Just Like Old Times

Pretty sure I'm the only one still awake in central Wisconsin. Just had to hold out hope 'til the end of the Twins-Yankees game. But the Yankees dismantled our Bomba Squad. Again.

@#@#%!

And that's all I've got to say about that. G'night.

Rain on My Playoff Parade

It's been raining since before I got up today so yeah, I shouldn't be surprised it quite literally dampened my mood.

First, I had to call off a photo shoot that I had previously called off last Sunday. Both times now due to rain. So that's a bummer because I want these wrapped up in the next week.

Second, any fun I could have participated in – Nekoosa Pumpkin Fest or Feltz Dairy Fall Fest – were off the table because, well, they're outdoor activities.

So, that left errands and chores. Yay! They had to get done and I was getting excited for the late afternoon when the Twins would be on TV. They lost playoff game No. 1 last night, but I was hoping for some revenge on the Yankees for game No. 2.

Nope. Game No. 2 was appropriately a pile of pooh. So now we're down 2-0 in the series and will go back to Twins Territory on Monday. Hopefully there'll be some magic at Target Field. Just like the rain has to stop eventually, so does our playoff losing streak. Right?

How's that for a bit of Suzy Sunshine on a rainy day?

Retracing My Steps and Clicks

After a busy day of work, I could have relaxed and watched some of The Masters. I could have been ambitious and put some KonMari thoughts into decluttering action. I could have started the book I bought for vacation last week.

Instead, I started my Germany scrapbook! Ja. No time like das present, right?

Shutterfly has a deal again – until Sunday night only, of course – for unlimited free pages (beyond the standard 20). So I might as well dig in while the memories are fresh.

It was fun looking through pictures again as I uploaded them from my camera and phone. I forgot about this crazy beautiful view flying into New York City, for example. The plane goes out over the Atlantic and makes a U-turn back to land at JFK. So the "black" you see is the ocean. And the lights, well, that is The Big Apple. Wow, huh? I wish I had the window seat. I would have gone a little nuts with it. But the girl next to me took the picture for me.

Besides, I realized I did go a little nuts with the camera anyway! I just love cool angles and architecture and graffiti and doors. So yes, I do need to take advantage of those unlimited free pages offers.

Now if I could just have a weekend of crappy cold weather to force me indoors. Oh wait, coming right up!

The Road Ends Here

I'm sure the NCAA trademarked that phrase somewhere, but I think we all know The Road Ends Here – on Blue Jay Drive. It's good to be home safely and without too many headaches. I actually pulled into the driveway about 10:30 p.m., which was quite literally 24 hours after my alarm went off "this morning."

Since Carter and I said our goodbyes last night, I was packed up and headed to the bus station by 6:30 a.m. This pretty blue place is the train station. I took a short cut through there to get to the bus –  because I knew how! Figures I just get to know my way around the town and I'm gone.

My farewell! It was a culture shock getting to America and being able to read all the signs! I'll admit it was pretty challenging navigating through the Frankfurt Airport (again), but I made it. I slept a huge chunk of the 8 hours to New York City. Still, I was not prepared for re-entering the country. My country.

Nothing can quite describe the sea of humanity that is customs. Way in back you see the yellow/blue signs for each line. In total, there are 60 of them. Not joking. Hundreds if not thousands of people waiting to enter America. Slightly more organized than herding cats, I'd say.

Of course, right away they confuse you when one line is for "US Citizens" and another is for "Permanent Residents." I mean, what if I'm both? A permanent resident in the U.S as a legal citizen? I should have looked that up ahead of time. Oh well, I found another clueless woman and we bonded over our confusion and need to get to our connecting flights. Took an hour and thankfully I had a two-hour layover this time.

Felt good about the last leg of the trip since we had the Dalai Lama or his doppleganger riding with us. It was a bit turbulent but we made it the Minneapolis 20 minutes ahead of schedule! Which several Virginia fans were happy about. They were anxious to get to the stadium!

Me too! Just kidding. This is my niece's view. My sister and brother-in-law picked me up at MSP and I hopped in my car at their house in Hudson and hit the road.

Made a few stops for caffeine and a half-dozens brake-slamming honks for the many, many deer out tonight. Got home in time to see the end of the hoops game. Now I want to shower and hit the sack. But those darn Red Bulls have kicked in.

I told you traveling ain't for sissies. But it is oh so worth it! My heart is full.

Gute Nacht!

Wild Wild Card

Welcome to the Post Season. Drama. Excitement. Fun. Heartbreak. It's October.

