America Turns 250

This 100% does make me old. But I do remember a parade and singing patriotic songs at the park. It was a big deal. 

And I know people are making a big deal about America turning 250 today, but I just couldn't get into it with the same child-like enthusiasm. Our celebration included...

Me dressing in my only patriotic shirt to go to the farmers market downtown...

Hubby cutting grass (always smells so good!)...

And me taking a walk and checking out the neat decorations some neighbors put out.

Tonight we had fresh from an Amish garden baby red potatoes and grilled brats from Ski's. Jim enjoyed a Bloody Mary brat and I really liked my Nashville Hot Chicken brat. Good stuff!

We are not going to the fireworks in town. It is a zoo. I mean people were putting out their "save my seat" blankets at 10 a.m. today. It's crazy. We expect there will be some set off close by, per usual. Just feel bad for the dogs in the neighborhood who absolutely hate fireworks. In another world, all dogs would become ex-pats!

Hope you found a fun and safe way to enjoy this historic day. And took time to appreciate your freedoms!

You Had Me at Feels Like 34

 

It's such a downer when Robyn's Day Out turns into "Why are you even outside today!?"

But my trusty camera – who may or may not be cursing me – set out to catch some action at the ballpark.

With the snow, we had to have our Assumption games on the turf (again) at the Lincoln High School quad plex. Both baseball and softball teams were playing today. At the same time.

The first thing I noticed was that without my husband on the coaching team this year, I didn't know all of the baseball team. Or half of it, anyway.

Just like softball yesterday, there seemed to be a lot of new faces. Especially for this old lady whose son graduated almost 9 years ago. (Say it isn't so!)

Anyway I took pictures of baseball and when it got to be a long defensive inning, I hopped over to our softball team just 20 feet away. While the boys lost their double-header, the girls turned things around from yesterday and took 2 W's in their outing.

With the wind making the temperatures cooler than normal, I didn't last the whole afternoon. Even with a winter coat on, that windchill with a real feel of 34 degrees did not agree with my camera. Or wimpy me.

But hey, spring sports in full force now. As long as Mother Nature mildly cooperates. And hubby grilled burgers tonight so that has to mean something.

Please!

100% Kick Ass-ery

I started my road trip up to Luck early this morning with an attitude inspired by my new air freshener courtesy of my friend Sara.

But it didn't take me long after arriving at my sister Rachel's house to realize SHE is the one who's a bad ass and kicking ass -- if I may say so.

I'm here for 3 days and she is so Miss Independent I can't believe her progress. As I type this, she has somehow wheeled herself into the bathroom and is able to take a shower. All without my assistance.

I was a bit nervous signing up for duty for a few days, but now I'm just in awe. However, I did kick her butt in cards tonight so I'm not THAT nice of a sister.

The afternoon was spent catching up with my twin, who I tagged off on the mild care duties, and Rachel's son (my cowboy nephew Zach) who came by with his wife and they smoked a seriously tasty steak for dinner. I also started scanning some pictures for our mom's memorial service -- which is in Grantsburg on August 10.

In the picture above, my new superhero Rach is lower left and I am middle right -- realizing I still wear my hair that way when I'm hot or don't have time to curl it. Ha.

I'll be working from my legit HOME office in Luck, Wisconsin, the new couple days. I literally can see my high school from here. I guess some things come full circle, Too bad there isn't summer school going on so I can teach those kids about writing for the school newspaper.

Or prepare them that even if you're from Luck, you won't always have GOOD luck on your side. 

Have a great week, everyone!

April Showers

April showers bring... soggy messes. But on the bright side, this is all the snow we have left in our yard. For now. It's way too soon to predict what the rest of the month has in store.

Hopefully, at some point, Spring Sports can start. For the ball fields, that means dry weather and all the white stuff melted away. Fingers crossed Tuesday is the day.

Other than weather concerns, it was a typical Sunday. Church choir, some golf (watching not playing), some women's hoops (watching not playing), and the CMT awards (definitely watching only!).

But since the rain was light, Jim grilled brats for supper so it felt like spring anyway. 

And most everything else is status quo from yesterday. Just keep praying for spring to really arrive – and my sister to keep improving.

Have a great week and be careful out there!

Un-seasonable Season's Greetings

When I was heading home from book club this morning, I noticed it was unseasonably warm for the day before Christmas Eve. So I stopped at Kwik Trip and got my car washed. Who wouldn't? I have friends in Minnesota who even golfed today. Jealous but glad we both took advantage of the unseasonable season's greetings!

