Trifle Tuesday Has My Vote!

As a former newspaper reporter and editor, I still get a little PTSD on Election Day. I should say Election Night! Waiting, waiting, "hold the press until results come in" waiting.

With more than a decade of experience in the trenches, I was schooled to be neutral (or write neutral) on just about any type of public decisions – including elections. I mean all my reporting had to be unbiased. I still can't break that habit. I honestly have my opinions, but I just try to see both sides and don't exclaim to the masses how unjust or outrageous certain sides / candidates / campaigns, etc, are.

Even though the educated voter in me says, "Are you kidding me?"

According the machine at our town hall, my vote was "counted" today so that's what matters.

If I ran the world, though, of course I'd say Trifle Tuesday should be a national WEEKLY holiday. (See my Roll a Rolo to a Friend Trifle in Exhibit A above.) 

And really, can we NOT have a serious election on April Fool's Day? It just makes me very nervous for the coming hours. This is also why I'm blogging early. I might not be able to contain my allegedly neutral outside opinion later. 

But if you haven't voted, get out there. Our freedom to do so is not to be "trifled" with! 

Political Poll: Half Full, Half Empty, Don't Care

When you get home from work and the sun is setting, yet you see the moon... Well, you gotta take pictures. When I saw it was possibly going to have some "silhouette branches" in front of it, I zoomed in to take a picture.

Then I realized the moon looked like it was trapped in some sort of bondage. Definitely the wrong angle. 

Then I thought, just take the half moon for what it's worth. It could mean we wasted so much of the first half of "something." Or it could mean we're just starting. You see less than half of what's to come, but we've got a great thing on the way!

Maybe after all the politics we're burnt out about whether we're half full, half empty, or fully just don't care. 

But let's focus on the sliver of brightness that is showing and continue to work on that until we're full and those who matter know it! I vote for that.

Last-Minute Write-In :: Mother Nature

I gotta hand it to Mother Nature. After 3 days of rain, she gave quite a show of color as the "after work" crowd headed to the polls. At least in Central Wisconsin.

First were the streets of gold or the yellow brick road path west from Plover to the town of Grand Rapids. Sun finally peeked through for the first time in days and did it in style.

And she brought on the ol' double rainbow (of promise, perhaps?). I mostly missed it because this was behind me in the eastern sky.

But my girlfriend Sharon captured it nicely from her office in Wisconsin Rapids. Still, the crazy thing was that while I headed south and looked left at the rainbow, this was my view when I looked right (west).

So vibrant and pretty, Mother Nature. Well done!

However, I did notice several geese going the wrong way. Maybe course-correct for them so they're heading south to warmer climes.

At the end of the day, I did end up in the correct place. I did my part to support my candidates and perhaps keep moving the community, the county, the country forward. 

Not sure how late I'll stay up tonight or even watch the results coming in. I still have PTSD from the 2000 election and the damn hanging chads that kept me in the newspaper office almost till sunrise with the only headline we could go with at the time: Too Close To Call.

I'm happy to just be a participant and spectator for now.

May we all continue to love and respect each other in the morning!

It's Only a Day Away

I'm Rockin' Robyn and I approve this message:

Every 4 years, most of us look forward to exercising our right to vote. And really, really look forward to the end of campaigning. 

Every election, it reaches a whole new level. I have no idea who sold a phone list with my number on it, but I have gotten countless phone calls AND texts. Even from this guy...

I must be a very important voter! Side note: The polls open in like 12 hours. There's not much that will sway me at the last minute. But as a former news hound, I know there's the tiniest percentage of chance that something could. 

Unlikely, but you never know. 

My only advice for tomorrow is: Bring your I.D., follow your heart, and if you live in the town of Grand Rapids like me, vote between 11-7.

Cast your vote then grab lunch or dinner! And meet some cool folks protect our lives. No matter who you vote for!

P.S. Our mail box will be feeling pretty empty now too. Feel free to send a card or letter or check! God, bless America! 

Happy Fat Election Tip-Off Tuesday

Just an ordinary fluffy Tuesday around here today. Other than squeezing in multiple events that just happened to all fall on February 21 this year. 

First, I was working from home since they're rearranging our office at work this week. It works out well since the first of some 15 inches of predicted snow has fallen. No driving for this girl tomorrow. No school in the area either.

Today was also our spring election primary for state Supreme Court and area School Board. So I raced over to town hall at lunch and got that done. No lines, of course, since it's such a sparse ballot.

