We Are Not The Same, Ha

I love this! Totally identify with reading part of a book or just the back cover and making up a very creative book report! Or one year we had the option of either a report or an art project illustrating the theme of the book. I sure made The Hound of the Baskervilles look sinister and scary... even though I did not read a single page! Was it even about dogs?!

So much creative thinking required by my generation!

Things are different today. I would not want to be a teacher of any kind trying to determine if their students are good writers – or just good AI users. Oof.

There's been so much news – frankly disturbing – in recent days about AI. Like Doomsday-type news. I really don't know what it all means or what to believe. But as a professional writer for nearly 40 years, it's been a hot button in my field for some time.

Some of my co-workers use it a lot and some of us just rely on the skills we've honed for decades. I'm kind of defensive about it. Can you tell? LOL.

As a mentor of interns the past two summers, I told them quite frankly that AI can help you write your resume and your cover letter, but it can't help you answer questions in your "live" job interview. You need to develop critical thinking skills. No "machine" can replace that.

It probably helped that us X-ers had to do a lot of legwork to cobble information together and make cohesive sense of it for school work. No Internet. Just card catalogs in the library. And potentially outdated encyclopedias. I still got straight A's so I'm guessing that was sufficient information for the time. 

As Carter went through high school, I was kind of jealous how easy it was for him with his access to worldwide information. That would have been SO handy as a newspaper reporter in the '90s!!!

Today I feel a bit (mildly right now) threatened because it can replace all my income streams – writing, graphic design, and photography. I sure hope my retirement countdown on my phone expires before "humanity" will! 

God, save us all!

It's All Relative

It was a weekend on the road seeing family and cousins on both Dad's and Mom's sides of the family tree.

Not all smiles and laughs, but we still found occasion to sneak in a little of each. And hugs. Lots of hugs.

Saturday we headed to the Twin Cities for a celebration of life for my late cousin Dan's son Andrew, who died at age 34 in a motorcycle accident. He served 10 years in the Navy and has two children. Yesterday would've been his 35th birthday.

So tragic!

For context, my dad's brother Ray was Andrew's grandpa. So we had a few Hedberg cousins there obviously for support and sharing. The two love ladies seated are 2 of our 3 remaining aunts. That's all that's left of the OG Hedbergs.

So we treasure any and all time together.

Naturally, since we were in the Metro, we made plans to connect with COOL son No. 1 for COOL treats on such a hot day!

Casey met us at a little ice cream and burger joint called Dream Creamery on Minneapolis' north side.

My kind of place!

We all had ice cream and their homemade Scotcheroo was delightful!

After an all-too brief visit, we headed north to Luck, where we stayed the night at my sister Rachel's place.

Today was my mom's side of the family to get attention. Jim and I met my cousins Laryn and Lydell for a 7:10 a.m. tee time at the Frederic Golf Course just north of Luck.

Early but that was fun. We somehow managed to get 18 holes in by 11 a.m.! That gave us time to get back to Luck to Rachel's and pick her and our potluck food items up and get to Siren for the Johnson family reunion.

This year, in Mom's absence 💔, my siblings and I were the hosts. I sent most of my stuff ahead so it could be there for setup while only 4 of us took part in the morning golf outing. It's a great thing to pair with the reunion!

It was one of our biggest turn-outs (over 50 people) but was due in part that it was combined with a celebration of life (yes 2 in 2 days) for my mom's cousin's son Lamar.

By strange coincidence, two of our high school classmates were there. I say "strange" because last night was our Luck Class of something a long time ago reunion and Raylene and I didn't make it.

So we took a "mini class reunion" picture of our own. Rhonda (left) was there because she's related to Lamar on the non-Johnson side. And Jordan married our cousin so we see him more often than he'd probably like. Ha.

After reunion cleanup, Jim and I got Rachel home and were on the road around 3:30 p.m. Traffic was strangely light compared to Saturday's commute to the Cities. And we were OK with that.

Side note: Temps were warm but tolerable. And same with the air quality – not too bothersome. Thank goodness or some of my family/cousins might not have ventured out.

Hope you all enjoyed a good, safe weekend too!

