Swinging Through Emotions Like Tarzan

Not gonna lie. There was a lot of stress this week (mostly work-related). But then you realize there are much bigger problems that, by the grace of God, we are not dealing with.

My lunch break today consisted of going to a funeral for a neighbor lady we usually saw a minimum of once a day walking her dog past our house. I was immediately brought to tears when her grieving husband told us "I just loved her so much! Make sure you two hug each other when you get home!" Uff da. Throw in a How Great Thou Art and Josh Groban's You Raise Me Up, and I was emotional toast the rest of the day. 

A while later and channel-surfing hubby finds Tarzan playing on one of the Disney channels. "Little Carter" loved this movie (I'm sure we've seen it 100 times) and had the soundtrack memorized. Plus I've already decided our mother-son dance at his wedding (if he ever gets married) will be Phil Collins' You'll Be In My Heart. So yes, add some more emotion for the mama missing her (now 27) toddler!

How do we cope? Like any Wisconsinite, we head to a Friday Fish Fry!

And witness a gorgeous sunset, too! I can see now that slowing down to 15 mph is still too fast for a crisp photo, but you get the point.

We went to The Ridges and my Haddock Au Gratin was 100% as delicious as it looks! I didn't even need the Ranch to dip my fries in – they tasted amazing dipped into that extra au gratin sauce!

And it wasn't just the food that shifted my mood. We literally ran into about 20 people we know. Lots of people enjoying fish, that's for sure. And great to catch up with a few friends I haven't seen in awhile. Apparently, we gotta get out more!

Have a good weekend, everyone. Hug your loved ones and especially yourself if you need it!

A Little Bit Before (or 44)

I'm so embarrassed that since I worked from home yesterday afternoon, I had "Friday" in my head. And thus, the end of January. Oops.

Today, though, for real. LOL.

And it was pleasant enough at 44 degrees that I didn't mind venturing out a few times. Especially for good things!

Yup, lunch hour was an hour-long deep tissue massage. So hard to come back to work after that. Mildly painful, but effective. And also a trigger to nap!

Tonight, I picked up fish fries for us from The Ridges. It's Wisconsin. Every place is packed for a fish fry. Any Friday of the year! Very delicious!

Now, we have a surprising night free. I really better wrap up those Christmas movies – especially knowing Hallmark has a full slate of Valentine's ones. What can this dorky old lady say? I'm living the dream here!

Have a wonderful, enjoyable, and safe weekend, everyone!

Something's Fishy

No matter what Punxsutawney Phil says on February 2nd, we mostly give him the benefit of the doubt – and are especially supportive when he predicts an early spring. And he certainly did that this year. And we certainly got it.

Apparently the fine print indicates there's no guarantee that winter won't return AFTER that early spring. Doh!

So we awoke to the predicted 3-4 inches of overnight snow. 

Thankfully, the snowblower wasn't needed. Just some muscle work by the man of the house while the boy and I worked. 

I forgot we actually wanted the snow so we could get rid of this dead-ass ash tree pile in our front yard. Jim and neighbor Mike cut that down in the late fall.

Today, with the snow covering the dry ground, they commenced to turning the dead-ass ash pile into a pile of ash.

Was tempted to have s'mores for lunch...

But Carter and I saved room for fish at Kellner International while Jim worked his final Friday of the fish fry at St. Lawrence. Good stuff!

Now we're watching some hoops and while waiting for the super-late-for-old-people Badgers game.

Meanwhile, we should all apologize to Punxsutawney Phil. I mean whoever seeded these brackets did a fishy job too. I mean... Yale? What?

Let's go, Bucky (Phil's rodent cousin)!!

Fry-Day

As work weeks go, this was a long one. For all of us under this roof. Hubby had technical issues and Carter and I just had outright piles of stuff to get done.

So Friday comes around and we're thinking a good ol' Wisconsin fish fry.

Of course, Jim volunteers at his church fish fry and runs the dishwasher, so it was just my boy and me tonight. At 50 degrees, it felt pretty spring-like so I found this palm tree fish fry graphic to illustrate our evening. But then I realized my imaginary second home in Florida was 30 degrees warmer today.