After work, hubby and I went to Assumption to watch the tip-off of the playoff season. Our #1 seed Lady Royals hosted Port Edwards tonight. I think they were winless this season. It's always so painful for the low seed in the bracket that first round.

But props to our girls for coming out strong. Yup, you read that final score correctly. Assumption 70, Port 13. Ouch.

It was good to see our whole bench play so they get more real-time practice. The depth of the bench is crucial when we get into foul trouble. That just seems to happen in the playoffs! Hoping we'll keep cruising down victory lane in the D5 bracket. I will out of town for Regional Rounds 2 and 3 this weekend (for Camp Crop-A-Lot) so they better keep winning so I can see them play again! 

I do have photos to edit yet, but I'm pretty exhausted observing all these special occasions today. Think I'll just head to my Mardi Gras King Cake, er king bed.

Happy Everything Tuesday! 

SOS (Spam On Steroids)

It's Election Day and the polls are officially closed. I sure hope that means all my spammers have closed their offices too. The screen shot above is just the most recent unsolicited texts about the election. It's strange, because we always get a plethora of phone calls for that. But texting is new. 

And I'm not a fan.

Anyway, we both voted – Jim in advance and me after work tonight – so we'll know tomorrow if we have a new governor in Wisconsin and if we'll have new representatives on state and federal levels. We'll also know what the heck people actually advertise on TV...

Joe Heller is a talented cartoonist in Wisconsin and he definitely hit he nail on the head here.

It's a new day Wednesday. May it be noticeably quiet for us all. 

Batter, Up!

Mother Nature cooperated today. If by cooperating we mean she held off the rain during the Assumption softball home opener. But if we mean surviving 40+ degrees and wind, then no, not cooperative.

Still, the game was on! And our Lady Royals defeated Phillips 6-3. My camera and my fingers are both still cold, I think! But it was good to get back at it and watch these talented girls – plus capture a few action shots like these...

And the game got done just in time to stop at the town hall and vote! That's when the rain started. Thanks, Mother Nature.

I guess.

Looking forward to some warmer game days and a lot more victories! Let's go, Royals! 

Five Days

Remember when 2020 sucked? Well it's been 5 whole days into 2021 and we're still not seeing the Wonderful World that Louis Armstrong used to sing about. Instead, we're seeing ugly.

Really ugly.

And frankly, I just can't wrap my head around today's events in Washington. I guess I'm telling my future self that if she wants to know about what the heck was happening, just Google it by date or related subject matters, because there's a lot: storming capitol, electoral college, protests, election fraud, Trump, riot, 25th Amendment, democracy. Oh, and disappointment.

On a positive note – because we need one – a friend's son going through cancer treatments for the past 15 months was declared "in complete remission" today. Praise the Lord! 

Take that, 2021. You can't steal all our joy.

#findpositives #prayforpeace

 

Taking it EEEE-Z

Our alphabetical gratitude month continues today with the letter E, which means I'm ecstatic to share some of my blessings.

A = Autumn, Austins, Assumption
B = Ballots, Books, Book Club, Bible
C = Casey, Clay, Carter, Church, Creativity, Camera
D = Dad, Daughters, Deck Chair, Dar, Design

Eggs: What makes these eggs so good? First, they are paired with the most excellent pork links we've ever had, courtesy of the half pig we bought. Secondly, because hubby prepared them and made breakfast for us this morning! The song Easy like Sunday morning should be Easy like Saturday morning from now on!

Election: Finally today, four days post-Election Day 2020, we have a winner declared – or at least 99% projected. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris will take office in January. Wow. A pretty historic win considering Harris will be the first woman, Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president. It's long overdue, but it's empowering, nonetheless! No matter who you voted for, let's all focus on positive changes and moving forward!

Energy: Like the energized E above, I have been energized with the beautiful weather. All week in the 60s and yesterday and today tipping 70+ degrees and sunny. Love, love, love it! 

So I used that energy to exercise this afternoon, taking a gorgeous walk around Lake Wazeecha and enjoying Mother Earth. We are so blessed to have this lake and walking path nearby!

Empty Nest: As much as I miss our baby, I am grateful for an empty nest because that means he's furthering his education – in fact, graduating from college next month. Of course, with employment not secured just yet, we can only say we are projecting to keep the nest empty. We just can't officially declare that yet. 

In the meantime, we going to visit him tomorrow. So I'm pretty elated!!

#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

Right to Bear Masks

A little primary election day humor for you. If we can laugh yet. I'm not going to spout my political opinions. Just recording some events so when I look back at this someday I'll remember what the chaos was about.