This whole "one and done" wildcard playoff is a new thing for me. Not for MLB, but for us Twins fans. The last time we made the Post Season was 2010. Didn't realize it was so long ago. College Boy was only in 7th grade! Wow.

Tonight's "winner take all" match-up against the Yankees was crazy. Our lead-off batter Dozier homered! And then another homerun two batters later. We were up 3-0 after our first at bat and the Yankees already retired their starting pitcher.

Of course, the Yankees being the Yankees, they answered right back and it was tied 3-3 after a 45-minute first inning. Good thing I had that Red Bull this afternoon because I was in for a long night.

It was a back-and-forth battle with the teams taking turns with homeruns. If you recall, the Yankees' rookie Judge won the Homerun Derby at All-Star break. Saw that play out again tonight. He's a beast.

Still, we do have our own stars. They just weren't shining as brightly through to the finish. We can't walk in a run late in the game and expect to win. And we certainly can't forget to touch first base and expect to keep playing.

Nearly 4 hours later: Yankees 8, Twins 4.

Dang. Tough one to take since, well, it's the Yankees! Again!

Looking back on my blog from our last post-season appearance, this seems to be a pattern repeating itself....

Sadly, it's Deja Vu Deja Vu all over again!

But thanks for a great HISTORIC season, Twins! My heart is still Twins Territory!

We're Gonna Postseason

Baseball is reassuring. It makes me feel as if the world is not going to blow up.
                                      ~Sharon Olds, This Sporting Life, 1987

For a majority of baseball fans, it's probably easy to jump right into the NFL football season come autumn. But for a select few, we get to hang onto our summer fan gear all the way into the golden month of October.

Not that I lost faith, but I cannot believe my team pulled off the impossible – well, improbable – and made the playoffs!

As of last night, the Minnesota Twins, yes the same team that lost 103 games in 2016, have secured a spot in the 2017 postseason. It's both exciting AND historical. A season after winning just 59 games, the Twins became the first team to lose at least 100 and then make the postseason the following year. Who's awesome now?

I need to hang onto this feeling of accomplishment for my boys while it lasts. Come Tuesday, we will likely play the stinkin' Yankees, who have booted us out of the playoffs more times than I want to count. And we only get one chance. Two Wildcard teams. One game. Winner moves on.

So for now, while you Packer fans are waiting for a lightning delay to conclude, I'll just sit back and relax and wait for my playoffs to start.

Go Twins! We're gonna win, Twins. We're gonna postseason.

Orange Friday

While many people (maybe me) are already getting excited for Black Friday and all of its Spend To Save possibilities, in Wisconsin, that excitement is surpassed by the preceding Friday -- that's Orange Friday for those unfamiliar with the annual gun-deer hunt!

And it's TODAY.

My hubby does not hunt. And I do not come from a family who hunted. But as someone traveling a hundred miles a day on a country road or two, I fully support their efforts!

Funny thing is, we see so many deer on our commute, I am always stumped when I hear how challenging hunting is. But now I get it. All week we've seen dozens of deer eating in the fields by the road on our way home. Tonight, not a single one. Zip. Zilch. Zero.

They are onto us.

I guess if they start seeing blaze orange in stores and hear about Hunter's Widow events, they know something is up. And they scatter.

I do hope that you hunters have a safe and successful 9 days. And please do your part to keep the roads clear!!

Deer don't pay attention to "Deer Crossing" signs anymore than we do. I tell you, though, when we were in New England, they take that very seriously. Among the "Moose Crossing" signs were a few strongly advising drivers to pay attention in order to save their lives.

I guess banging into this big fella would smart a bit!

 

This is our friend we saw along the Ausable River in upstate New York on the last full day of our trip.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, we were continually warned to be on the lookout. And as the passenger, I kept my camera handy and kept looking!

On that particular day, we were taking pictures of the river and learned of a moose upriver. So we drove up and stopped with all the other motorists to take pictures. He seems far away. But he really wasn't once we moved up the road a bit.

See? He's just across the stream!!

 

...Eating his lunch!

When I zoomed in closer, I see he's got a battle wound... maybe from a hunter (they have a gun season like we do for deer), maybe from a car or maybe from Rocky or Bullwinkle.

Either way, if I saw something this big when I was out hunting, I'd probably just shoot it. With a camera, that is. And move on.

To see what's at the next crossing.

The Morning After

The morning after the elections dawned foggy and dreary. The sun never peeked out from behind the clouds all day. So I picked a random vacation photo to spread some sunshine!

Did it work?

This was taken in the quaint little hamlet of Jay, New York. I actually took this next to or out the window of the covered bridge there. I was so excited to see a few leaves had finally changed color that I had to somehow frame them in a shot.