So we just enjoyed some delicious deep-fried perch from The Ridges and gave a sigh of relief that nothing further was required of us for the evening.

Now I just have to decide if I'm more invested in basketball, some catching up on Hallmark movies, or major catching up on my streaming series. As long as the most work is changing a channel, i'm good.

Hope you all survived your week OK and have some weekend relaxation in your future!

Foto Fryday

I know for a lot of people it's Fish Fry Friday – thanks to Lent. But after work, I got busy with locating and ordering prints of the last photos I'll need for Camp Crop-A-Lot next weekend.

In fact, I think I'm all set. Ignore the folder labels since I bought these from someone years ago. But rest assured, each folder has photos (and some of them corresponding papers) for pages I'm going to do at camp for years 2016 and 2017.

It really takes a lot of organizational work BEFORE camp. I'm glad I'm close to done so I don't have to fret about it for the next week. 

As for Fish Fry Friday, I think I'll just settle for Pre-camp Popcorn! It's been a busy night!

Have a good weekend, friends!

TGIFF (Thank God it's a Frozen Friday)

I think every Friday in January in Wisconsin should be Ice Age Friday. Especially when Scrat makes such great memes that not only make us laugh but make us feel frigid cold when we imagine his prehistoric squirrel teeth on ice!

We were kind of feeling it today. Since it was below-zero wake-up temps again. But then it was sunny all day and looked (from our inside the house window views) warm. It wasn't.

That's why, when hubby got home late afternoon after visiting his dad and we had to go grocery shopping, I opted to hop into his warm truck rather than go myself – in my cold car.

After shopping at two places, we thought we should stop somewhere for a fish fry. Since The Ridges is right on our way home, we stopped there. I guess a lot of people had the same idea because it was packed and we had quite a wait. At least we saw some people we knew to help pass the time.

Now we're home and the temperatures aren't going to get any better the next few days. Don't be offended if we call on you to help us pass the time – INDOORS that is!

TGIFF and be careful out there!

PTO :: Packed Time Off

My PTO day (paid time off) started with an alarm at 5 a.m. That doesn’t sound relaxing for a day off. And that didn’t change for several hours.

Hubby and I left the house by 5:45 a.m. to head down to Madison, where our Lady Royals were playing their Division 5 state semi-final softball game against Oakfield.

First pitch was at 8 a.m. and we got there with time for him to find a seat and me to find the dugout for game-day pictures.

As the #2 seed, we were home team to the #3 seed. By the bottom of the first, we were down 1-0 and couldn’t ever relax. 

Granted there were many reasons for small celebratory smiles during the game, but they (and I) couldn’t relax.

It was nerve-wracking. Oakfield, who has had a record number of teams at state more than a dozen times, had a 4-1 lead by the bottom of the 3rd inning. We rallied to tie it and all was good until they scored 3 more in the 6th. We answered with 1 in the last at bat but… lost 7-5.

It was heartbreaking for MY girls. Especially MY seniors. Dang. 

Got home shortly after noon and then edited pictures until we headed west to Pittsville to join old friends for dinner. OK. Old as in Jim has known them forever and maybe old as in more than a decade beyond retirement. 

We met Marv and Sherry at their house in Pittsville then headed south to Babcock. Now I’ve been to Pittsville dozens of time and never even knew they had a downtown. I’ve always just gotten as far as the school or ballpark and that’s it. I did notice an ice cream shop on the way down so we girls decided that was a must stop on the way back.

A night of firsts… also have never even stopped in Babcock for any reason, let along dining. We ate at the Bucks ’N Berries place. I thought the sign said “Buck N Berries” like trying to be a swear word, but not. That must have been my hungry side of the brain!

Had a nice fish fry and funny conversation in the little diner. They’re a neat couple. So gracious. 

After dinner, we stopped by the cemetery north of Babcock to visit Jim’s old boss and friend Dave (who our friends the Kolbecks knew, too). He’s still missed very much!

