who officially made it to 92 today!)

It's a Fine Line

For as much as I watched the weather this weekend, I wasn't quite prepared for this return to winter. I guess I should've paid attention to that fine line (circled in red) where we live and where it magically divides between 1-3 inches and 3-6 inches.

I'm guessing we're on the north side of it!

Our first surprise was waking up to snow. We were concentrating on the actual 1 p.m. start of the storm advisory. But like those magic lines on the map, weather isn't always an exact science. So our morning plans changed. 

I had planned to go since at 9:30 church then book it home so Carter could borrow my car to drive down to a funeral / wake in Dubuque. Since it was already snowing, I stayed home and he hit the road by 8 a.m. so he could try to stay ahead of it. Thankfully he did and made it down there OK. And he'll just drive back up tomorrow after work. (Yay for remote jobs!)

As the afternoon went on, the snow wasn't accumulating a ton but icicles were forming – never a good sign.

And most of the time the snow was blowing sideways. Uff da. I can't imagine what my family up north – in that hot pink 10-15 inches bubble – is dealing with. We have spring break here in Wisconsin Rapids this week but I'm sure schools are closing everywhere!

The last look down the road before it got dark. Not that the visibility was super anyway.

The only good thing about being housebound for the day was that I had time to clean off my desk in my office, make a cheesy chicken dip in the crockpot, and price dozens of garage sale items. 

Oh and maybe watch a little basketball – despite my crumbling bracket.

Hope you stayed safe and are careful out there tomorrow! I'll let you know which side of that fine line we fell on.

Miles to Smiles

 

We decided to celebrate our mom's 92nd birthday two days early for several reasons. One, it's hard to gather on a Monday. Two, some folks had Palm Sunday plans tomorrow. And three, half my family is under a winter storm storm warning Sunday into Monday. Something like 10 to 15+ inches possible. Depends on who you listen to.

So 6 of 8 R's, 2 spouses, and 1 grandchild gathered at my sister Rayna's in Siren. The usual 4-hour trek for us.

Lunch was some of Mom's old favorites – meatloaf, potatoes, baked beans, corn, and her classic strawberry Jell-O with slices bananas. Mom liked it. Great job, Rayna!

After lunch, Mom, per usual, was ready to play a game. Her "tell" when playing cards is to start humming when she has a good hand. All of her children are quite aware of this.

Today she says, "Who wants to play cards? I need practice humming!" I hope I'm that confident and sassy when I'm 92!

Although Mom started out strong, Carter ended up winning in the last hand. The way she's smiling, I don't think she minded. Time with any of her kids or grandkids is precious to her.

We managed to get home by 8 p.m. Daylight for most of the trip and a full moon chasing shadows for the last part. Thanks to Jim for driving. And thank you, deer, for staying in the fields and ditches.

Be careful everyone in the snow zone tomorrow!

Something's Fishy

No matter what Punxsutawney Phil says on February 2nd, we mostly give him the benefit of the doubt – and are especially supportive when he predicts an early spring. And he certainly did that this year. And we certainly got it.

Apparently the fine print indicates there's no guarantee that winter won't return AFTER that early spring. Doh!

So we awoke to the predicted 3-4 inches of overnight snow. 

Thankfully, the snowblower wasn't needed. Just some muscle work by the man of the house while the boy and I worked. 

I forgot we actually wanted the snow so we could get rid of this dead-ass ash tree pile in our front yard. Jim and neighbor Mike cut that down in the late fall.

Today, with the snow covering the dry ground, they commenced to turning the dead-ass ash pile into a pile of ash.

Was tempted to have s'mores for lunch...

But Carter and I saved room for fish at Kellner International while Jim worked his final Friday of the fish fry at St. Lawrence. Good stuff!

Now we're watching some hoops and while waiting for the super-late-for-old-people Badgers game.

Meanwhile, we should all apologize to Punxsutawney Phil. I mean whoever seeded these brackets did a fishy job too. I mean... Yale? What?

Let's go, Bucky (Phil's rodent cousin)!!

March Eh-ness

Unless you live under a rock (and lucky you), you know it's bracket season – also widely known as March Madness. 

I guess Madness can be defined in a couple ways – you're fanatic (aka A Fan) or your angry (aka Busted Bracket).

I do a bracket every year and – just like my non-interest year-round – I can't expect my picks to do well. Nor shall I get MAD if they don't. I watch a few Badger games each season but have no passion for college hoops.

Sorry to offend.

But don't worry, even if my uninformed bracket with work friends is stellar, there's no money involved. I'll be lucky enough to park the traveling trophy (with bragging rights) at my desk for a year. My life really won't change.

