Dreaming of a White... Sand Beach

I think it's been established that I'm a dork. It's also been proven I like to have fun and don't care what people think. Thankfully, Mr. Deck Chair always goes along with it.

Today at work we had planned to have an Aloha celebration to get us revved up to the golf tournament we sponsor on Maui in January. By celebration, I mean a couple thousand employees wearing matching teal Aloha T-shirts and posing in a tropical photo booth – and eating cake. There's always cake for big work parties!

With the snow storm that was coming, a majority of us worked from home today. So we were asked to take pictures of what Aloha spirit in Wisconsin really looks like in December! 

You didn't have to ask me twice! Though I will admit I didn't last long in the flip-flops. 

At least it put me in a good mood. That and the fact that we didn't get nearly as much snow as they predicted. Maybe 4 inches? Light enough to shovel.

Don't worry, I put on boots and even a jacket for that! I may be silly, but I ain't stupid.

Be careful out there! Aloha! 

Being Strong

A year ago today our favorite part of Maui – historic Lahaina – was basically obliterated from an out of control wildfire. Since my company is a title sponsor of a PGA golf tournament there, all of us employees are pretty tuned into the happenings there. 

So today, on the one year anniversary of the fire, I made sure to wear my "Maui Strong" t-shirt to golf league tonight. 

It did not help my game, but I felt positive, nonetheless.

The past few days have been challenging for a few reasons. One, we're preparing for my mom's memorial service this weekend. Secondly, my good "friends" at Facebook decided to suspend my account again for going against "community standards."

I have no idea why, really. And it's aggravating.

But I do realize that a vast majority of my readers think they can only access my blog via Facebook. So the 8 of you who just follow my blogger website, thank you.

 You inspire me to keep going!

Fine, I'll Sign Autographs

I think I told some of you that if you tuned in to the Golf Channel and watched my company's tournament on Maui, you might see someone you know. 

And here I am...

I know. How many times do I have to have my face or name appear on international television channels this year to become famous. Or at least wealthy?

Ha. It was just fun to have the TV contingent on Maui care about what was happening in our Stevens Point, Wisconsin, office. We were all glad to be a part of it.

And even though I've been asked more than a few times this week "How come you're not on Maui?" I'm just going to guess that I'm too far down the totem pole...

And that I'll just have to stick with my Maui memories with this guy. And that's fine by me! Aloha!

And have a good weekend!

Fantasy Island

Today kicked off my company's golf tournament on Maui. The Sentry – which airs on the Golf Channel at 6 p.m. (central) the next four evenings. 

In order to give us a sense that we were there – on island – we had an Aloha Thursday event today since most of us are working from home when Maui actually observes Aloha Friday.

So we had cake, of course, for all our company locations. And an opportunity to show our island spirit with Aloha Thursday.

We got cake whether we dressed up or not. But it was still fun to kind of "feel" the island spirit even if we weren't there.

In response to the many efforts to support Maui after their wildfires last fall, we had "Maui Strong" t-shirts for sale this week. Here's some of us posing for a picture that may or may not appear on the Golf Channel this weekend. (FYI: I'm in front just left of our security dog.)

There's a couple of things I'll get to smile about this weekend from a marketing standpoint – a commercial script I wrote and several social media posts. That's just my job, but it can really be fun sometimes!

For now let's just close our eyes and pretend we're on Fantasy Island – which in this case, is Maui.

ALOHA!

Nice is Relative

It was a nice day today in central Wisconsin. Yes, the temperature was still below freezing. But there was no wind. Wind is to winter chills what humidity is to summer heat. No humidity is a perfect summer day. No wind in January means a pleasant walk outside – even with the lack of sunshine.

It was definitely trying to peek out when I went walking around the lake after work. Didn't last long, but yes, it was pretty nice. Until I got home and realized how nice the weather REALLY is ... in other places.

