Land of the Lost :: Office Version

This was our second week of the every-other-week schedule of being in office. For the next 40 months. Nothing quite seemed natural yet since I parked on a different level of our parking ramp and had no idea how to get to my desk!

Sort of a maze to get to the only set of elevators in the building!

I was thinking in the morning that I needed something to identify my "street" to turn down... aka row of cubicles. So I brought in my two purple Carter beanie bears to sit on top of the tall cabinet. But they weren't tall enough. (For my height anyway.) So I ran to Hobby Lobby at lunch and was tempted with a lot of beautiful fall decorations and even Christmas stuff.

But you know Hobby Lobby has everything so I found the sign above in their Big Foot/Sasquatch section. Totally appropriate for our situation. So I found the ribbon row and the scissors row to be able to hang the sign at the end of our "intersection."

It helped me and a few others.

I also reached out to the employee I'm sharing a desk with. I realize he must be a tall person since I had to lower the desk, lower the arms of the chair so I didn't look like I needed a booster seat, and lower the height of the seat so my feet could touch the floor. I apologized that we'll both have to make adjustments when we come in for the next 3-4 years. 

And asked if I could keep some items in one of our shared locker drawers since I didn't want to haul stuff back and forth constantly. I mean important stuff like my birthday fairy supplies and well, signs to hang on the cubicle. 

I am so used to personalizing my space, I know this will be an adjustment. So I'm grateful he said take all the space I need.

Do you know what I didn't have trouble finding today? SentryWorld!

It was so fun after doing our United Way outing yesterday for our foursome to get back together for league (which is just 9 holes, by the way). We just kept the same running jokes and laughs going from yesterday. For those who don't know, that's the cure for a stressful day at work!

Got home in time to blog... and start to edit those senior photos from Sunday. Have a good, relaxing night y'all! If you're lost, ask someone to help you find the way! 

FORE! the Kids

I love working for a company who is so committed to philanthropy and charitable giving on all levels. And we employees are invested in it, too – especially our annual United Way campaign. (Which of course benefits far more than just kids.)

Since our golf outing is consistently a popular and successful fundraiser, we hold it in August (across two days due to the high interest) as sort of a pre-kickoff to the official kickoff in September. So today was not a bad day at the "office." 

Our organization's theme this year focuses on the magic of giving so naturally we had some Magic Kingdom vibes going. This is our golf league foursome and I think we've done this several years now. Going with the theme, our team name was It's a Small, Small SentryWorld!

I call this one "Channeling my Grandma Minnie's spirit!" She's been gone too long! 😟

They tied in some unique activities, too. On the first hole for every Disney trivia question we got right, we'd inch closer to the hole for our first shot. We rocked it so we bypassed Pluto, Goofy, and Minnie to start at Mickey – just 50 yards from the hole! Nice.

The weather was perfect and views were stunning, per usual. So much fun!

Our scorecard looked pretty, too. We finished 5-under par, which we're pretty sure is our best finish yet. No prizes for us. The leading team was magically 25-under!! That's why we focused on having fun in the sun!

It's going to be tough to return to the real office tomorrow. Thank goodness it's our golf league night right after work! 🏌🏌

The Return

On the one hand, the "return" happening today was my golf league foursome finally starting our league at SentryWorld!

Obviously with a large company combined with this stellar course, there are a ton of employees signing up for league! So our group gets the 4:40 p.m. time slot for 8 weeks. And everything is at the peak of bloom!

My game wasn't, but who really cares?

Especially because it was a pretty good distraction for us – tomorrow is the first time back in the office in 6 weeks. I might add "the office" is a temporarily a different one than I've spent the last nearly 9 years. So it's like the first day of high school or something... and this girl will probably sleep 4 hours!

I couldn't even finish our 9-hole round because I had simultaneous obligations. Let's just say announcing your score when you know you only did 8 holes is so much more satisfying! 

We are just days away from our grand production of Yee-Haw so practice was happening in Rudolph, which was thankfully a pretty straight shot from Stevens Point. Missed a good chunk of it, but the songs I needed practice on were after the "intermission" segment anyway. The timing worked out.

Also, for you non-local readers... this rock outside of Rudolph is probably painted a minimum of 50 times a year. Every IMPORTANT event from weddings to pancake breakfasts make it (if someone is willing to paint it, ha). Now our event is "Rudolph Painted Rock" official!

We're so cool in the corniest of ways!

I can't believe I have to conclude the blog early. But my body really has forgotten how to wake up to a 6:20 a.m. alarm clock! I'll take prayers! 

P.S. Let us know if you need advance tickets to Saturday's show. Yes, rain is predicted. But yes, there's a big ol' tent to keep y'all dry!

North Shore Sharing

We took a long weekend to go see our boy Carter and his girlfriend Mamie in Duluth. They've only been there a few months and hubby has never been there so I took the opportunity to share some of my favorite North Shore places and discover a few new ones!

Since the "kids" were working on Friday we set a tee time to golf somewhere in Duluth. 

