A Walk (or Run) in the Park

I spent a good chunk of my day at beautiful Standing Rocks Park near Plover where Stevens Point High School was hosting their annual cross country meet.

The fluctuation of our Royals cross country team has been interesting. Sometimes there's so many runners they have to compete for the Varsity 7. Other times, like today, there were not enough runners – we need 5 to score as a team.

Still, it's always fun to watch and to capture. And I think this year was the first time I wasn't dying from sun and heat. I actually had to go back to my car at one point to get my jacket!

I think Assumption did as well as they hoped. 

Afterward, since we all had to follow a dusty gravel road to get to the park, I made sure to find a car wash. Then the rest of the day was random errands and getting steps.

Hope y'all had a satisfying and relaxing Saturday!!

Fright Night, Frigid Saturday

This is still a picture from work on Thursday – me all cowardly. Our Halloween was not nearly that exciting. Since school was on a fall break yesterday I couldn't return the mascot costumes. So I dressed up again for all the trick-or-treaters.

All TWO of them.

We night get the quantity of trick-or-treaters out in the sticks. But we sure got the quality. Cutest little pirate brothers on the planet! 

Argh! So that was that.

This morning I woke up to 37 degree outdoor temps with slight rain/possible snow mix. You know what that means... must be State Cross Country Day! 

Not enthused to be outside for hours, I asked Jim to drop me off at the entrance for the Division 3 boys race at noon. I just needed to photograph two Royal runners and they finished 4th and 14th so I call him back pretty quickly for a ride home.

Our full girls team qualified and ran in the Division 2 race at 2:25 p.m. Yup because this group in particular has been at state 4 consecutive years, they bumped us up to Division 2, thus competing against mostly much larger schools.

Our Lady Royals did not back down! Lucy finished the best at 6th place and our team finished 6th as well. Not bad for scrappy little Assumption! Gonna miss all these seniors!!

Got home in time to clean up and change clothes to go out to the Sky Club in Plover with three other couples from Jim's high school class. We do this at least once a year but always SAY we're going to TRY to do it more often!

The food was great and the company was fantastic! Always love that they welcome us 4 non-Royal spouses into the fold. They're the most genuine, lovely people. Jim is so lucky to have this history. And I by marital default, feel lucky too.

Then on the way home he reminded me when get an extra hour tonight! Well we spent that well. And I got my photos all edited and still get to catch the end of the exciting World Series. I'll pack in the morning for Sister Weekend (well Sun-Tues Getaway).

Happy November.

Getting Pumped Up Around Here

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day so I finally got little pumped up and pumpkin-ed up with holiday spirit.

Yup, headed back over to our neighbor's Pumpkin Shed. When I purchased the painted witch one up top – the one I call my self-portrait pumpkin – I had idea for some even smaller pumpkins...

Ta-da! Halloween decorating is done! Of course when these giant alphabet stickers do fall off, I may have to give painting a try. At least bring out Mr. Sharpee.

Yesterday was also a beautiful day to watch OTHER PEOPLE run! The Wisconsin Rapids high school hosted a cross country meet and our Royal Runners were taking part. Our girls team finished in the smaller school division! Finish strong. It's playoffs time1

Speaking of playoffs... to congrats to any friends who are Brewers fans! Onto the next round!

Today was even cooler than yesterday. Hubby and both stayed home from church. Him with his cough and me with cough – but mainly getting pumped up... with colonoscopy prep stuff. Trying the pill form instead of the yucky drink. But so far I have not kept any of them down. Not good. I start round two in an hour. Hopefully that goes better. Hate for them to turn me away in the morning. I've sacrificed so much already!

Alright I gotta keep this short so I can stay much closer to another room in the house! 

Hope you had a good fall weekend. Let's have crap-free week, shall we? (Yes, I had to go there.)

TGIX

TGIX? Well that means its XC or cross country day! Actually, just a normal Friday with an afterschool cross country photo shoot of our amazing seniors. Gotta admit, it was a hoot!

And taking pictures outside meant I could just click and not worry where my next cough would land. Also good that another day into recovery meant fewer coughing spells anyway.

Mostly I was surprised that many of these super YOUNG LADIES were actually seniors now. I hate when time sneaks up on me like that. But I also was incredibly happy to see them not shy at all about showing off their personalities. 

Thank you, class of 2026 leaders for reminding me why I appreciated so much that my son was in cross country and we created amazing bonds as parents and fans!

Hunt for Red Hot October

This week has been insanely warm for October. Record high Friday and tied for high temp today. And you know who loves that? A solar powered sister like me! Of course I had to work every day this week but I did get some outdoors time the past three days.