Obviously with COVID-19 and Stay At Home orders, the health of Wisconsin residents is top of mind when it comes to our state government officials. Not sarcastic. I believe they care. But they, much like the federal government, don't know what to do. The problem is that when they finally make a decision, it comes a little too late.

Yesterday afternoon, our governor declared the spring primary scheduled for TODAY would be postponed to June 9. Then, within mere hours, our state Supreme Court overruled the governor's mandate so the election was back on.

If you can imagine municipal clerks notifying their election workers of the status change at the last minute. Then having to call them back 2 hours later, "Nope, that was a false alarm. I still need you tomorrow." My sister is a town clerk up north and can attest this whole election process has been insane. Yesterday just added to it.

So today, thousands of voters went to the polls and bravely or stupidly (I count among them) exercised their right to vote... and wear masks and gloves and BYOP. (Bring Your Own Pen.) Our polling place had a nice setup for the workers to be safely behind plexiglass. And the polling stations were 6 feet apart, too. They did what they could to make it a safe environment. Based on the fact there was no line at all when I went at my lunch time, I suspect the participation numbers are way down. Lots of absentee ballots, sure, but a lot of people just opted to stay home in their bubble. I don't fault them.

I had my mask and my invisible powers and I did my duty.

I don't know how much protection is afforded me. But dang, purple gets my vote any day!

My Political Post

Here's my political post...

You might have to zoom in on the cat. While two of us in our household can wear "I voted" stickers, she could sport the "I vomited" one. Even on non-election days.

I did vote early. Went on way to work and there were lines already and people registering, too. Great to see that!

After work I went straight to a nearly two-hour church meeting and now I'm home. The committee in my head has voted that I should sit down and watch a Hallmark Christmas movie instead of blog.

I love democracy in action!

Grassroots Response

There has been so much negativity in the wake of the election. I thought it was bad during the "campaign season" but the 60-plus days leading up to the transfer of power look to be just as bad. People are either ecstatic or scared. If you think one person can change the world, you are right.

It's the person staring back at you in the mirror.

If you want to see positive change, then you, me, we need to do the legwork. It starts in our own backyards, our communities.

When I signed up to volunteer at The Neighborhood Table, it didn't dawn on me that it would fall during election week. But I'm glad it did. It was a good reminder to not think so globally for a minute, but instead think locally. Think of my "neighbors" and what we can do for them.

The Neighborhood Table is a nonprofit, charitable organization staffed by volunteers who provide free meals to anyone in need. Its mission is to reduce hunger in our community, improve quality of life for our residents and create an awareness of needs that exist in our community.

More than 115 community groups have sponsored a meal each year, and tonight was our church's turn. During the course of a year, it takes some 1,500 volunteers to make this happen. That's about 20 – 25 at each meal, plus the ones who aren't there physically but helped with making desserts or doing setup ahead of time.

Do you know why we need so many hands on for this grassroots effort? Because about 280 meals are served every Thursday and about 150 meals are served each of two Tuesday dinners. Helping to serve the meals is sadly rewarding. It's unfortunate that we have that many people in the Rapids area who are in a position to need a free meal. At the same time, it is fortunate that this service exists.

And fortunate, that I had the opportunity to be a part of it. And really fortunate that 20-some other members of my congregation also wanted to help on the front lines instead of complaining about or even completely ignoring the problem.

Thank goodness the dozens and dozens of diners who showed up tonight did not have to worry about who did or didn't win the election. Thank goodness they could count on our community to be there. To simply care.

That type of attitude and response will get my vote any day.

Democratic Process

Judging by the lines waiting at polling places before 7 a.m., America was ready to vote today!

This was the view at our township municipal building on my way to work. The pre-work crowd was lined up around the outside of the building so I went later before the pre-lunch crowd. Still had a bit of a wait, but not more than 10 minutes.

Deed done, then back to work.

Now, hubby and I have been watching the results roll in and the "projections" called on the various television news stations. I don't know what goes into making a projection, but I would be no good at it. As a former newspaper reporter and editor, we had to have the final numbers in hand to report anything. Even then it was still the "unofficial total" until the votes were canvassed the next day.

Part of me misses that election night excitement in the newsroom. Most of me, though, is glad I can go to bed and not worry about it. At this point, we did what we could do. My vote counted. Jim's vote counted. First-time voter Carter's vote counted. And now we move on.

Regardless of who wins, let keep this in mind...