"Our" golf tournament started today. So it's traditional that the Golf Channel compare temps on Maui to those back in Stevens Point, where our home office is located. Even if we got up to freezing, we'd be still be 50 degrees colder.

Wish I was there! But with everything else in the past 9 months, numbers of actual people on the premises are pretty limited. I'd rather go when I can see players and shake hands and sneak hugs. (Ha – depends who's there!)

Instead we watch from our comfy recliners and spot our brand everywhere we can, ha. Hey, we marketing folks take pride in our work.

As a bonus, we're watching some great golf. The Sentry Tournament of Champions is a winners-only affair so these guys have to have won a PGA tournament this past year. Well, some exceptions due to the crazy year that 2020 was. 

So yeah, it's pretty cool. I will watch much more of it this weekend. Tonight I watched for an hour (TV coverage starts at 5 p.m.) and then went to shoot wrestling down in Nekoosa, then came home and watched the victorious end of the Assumption girls basketball game via livestream.

I call that a pretty nice day. 

Aloha!

Aloha Friday

At this year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, the players and our staff and special guests observed Aloha Friday—a weekly Maui tradition when people unwind a little, don Hawaiian shirts, and celebrate pau hana together at the end of the work week. Pau hana means “work is finished” in Hawaiian—think of it as a Friday happy hour.

For those of us unable to be on Maui this weekend, we brought a Pau Hana Party to our headquarters in Stevens Point. Our Pau Hana party included yummy food like the cupcakes pictured above, plus a chance to watch the golf action...

I'm the short one!

And take selfies or group pictures at our photo booth areas...

My resting beach face to be sure!

It was fun and a great way to unwind after a two-day work week. Hey, somebody's gotta do it.

Aloha!

If the Office Can't Go to Maui, Maui Comes to the Office

Aloha! The Sentry Tournament of Champions teed off today in Maui. It's kind of big deal for us at work since our company is the title sponsor. And, many of us (especially in Marketing) put in a lot of work to prep for the main event and our side events. Some members of our team are there and for the rest of us, we just brought the island to Stevens Point!

To coincide with the start of the PGA event, we had our own putting contest at work today, plus handed out leis and pina colada cake! I helped with the golf hole – after sinking my own hole in one, of course!

The player has to putt it into the tube and from there it will veer left into the "ocean" or right across the island and into the hole. Or close to it.

You can see the volcanic craters come into play here. Not really. They are one-dimensional!

Just like at the tournament, people can pose in our famous Blue Chairs – used in our print ads and the TV commercials airing during the tournament!

Co-worker Andy and I taking our job seriously.

And we have miniature replicas of the chairs, too! 

I told hubby I was having a busy day at the office. Only I didn't text him this picture.

I sent him this one with our friend Tom instead. Pretty sure Jim understands a little more each day why I love my job! Still... would love to be on the real Maui. But hey, been there, done that. This way I can wear a Hawaiian shirt at work and still see my baby off to the opposite side of the other ocean.

Aloha!

Cheeseheads in Paradise

If you're a fan of golf and actually watch it on TV – yes, some of us do that! – then you'll want to watch the PGA TOUR's Sentry Tournament of Champions tomorrow through Sunday.

Why? Because I had a teeny tiny part in making it happen. Sentry became the title sponsor for the Maui event and will be basically running it for the next 5, possibly 6 years. Since we own a beautiful destination golf course – SentryWorld – right on our "campus," we know a bit about golf. Now it's our turn to tell the world what our little company in Stevens Point, Wis., knows about business insurance.

So any time, any where you see the Sentry logo, it is something that came through my department – marketing – to do. Pretty much every little sign or name tag or program had to be created, written, designed, approved, by us.

See the tee markers and the large sign back there? You will see our new logo everywhere. The quote marks representing the conversations we have with our customers to better help them.