So I wish all of you fully INVESTED bracketeers good luck! May madness mean "crazy" good, not "dreaded disappointment."

Yay, basketball!

Spring has Sprung... a Leak

After record-breaking temps in the "traditional" months of winter, it's tough to deal with winter-type weather when spring has officially arrived – according to the calendar, that is.

Today we woke up to this frigid wind – which was not fun when I was hauling a big computer into Best Buy during my lunch hour. Then tomorrow, this is coming...

Thank goodness we don't need to shovel Friday morning since 3 out of 3 of us work from home that day. Still.... ugh! Come back, spring. We miss you already!

Besides the weather, of course, March Madness is a sure sign of spring. Tonight, hubby and some old friends are doing their bracket "draft" of sorts for the 20th-plus year. I have to fill out my own by mid-morning. 

One guaranteed way we can forget about the weather for a few minutes. Good luck, fellow bracketeers!

Sister Scenic Route

As it happens, I got to share this sunset in Wisconsin Rapids with two of my sisters today. Make that two retired sisters who chose their destination as the Rapids for their day trip. And one of the two who is a godmother to our basement dweller!

So Carter got to see Aunts Rayna (left) and Renell (and treat his godmother to dinner)...

And I got to spend Book Club with my sister Rayna and the rest of the usual crew. For the record, Aaron's Wines and Steins has the best "Carnivore" (aka all meat thin-crust pizza) we've ever had!

On the way home, I realized that – thanks to my sisters and this sunset – I'd had a glorious and beautiful day. It was great to see them face to face, even though we'll see each other for Mom's birthday this weekend. But they shared stories with Carter I may or may not have heard before.

Feel so blessed they took the sunset scenic route here. Just to display their colorful presence in all our lives.

Hope your week is equally as blessed!

Earning a Bad Rap

After unintentionally throwing some shade on Monday earlier today, I thought I better take ownership of the day and not blame Monday for being "a Monday" just because of a little stress.

It just happens that Monday falls on a, well, a Monday. First day back at work for the majority of us. And we forget why we were so anxious to "clock out" on the previous. Until we log in a see the steaming pile. Ha.

They just get a bad rap!

But busy days go fast, thankfully. And at the end of the day, you're rewarded with special time with people you love – more than your job – and tolerate you – more than their job. Everybody wins. Or something like that. 

Let's have a good week, shall we? Knowing I have Book Club tomorrow and the Chiro/Choir Combo Wednesday gives me plenty to look forward to. Let's keep that optimistic attitude. 

It'll be alright!

Saint Green Day

I have no Irish blood in me. Though my hubby and son share a tiny fraction. Still, I am quite willing to celebrate St. Patrick's Day... as it pertains to mint "shamrock" cupcakes that is! The rest? I have no clue.

And it fact, even though my hubby is an 8th Irish and our son a 16th Irish, we were mainly thinking about Badger Red today. They lost in the playoff game leading up to official March Madness, but they still got a 5-seed. Which may or may not mean anything!

So I'll enter March Madness per usual  – somewhat hopeful, but completely clueless.

Go Badgers!

And as for McDonald's and other businesses supporting the mint green of the season, no need to wrap that up. Even us 100% NOT Irish folks could use some luck!

Fry-Day

As work weeks go, this was a long one. For all of us under this roof. Hubby had technical issues and Carter and I just had outright piles of stuff to get done.

So Friday comes around and we're thinking a good ol' Wisconsin fish fry.

Of course, Jim volunteers at his church fish fry and runs the dishwasher, so it was just my boy and me tonight. At 50 degrees, it felt pretty spring-like so I found this palm tree fish fry graphic to illustrate our evening. But then I realized my imaginary second home in Florida was 30 degrees warmer today.

So we just enjoyed some delicious deep-fried perch from The Ridges and gave a sigh of relief that nothing further was required of us for the evening.

Now I just have to decide if I'm more invested in basketball, some catching up on Hallmark movies, or major catching up on my streaming series. As long as the most work is changing a channel, i'm good.

Hope you all survived your week OK and have some weekend relaxation in your future!

Why, It's Pi Day

Without knowing the history of made-up holidays, I can almost guarantee it was someone in America who declared March 14 (3/14) as Pi Day... and ultimately Pie Day!

What is Pi for real? Pi (often represented by the lower-case Greek letter π), one of the most well-known mathematical constants, is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.  For any circle, the distance around the edge is a little more than three times the distance across. Typing π into a calculator and pressing ENTER will yield the result 3.141592654, not because this value is exact, but because a calculator’s display is often limited to 10 digits. Pi is actually an irrational number (a decimal with no end and no repeating pattern) that is most often approximated with the decimal 3.14.