If I had my own slogan, it would be "Make America Kind Again." I think we all need that.

Thanks for playing.

Voting Early and Often

Had to borrow a little religion from Orange Is The New Black's character Pennsatucky. Hallelujah, indeed.

Even though our phones may be ringing tomorrow with last-ditch efforts from candidates and the commercials may still air, at least there is an end to the madness in sight.

And despite the loony campaign season, I am grateful to live in a country where we do have the freedom of choice. We can vote. It will count. But our candidate still may not win. What a privilege, though, to participate!

Tonight I started voting early and often...

Nothing illegal. It was the live show on The Voice. And while I did pick my favorites, they aren't all moving on. Again, that's just part of the process. And, as a consolation, there is a lot of great talent that was chosen.

Let's hope we can say the same in some 24 to 36 hours, right? And for each of us, that perception will be different.

I don't expect the world's going to end or anything. If it does, at least my blog career would end on an interesting number. Yup, this is blog entry number 3,333. That's a heckuva lot of expression of free speech in this great country!

Uff da. I think my term limit is just about up.

Pick Your Battles

Had to laugh out loud when I saw this today. It's something every parent understands. Every. Single. One.

We learn that although we are the adults – and we most certainly are always right – that we sometimes have to pick our battles. We feel like lesser parents because of it. Like we are conceding instead of standing our ground and proving we are right. But oh, the headaches we avoid.

Is it possible to be right and just let it go when the other person thinks they are right, too?

(Don't ask me. I rarely win an argument. I do always get the last word, though!)

The analogy of the argument with a toddler immediately brought the election to mind. I wisely have kept my mouth shut for a change and I'm not about to get on a soapbox now, promoting one candidate over another. I would love to say, "Not my circus. Not my monkeys." But I think we're all unavoidably in the 3-ring circus of Hell, aren't we?

To be clear, I applaud individuals who have firm beliefs and want to get involved in the political process. That's what a democracy is about. I am concerned, though, about those who carry it too far. Sure, words can hurt, but these reports of physical harm to people (or their belongings) because they are on the "wrong side" are scary.

Elections are notorious for mud-slinging, but everything seems negative to the extreme this time. It makes me want to skip the whole thing on Tuesday. But I can't. People fought hard for our right to vote and we should honor that privilege. I just wish it were a more positive atmosphere for some 18-year-olds I know who have never had the honor before of casting a ballot.

But that's not reality.

Can we at least act like the adults and not the 3-year-olds in this scenario? Pick your battles wisely. Prove your point on the ballot. No matter the outcome, feel a sense of pride that you, at least, had your say.

Then walk away and see what you can do to keep your community, your state, your country moving forward.

God, please bless America!

No Cat-astrophe Here

According to legend, just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. Eventually – typically years and years later – their owner meets them there and they cross that bridge together.

In an unusual set of coincidences, we have three friends who lost their beloved pets this week. Feel so badly for them!

So I am posting a picture of our cat to cheer them up and remind me we are blessed to have our furry princess still with us, and healthy as ever.

Not only that, she could care less about watching the debate tonight. She's not voting for either one. Still holding out for that purr-fect candidate, I guess.

And Sylvester has no allegiance to the remaining baseball teams in the playoffs.

She's 100% independent. No drama. No cat-astrophes.

Just something pretty to look at amid all of today's ugliness in the world.

You're welcome.

Bibbity Bobbity Ballot

I was working in my office the other night and could hear arguing down the hall, coming from the living room.

I swear it sounded like teenage siblings bickering or perhaps a stubborn ol' married couple.

Turns out, it was the presidential debate.

Hubby watched. I did not. I had a deadline and couldn't get away. I think I could hear enough from a distance to determine it was not friendly banter. And not all together mature.

I am not going to get on a political soapbox here. There is plenty of that to go around as is. Just reminding you that there is another party option. C'mon, I'm not the only one who loves the '80s, am I?

Like totally. Join the '80s Party!

Also, a reminder that no matter how upset you are with the candidates or how impatient you are with new procedures at the polls, please be nice to the election workers! This process doesn't happen by "bibbity bobbity" magic.

I have friends who volunteer each year and two sisters who are town clerks up north. There is an insane amount of work to be done to give each of us the freedom to cast our ballots. They folks rock as much as the '80s!

Time to get the party started.

Exercising My Right

I know you don't want to hear yet another person's political views, but it's my blog and this is where I stand...

Hey, they say every vote counts, right?

