Not Worth It

 So I almost faced some jail time last night. Facebook jail, that is. Three times I tried to share my blog link and they took it down accusing me of trying to scam people or spam people and coerce them to click on a link.

There are no humans in this process. They just follow some algorithm or something. No person on the other end where I can explain I'm some middle-aged woman in Wisconsin just trying to bring some inspiration or levity to people.

So I haven't decided if I'll even try to share this tonight. It might be too soon.

Also, I really don't want them to cut me off when I have sports to shoot in the coming days and a fantabulous work trip to the West Coast next week.

Just know this is where you'll always find me, whether I post the link on social media or not. Bookmark this site so you won't miss a thing. 

Including any pending time behind bars.

Be careful out there!

Full of Bloomin' Excuses

As someone in this house has reminded me many times, if I skip a blog the sun will still rise. So that becomes my inner thoughts when I get home after golf league around 9 p.m.

Naturally, the famous Flower Hole at SentryWorld is at peak right now and beautiful... but we golfed the front 9 and I took pix from a distance. There are more shots coming but the most enjoyable part of the evening was driving range time with our marketing interns we have this summer. 

I'l fill you in tomorrow when I have night off from anything and everything. 

For now, just enjoy a few blooms!

Inch-by-Inch Influencer

As a blogger, I was riding high this morning as I overheard members of our construction crew talk about my recently "published" label that our new soffits are sexy. I'm just lucky that one of my friends who reads my blog has a hubby on the crew.

Still, I'm like, "yes, they are!"

Naturally one of them installing soffits outside my office today shouted through the window "Are you sure it's the soffits or the crew?!" I promised to take photos and compare and let him know. But I never got out there while the guys were here. 

But I do have a few progress photos.

I mean you'll completely agree that even without the inset lights in the front side of the house, the soffit on the backside is still sexy, right?

And the progress on the east side of the house is why I heard pounding all day in my corner office (far right). No pain, no gain, I guess!

And the backside of the garage is looking so good! I love all the progress each day. I know there will be some hot weather coming in so we'll be grateful for whatever they can do without melting. But I prefer slow and meticulous and perfect to progress any day. Love this dedicated crew!

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!

Sabbatical Spoiler Alert

Dear, gentle readers...

If you've followed me long enough, you know I'm a weird Olympics junkie. Probably because I'm the most un-athletic person you'd meet. So I'm full of awe and admiration when The Games come around.

That also means there's a deep connection between me, Mr. Recliner, and the remote. Just your patriotic threesome. Nothing to see here!

That also also means I will be blogging sporadically since the daily highlight broadcast ends way past my bedtime.

But if I have something interesting to share – like this goldfinch enjoying his lunch while I scarfed down a bratwurst – then I'll be sure to let you know.

In the mean time, Game on! 

An F-Word Weekend

It takes a lot of F words to make up a weekend. But I've managed to string a few together...

FUNNY: Let's start with enjoying some of my moments indoors – since it's still quite frigid out! The Grumpy Old Men movies are always good for a lot of laughs.

I watch both movies and was sure to take a picture of Slippery's bar in both. Many years ago we had our sister weekend over in the Lake Pepin / Wabasha area. We made sure we stopped into Slippery's bar, which looks nothing in real life like it does in the movies. But hey, I still had to but a t-shirt! Side note: How does the hoodie queen buy only a t-shirt and not a sweatshirt?!

FOOTBALL: I might as well mention it – even you should note that I waited 24 hours to talk about a sore subject. Still, even though it's frustrating for many of you, it's been fun to watch close games. Congrats, Lions! Now I'll have to see how Taylor Swift's team does! Side note: I can't believe my siblings forced our mother to wear a cheesehead! Who does that?!

FOTOS: If you can believe, I spent most of my free time yesterday and today going through photos and prepping for my upcoming scrapbooking weekend at the end of February. I thought I had most of my pix printed out for my 2017 album. But it turns out I had to upload 300+ for Walgreens to print out for me. That's a freak ton of pictures. Good thing I am still a month ahead!