This is where the action will start on the first tee. Since this is Hawaii time, it will air in the Midwest from around 3-9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

This sign has all the previous winners of this tournament. I got to write some of the media guide – including golfer bios. I bet you had no idea what all gets done behind the scenes of a major event like this. I didn't. Lots of i's to dot and t's to cross. That's for sure.

We do have some staff down there – obviously not the newcomer Robyn – and had people videoing everything from the course to culture to the making of the trophy. A glassmaker on Maui did the magic here, including a whale tail splashing in the ocean or, if you look closely, one half of our logo's quote marks. Crazy cool, right?

It guess they were posing the trophy everywhere today. Careful with that!!

I do look forward to seeing how it all goes so we'll be much better prepared for next year. So very many details!

I might just sit back and enjoy it this year while I can. And try not to get jealous when the bosses return next week with suntans and stories. Aloha!

Epic Five-Oh

For someone who runs a 5K on occasion, I can't fathom how a person can survive and prevail in these so called "ultra" competitions. Like a 100-mile Ultra-marathon. My half-marathon a few years back was an "ultra" challenge for me!

I was fortunate to recently hear a guest speaker who competed in Hawaii's infamous Epic 5. It's 5 triathlons in a row. One per day... one on each of the Hawaiian islands... covering a total of 703 miles. It's ultra. It's Epic!

Chad Esker from just up the road in Mosinee conquered this grueling challenge of swimming, biking and running earlier this year. I guess only a handful of people around the world get invited to compete in the challenge each session. And, until 2017, only 11 people had ever made it through the competition.

What is impressive about Chad is that he went from out of shape (his words) to a world-class athlete in just a handful of years. He seriously couldn't run a non-stop mile when he decided a few years back to shed some weight and get in shape.

That is impressive and so it his humility. He really is genuine when he says he couldn't have made it through the intense training and competition without the help of his hand-selected support team. Each person had something to bring to the table, he said. Some specific talent, knowledge or skill to keep him going, surviving and thriving.

When Chad and his team shared their inspiring story with my co-workers and me, they also related it to leadership, teamwork, and clarity of purpose. And they challenged us to achieve our own "Epic 5."

Based on today's date and the fact I am facing a milestone in exactly 6 months, I will call mine an Epic 5-0. Uff da.

And I got more than one reminder today! Yikes. Don't you hate it when you get someone else's mail?!

Funny how I was thinking of this thing today and my twin sister – who will reach this milestone 9 minutes after me – posted a picture of her treadmill, which she resurrected from hibernation today. I guess we are both subconsciously thinking about recapturing our health since we are past the point of recapturing our youth!

What I learned from Chad, his team, and a followup session with co-workers is that we need to get to the heart of our Epic goal so we really know why we are setting it and why we'll make it a priority to reach. Ask yourself "why" 5 times.

Why do I want to get my body in shape? So I can live longer. Why? So I can be active and have fun. Why? Because I want to be around for my husband and children and grandchildren someday. Why? Because they are important to me. Why? Because they make me happy.

See? Really get to the heart of your end goal.

Visualize it happening. Then, set tangible, measurable mini-goals or steps to reach it. And keep it simple. Right now my only mini-goal is to drink the recommended 64 ounces of water a day. Maybe in a week or two, I will add in the daily goal of getting 10,000 steps. But for now, one goal – hopefully a habit-forming one – at a time.

The other takeaway from Chad's presentation and our followup discussions is that we need to hold ourselves accountable. From experience, I can tell you that HAS to involve someone else. I am way too easy on myself. I make and accept any excuse. I let myself fail and lose my determination.

Find a drill sergeant. Create your own "team." Choose a person or people who complement your skills and talents. Find people who want to see you succeed and are willing to call you out when you're not following through. (Critical, if you ask me!) I am a firm believer that together, we can accomplish anything.

So... what does YOUR "Epic 5" look like?