After work on Thursday I headed straight up to Athens with my camera for a Royals cross country meet. So behind on fall sports pix! Guess who doesn't like summer weather in autumn? Runners. Spoiler alert if you have a gag reflex!

Yup, this was the look on probably half the runners' faces right before they crossed the finish line and tossed their cookies! Not kidding. I do not know how I stayed upright since that is such a trigger for me. Uff da. Those poor runners. Both our high school and middle school girls teams took first place anyway!

Gives new meaning to "hurling" through homecoming week! Speaking of homecoming...

Finally was IN TOWN so I could attend and photograph a Royals football game! So many weddings, so little photography time. But we still managed to attend a retirement/birthday party before the game! LOL.

The Royals ended up falling to Pittsville 30-6. Still, I managed to capture a few good photos of both the game and musical entertainment. Once a Pep Band Mom always a Pep Band Mom!

Today's summer-like weather called for a summer activity. 

Mr. Fox and I have literally not been golfing for more than a month! So fun to get out for a very warm round with our friends Craig and Sara.

It also happened to be Big Cup Challenge Day so we got to play larger holes but somehow none of us could manage to take advantage of it. I was just too rusty. That's my excuse. Still... so fun to be out again like it was August!

Of course I 100% got into autumn mode at the Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest! 

Seriously, holy Great Pumpkins, Charlie Brown! I feel like there were tons more arts & crafts and food vendors there than ever before. I found quickly that I was grateful there was an ATM on site, too, because I did not prepare for that. It was so hot, though...

Much like my tasty mini donuts! But productive. I had a few gift things in mind and I found what I needed. After 12,000+ steps on my pedometer between that and golfing I was ready to head home and shower!

Because, of course, our social calendar still had another appointment to go to, after all! And we wonder why time flies.

Had a special 50th anniversary party for our friends Jon and Audrey, who are more like family since they helped raise our baby boy. I mean seriously, how did they know that 30 years into their marriage when she was operating a daycare that they'd meet young Mr. Carter needing afterschool care? And that he'd work his way into their hearts and they'd find a home in ours? 

They really are like family – and we've come to know their entire family very well, too. Just special!

Sometimes I can't believe how blessed we are with the people in our lives. Even how many we've spent time with in just the past few days. It might be the hot summer temps, but I suddenly have water leaking out of my eyes.

Life is so good when you count your blessings! Just sayin'. 

How November Launches

The last weekend in October or first weekend in November always begin with a starting gun. That's because it's the State Cross Country meet nearby and we have historically (since Carter was a student) had a full team or at least a few individual runners.

Yesterday I headed over to The Ridges – usually 5 minutes away but more like 30 when I need to take a shuttle. Cheered on and took pictures of our Lady Royals, who finished 4th as a team – with one of our individuals taking 5th place overall. Then stayed to take pictures of our single male runner among Division 3 teams. He was basically in the middle of the pack, but had a good run personally.

The rest of the day was editing pictures and catching some Hallmark. It 'tis the season after all!

Plus, we got an extra hour or sleep when we turned the clocks back! Yay, us!

This morning I had to read in church. It was All Saints Sunday. And I gotta tell you, it really hits different when you light a candle with newly acquired orphan status. So missing Mom and Dad right now.

So, of course to take my mind off that, I did what my mother would have loved to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I played BINGO at Assumption.

This was as close as I got on "regular" BINGO. Grrr.

And I really didn't have a prayer on cover-all. Still, I sat among friends and had a good time!

Hopefully our luck changes tonight as our boys in purple play the Sunday Night Game. 

Royally Busy Day

It was Royal-ly busy day today, that's for sure. I even went to my favorite golf course – twice.

First was the Assumption Cross Country Invite at TriCity. Took pictures of both boys and girls high school and middle school races. We continue our streak of having some pretty decent runners for boys and girls. Fun to watch. Our high school girls team ended up taking this lovely trophy home! Way to go!

On the way home, I stopped by Lincoln High School, where our Lady Royals tennis team was in action again. There were a few girls I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the other night, so I got them today. While it was nice a sunny.

As soon as the rain clouds hit in the early afternoon, we hoped they'd be short-lived. I ended up sorting through, editing, and posting the pictures from both events before Jim got home from singing at 4 p.m. church in Rudolph.

Then we headed to TriCity with intentions of golfing in the basketball fundraiser scramble. Even though it was raining on the way there, we figured there was a chance we'd golf.

Lots of carts decked out for glow ball! But then we had a rain delay. Then storm delay.

We could constantly see lightning behind this strange break in the crowds. When it finally looked like we could go, we headed to our carts once again. Wiped them off once again. And turned on our lights once again.

Thankfully our scramble partners Sean and Michelle brought the goods.