Those Darn Bad-Luck Bowls

There are some baseball fields we just call “bowls” because they are situated at the bottom of a park ringed with banks of grass where fans could sit and watch the action from most of the sides of the field. For the longest time, the Pittsville “bowl” was our perennial nemesis, almost always knocking the Royals out of the postseason playoffs—while exhibiting highly vocal, annoying behavior from their dugout.

Somehow conferences and possibly divisions have realigned in recent years. So this season, after soundly defeating Gresham in round one of Regionals, we headed to Iola-Scandinavia. My old stomping grounds if you recall me blogging about our 100-mile round trip to work for a dozen years.

As someone with certain sports superstitions, I immediately recognized the similar “bowl” setup to P-town. That was unnerving right away.

But the game was so close. Not a runaway score by either team. We were ahead by 2 then the Thunderbirds caught up. Then we’d make a mini-surge, but they’d catch up. It came down to the last batter for the home team. And they ended up defeating us 6-5 and knocking us out of the playoffs in what was one of our better season record years of late.

For me, though, the fun was running into some of my “Iola people”!

I left the publishing house some 10 years ago now. But Cori the ticket taker who worked at the Fitness Center there remembered me!

Then I ran into Miss Mandy, one of Carter’s first daycare people in Iola. And her mother, Judy, who worked with Jim and I at Krause. Just great to get long overdue (though you didn’t realize they were overdue) hugs!

Of course I then had to check out some of our favorite haunts…

Including Carter’s favorite ice cream place Shivers. Per usual, a long summer line.

Then I took the route home through Scandinavia, which always seems like I just earned another stamp on my passport. If only! Still, all was a great reminder of how we can forge great bonds in the workplace when we work in a friendly community and we, by nature, are friendly too.

Side note: I absolutely do not miss that commute.

Side note 2: Thank you, seniors! What a great season!

The Full Circle of Life

Today was definitely about navigating the full circle of life. This morning, I attended a baby shower for my co-worker and friend Hannah, who also happens to be daughter of one of hubby's high school classmates. That's how things work these days!

I love seeing the excitement of new moms opening gifts they have no idea may be life-changing... well, at least make the parenting thing go a little more smoothly!

And of course I won a raffle basket because, well, I always win!

I then moved from the beginning of life to the end... When I got home, Jim and I went to the visitation for our friends' dad.

As I mentioned last week, we are so blessed to have the Smits family as a second family to us! They really belong to Jim and his sister, but I'm just along for the ride. 💙 

After getting back from the funeral home, I went to the next lifetime milestone – high school graduation. I was blessed to serve as Ainsley's confirmation mentor at church and take her senior pictures. Turned out to be a pleasant afternoon visiting with her family members and my pastor and her husband. 

Just a weird span of covering so many aspects of life in one day! 

What I liked was the hope associated with a new baby and new life at college. What I appreciated was the sense of peace of losing a father and knowing he is no longer in pain. Thankfully we have God and great friends to get us through all of these!

A Madness Most Discreet

Now that I've finished reading the Shakespeare-inspired fictional book and see the Oscar-nominated movie Hamnet, I feel I can throw Shakespeare words and phrases at will. "A madness most discreet" is from Romeo and Juliet. But I'm sure thou already knewest that!

So this was my moment of madness today. Bear with me. I'm over 50. We have earned the rights to daily rants of "madness." So I want to finish up this bridal shower gift and my silver wrapping paper at home falls short by a half inch. Any way I situate the box. 

So I go to Walmart since I needed ingredients for two upcoming trifles anyway to get either white or silver wrapping paper. Looking at this photo would you not see silver wrapping paper and two matching silver bows?

Turns out. No. It was just clear cellophane around a silver-colored rather than cardboard-colored tube. Grrr.

I'd already ripped the label off so that's how they getcha. And back to Walmart I went. 

Guess what? I just settled on red. A color I can count on seeing correctly. One that won't cause me madness. And matches the new family name I Cricuted onto the tub. Maybe that's how it was supposed to play out all along!

As for seeing red, though... Ugh. My bracket! We'll skip over that convo today. Definitely March madness.

But as for another episode of March gladness...

We had the most pleasant evening at the Sky Club supper club with our friends Jeff and Cathy. Jeff was Jim's college roommate and Cathy was Jim's high school classmate. You see how this story played out! They just moved to the Twin Cities so were back in Wisconsin and it worked out to connect. Just a great visit as always.