It sure brightened my day today. Not that it was personally as dreary as my surroundings.

I actually took a half day of vacation and squeezed it into the middle of the day, 10:30-2:30. I went down to Waupaca to see my hair artist Rachel, who fixed me up good with some fall color. Across the street is DQ, so I swung in there to grab a 10-pack to go... of Dilly Bars. Dropped that off at my pink-ribbon-survivor friend Karen's with some cookies I made. It was so nice to have a few hours of "girl time" with some great "girls"!

And there was more of that to come.

After work, we picked up Carter at school, ran a few errands in town and got home by 6:30. My friend Becky stopped by later to drop off some essential scrapbooking supplies (her Cricut cartridges and mine) and we had a nice visit.

I can't tell you how enjoyable it was to see old friends. A nice, peaceful, post-election quiet time.

Of course, it helped that the phone is no longer ringing off the hook with computer-automated special messages. I wonder if we'll ever be that popular again!

I can live without it. Can you?

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Even in our darkest hours -- which these days happens to be on our commute to work in the morning -- we can still find light at the end of the tunnel.

I realize it is only Tuesday, but is has a been a stressful week! Personally, I've had a few surprises to deal with and I've also had loved ones coping with some pretty serious challenges. When all seems dark, we wonder if there is a light at the end of the tunnel and, if so, how long is this tunnel.

It reminds me of some of the covered bridges we saw out East. They are single lane. So not only are you going through it in the dark, you know that between you and that light at the end, you run the risk of hitting something head-on. A very low risk, but nonetheless, it takes some guts and some faith.

When we focus on the light -- sometimes a happy outcome, the support of family and friends or new direction in life -- the journey is not so scary.

We get through it, turn around and look back and think, "Wow, that wasn't as bad as I thought." Or "Look what I just survived! I made it through OK!"

Our journey doesn't always have to be in darkness.

 Sometimes there are windows to shed a little light... a respite from the fear, pain or sadness.

That relief can come in the form of people who love us and support us...

Or from a brief bout of self courage. Faith in our own abilities.

Sometimes we just need to stop, take a look out that window and remember all the blessings God has bestowed upon us.

What I've learned in the last 24 hours is that most things have a way of working out. I've received some positive news about a cancer operation, a missing child and word that McDonald's already has their eggnog shakes and Holiday Mint McFlurries.

Yes, God gives us what we need, alright. And if we don't know what that is, He'll find a way to lead us in the right direction.

That's so much easier than doing it on our own, isn't it?

On the Ledge

No one needs to explain to me what it means to talk someone off the ledge. On the contrary, I usually need to be coaxed on to the ledge.

Then I wonder how I got there... and how I can get off before my heart stops beating in fear. Fear of heights, fear of falling, fear of the unknown.

While cruising around northern Vermont with our distant cousins, we stopped at a little wide spot in the road because they wanted us to see a pretty waterfall. I'm sure I was out of the car with my camera faster than I can type this sentence. I climbed up rocks and got to a flat spot that I knew was going to allow us a nice view of the waterfall.

Only problem is, there was an edge to the rocks. And I was pretty sure the world dropped a million feet down from there. I inched forward for a step or two but suddenly felt too tall. Too far off the safety of the ground. So I sort of crawled close to the edge, breathing deeply and going slowly -- as to not shake the Earth off its axis.

Did you think I was kidding?? I really never did get close to the edge. But hubby not only got a pitiful shot of his wife, he also got the waterfall.

He's so brave! He's my hero! I obviously feel safer at the bottom of the waterfall, closer to ground level!

But yet, I still allow myself to get too close to the edge sometimes and wonder how I got there. I think it is my nature to go full steam ahead. The problem is that when you get to an "edge," you don't have much time to stop before going over.

I've been doing that lately. Cruising along at a good clip, feeling pretty good about where life is taking me, when I turn a sharp corner and bam! I am slapped with some major "unknowns." I am teetering at the edge and not sure what is beyond it. It's scary. I can't step backwards because it is not an option. I'm not brave enough to step forward either. Not at this point. I sort of have to wait, patiently, not looking down but hoping either a bridge magically appears before me or, at a minimum, hubby takes my hand.

I can't rely on him to always be the brave one, though.

When we stopped to see what is called the Ausable Chasm in New York, we sauntered out onto this bridge to see this big "crack" in the wall of rock. As soon as we both looked over the edge, we both jumped back and just about passed out. Whoa, vertigo! It was so far down, we couldn't even get close to the side of the bridge to take a picture looking down!