When we got back to Pittsville, we grabbed frozen goodness at the Cranberry Creamery, sat outside and watched the Friday night high life.

I still can’t believe Pittsville has both a downtown AND an Ice cream place. I have to get out more!

Going through Rapids on the way home, we stopped to visit Jim’s dad awhile, too. 

Hey, when I take a rare day off, I’ve got to pack it with good (well, mostly good) stuff! Now, onto the weekend! 

Anger Management for a Good Cause

It's been a pretty stressful week, well, maybe month or so at work. Just lots of things to accomplish. All at once, it seems.

So when our marketing writing team decided to do a volunteer project and get out of the office, I was thrilled. Our company generously pays us for some volunteer time off each year – even during work hours – so 9 of us writers left the office at 1 p.m. yesterday and headed to the Bridge Street Mission in Wausau.

We knew it was going to a be a sketchy weather afternoon of manual labor – not usually my thing – consisting mostly of raking and picking up sticks and other random spring yard work. Just as I was approaching the guy in charge who was giving our group instructions, I heard him say, "And if anyone is particularly angry today and wants to burn off steam..."

I yell, "Me, me. I am!" 

So he gave me a sledgehammer and told me to break apart some old planter things.

Man, that felt good! Except, sigh, the hammer was really heavy and I knew after one swing that it would not be good for my back. So I reluctantly gave it up to one of the guys on the team – who did not admit today if he was sore or not. I know I was hurting today just from all the raking and picking up sticks. We don't do any of that in our own yard. My body usually knows better.

But the folks at the recovery house were super grateful, so it felt good to do it, that's for sure. 

And warm fuzzies always trump stress. 

So does taking pictures. After I got back to town, I was able to take some photos of Royals softball (they beat Edgar) and baseball (we unfortunately blew a lead and lost). Then tonight after work it was rinse and repeat. Minus the sledgehammer. 

Oh, and post-game fish fries with friends also help manage stress or anger.

Follow me for more life tips! And be careful out there!

Super Group-er of Friends

On this Good Friday we were solemn and sad during our afternoon church services, then uplifted by an evening with Good People.

Our friends who own TriCity Golf Course had a unique fish fry tonight featuring blacked pan-seared grouper. Uniquely delicious! So very yummy! A super grouper with what turned out to be a super group-er of friends. 

We met our friends Mark and Lisa there since we haven't taken time to get together with them in months and months. Then we pretty much knew people at every other table and had a nice evening catching up with all kinds of people. Good People on Good Friday.

What a nice start to the weekend. 

May you be blessed with the Good People in your life for the Easter holiday! Once we're past the sorrow of today, it's a great reason to celebrate! 

Friday Night Vibes

I guess Friday night vibes are a thing. I wonder if they meant going to bed early because you did three things after work and you're exhausted.

That's my vibe.

Finally had a GSD (get "stuff" done) day at work so I am no longer in the post-vacation catch-up mode. Yay.

After work, we went over the Jim's dad's and delivered fish fries. I had my fish and took the rest of my meal on the road since I had to do event number 2 – observe a wedding rehearsal so I know the run of show tomorrow when I photograph it. Then I met Jim and the kids at B's Tap for event 3. 

Which was basically hanging out with these cuties for one beverage before they hit the road tomorrow and head back to southeastern Wisconsin. It was great having them here this week. Not enough free hours when we're a bunch of working adults!

I guess this means my Saturday vibes will be a bit sad. But you can't know sadness until you've had joy. So yay for joy and Friday night vibes.

Stay warm this weekend!

50 Shades of Black Friday

As Black Friday approaches, I think every Friday in November should be some shade of a Black Friday.  Something akin to a paint chip card (or today's gloomy rain clouds).

Three Fridays out, I guess it's #333333 Grey Friday. And since our friend has a Christmas Open House at her shop, it seems only right that I get into the #333333 spirit! 