Make the time to make the connections so you don't regret it later!

A Pirate's Life for Me

Well I made it safely to and survived Camp Crop-A-Lot without having to walk the plank! Am so grateful I headed to Rosholt on Thursday night because when we woke up Friday morning, our cars were covered with snow with a layer of thick ice underneath. Would not have been a fun morning commute!

My high school friend Julie also went up on Thursday so that was a fun little slumber party.

Every year at camp there is a theme. This year the confirmation letter simply said "Ahoy, Mateys" with some pirate-themed clipart and we all took it from there. Thanks to some friends at work and the dollar store, I had some gear for Julie, my twin sister Raylene, and me to wear.

For the most part it was for group pictures. Not all weekend. That be too much!

Raylene and I as smiling pirates with our plastic swords.

And giving our best "ARRRRGH!" impression. We're not that intimidating, are we?

This is our table group with Becky (scrapbook consultant on left) and Tami and Julie on far right. What a blood-thirsty lot!

As a group, we pretty much hit our capacity at 40+. How awesome! And most of these scoundrels have been coming for years like me!

Of course it was not all swash-buckling fun and games. There was more scrapbooking than sleeping, that's for sure. Always the case. And as usual, I overestimate how much I'll get done. 

My goal was to finish 2018 family  chronological album and start 2019. I did not finish 2018 and have several pages to go. In the end, I want to be happy with my pages, though. So if I spend too much time putzing, I won't feel bad. 

I captured a few random page pictures....

This is 100% Sylvester in love with Jim... crawling in his clothes, watching him mow the grass, and waiting for him to open his office door!

Our preparations for our trip to Scandinavia!

Just a glimpse of our scandi-hoovian sisters' trip to Norway and Sweden. I have a pretty thick digital scrapbook already done on this trip!

It just happened I was working on nephew Colin's win pages on the same day it was his birthday!

This might be my favorite. The page representing Carter and the boy os 465 (Division St.) moving into their first college house. Cheers!

Today it took a minute to brush off our cars, etc., in the blustery wind and then pack up and leave. But what a great weekend. I just have to figure out when it's legal to go to bed on a Sunday night!

Have a good week, everyone. Make some memories!

A Challenging Moment in Time

When one of my nephews turned 40 earlier this month I realized, holy crap, high school was quite some time ago!

A clear memory for me – besides his birth on Elvis' birthday – was the space shuttle Challenger tragedy. 40 years ago today.

It was mostly a big deal to watch in school because there was a nontypical-astronaut teacher on board – Christa McAuliffe. I mean she was from New Hampshire, I believe, so no ties with Luck, Wisconsin. Yet there were some TV's on at school in the library and few other places.

I happened to be in typing class (yes, it was a thing) when the launch was happening. Then suddenly another teacher came in and told our instructor Mr. Lake something. Since we were approaching the end of class, he let us know. In a choked up voice because, well, it was a fellow teacher that gave her life.

I remember I had study hall the next hour and was grateful so I could watch the repetitive footage in the library. It still didn't seem real because it looked like one part of the shuttle was separating from the shuttle like it was supposed to.

I think it really did take the eyewitnesses a few minutes to realize what they'd just seen as well.

Up to that point, I sort of remembered to TV footage of John Hinkley Jr.'s assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. But even then, after knowing my mom's account of JFK's assassination, it failed in comparison in terms of hype and memorability.

But 40 years later, I'd like to think positive moments in history were part of vivid memories, but instead we have weird things like 9/11, Covid, January 6th, and now... ICE in Minnesota. No political commentary here. Just praying for many nieces and nephews and family in the Metro.

It is, indeed, another Challenge-ing moment in time.

Solstice Shopping and Singing

 

Happy Winter Solstice! Although officially today, I'd almost argue that yesterday and today seemed equally short when it comes to the "to do" and "tis done" lists.

Yesterday was a shopping whirlwhind. I went to the farmer's market/winter's market in Stevens Point in the morning because a new coworker was exhibiting his woodworking there – including something on my final list. 