This is as close as I got. Can you see the tiny scenic overlook on the other side? Those people are insane!

We just kept walking across the bridge -- thankfully a very sturdy one -- and I went over to look on the other side. Hubby stayed where he was. Until I called him over to see the pretty surprise.

Sometimes we need to quit squeezing our eyes shut in fear and see what is right in front of us. Maybe it's not so bad!

I will think of these beautiful pictures as we hang out on the ledge and wait to see what transpires. We don't know what God has planned for us.

But we do know He hasn't allowed us to fall yet!

Against the Wind

I'm going to try something new. Since I know I will never have time to post all my pictures from our wonderful New England vacation, I am going to feed them to you one or two at a time... finding something relevant to blog about related to the photo. It sounds like this could almost be inspirational -- but let's not put any pressure on the author here...

On our last full day of vacation, we took the car ferry from Port Kent, N.Y., across Lake Champlain to Burlington, Vermont. Since we arrived at the dock more than an hour early (just to be sure to get our tickets), we had time to wander around the marina. And, naturally, take some pictures.

It was windy that day and I was concerned about how the ferry would do in the rough waters. You know me, gotta find something to fret about! When I noticed this gull on a dock post, I realized he had bigger things to worry about than me.

How does this little bird, with its beak facing the wind and the power of that invisible force ruffling his feathers, even manage to stand on his own two legs? Spindly little legs at that. How does he face such adversity and still successfully take off and manage forward flight progress?

He must have some help.

We often hear and say the phrase: “God won’t give you more than you can handle." Sometimes we are encouraging a friend or loved one going through a tough time. Sometimes we say it to convince ourselves we can handle whatever is thrown our way.

While I always thought it was an actual scripture quote, I've recently learned it is not. It's actually somewhat of a misquote we've all interpreted.

The words of support stem from I Corinthians 10:13, which actually reads: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

God won't let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. Temptation and adversity are not the same thing, so as luck would have it -- we can be assured that He will likely give us more than we can handle. On our own, that is. The message that He will provide "a way out" is encouraging, though, in any situation.

Sometimes that "way out" is prayer. Other times it's friends and family. Other times, we find the answer in our own heart.

I have several friends right now who feel they are going against the wind. They can't control the strength or velocity of it, but they are trying to find a way to stay airborne. While they may doubt their ability, I don't. And neither does God. They are strong women. And smart enough to know they don't have to face anything alone.

There's nothing like a friend to smooth the rough waters...

TGIFFF (Thank God it's Funny Foto Friday)

It didn't really feel like a Friday today. You normally have that upbeat feeling knowing the weekend is merely hours away. But I tell you, working five whole days in a row took a lot out of me!

Oh I hear your sympathy!

No. Seriously, I was just a bit down, thinking of a couple close friends going through some serious challenges right now. They really don't need to be cheered up, per se, just made aware I am here for them, I guess.

But to cheer myself up, I decided to look at some vacation photos. Wow, I got some great photos! I don't even know where to begin with them so I figured I'd start with the weird and wacky ones...

Anyone fluent in French? We saw this road sign in Canada and while we assumed it was something about "Children at play," we wondered if they just "play dead" or what? Maybe "Quiet Zone: Our children are napping" ? 

I guess it loosely means: "Be careful of our children, they could be yours." Ok, but I still don't like that graphic. It's just a bit creepy!

We saw a lot of neat, historic items at The Old Stone House Museum in Vermont. Jim's cousins Don knew the history on this one. Apparently it was quite a tale in those parts! 

This is the famous "Fur Fish"! Legend has it, it is so cold in northern Vermont, the fish grow fur! So somebody way back when capitalized on that idea and probably charged admission for people to see it.

A dog with dreadlocks?? Yah, mon! Who knew Montpelier, Vermont, is the capitol of Groovy?

This guy drew quite a crowd outside a business appropriately called The Quirky Pet. His owner looked like a hippy (in a stereotypical way) so I wasn't sure what was up. I have since researched "dogs and dreadlocks" and have discovered there are a few breeds that grow hair that does naturally look like dreads. Again, who knew?

Another "odd" sight in Montpelier was this woman who got out of her car in front of the state capitol building and just started hula-hooping. We honestly weren't sure if she was doing it in hopes people would drop some money near by or if she was on a dare or just entertaining her kid. Not sure why you'd do that there of all places! Hmmm....