FUNERAL: We went to visitation tonight for the father of one of Jim's classmates. And father of one of my old volleyball buddies. And my favorite ticket-taker at Assumption basketball games. Mr. P. was the friendliest man on the planet! I'll miss him! Side note: I found out his daughter-in-law reads my blog every day. Thanks for being a fan, Ann!! 

FRIGID: The temps are still below freezing. So even if it was sunny and looked like gorgeous day to get and do something like snow-shoeing, it wasn't nice enough. And I'm still feeling a bit low. And I think I passed it along to hubby. Sorry! Side note: That's what friends are for, right?

FAREWELL: OK, gotta go watch some football. Stay warm and be careful out there, friends!

Let's Keep Advancing the Calendar

It's hard to blog regularly when all I have to talk about is waking up to sub-zero temperatures and this stinking lingering head cold and cough. 

This is why I'm convinced January by far is the longest month. We've got the cold, the snow, the illness, the darkness, the cold (oh, I said that).

For the record, I have accomplished the following things so far:

• Haven't missed a day of work despite struggling a bit.
• Correctly wrote 2024 on the one check I've written.
• Am getting through books (audio and physical) at a great opening year pace!

Definitely haven't kept up a daily blog or a daily adherence to healthy habits. Just keep advancing the calendar page tomorrow and eventually it will all right itself. I say, anyway.

In the meantime, be careful in the cold and do your best to stay healthy. And maybe throw in a positive attitude for good measure!

(Disclaimer: That last part not required if you live in the Dakotas, Minnesota, or Wisconsin!)

CSI A.I.

All this artificial intelligence talk shouldn't be ignored. I mean, "they" (the A.I. folks) know things. Look at this "automated" response on my name test today. This is so 100% accurate for unfiltered Robyn!

But it is a bit unnerving sometimes, isn't it?

Whether it's autocorrect in your Word document or in your texting app, "they" know things. Like when I tried texting hubby the name of a town starting with an S and "it" automatically thought I was typing "sensual." H-m-m. One, where did that come from? And two, keep my secrets, smartphone!

But a side note, this A.I. business is a threat to my career. For real. Who needs reporters and writers of any kind when you can just plug in a few key words to your A.I. app and you're in business? Kinda crazy.

By the time I retire (not soon enough) I will have survived the daily desire for paper newspapers and magazines (hello, online publishing) and the need for human writers. Pretty unnerving.

But obviously, as a woman who won't be remembered for keeping her mouth shut, I'll keep you posted.

Stay safe out there – and keep command of your own voice. In any form!

Oh It's Over, Pumpkin

This cracked me right up! And I needed it. With the first official day of autumn yesterday, my rise-and-shine temperature was....

Feels like 39! OMG! Then today...

Oh goody. Same morning temperature (even colder earlier) but at least it only felt like 42 instead of 39. So we've got that going for us, pumpkins!

Yesterday afternoon and early evening, I was outside anyway. The cool 61 degrees felt just fine when I was running around the golf course trying to snap photos during Assumption's home cross country meet. 

It was a challenging mix of sun and shadows. Either the kids were squinting into the sun as they ran, or my camera was struggling to capture their faces when I was facing the sun. Yuck. On the plus side, our girls high school team won and so did our boys middle school team. I'm going to have to get to another meet this fall so I feel better about myself. Ha.

For today's fun... After work tonight my friend Cindy and I went to the library to hear an author speak as part of this weekend's Central Wisconsin Book Festival. I know. Wild times on a Friday night, right? 

Tonight we got to hear from and meet Annalise Ryan, who wrote the Mattie Winston Mystery series and just released the first in a series called A Death in Door County. The next one in the series will take place in Bayfield! So that's interesting. She signed our books for us, too.

It was interesting to hear her journey from a similar childhood to mine to getting published, etc. I'm not sure if it inspired me or gave me a reality check that it probably won't happen for me. Or just a reality check that I'm not getting any younger if I actually want to have people read something when I string more than 300 words together!

Anyway, check out the libraries in Wausau, Stevens Point, and Wisconsin Rapids this weekend. 

Autumn is the perfect time for pumpkin spice AND snuggling up with a good book. Especially one autographed by the author!

Drive-Thru Inspiration

Thanks to Culver's, I don't even need to blog tonight. Just go through the drive-thru and pick up instant blogs like this.