We could have disco lights and everything. But then the stinkin' rain started yet again! We decided to call it a night. 

We know from the summer that it is absolutely no fun to golf in the rain! But I'm sure most of them gave it a go in the lightning round, so to speak. We're OK with our decision.

After a busy day, I don't mind being home by 9 p.m.! Stay dry!

The Good Race

It was a day of racing (of sorts) in central Wisconsin today. First we went to Tom Reffner's funeral, where Father Gruba (famous in NASCAR circles) shared a lot of great stories – both funny and heartfelt – about Tom. Very cool tribute for our "extended family" member, who's taken his final lap.

Didn't quite get home in time to get to state cross country for the girls' Division 3 race, but it was exciting to hear our Lady Royals took 4th as a team and Lucy (far right) finished 3rd overall. That is fantastic!! Love that we have such a strong girls' program – with no seniors. Congrats!

Then this afternoon – in this lovely 38-degree weather – hubby raced around getting the last of the leaves out of the front yard.

And I raced around prepping for tomorrow's Packer-Viking game. Because guess who's going to Lambeau? This girl! It's going to be cold so I had pick from one of our three Viking winter jackets – plus get hand warmers and do the nails and all those essentials. Pretty jazzed my former boss is taking me because, in his words, I'm generous, super helpful and "just a good shit!" SKOL!

We capped off the day with a relaxing (non-race pace) dinner at Savory Steakhouse with friends who just happen to be 1981 Assumption grads – or are married to one. Delicious food and lots of laughs. They're going to a haunted corn maze but I declined with a pleasant but firm "Hell no!" Not, not, not my thing. 

It'll be scary enough walking solo into Packers territory tomorrow. We'll see if it turns out to be a trick or a treat!

Two Sports, Two Layers, Two Lakes

When your day starts and ends with temps like this and includes a windchill, you know you gotta bundle up. Especially when you potentially have 5 hours of outdoor time shooting pictures. 

The morning started with the Royals' cross country meet at Lincoln High School. I had the layers but the wind was making my eyes water. Brrrrr! Our girls varsity took first place amongst the smaller schools. Yay!

From there I was able to go home and warm up for about 90 minutes before heading to Royals football. They played at 2 p.m. against a team from Aurora, Illinois. Although we started out evenly trading scores, we fell behind in the second half and lost 35-14. Dang! 

I think I got some good pictures, though. Didn't get a chance to check since we got home at 4:40 p.m. and we were meeting friends Chet, Amy, and Co. at 5 p.m. before going to dinner at Two Lakes. That was a very fast fixing of hair and makeup and changing clothes!

The sky was pretty enroute and once we got there. 

We had reservations at 7 p.m. for our group of 10. You could tell it's getting close to the end of their season because it was packed. So needless to say, we weren't seated until after 7.

Still, my favorite coconut shrimp dinner was worth the wait as always! Jim enjoyed his pan-fried chicken, too. Now we're just digesting while the mattress pad warms up (my side of the bed anyway) – and hopefully getting through some pictures yet tonight.

The forecast isn't changing much for this week so we might be stuck in Two Layers status. Though I wouldn't object to more Two Lakes, too!

Bundle up and be careful out there!

Running Around

What a gorgeous fall day for a run! Oh wait, I didn't actually run. I was there taking pictures of people running. Duh.

To start the day, hubby and I signed up for a 5K walk/run – the Tracks for Tina 5K to benefit the Tina Livernash Memorial Scholarship that our friends organize. We were there to support it but we didn't walk or run. Jim didn't because he's like 20 days from knee surgery and 3 miles is a long walk. I didn't go because our Royals were running in the Rapids invitational over at Lincoln High School at 10 a.m.

So I booked it over there and loved the scenic views (above) that the runners would have. But 100 percent would not appreciate. Not when there's a race to be won!

It was beautiful but brisk. Well, very brisk. Winter hat weather. Totally chill. Like in the 40s. Brrr.

Speaking of 40s...

We went to a 40th birthday party this afternoon for our friend Jeannie. Yes, that cupcake says: "Straight outta 1982." Raise your hand if you feel old! Wow.

After the party, we met up with friends – including Christine and Mike in town for their 5K fundraiser – and went to Two Lakes Supper Club. 

It looks like coconut shrimp because it is! I know I get the same thing every time. But it's so good. And we only go there 2 or 3 a season!

And also great to catch up with friends I see far too seldom. I gotta get out more! I say that as I saw no less than 10 other people there that I knew. Guess everyone gets out! 

Now we're home early enough we could watch baseball playoffs on TV when neither of our teams are in it. Those recliners, though, will make it worth our while!