Then I heard from the woman who successfully won a trifle of mine in a silent auction earlier this year. She'd like that plus an extra one she'll pay for. This coming weekend. Since my 2nd trifle bowl is MIA, I went to Goodwill in Point/Plover, Walmart, Kohl's and Target to see if I could find one. No luck.

Got home in early afternoon and showered (finally, ha) and got myself ready for an afternoon and evening of music.

First stop was the 4 p.m. mass at St. Philip's in Rudolph where a few of us (well hubby mainly and me by default) sang along during the service. Then it was off to Wausau to hear our friend Kat sing with STEEM and fun accompaniment by the Neenah high school symphony group.

A group of us went last year and it was so enjoyable to listen to – especially when you know one of the rockstars.

Jim's high school classmate Kat (Kathy) is pictured 3rd from the left.

Great to see/hear her solo performance. And since we've seen/heard her perform in several bands over the years, we could pick out and appreciate her beautiful voice throughout! A great concert for sure.

As a bonus, I ran into one my former co-workers at my current company. He has since moved onto TV only and is loving his gig in Salt Lake City, Utah. My work "sons" are all growing up!

Today was another day of shopping and singing.

Sang in choir and church and then went shopping to prepare (the best I could) for hosting Austin family Christmas later this week. I think I got most things. Shopping among thousands, I swear. Will have to reevaluate on Monday.

In the mean time, we got a Vikings win but I'm just hanging on for my fabulous fantasy football team to advance to our finals. We'll see if Santa grants one or both of those pending wishes or not.

Choose Your Luck

Being from Luck, Wisconsin, I have had the occasion to be "in Luck." It doesn't always equate to a lucky streak, though.

Case in point, last evening. I stopped at the library on the way to choir practice to see if maybe they'd have our December book for Book Club. Then, there it was – on the Lucky Day shelf! Whoot!

But then when I got back to my car, I thought, did I just use up my luck on that book and those lottery tickets I just bought won't win me anything? The answer is yes, that's exactly what happened. Dang.

I did have a fortunate – I won't call it lucky – turn of events after that, though. 

When I got to practice, I got a text from hubby that he was going to the Springsteen movie he wanted to see. I did, too, so I replied, "Darn choir practice!" But then only 2 other people showed up besides me and the director so he said, "You might as well go join Jimmy at the movie!"

And since the theater is like 5 blocks from my church, I only missed the first 5-10 minutes.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is a biographical drama which focuses on the making of the 1982 album Nebraska. I mean I knew older songs like Born to Run, etc., but I honestly didn't fall into fandom with him until I was in high school and his 1984 Born in the U.S.A. album became the first vinyl record I bought!

So while I liked the movie, I didn't honestly love it. Unfortunately, it was pretty darn depressing. So in essence, it successfully reflected a dark period of his life with an alcoholic and abusive father, but there wasn't a balance of lighter moments like we've experienced in Bohemian Rhapsody or the Rocketman Elton John story. 

Wow. I just realized I'm coming off as a cynical movie critic! See it if you love The Boss because you'll love and respect him even more.

And I'll let you know in 14 days or less if I give my book thumbs up!

The Calm Before the Alleged Storm

I love purple – but not when it indicates we could be in for a nasty wake-up call tomorrow. We're right on the bottom of the Ice Storm Warning and close to the milder Winter Weather Advisory. There's a chance the storm won't follow the boxy county lines, so I'm holding out home.

Still, we made sure our dinner plans started early enough in case it started this evening.

Since one of Jim's classmates lives over in the Fox Valley area and the rest of us are in Rapids, we decided to meet halfway at Simpson's in Waupaca. Five people in this photo are from the Assumption Class of '81. I still marvel at how close hubby is with classmates after all these years. So not my post-high school experience.

We had a good meal and great conversations. When you can linger over a meal for more than 2 hours, that's good stuff! A fun group! 

And as a bonus, the skies stayed clear our 45-minute drive home. 

We'll see what happens while we're sleeping. I'm supposed to sing in church choir tomorrow – coincidentally the same song we were supposed to sing on Ash Wednesday when that service got stormed out. Honest, Lord, we sound good. Let us sing it already!

Whatever happens, be careful out there! And remember – it's not the worst thing to be home-bound during March Madness! 