Also the date March 14. 

I saw a funny today (mocking Hallmark and other greeting card companies) that said Pi Day was a holiday made-up by mathematicians so they could sell more math!

That's good.

But all the talk at work was the PIE version of Pi Day. 

So someone went down the street to Perkins and suddenly we were observing the holiday like true mathematicians.

I sincerely apologize for ever mocking this made-up holiday, because Peanut Butter French Silk Pie from Perkins is to die (or Pi) for!

Hope you found a delicious way to celebrate this deliciously fake holiday!

Fake Spring No. 6

We keep having these fake springs and I swear I'll fall for it one of these times. But all of in the Midwest know the other snow-shoe is going to drop at some point. Still, we are tempted to believe!

While our thermometers tried valiantly to set a record today, it was not to be. Fell short by 2 degrees here in Rapids. Don't beat yourself up little mercury molecules – you tried your hardest!

It'll plunge back to normal March vibes tomorrow but it sure was nice coming home and having windows open to usher in that Fake Spring air!

The Kids and I worked up a sweat hauling some stuff from the garage down to the basement after work. Funny how the basement felt "cold" before we started! 

Be patient. According to the calendar, the Spring Fakers might be gone next Tuesday. I mean one of these times it HAS to be Real Spring. Right?

I won't hold my breath. But I will keep breathing in this nice fresh air for a few more hours!

Morning Views

Although I slept through the 2 a.m. arrival, I certainly was overjoyed to be greet this sight this morning.

And it only got better.

My sunrise commute to work was simply gorgeous.

And my drive home was nearly identical. Crazy beautiful and colorful. Awesome.

Then, of course, my day was made seeing Carter and Mamie. Who knows how long they'll park their belongings here, but we're in no rush. Awesome to see them and know it's not just for a weekend.

Thanks, God, for blessing us with a beautiful entrance and exit to the day with warm hugs and love in between.

Spring Chickens

While I'm no spring chicken, I do find more pep in my step when the temperature rises. Yesterday I took a little walk, but the temp wasn't quite there yet. The "I'm going to get some sun AND steps" temp. Just too windy for that.

After work today, though, I was like "Yes, this is more like it!" And while the chickens around the corner were loving the all-you-can-eat buffet of green grass, we were all clucking a bit.

I feel like Mildred here (name changed to protect the innocent) is my spirit animal. Heavy on top with skinny legs but not afraid to strut her stuff – no matter who's watching. Slow your roll, Milly. I just got started trying to get some walks in. I'll crow when I'm ready to strut.

Tomorrow is going to be even nicer. We may set a record here. But I'll be back in the office so that's not going to matter much. I will be racing home though – not for Mr. Deck Chair or the Chicks – but to see our boy and likely help unload the U-Haul. 

We're expecting it to roll down Blue Jay Drive after 10 p.m. tonight. The kids are enroute from Carolina and they'll park here (just them, not the U-haul) for a bit before heading on their next adventure (a.k.a. lease) somewhere. No ideas yet.

For now it seems we're all running around like a chicken with his head cut off. 

Not to alarm my new chick friends down the road. Just keep moving! 

And I'll try to do the same.

Enjoy spring while we have it!

Spring Ahead

I had to find a timely meme about springing ahead. Thanks, moody Travis Kelce. I approve of this message!

Of course I'm relieved church is at 9:30 a.m. so I don't have to sing at 8 a.m., which suddenly seems so close! And really we only have a few – oh gosh, make that 6 – clocks to change. Those darn stove, microwave, and bedside clocks we never use the alarm for anyway have to be manually changed.

I only complain because it seemed like a long day today. Got up way too early for a Saturday, but that also means it was productive. I continued Friday's post-work project of pricing and organizing garage sale stuff – mainly to clear a big area for Carter. (Not exciting, which is why I didn't blog last night.)

Well now he and Mamie aren't hitting the road with their U-Haul from North Carolina until tomorrow so I have an extra day to prepare. Losing one hour tonight means nothing. Ha. 

If I didn't mention it earlier, their lease in Raleigh is up and they'll park here for a bit until they find the next exciting place to live. This momma doesn't mind that plan one bit. I guess we'll take each day as it comes and appreciate it!

In the meantime, go change your manual clocks now. There's no way any of us are getting up to do that at the official 2 a.m. time, are we? I mean I assume it's not illegal to time travel into the future this one time.

P.S. There's nothing new there worth reporting!