Here's your reminder to be amazing today!

My work here is done. Ha.

Plus, I don't have any pressing news to share. Another cough-free night last night so I'm kicking COVID to the curb! During my "back swing" of course, I will still get to bed by 9 p.m. so I can get enough rest. Probably easier to sleep IT out than kick IT out anyway.

But...it IS my day – and yours – to be amazing. Anything can happen! 

Be careful out there. 

Different Views

When you work from home, you don't pay as much attention to the weather as when you have a half-hour commute. So again I was surprised to wake up to snow.

Had to break out the lens ball I got from my friend Cindy for my birthday. Yes, that was the end of June and yes, I've underutilized it. I still don't know what to do with it exactly, but I have some ideas now...

Well this isn't good. The blog site can't handle photos right now. I'll have to share tomorrow hopefully. By then blogger.com should be back to normal and so should I. Normal being relative, of course.

Woke up about 2 a.m. and never fell back to sleep. Both arms were so sore, which was weird. Very achy with chills and hot forehead and all the good side effects I had with my second dose of Moderna. Pretty much still feel that way so I stayed home and just watched Assumption basketball on TV instead. Another "different view" for today.

Fingers crossed that Saturday lives up to its reputation. 

The Repeat Button

My Alaskan vacation is on repeat. I've put a in a hours lately trying to get my digital scrapbook done and it's wonderfully like re-living our adventures!

In my mind, I had Labor Day weekend as a self-imposed deadline since I am pretty sure they'll have one of their "unlimited extra pages for free" deals. But then Shutterfly surprised me and has the sale right now! I got 10 more pages done this evening but I'm still only on Day 5 of 10. Uff da. 

So these are pages 42 and 43. I better double-check how big my book can be. Something tells me 100. So I guess that's about 6 or 8 pages per day. Hmmm. I'm gonna make this work somehow. 

Even though they extended the current sale to Wednesday night at midnight, I don't plan to even think about trying to make that deadline. Way too many pages left and I don't want to rush creativity. Ha.

All I can say is I'm glad I already sorted through the pictures first AND that I blogged every day. It's fun hitting the repeat button and enjoying our wonder and amazement all over again!

It's Pasture Your Deadline

It's one of those days (or evenings) where I have 4 freelance projects due and am done with 3. While I tackle my last one, please enjoy this photo of the neighbor's tractor in the snowy field. If for no other reason than I feel obligated to blog, but only have about 2 spare minutes to do it.

Don't stay up pasture your bedtime either! I'm hoping not to!

O No

Alphabetical gratitude month continues today with the letter O which means I have O so many things to be grateful for – most days.

A = Autumn, Austins, Assumption
B = Ballots, Books, Book Club, Bible
C = Casey, Clay, Carter, Church, Creativity, Camera
D = Dad, Daughters, Deck Chair, Dar, Design
E = Eggs, Election, Energy, Empty Nest
F = Family, Friends, Faith, Flu Shot, FastForward
G = Games, Golf, Guilty pleasures
H = Hugs, Hurricanes, Humor
I = Ice cream, Impromptu Invitations
J = Jim, Jokes, Job, Java
K = Kindness, King Cone, Knock on Wood, Karma
L = Laughters, Love
M = Mom, Masters, Musicals
N = Nieces, Nephews, Neighbors, Norse Force

Outage: I'd by lying if I said I am grateful this internet outage – which is just something unstable with our router or something. My hair and patience are on fire like the letter O above. But the good news for you is that you don't need to spend another minute reading my blog opining my misery. Instead, look at this beautiful "O" hanging on our house. Thanks to our friends, Arndt's Trees, you can say "Ooooh" "Ahhhh" "Ooooo!"

#gratitudemonth #gratitudealphabet 

B Grateful

Our alphabetical gratitude month continues today with the letter B, which means a few more blessings to share!

A = Autumn, Austins, Assumption

Ballots: Let's start with the most obvious one today! So grateful for our freedoms in this country and the right to choose our leaders! It was quite an unusual election day. With the whole pandemic happening, more people than ever cast their votes ahead of time – just in case they couldn't make it to the polls today or in case polls were closed for COVID reasons. Hubby and I are old school traditionalists. We grabbed our masks and our own pens and voted at our town hall.