But who am I to judge? Here I am perfecting my pirouette before a triple-lutz attempt in the Olympic Center in Lake Placid! It didn't even cross my mind to be embarrassed when a lady waited to walk between us until Jim was done taking a picture of his middle-aged ballerina.I just looked at her and said, "Yes, we're tourists!" (I think my photographer was a bit embarrassed.)

Probably shouldn't be surprised then, that after 7 days on the road together, hubby pointed out this license plate. He just saw it and said, "I'm not gonna say anything."

Well that speaks volumes, doesn't it?

Good thing I have a sense of humor on both sides of the camera. Most days anyway.

Gold Medal Day

Can't believe today was our last full day of vacation! We definitely made the most of it! And we finally were seeing some fall color (better late than never) so that was a bonus, too.

We started out heading to Lake Placid first, since that was only 45 minutes away from our hotel. It is such a teeny tiny town, I can't believe it won a bid to host the Olympics -- twice! We knew there was still a few things going in the Olympic village so we figured we check it out.

On the way there, we got pretty lucky. Remember when I said I was trying to get a picture of the dozens of Moose Crossing signs we've seen in the past week? Well we found out today the signs are there for a good reason. You never know when you will stumble upon one.

And we did! We just happened to be taking pictures downstream for here and when we were walking back to the car, a passing motorist yelled out, "Is the moose still there?" We're like, "What moose?!" So we checked around and finally got in the car and continued on our way. Just a few hundred yards up the road traffic was stopped. Heck, if traffic is stopped, I am jumping out with my camera!

This guy stood on the opposite side of the river, eating his lunch, oblivious to clicking cameras and "ooh"s and "ahhh"s. I felt like I struck gold. Ha.

We found more "gold" when we got to Lake Placid and toured the Olympic Center, which houses the ice rinks used in the 1932 winter games and the 1980 Olympics -- our favorite -- when we all remember the USA Hockey Team's "Miracle on Ice."

Here hubby stands on center ice where that historic game was played! Seriously! We both had goose bumps!

Here I am standing in the goal, where a few lucky pucks found their way in our victory over Russia and our later Gold Medal win. How coooool! We are of the age we remember that game clearly and it means so much to consider ourselves a part of it now. It was such a symbolic game to pull our nation together like one big family. I love that.

Speaking of family... what are the chances I'd run into someone I knew on this trip, let alone a relative? Well, also touring the Olympic Center today were two cousins on my dad's side -- Lee and Romelle -- who happened to be on a cross-country bus tour from the Twin Cities with N.Y. City their ultimate destination. Small, small world!

After our Lake Placid adventure, we swung by the North Pole. Heck, we might as well go everywhere on this vacation, right? There is a little town called North Pole, N.Y., that is smaller than my hometown. Most places were closed for the season, but shouldn't their toy-making season just be starting? Hmm.

From there we headed to Port Kent to catch our ferry across Lake Champlain back to Vermont. Now we're back in Burlington, packing up everything and getting to bed early. Somehow everything is gonna fit in those suitcases! I didn't get too much -- a few gifts and yes, this hoodie addict finally broke down today, on our last day to get a hooded sweatshirt.

Good thing it's chilly back in Wisconsin because I need to wear all the extra layers that won't fit in our luggage!

Here's the Scoop

If I haven't told you yet, even if we are not seeing any fall colors really, this is turning into an awesome anniversary vacation!

Today we made our way over to Montpelier, the capitol of Vermont. It really is a small town for a state capitol, but it's a quaint OLD town. Saw some really pretty building and took some pictures, of course.

From there we made it to my favorite destination (for the day anyway)... Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Waterbury, Vermont. Whoot!


We got a factory tour, where we saw how they make all the yummy flavors, learned about the company and got a free sample of the Flavor of the Day, which today was Steven Colbert's Americone Dream. Tasty stuff! I got the special tour package that included a t-shirt and a pint to go (of course).

OK, it wasn't quite THAT big! I picked out Chubby Hubby and shared it with my Lovey Hubby on our way to Burlington, Vermont. From there, we got another treat. Our route to New York took us island hopping up Lake Champlain across little islands and bridges with the beautiful Vermont scenery to our right and New York to the left. Very cool way to do that!

Tonight we are staying in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and have a little sight seeing in the Empire State to do in the morning and day tomorrow before catching a ferry back across Lake Champlain to Vermont.

We talked to Carter a few times today and heard an enthusiastic report from homecoming. He said he danced so much his feet and legs hurt today. Now that's a surprise! He also had his share of slow dances and claims he's pretty good at that. But you did NOT hear that from me!! We were just glad he had a great time. Today he had a ton of homework so he was busy doing that. Almost felt guilty about all the fun we're having.

But not really. Would you?