Went to Rustic Redefined after work and fell in love with all fall and winter clothes. This is unique stuff you won't find anywhere else. And I love it! I decided to treat myself to one item – figuring I better pick something I can wear to work. So I tried on four things and purchased... one. Seriously! But I might be back on #222222 Gray Friday! (P.S. Open house is Saturday too from 10-3.)

Hubby and I got into the holiday spirit after I got home from shopping. I mean the overeating part. What could you possibly have been thinking? Anyway, I picked up cajun fish fries at The Fallback (formerly Double Down, formerly Wildhorse Saloon). It was super tasty and we stuffed ourselves! We don't need to do that more than once a week, that's for sure!

Now he's flipping channels from the confines of his surgery recovery chair (aka recliner) and I'm DVRing one Hallmark movie and about to dive into another.

Happy #333333 Gray Friday! 

Beat the Clock

I feel like I've been in a Cinderella story all week. No handsome prince – just trying to beat the clock and get into bed by midnight the past few nights. To do that, I had to skip blogging. But I'll give you a quick lowdown of the fun...

On Wednesday, I literally got home about one minute to midnight. My friend Cindy and I finally got to see Dear Evan Hansen – the last show from our 2019/2020 season ticket package. Just 4 words about that: Well worth the wait!

OK, maybe more than 4. It was in incredible show. We read the book and saw the movie and listened to the "soundtrack." But the live Broadway performance exceeded our expectations. We laughed a lot and cried, too. Had a big lump in my throat for quite a while after its conclusion. Just so good. See the Appleton paper's review of it here to learn more about it. And go if you can!

Thursday was all about baseball. And a late night editing pictures. Why are these Royals fans cheering? Well, a couple of reasons. One is that we had our first victory of the season with our 7-1 win over Port Edwards. Two is that we had to borrow some players, sort of, to make it happen.

Our roster is small to begin with and with two players out, we were down to just 8 available to suit up yesterday. If you don't follow baseball ever – you need 9 players for a full team. I mean it's not illegal to have 8, but 9 works best. So we had 2 members of the golf team and 1 from track and field suit up. I don't think he'd played since elementary school, so the fans were pretty excited when he not only swung and made contact with the ball, but got a double and eventually scored.

I know it's always a lot more fun to win. But this was just fun to see a school come together to make a team. Loved it! Maybe those 3 will stay on? Never count out anything these days.

Friday (today) was a long, rainy day. First work, then workout, then meeting friends at Homestead first, then Layla's for fish fries. Except it was very busy and took forever to get a table for 7. Ended up finally eating about 8:45. According to my husband, the rich eat late! So there must have been others who got their food after we did! 

Just got home and I'm determined to get to bed before midnight AND get 8 hours of sleep. My mind says I should "Live like there's no midnight," but my body says, "You turned on your heated mattress pad the minute you walked in the door – who are you kidding?"

Time for bed, Cinderella!

Doing Good

May the darkest night end and may the sun shine on all of us today.

I'm fortunate enough to work for a company that allowed me a long lunch today to attend Good Friday service at my church. Plus, I kind of needed to be there since there were only 3 of us sopranos available to sing with the choir. 

It was a somber song but also was a positive one for us because it was the first time we (the choir) could sing in church since winter of early 2020. We're looking forward to Sunday when we can really express our joy as we sing "Christ is risen!"

Always a somber message on Good Friday but also a good reminder about how much God loves us – and if we look around, how many of our friends and family love us, too. Feeling very blessed!

Had to go back to work for the rest of the day but tonight Jim and I went out to eat to get a fish fry. For you locals, we tried the Junkyard Bar and Grill (formerly Octane), which came highly recommended. Place was full but we did get a table – and did have to wait an hour for our food. But it was very delicious!

We had similar waiting situations elsewhere last week at a different venue. Everyone's short-staffed these days so it's best we aren't short-tempered about it. Pretty sure there are more pressing things going on in the world right now than how quickly we get our deep-fried food!

As we witness God's love again this season, let's see if we can keep paying it forward. In patience and kindness to start. 

Wishing you blessings and joy this Easter weekend!