Seriously, though, I am wondering how many calories I burned today exercising my right vote!

I know. Stop me.

Today's a big day in Wisconsin as we participate in the presidential primary and cast our opinions on a lot of other topics and races. While Wisconsin Rapids picks a mayor, those of us out in the "country" had town supervisors, county board and school board candidates to pick.

I thought of voting on my way to work and even home early to do so. When I saw cars lined up on the road plus a full parking lot at the Grand Rapids town hall, I continued on to work. Around 10 a.m., a co-worker (fellow township resident) and I drove over and the line of voters was out the door. So we circled the block and went back to work. Finally at 3 p.m., we took another "coffee break" and got in no problem, no waiting. And we beat the nasty "spring" weather of rain, sleet and snow. Yuck.

I was voter No. 2,169 and I heard later that they'd gotten to at least 2,800 so we'll have more than a 50 percent voter turnout for our township anyway. It's exciting that we have what is considered a great turnout but sad to think of all those people not out there exercising!

I just won't take that right for granted. I also especially enjoy the freedom of just voting and not being a member of the media having to report on it all night. Don't miss those days!

Do want to give a shout out to all the municipal clerks (like my sisters Romey and Raylene) and all the election workers. It really takes amazing teamwork of selfless individuals to make our actions possible. Thank you! Based on the high traffic at the polls around the state, you all deserve a pat on the back and a day off!

But first, make sure that candidate who can end winter wins the election! Please.

Rally Time

April usually means one thing around here. Garage Sale. Carter's former babysitter has had a sale in early April for many years, almost always the first sale of the area to bring out the thrift shoppers from their winter hibernation.

Since it is this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I figured I better rally the troops to get stuff together. And well, by troops I mean me and by rally I mean rally up some energy to put on price tags – the most tedious process and the No. 1 reason I usually donate stuff to charity. Not a big fan but I wanted to contribute more than just the leftover Carter clothes from last year.

I also knew I wanted to clean out a coffee table that has sat in a corner of the basement, gathering toys on the inside and dust and cobwebs on the outside. That sort of got me on a random basement cleaning project. I priced some stuff, threw out some stuff, and hung onto some stuff. Some not by choice.

I had planned to sell this kitty cubby that Sylvester NEVER uses. Today she had different ideas. Just like a kid cleaning their room and finding "new" toys they forgot they had. So I guess we'll keep it for now, Sly. But if she doesn't use it the rest of the week, it's gone.

I managed to take a CRV load over to Audrey's and will take more over this week if I rally up any more energy to price things I can or should part with.

Meanwhile, my friends are having fun with the other big thing April symbolizes around here. Primary Election.

Tuesday is the primary in Wisconsin so all of the presidential candidates are rallying up support around the Badger State. I had some friend see Cruz and Trump earlier this week and I had 3 girlfriends (they don't all know all each other) attend the Bernie Sanders rally today in Wausau.

Our friend Lori was the first one there at 5:20 a.m. and stood in the freezing temps for hours and hours. Our neighbors across the street – Mike, Cindy and their 20-year-old son Sam – headed up there at a more reasonable hour and got up there before 10 a.m. My friend Chris and her daughter Emily (who I mentored in confirmation) got there in time to basically be among the last ones in. They sat in the last row of the balcony!

Lori, though, was chosen to sit on stage with some choice Bernie supporters. That made it worth getting up and on the road at 4 a.m. Our neighbors also got to sit on stage! They saw Mike wearing his Union jacket and they wanted to be sure he got special treatment. How cool is that?

So here we are watching the news and we see Sam, Cindy and Mike to the left there and Lori right behind Bernie. That's awesome for them!

No matter what your political views are, it's exciting to be a part of the democratic process. Reminds me of my brushes with candidates of the past. For the 1988 election, I got to celebrate Al Gore's 40th birthday at his rally at UW-La Crosse. Got to see Paul "bowtie" Simon on campus, too, and shook Michael Dukakis' hand at a rally at the Eau Claire airport. It was fun time to be in the Campus Democrats. Ha. (I met someone else, too, but I gotta see if I can dig up the photo. Then I'll share that story later.)

I'm too tired to put any more effort into anything. I even got 10,000 steps today and, thanks to my work in the basement, my FitBit says I've "climbed" 15 flights of stairs, too.

Think I'll relax the rest of the evening while hubby gears up for his important April events – fantasy baseball draft tonight and Assumption High School baseball season opener tomorrow.

Pretty sure we're all going to need to rally up major energy come Monday morning.