Remember, no matter what the presidential election results are... B kind. If your candidate wins, don't gloat. If they lose, don't respond with anger or violence. Show compassion for your friends and neighbors like it's any other day.

Books: I'm grateful for my books – physical and digital. A lot of people like to watch TV for their down time. I like to escape in my books. Or course, it goes hand in hand with my love for English and writing! Words are powerful, aren't they? Open the Bible if you need convincing on that one. And if it weren't for books, I wouldn't have my Book Club! Love my fellow page turners. They started out as a group of random fellow readers and now we're "sisters." 

Brother: Since I mentioned sisters (sort of), I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my ONE brother. I learn so much from him. I'm grateful for his wisdom, his love of clever humor, his unwavering faith, and his sense of adventure!

Blog: Of course I'm grateful for this blog. Aren't you? Ha. I am blessed to have an outlet for my random words of humor (well I think I'm funny anyway), inspiration (occasionally), and daily nonsense. I'm grateful that every once in awhile something I write touches someone's soul – or their funny bone. This is blog number 4,675 so the odds are in my favor on that one. 

Seriously, I am blessed to have you with me right this minute! And you'll be blessed with my brevity. Gotta go distract myself from election returns with a good book!

#gratitudemonth

I Can Rock ... Myself to Sleep

For some reason we got on the subject today of how we portray our lives on social media versus how we live them for real. Is your life really perfect like you show on Facebook? Or deep down inside your shoe, is your sock slipping off?

I said I think I'm pretty honest. I share the good and fun but also add in the appropriate dose of dysfunction, too.

One of my co-workers said my life looks like a big party in a lot of locations. I'm like, yep, my locations are work, the ball field or bed. Usually. I did let them in on a little secret. If I blog early – like 7 p.m. – that just means I'm going to watch The Voice and be in bed no later than 9 p.m.

Whoo-hoo! Party on!

I do like the concept illustrated above that I can still convince myself I'm a rockstar – even going to bed early... after a crazy Hallmark movie. Whoa girl. Contain yourself. Save some fun for the weekend.

I will point out that November is my most non-partying month – if you're still thinking I'm that wild party girl. Not too many sports or other freelance engagements. Actually more free evenings than not. I am starting to get ready for a scrapbooking weekend coming up in a few weeks so it's good I have time to track down photos and such. I guess that one will count as a "girls weekend," so you can resume your awe and jealousy of my rockstar life.

Hold that thought while I go turn on my electric mattress pad to warm up my bed and get ready for my Epsom salt bath.

Social Hours

This is my brain right now after two full days of a Digital Summit that focused heavily on social media – trends, content, platforms, you name it. The only thing that wasn't social was me.

I know. Hard to believe. I actually started to feel a bit old when I overheard a "girl" mention her father-in-law is 38 years old. Nope. I take that back. I didn't feel old. I felt ancient!

But not too old to learn. I pride myself that I as familiar (or even use) most of what was talked about. It was a very fast-paced two days. Half-hour sessions with either 10 or 15 minutes between. Believe me. My brain is full! Pretty cool and interesting speakers though.

Enjoyed hearing Randi Zuckerberg yesterday. Her brother is Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. Perhaps you've heard of him. She had her role at that silly start-up years ago, too. And now empowers female entrepreneurs. Very impressive.

Had the evening free last night so walked around downtown Minneapolis, since that's where the conference was  and where I was staying.

Got to bond with my fellow news girl Mary Tyler Moore! Yup. A random stranger took the goofy picture of me and didn't bat an eye.

I wandered a bit and found myself at the downtown Target and naturally found...

All kinds of Vikings and Twins goodies. This is SKOL coffee, which I did not buy. I failed to exercise willpower on a Vikings shirt (or 2) and a Twins license plate holder. What? They're cheaper at Target than at the stadium! (*me justifying*)

Today the conference ended at 4:30 p.m., just in time to head home in rush hour traffic. Certainly makes me appreciate driving in rural Wisconsin – even with the deer. Feels good to be home safely so I can rest my brain and body.