And so did hubby. Here he is grilling some brats outside on Christmas Eve eve at the same time he's testing out the snowblower, of course. It's being finicky. In the months to come, we'll need that a heckuva lot more than the grill.

While he was doing that I made the third version in 10 days of a peppermint bark trifle.

I also got the ham going. But based on the party in our front yard, I could've gone with turkey!

We had a good meal and great time with the Austin clan. My father-in-law appreciated the humor in his personally autographed (via my PhotoShop skills) picture of a certain celebrity he does not like. She takes too much focus off of football!

He did enjoy seeing his great-grandkids – as we all did.

The annual cousins picture is missing two of the tall ones – Casey and Carter – but still looks pretty cute because Colin and Clay certainly are! It was fun having little Mya and Eli here, too.

Pretty sure Sylvester wasn't a fan, but I give them props for trying! At least she didn't hiss, just ran away and hid under our bed a bit.

It was just nice. And we have leftovers for tomorrow night when we feed 2/3 of our offspring after our afternoon church choir "gigs". I just say gigs so the kiddos think we're popular. 

Enjoy your Christmas Eve eve and Eve!!

Unofficial Start of Summer for Sure

There's no doubt Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer! I don't care if it's back in the 70s again next week. Right now, it's summer. And I'm loving it.

Also, if you notice the time on the TV – 10:19 a.m. was when I was enjoying my morning coffee. When I say I'm sleeping in on my day off, I'm not messing around.

Finally think I'm caught up on sleep. Finally unpacked and have my work bag reorganized. And finally killed off nearly 200 work emails. I KNOW it's supposed to be a holiday, but I had to do it. Or there wouldn't be enough caffeine for tomorrow morning's re-entry into the real work world!

I did treat myself to some fun. My friend Marigene went golfing in the mid-afternoon. Jim had already gone this morning with buddies before having baseball practice.

I was sporting my new truckin' hat from our customer. Definitely not wearing it golfing again. Not a true trucker hat with ventilation. Instead, it was a bit hot. Like my golf game!

Just kidding. Only checking to see if you were still with me.

Got home to hubby grilling steak and brats – not something we had at any grad parties this weekend. I think we're now rested and fortified for the short week ahead. Hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend, too.

Hello, Summer! You're welcome to stick around.

Weekend Visiting Hours

We were blessed today to have two surprise visitors in the early afternoon, then four more visitors later in the day! 

For the past two days, my sister Rachel and our mom were down in the Milwaukee area. Rachel had a wedding and Mom was her plus-one. They added an extra day so Mom could finally see the painted chimneys around Greendale. She saw them on a TV show or in a magazine a few years back and has wanted to go ever since. Since all roads lead through Central Wisconsin, Rachel called me this morning on their way back up north to see if they could swing by and see us. Of course!!

Haven't seen them since Mom's birthday party in early April, so it was so nice! The four of us went to a nearby cafe for lunch and then I sent them home with fresh-baked Hornet's Nest Cake. It was a short visit since they had another four hours to go. But we got our hugs in!!

Later, the big boys and their special ladies came over for dinner. Clay actually prepared the prime rib on his fancy Traeger grill. He and his girlfriend Becca brought that out and I made a few sides to go with – including Apple-Snicker Salad. Gotta stick with the favorites. Thus, the Hornet's Nest Cake for dessert. (The irony of Clay being the area Orkin man was not lost. He could get rid of the hornets. AND the cake!)

Love this picture. Miss the baby brother but he is in Washington, D.C. for the next two weeks anyway.

It was just awesome to have a nice family dinner. Probably be some time before we can do it again. Hopefully before next year. It was Emily and Casey's last evening in Wisconsin, but we'll see them bright and early to take them to her parents in Minnesota.

If I haven't said it before, family time is the best. Planned or unplanned. 

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend, too!

Just Hangin' Out

After having withdrawal symptoms from the Olympics being over, we were treated to a gymnastics show in our front yard tonight. Well sort of.

My niece Caryn and her three youngest arrived this evening for a weekend visit. Love getting hugs all the way from Minnesota... IN PERSON.

Makayla is the one who trains at the same gymnastics facility in the Twin Cities that Olympic medalist Grace McCallum does. They got to see her this week so that was pretty exciting for our little rising star. She showed me some of her skills right in the front yard – and at the neighbors' – without any mat or cushion beneath her. That's OK. She didn't need one as she did back flips and aerials and walked on her hands without error. Crazy good. 