That's How a Week Should End

This is how every work week should end. Watch a bit of golf after work. Take the kids out for a fish fry – even if takes going to 3 places before we found one with a table available. Enjoy a super good meal (Thanks, Fallback Bar) and great company.

Then walk outside to this view.

Definitely a nice treat – without the calories – and a reminder that even though temperatures barely got above freezing and it rained and it snowed today, Mother Nature comes through once in awhile.

Please pardon me while I go turn my electric mattress pad on rather than sing any further praises. She's gonna have to earn that. Bump the temps up another 20 degrees and we'll talk.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Vic-Tory Valentines

Neither rain nor sleet nor snow – or all 3 – was going to prevent us from celebrating Valentine's Day. Well my gift to hubby anyway. I got tickets to Vic Ferrari's Symphony on the Rocks concert because our friend Kat is the lead female vocalist.

And she used to sing with Jim in swing choir. 

Yup, a longtime friend that I've gotten the privilege to know over the years, too! 

After enjoying fish fries at the nearby Great Dane Brew Pub, the stage was set for a fun night. 

I got tickets in the front row of the balcony so we could see everything – because to see violins, cellos, and brass accompanying a rock 'n' roll band. Very, very cool!

And Kat is so cool and so talented! Those boots, though! Wow. The whole band is talented. This is their 35th and final year together so I'd encourage you to see them if you can this summer.

Afterward the classmates got to catch up a few minutes before more adoring fans whisked her away for a photo of her in her boots. They definitely wanted those. What a rock star.

On the way home – while snowing and raining – we were listing to the very close Badgers game on the radio. Got home with 3 minutes and 13 seconds left of the game! 

Just in time to see them win and move on in the NCAA tourney. Victory!

By then, it was too late for this old lady to blog. Got up at 8 a.m. today so I could go to book club. Great that all 6 of us were there today! Then after lunch, I went to a bridal shower for my friend Brenda's future-in-law. Nice time! And before you ask, of course I won one of the games. Yup, even at bridal showers I'm competitive!

This afternoon, since it was actually sunny and in the upper 40s and the snow we woke up to was melted, I took a walk/run and got to meet a few of the new neighbors.

There's so cute! And they actually came up to me – not at all like that princess in this house.

Though she might pay attention to me tonight. There's only so much college basketball a girl can take!

Can't Seem to Pardon the Interruption

When the temps rose just past the single digits today, it was a perfect excuse to stay in tonight. I mean we could have watched basketball in person, gone to dinner with the kids in person, or they could have gone out on the town in person.

But nope. We stayed in our bunker on Blue Jay Drive. In person.

And watched guys in Hawaii just to stay out of the bunkers on the golf course. 

For the record, we also watched the Assumption basketball game on TV since it was live streaming. And we had a nice dinner together. High recommended the fish fry from The Chatrbox. The 4 of us gave it 8 thumbs up!

So why we are we interested in prime time golf? A couple reasons beside staying in from the cold.

First this tournament is sponsored by my employer. And secondly, I wrote the script for this video that was televised right before the Golf Channel's interview with our CEO. So I was jazzed about that. I had Carter watch it just so he knows his mom is famous. Behind the scenes famous. But still famous. Ha.

And the third reason was that we needed the distraction. This has been the world's longest week – and I'm not quite ready to pardon the interruption of our lives. Interruption and disruption.

The Hedberg Hotline to Heaven (that what we're calling our family's prayer efforts this week) was busy again today as the two people we love and were praying hard for on Monday needed our attention. One was readmitted to the hospital and the other is undergoing another surgery (not 16 hours this time). So we're praying hard again that God helps the doctors use their skills to the best of their abilities to help these guys with their serious conditions.

 

I feel like the joy of Christmas was months ago already. We'll find joy again. And peace to go along with our hope.

And we'll guiltlessly use golf, basketball, or deep-fried food as a distraction.

Not Very Original

Like deja vu all over again, I am out of time tonight. Since we went over the the in-laws for fish fries after work, I just got to my hundreds of photos from last night. I got 4 cross country races done but still have football to go. 