 

Playoff Power

We're in the heart of high school March Madness with playoffs and state tournaments. Since the Royals boys team won first round of Regionals Tuesday, they'll play Friday at Marshfield Columbus. Since the Lady Royals won their Regional championship on Saturday, they played the Sectional semi-final tonight. As No. 1 seed they ended up facing No. 2 seed Pacelli at a neutral site at Adams-Friendship High School. 

Hubby enjoyed a nice pre-game meal at Mo's Bar on the way – just on the north side of Friendship. It happens to be owned by our assistant coach's sister so there were a few Assumption fans grabbing a bite there as well.

The game was a quite a physical one! Pacelli beat us a few weeks ago, it seems, in the regular season, and both teams were ready to play hard (and tough) to advance in the playoffs.

Due to quite a few missed shots in the first half, it took a bit for the Lady Royals (the guest team) to capture the lead. And even at halftime, it seemed it could be anyone's game.

I never feel completely comfortable or confident with a lead until there's like 90 seconds left. But our kids were doing the "I believe that we will win" cheer way before that. So glad they were right!

So now our girls our one game away from state – facing Sevastopol at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at Waupaca High School. 

Coincidentally that's the same time our boys would play for their Regional championship "somewhere" if they beat Marshfield tomorrow night. 

See what I mean by March Madness?

I may need more than one Shamrock Shake to get through this! How 'bout you? 😁☘ 

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Had two days of busy photography sessions that were quite a roller coaster of emotions.

Last evening, our undefeated Lady Royals played a tough game against the equally strong Pacelli team. We ended up losing in OT! Heart-breaking. But it's good to play a tough team so we can keep working on our skill-building.

Today I spent the day with my friend and former co-worker Colleen, whose daughter is a freshman at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School and on their gymnastics. I think I first met Elsa when she was in kindergarten or 1st grade. To see her take first in the All-Around Competition today was a treat!

I've always been an Olympics gymnastics junkie, but seeing it in person at a high school level was pretty fun, too.

Now that I'm done with my pictures, I have 2 days of golf to catch up on. 

I know I made the social media cut yesterday. We'll see what else is happening. On a day when we just got into the double digits, I need some warm Hawaiian golf in my life.

Bundle up and be careful out there!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

It's that time of year again when I renew my special relationship with chilling temperatures and Mr. Zamboni. 

Tonight I stayed a little late at work in Stevens Point before heading to Ice Hawks Arena to shoot pictures of the Pacelli Co-op team (which has at least one Assumption member) AND take pictures for Parents Night.

I left after the 2nd period when we were tied 2-2 versus Northland Pines. Only because I had taken 2 periods of action photos, the parent photos, and I had a 30+ minute drive home. 

I do usually get to shoot at least 3 home games in the season. Hope they all are mild weather with a few snowflakes outside and the ice, ice, baby limited to the inside!

Let's go, Cardinals!

A Tall Drink of Water

You don't hear it much anymore, but a "tall drink of water" describes a person who is generally long-legged and very attractive. And perhaps could satisfy your "thirst" on a hot day – as water certainly would.

It's not a common expression anymore. But I discovered a brand-new meaning for it this week.

Yesterday when my friend Jenny and I took a walk at lunchtime, she presented this ice cream lover with a special gift! A half-gallon (you read that right) water jug that will definitely keep me hydrated (and running to the restroom) at work. I love it!!

It was so nice, we walked 3 miles! And then after work, I went to shoot pictures of Royals track and field and got a little more sun and 2 more miles of steps!

Those meets are so hard to capture because you've got all the field events going on at the same time for about half an hour, then track starts and you bounce back and forth and try to get a little bit of everything. My favorite thing to shoot is the long jump.

They just fly! I did get other field events plus several running events before I had to go. I just happened to have an appointment with my hair artist at 6:15 p.m. (And those track meets last so long!)

By the time I got home I was sun-kissed and exhausted. And knew I had to sleep carefully to keep my hair styled for another day. Ha. Despite a full-on downpour of a day, I did!

After work, it was a quick stop to check out the brand new Hobby Lobby in Stevens Point. No, I didn't buy anything. This time! Then home to finish going through last night's photos so I could watch The Voice. So much talent this season!

Tomorrow night after work I'll really have some special music. No, not choir practice. Even more special. I'll fill you in after! 

Have a good week and be careful out there!