After grilling out for supper, we had our first fire in the backyard in ages, it seems. Definitely my first s'more of 2021. Yum!

Of course, all boys like playing with fire. They're making torches!

And us grownups played with it, too, adding some old Christmas lights to add colorful flames via the copper wiring. There was some blue and purple in there, too. Pretty!

There was kind of a fall vibe with the cool temps tonight. Should be nice tomorrow so we can do a few things outside. I'll try to use my good camera and catch some action! 

Right now, though, I gotta hit the sack. I am undertrained to keep up with a 5th, 3rd, and 1st-grader! But I love it.

Catch-Up Day

Happy Memorial Day. Well I guess it's weird to say "happy" when it's a holiday honoring those who lost their lives fighting for our freedoms. Maybe just say have good Memorial Day. And you determine what's good about it.

For me it was good to have day with nothing on the calendar. I could catch up on a few things. Got a walk in this morning. Felt much more like spring-almost-summer-time walking around the lake this morning than yesterday! Could it be on the last day of May, we're getting somewhere with Mother Nature?

I type that as I hear thunder outside – which thankfully held off until baseball practice was over and our supper of grilled kabobs was done. 

My other achievement today, besides getting to watch my Twins win on TV and baking banana bread for the in-laws, was finally getting my hanging flower baskets. Most greenhouses have a depleted supply this late in the game, but I had some colorful luck at The Home Depot. And yes, there's plenty of purple to go around!

Now I'm trusting Mother Nature to cooperate!

Hope you had a good holiday weekend.

Hello, Spring

The official first day of spring according to the calendar – and it actually felt like it for once! Sunny and breezy, but look at that temperature!

The snow is finally gone from our yard so what to my wondering eyes should appear but... some recipes my neighbor Cindy had put in our mailbox in January. On a windy and snowy day in January. By the time I got out to the mailbox that day, they'd blown out from the newspaper box area and were buried in snow. Somewhere.

I now have recipes for instant chai tea and crockpot lasagna soup. Pretty sure I can make those in any season, right?

Today was also the last day to do the virtual Point Bock Run. It usually falls the first weekend of March. This year they had to do it virtually and we had three weeks to get our times in. So Cindy and I walked around the lake plus another mile to do the 5-mile "event." Had someone along the route take our picture since we already got the shirts a few weeks ago! It was a gorgeous day for a long walk! 

We also let some fresh air into the house. And since it was so nice out, hubby and I had brats on the grill for supper. Just tastes like summer! 

Of course, I closed off the first day of spring with the most winter-like thing possible: ice skating.

Not me. Just a dozen or so young ladies I know in the 2021 Ice Show by the Wisconsin Rapids Figure Skating Club. Brooke (pictured) invited me and of course there were several other Assumption students, plus two young ladies from my church. Lots of talent, that's for sure.

I'll confess it's much more difficult to shoot than hockey. More like the challenges of a dance recital. Low lights, spotlights, and several people performing at once, all over the place. I'm pretty sure I'll be disappointed in most of my pictures, but if I get a few decent ones of each of those kids, I'll consider it a victory.

And say goodbye to winter once and for all. 

Chillin' and Grillin'

Nice "warm" day as far as temps go – you know, 30-ish degrees – but that wind was Wicked with a capital W.

Still, my neighbor convinced me to walk around the lake. That whole mile stretch on the north side was facing into the wind as we walked east. I'm always layered up enough that I'm comfortable and not too hot – that can happen when you walk at a good pace. Today, I actually wore a scarf for the first time!

Thanks to my lifelong Luck friend Julie for giving me this scarf a year ago or so – a perfect wind block – then teaching me how to crochet, too. I blame her (and thank her) for getting me hooked on hooking. In the yarn and crafty sense.

I was tempted to start a new crochet project after I warmed up from my walk, but I thought I should get something productive done. I did neither. Pretty much went the lazy route. And I'm not ashamed.

Since the weather was still mild, we grilled yummy cheese and jalapeño burgers on the grill tonight. Now that tasted like summer! Yum!

Unfortunately, snow is about to visit here soon. Should get 2-5 inches only. I say only because down in Carter's neck of the woods they got 8 inches last weekend and are predicted to get another 4-8 inches overnight. 

Don't feel bad, anyone. This is what we woke up to two years ago today.