Grand View had some decent far away views and it was a shorter course than we usually play so obviously, that means I had a better score than normal!

Thus my smile here. And hubby should have had a much bigger smile after chipping in for some birdies!

 

As we drove from there to our hotel, we just happened to see Mamie's workplace. She works at Maurices headquarters, which we all admitted a few months ago had no idea that was in Duluth!

Our home for the weekend was Canal Park Lodge – obviously located right in Canal Park for those of you who know.

This was my anniversary gift to hubby so I wanted a great experience for his first time up there. I got a king suite with a balcony that faced the lake! You might be surprised how many places are boasting a city view. If you book up there, pay attention!

So from our balcony we had a great view of the lake they call "Gitchee Gumee" and the boardwalk that runs clear from here down to the lighthouse and the infamous lift bridge.

And plenty of views of various watercraft. Though most were too far away to focus unless we hustled down the boardwalk a half mile or so. Which we did not.

This is the one side of the lodge that faces the water directly. We were on the third floor.

Jim and I ventured down to the water and realized the whole shoreline was rocks – and a lot of flat rocks great for skipping. Which is why we saw parents and kids by the dozen line up on shore this weekend while their kids "learned" to skip rocks. Jim was brave and took off his shoes and waded in just to experience the "refreshing" Lake Superior temperature. But the rocks were a bit much! Ouch.

Friday evening when the kids were done with work, they suggested we meet at Bridgeman's restaurant. A great diner with super huge proportions... and ice cream!!

I had their Peppermint Bon Bon for dessert even though I didn't have room for it!

But who can resist LARGE ice cream sizes? Not me!

This is their food truck outside the restaurant. I imagine it's wildly popular!

After dinner, the kids (I am sure that they hate that I call them that) walked the short distance from their apartment to our hotel patio. It was a great setting with plenty of tables and a fire pit for those who wanted it.

That's when it was revealed they stayed behind at Bridgeman's and got us some extra birthday gifts. I saw this hat and loved it! And they paid attention! 💓

On Saturday I had a North Shore agenda but the first stop was seeing their apartment. We loved it! A nice, spacious 2-bedroom with much more space than we've seen in previous dwellings.

Updated appliances and everything we'd want for them. But how unfair they get a dishwasher and I had wait until a good decade past that age?? Ha.

After that, I said, let's head to the North Shore. If you don't know where it is in relation to Duluth, just follow the signs!

My first destination was Gooseberry Falls State Park to see the great waterfalls I've seen a few times. There are three different levels to these falls – upper, middle and lower.

They're all spectacular, in my opinion. But is IS a lot steps whether you go up to the upper first of down to the lowest. You somehow have to get back to the parking lot!

 

Just so pretty though. And obviously a busy tourist attraction. So many people!

Sun finally came out. Sorry to make you squint, kids!

All these tree roots growing in rocks was also so crazy!

After Gooseberry, I insisted we go view my favorite lighthouse at Split Rock.

I call this one "This little light of mine." And I'll admit I'm a dork.

After that, it was natural progression to a favorite place of my sisters and me – Betty's Pies.

I had the best slice of Coconut Creme Pie and everyone else gave 2 thumbs up to their selection. Crazy how busy the place was but we could understand why. Yum!

When we got back to Duluth, we dropped the kids off and had some free time for napping or whatever. I finally walked down to the lighthouses. Probably only half a mile away, but it was hot that day.

I saw a bunch of "kids" jumping off this random concrete structure in the harbor there. Can any of you Duluthians shed some light what that is?

I thought they were crazy... then hubby captured me plunging into the freezing water because I was hot and needed some relief. Thank god this was from our balcony so you don't see too many details! 

Last evening, we found a place called Tavern on the Hill that had a little bit everything. The place is pretty big and located close to the two colleges so I am sure it's busy during the school year.

Everyone's portion sizes were huge so we'll see when I get around to finishing up my Hot Honey chicken!

Our Saturday evening vibe from our balcony was so serene. Loved it!

This morning we woke up and wondered who stole Lake Superior while we slept. Definitely could not see the shoreline or any water! Crazy!

So we changed our plans. We were going to go up Enger Tower to get a full view of the city, but we knew that wasn't realistic with the fog. So we we went to nearby Lester Park in search of a waterfall within the city of Duluth.

Well, we picked the wrong challenging hike. The "raging" waterfall was on the the opposite side of the park. But still, it was getting so warm and humid already that we decided that was OK for today.

Still pretty! Give it a chance!

Typical Duluth harbor view as we hit the road to head home!

Stopped for lunch in Bloomer at the Bohemian (hubby's heritage) bakery and diner where we've eaten before.

If you go, I found that just ONE of their "world famous" oatmeal pancakes with blueberries was enough. Depends on your appetite!

We got home late this afternoon to this crazy heatwave. We had plenty to do before our work week starts. But we're just smiling. We had a great weekend with the kids and we all found a place we wouldn't mind visiting again.

Just not in the winter.

Hope you all had a great weekend, too!