Groundhog Day :: The Sequel

If you've seen the movie Groundhog Day, you know that Bill Murray's character keeps waking up to the same day. Alarm goes off to Sonny and Cher singing Babe, and it all goes downhill from there until he learns to use the Groundhog Day curse for the better.

I haven't figured that last part out.

Woke up early again to get to the office early. Went out to the garage. Put my key in the ignition and ... click, click, click. Nothing. Dead again.

So once again I slog across the wet lawn to the Teen Ghetto Machine and drive Carter's car to work. I probably shouldn't call it names since I may be driving it awhile. I kind of like the dashboard hula girl we gave him. It's a nice reminder of sunny, happier times in Maui!

Hubby did get my wheels to the mechanic and a new battery is set to arrive tomorrow. Then, hopefully my Groundhog curse will be over.

The only thing different today was I exchanged yesterday's trip to the hair artist with a trip today to the back cracker. Long overdue. I've been tensed up with stress so my upper back and neck are a wreck. Today, I couldn't turn my head so I had to get in there. The doc confirmed that I am a mess. "You've got a lot going on there!" At least we got it started with a crick, crick here and a crack, crack there. Another appointment Friday and we'll be making progress.

Can't have back problems if I am going to resume my hula lessons. Spring potholes sure make her dance. I don't know that I can keep up. Hopefully I can give her a rest, too, after tomorrow.

Please, no Sonny and Cher on the radio!

In Focus

Wouldn't it be great if somebody loved to take photos AND capture images in words AND combined them in a blog? Whoa. Are you ready for this?

Since I am a scrapbooker, I have this habit of taking photos of everything. Not just special occasions, but photos that reflect everyday life. Now with the advent of these fancy smart phones – with the camera built right in! – it sort of gets out of hand.

So, yeah, I've got a ton of random images I could tie in with some random inspiration in my blog. And I think I will, thanks for asking. Ha. It will be my "In Focus" segment. Photos will be in focus, obviously, and I can focus on a related subject.

Today In Focus: The hibiscus.

The hibiscus is Hawaii's state flower, which is no surprise considering their prevalence on the island. It is also the national flower of Haiti and is used in their national tourism slogan of "Haiti: Experience It!" 

We can take a cue from that slogan as we enter a new year. Don't wait for 2017 to bring you an experience. Take it!

Many of us wait for the perfect time to do something. Don't. You might miss out. If hubby and I had waited until we had more time, more money and perfect beach bodies, we never would have made it to Maui. Well, maybe not never, but definitely not last month.

If I waited for my house to be big enough, clean enough, de-cluttered and in order, I would miss out on visits with friends and family who drop by. We would have missed the joy of hosting a student from Germany for a month and the most recent privilege of giving our nephew Tony a roof over his head and new opportunities.

Yet I have regrets over the many things I did not do, the relationships I did not nurture, the chances I did not take.

How about you? You ready to grab hold of 2017 and EXPERIENCE IT?

Baby steps, leaps of faith, dancing like nobody's watching... Let's do this.

Holiday Deadline

Since the official holiday season, according to Robyn, ends Sunday night, I figured I better share our Christmas card.

No need to "oooh" and "ahhh." I wasn't impressed with it. This is the result of a "let's get something sent before we leave for Maui" moment. I let myself down because I was going to design my own – something that maybe didn't mix up 3 different fonts. (That's the designer talking.) But when you gotta catch a plane, you grab a template, fill it and go with it.

No time for an accompanying letter this year either. That makes two years in a row. Is it too much to hope that all our recipients read my blog and keep up with the Austins that way? Probably. No need to fill you in on 2016 because, well, you're reading it!

We do sincerely wish 2017 will bring you renewed faith, hope, love, joy and peace!

And if there is something in 2016 you wanted to do, try, accomplish, you name it, ya better get going on that before the sands of time are washed away by 2017!

I know you want to say it... Like sand through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives. Good luck with the rest of the days of your year!