A "ReelFeel" of minus 57 degrees?! Just reading that make me shiver. Think I better go crank up the mattress pad! 

Stay safe and warm, everyone!

Mother's Day Weekend :: Part 1

I took the afternoon off since I have plenty of vacation that I haven't used yet, thanks to 'Rona. Plus, I thought, "Happy Mother's Day Weekend to me," right? Well, sort of.

The first part of Mother's Day Weekend involves prep work. I had to take care of my mom first. Thankfully she called and she got her flowers delivered today. I said, "That counts as your card, too. I didn't mail one." Yup, laziest daughter.

Secondly, is prep work for the weekend. Tomorrow we're headed down to Platteville to deliver some stuff Carter needs for his summer internship. Since he'll be studying for finals next weekend, we figured we'd better interrupt him this one. So we're bringing lunch to grill out in celebration of his belated birthday and Mother's Day (that was my idea, ha).

So I ran up to Ski's Meats and got some specialty bratwursts in our fave flavors: Bloody Mary Brat, Caribbean Jerk Brat, Bacon Brat, and Buffalo Bleu Chicken Brat. They're the best!

Then I heard the news on the street that King Cone in Wisconsin Rapids is now open, so...

C'mon. Pretty much state law that I had to go!

Got some for my appetizer for dinner since I'd already ordered my main course...

Yup, our movie theater sells big bags of its yummy popcorn on Fridays. I ordered Wednesday and just had to drive up and get it this evening. Unfortunately, I was so full from ice cream that even though the movie The Art of Racing in the Rain was nearly 2 hours, I still wasn't hungry to have any. I did manage to sneak some to taste it for quality control. Two thumbs up on the popcorn and the movie.

Then I had to finish the prep for lunch tomorrow. Buns and chips are bagged up. Apple-Snicker Salad is made. And so is dessert.

Thanks to Dairy Queen, you knew this was on my mind these days! Hope it stays somewhat intact for the 3-hour drive!

I also whipped together some leave-behind treats for Carter and company...

These Chocolate-Peanut Butter Chip cookies and some Mega Stuffed Oreo Rice Krispie bars (has mix of the Oreo cereal and Rice Krispies).

And that's about it. I've done my part. I will now commence to enjoying Mother's Day Weekend. You do the same!

The Flooded De-Nile River

Dwight from The Office knows everything about everything. So, unfortunately, his assessment of a Wisconsin "spring" is right on. Go back to your beet farm, Dwight!

Meanwhile, hubby and I are in the world of make believe. It's supposed to be baseball season so we grilled out brats tonight for supper. There should be 5 games this week so we'll pretend that only half will be canceled. (Only Monday and Tuesday are officially postponed right now).

And we'll ignore the latest forecast...

Dang. You know me. I can't ignore anything purple! According to the weather dudes, who still trying to figure out women (i.e. Mother Nature), several rounds of showers are likely through the weekend, with the heaviest Friday into Friday night. This combined with snow melt may create flood issues. 

Oh, because I was just thinking we needed one more issue!

Baseball is supposed to play in Abbotsford Friday night – that's somewhere between the 2.02" and 2.66" marks. And supposed to play a double-header in Nekoosa on Saturday – that's between the 2.45" and 2.51" marks.

Oh goody.

Pass me another brat, please. We've got some major denial to practice!

Grilling and Chilling

Today wasn't exactly a day of rest since I had to do work work, freelance work, and bit of house work. That's why it was an especially welcome treat when my nephew Tony came over for lunch – with bratwursts from Ski's Meats in hand.

Those are the best ever.

Hubby fired up the grill (it was above 30 degrees out) and I had cheesy potatoes going in the crockpot. A little bit of both seasons! Had a super meal but short visit since Tony had to get sleep and errands done before working tonight, Jim had "open hit" for baseball, and I had my deadlines.

I was pretty productive but still have my biggest deadline hanging over my head... Camp Crop-A-Lot is this coming weekend already! Had nothing organized so I at least ordered pictures to be printed. Then I can figure out the details – papers, embellishments, etc – a little bit each evening this week I guess.

I could do more tonight but frankly, I may have to sip on some on cough syrup and go to bed early. Can't quite shake the coughing crud. It's not continuous – I was able to sing in church this morning – but when it comes, it's fierce and hurts.

Think I'll try ice cream first and go from there. What? We grilled today. It's a free pass for summer time activities!