Honestly, other than blogging quick, I have no desire to interact right now. It's anti-social hour now!

Swinging Down Memory Lane

I'm at the age where I can remember lyrics to just about every '80s song but can't remember what I did two days ago, let alone two years ago. That's why my blog comes in handy. It is my main resource for my memory and for scrapbooking!

Today I was trying to remember who I took a work trip with back in 2004. I knew I had scrapbooked about it because it was my co-worker's first time in Vegas so we saw all the sights at night. So I grab my thick volume of Family Memories circa 2004. That's 15 years ago if you can't do the math. Found a few treasures down memory lane...

Little 6-year-old Carter and I swinging at the park.

And Daddy helping him on his first solo ride without training wheels. Awww. Where does the time go?

Carter's almost fully adulting now. In Platteville for the summer and working at the Potosi Brewery on the Wisconsin-Iowa border. I don't know if I have mentioned that before. Because, well, my memory and all. Basically he came home from Germany, applied a few places down there since we're paying rent at his college house for the next year.

He got hired at the brewery and started before Memorial Day weekend. It's a pretty nice operation there, I guess. Brewery, museum (it's the oldest brewery in Wisconsin), a gift shop, and brew pub. Carter is working in the kitchen at the brew pub. Might graduate up to bar tending, but who knows.

Hard to believe he's old enough to do all that when it seems like yesterday (when you look at photos, that is) that he was just starting to pedal off without our help. You really can't stop time. But then, who would really want to? I wouldn't trade most of what's happened in the decade and a half since, that's for sure.

Count your blessings each day. Eventually they pile up. And it's pretty darn special.

Rain Clouds and Silver Linings

Sorry for the lame blog about the cat last night. I just needed to think of something that wasn't so depressing these days. Usually, the princess accommodates. Thank goodness.

Today was another gloomy day. Emotionally and physically. It rained all day and is still raining here. But at least it's not snowing. When my sisters in Minnesota said they were getting snow, I thought, yes, there is a silver lining. We only have rain here!

What other silver linings have I been overlooking this week?

Well, the circle of life has been quite evident. There have been three births to make up for the one death of our friend. Prince Archie (or whatever his title may be) and babies born to a co-worker (her second) and to a friend's brother and his wife, who have tried unsuccessfully for so long. I am excited for them all and can't help but smile!

I also got to see the 21-year-old this evening. I haven't seen him since he was 20! He survived the major 21st Birthday Palooza with friends. Now they're all "legal" in his house. He probably wanted to stay down in P-Vegas but he had to come back for a dentist appointment today. Those are made 6 months out. Not canceling for anything! I think he'll be staying a few days now.

I'm also grateful for work. The people. They've been so supportive this week not calling attention to me ugly crying at my desk. And I've had plenty of work – both at the office and freelance – to keep my mind distracted. It's helped.

Tomorrow and Friday are going to be super tough days with the visitation and funeral. Glad I was reminded there are silver linings in these rain clouds. They won't erase the pain in our hearts but at least we know the sun will come out again.

Eventually. God bless!

Three Decades of Hamster Dance and More

Today is allegedly the 30th birthday of the World Wide Web. I say "allegedly" because some experts have different dates in mind. I just can't believe it launched when I was in college and I really didn't see it (in action) or touch it until the mid-1990s.

I want to say we've come along way from the Ooog-a-cha-ka Baby and the Hamster Dance, but have we?

Sure I don't have to use my phone line to dial in on an incredibly slow modem. But now we've got dancing, laughing and pooping babies (and pets). Time wasters called Facebook and Pinterest. An Asian woman telling my how to declutter and organize my house.

And our cat can take a selfie.

Of course that doesn't mean I don't love the Information Super Highway and all it has to offer. Just pointing out a few of the ways it impacts my life.

Today I am thankful for that cyber connection with our friends and family – even across the ocean – and yes, my ability to spout nonsense in a blog and use Facebook to give away fabulous "prizes" cluttering my house. When it doesn't detract me from living my real life, it's a win-win.

We still have glitches, though. I tried downloading Spring two weeks ago and I'm still getting that spinning rainbow.