12 Days of Kalikimaka

We're all familiar with that long, drawn-out carol called "The 12 Days of Christmas." We've heard it a thousand times and probably have heard at least a half-dozen (mostly comical) variations. Have you heard of the Hawaiian version?

It doesn't exist. In fact, I don't know if the kalikimaka part of "mele kalikimaka" can stand on its own to replace the word Christmas. But are going to pretend it does. And hopefully I can figure out 12 gifts of Christmas from my modern-day Don Ho.

Here goes...

12 Drummers Drumming

The big lu'au we attended was actually called the Drums of the Pacific Lu'au. While there weren't 12 drummers drumming, there were anywhere from one to four at any given time. The focus of the Lu'au was to share through dance and song the many cultures of Polynesia. It was outstanding. There will be a few more related photos... or closely related to the 12 Days.

Eleven Pipers Piping

How about 11 Pipers Paddling instead? There were some really colorful numbers illustrating the journey to the Hawaiian islands.

Ten Lords a Leaping

Maui is host to some of the largest surfing competitions in the world. It was no surprise that even with "small" waves, we saw some lords a leaping over the waves.

Nine Ladies Dancing

Before you get excited about the "real" hula girls, I will have you know that at our resort's Polynesian show, I did get up in front of 100 people and learn the hula. If figured you only live once – plus no one knew me!

Sure, I might have been the oldest one up there (red Badger shirt), but I was young at heart!

 And look how much I improved by the end of the week!

No comparison to the dancing lu'au ladies, though!

Eight Maids a Milking

While we didn't have milk maids or meter maids on Maui, we did have Ubers.

The ukelele-playing Melanie was our first Uber driver we'd ever "hired." I wasn't even sure if I knew what Uber was until then. But the concierge recommended we download the app and use that for a personalized taxi service versus the more expensive commercial taxi services. In the end, it was pretty convenient for us.

Seven Swans a Swimming

This should be more like seven seconds swimming! The waves and undercurrent were pretty strong so it wasn't like we could just float around in the ocean!

If I lived there, I would need to either shave my head or invests into some serious hairspray!

Six Geese a Laying

Despite the breezes, there were at least six geese/girls/gals laying... in the sun, that is!

Five Golden Rings

Welcome, Johnny Cash and his five burning rings of fire!

 Definitely the coolest part of the Lu'au!

Hey, why not throw fire while we're at it? Crazy!

Four Calling Birds

While we kept in touch with Carter via text regularly, we were the calling parent birds on a few occasions, including one where we video-chatted.

Poor Carter. We showed him some beach footage but the waves and wind were so loud, we couldn't hear him, even on speaker. So we sort of had to cut him off. Not something this mom would ever do under normal circumstances! We wanted him to feel a little included, though, even if it probably made it worse, based on the frigid, snowy weather back home! 

Three French Hens

I don't think it was French hens who laid the eggs for our breakfast and lunch experiments we had, but the eggs played a part. While we had coconut in a dozen ways and fish, including shrimp, swordfish and mahi-mahi, one of the interest "local" meals we had was called Loco-Moco.

This was served as a lunch and included white rice topped with two hamburger patties topped with gravy and two eggs. I gotta say, it seems like a weird combo, but it was pretty darn good!

Two Turtle Doves

C'mon, it's Hawaii. You think we're going to see two turtle doves? Saw these two parrots hanging out and thought that was pretty cool. For a pretty penny, you could get your picture taken with them, too.

and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

No pear tree, but how about a Banyan Tree? Hard to describe, but oh so interesting. One tree covering nearly an acre and it somehow has 11 or so trunks. The largest one of its kind in the U.S.

A view from the edge of the park. I just couldn't get it all in the frame!

Trunks under the tree canopy.

Isn't it the strangest thing?

At night, the Christmas trees light up the trunk area so tourists like me can walk about taking pictures.

And, of course, wondering what their true loves will bring the next 12 days of Christmas, or Kalikimaka!