So even though this is not very original, enjoy another sunset on me...

This was our view driving home in the rain from Jim's parents' house. A beautiful sunset chased us the whole way. Glad it caught us. What a beautiful ending to quite a busy week!

Let's have a good weekend, shall we?

 

Duped by the Duex Dukes

What a freaky Friday. I went to bed and the Duke of Edinburgh (aka Prince Phillip) was only 40 years old. And I didn't like him. I woke up and learned the real-life 99-year-old Duke had died. Give me another 59 years – or 2 more seasons of The Crown – and I'll catch up and pay my due respects.

This is what happens when you binge-watch a show and you not only dream about it, it impacts real life. That's kind of freaky, isn't it?

It won't stop me from watching. I am one of those Royalty Geeks (besides King Cone, that is). My interest started with Princess Di and has continued through to Meg and Harry – so I'm thoroughly enjoying The Crown series on Netflix. And yes, I fully recognize I'm 5 years late to the royal dinner party!

Still, now I can buzz through the 4 seasons on cold or rainy or free nights and don't have to wait for new episodes.

If you're at all interested and haven't watched it yet, might I suggest you start first with The King's Speech – an excellent 2010 movie that tells the story of King George VI, his impromptu ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.

Basically, The Crown picks up from there, chronicling the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to modern times. The series begins with an inside look at the early reign of the queen, who ascended the throne at age 25 after the death of her father, King George VI. As the decades pass, personal intrigues, romances, and political rivalries are revealed that played a big role in events that shaped the later years of the 20th century. I basically Google something after every single episode!

I just started season 3 and there's mostly new actors portraying the characters as they age. So, I need to adjust to that. Throw in a nonfiction death in 2021 and I'm in a state.

You know what solves that? A royal date night with hubby. Actually dining inside a restaurant – a steakhouse just down the road – and enjoying a good fish fry and dessert...

This seriously was the best piece of turtle cheesecake I've ever had – well half, since I did share with hubby. The top was almost like a thin crust of caramel and I could taste maybe some brown sugar in there? Not sure. Doesn't matter. It was just gooooood.

It was nice – and normal – to treat ourselves out for once. Haven't had a sit-down dinner with just the two of us in an actual restaurant since our anniversary last July. And no concerns about social distancing tonight since we got to the restaurant at a non-busy time between early birds and dinner dates. 

Even got the table by the fireplace. Now that's the royal treatment!

Bird Watching

It's a sure sign of spring around our house when you can hear the birds chirping outside and Sylvester demands a window seat so she can watch them. It wasn't quite warm enough to have a window open all day, but in 10 minutes, she saw her fill of feathered friends!

Turkey Lurkey all by himself, social distancing from the brood, I guess.

Squawking Mr. Blue Jay who Blue Jay Drive is named after, I'm sure!

Mz. Round Robin... Obviously she's gaining the quarantine 15!

And then there's Red, who wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a good photo.

Maybe tomorrow when it's much nicer out I can actually sit outside and get a closer view myself. Kitty can still watch from the inside. She's not made for the wilds of our yard, that's for sure!

It is supposed to be close to 60 degrees tomorrow. We were going to grill out tonight, but we'll wait until our nice spring day Saturday. Instead, we ordered delivery from a local bar and grill called Mo's. We happen to know the owner's family and as it turns out, two of my "adopted daughters" were working delivery tonight.

Look at this sweet note on the takeout container. Now that's a special delivery! Hubby had a delish perch fish fry and I had a fantastic coconut shrimp dinner. It's fun to support local businesses when the delivery girl's a sweetie and the food is amazing!

My evening was topped off with a Zoom call with my Royal circle of girlfriends Brenda-squared, Michelle, and Kelly. We talked for 2 hours about everything and nothing. It was so great to SEE them!

My weekend's pretty much made and it's only Friday. Nice.

Hope we can all get out and catch some sun and fresh air tomorrow! Relax and enjoy!