Keep Up Your Immunity

As cold as it is, the cold still can't kill (or freeze) all the germs floating around out there. So this is my Public Service Announcement to eat citrus or do what you have to boost your immune systems! 

There's me middle front. I look healthy, right?

Just happened to come across this silly childhood picture and needed a reason to share. Thanks for indulging me.

At least I'm not talking about the weather. Orange you glad?!

Take your vitamins, wash your hands, and be careful out there!

What the Fox?

When you work in Stevens Point and the craft store giant Herrschners has its annual warehouse sale, you've got lunch hour plans! Of all the yarn I could buy for a steal, this foxy latch-hook rug caught my eye. 

First of all, I didn't realize latch-hooking was still a thing. My sister Rachel did a lot of that while my twin and I were teens and we loved when we could help her. So fun. But... I don't need another new (or resurrected) hobby. So I passed.

Secondly, my foxy life has resurrected itself in multiple ways today.

The first instance... I was overseeing a video shoot at SentryWorld this morning and the LPGA Pro said, "You know, still my favorite picture was the one you took of the fox at the Senior Open."

I did admit that was my favorite, too, and that it started my "mild" fox obsession.

Then I had a fun evening at Foxy Ladies Golf League (I call it that because of my favorite head cover). And this picture was from last week since tonight we just dodged the rain – but still had a great time since we got to play with (or versus) my friends Sara and Michelle. Legit foxy ladies. 💚

Then I get home and hubby says he got a reminder on his phone of a picture he took in our front yard 7 years ago today. 

I mean.... what the fox?!

Guess we were destined to lead a life as Silver Fox and the Fire Fox. Don't tell hubby I said that. 💓

White as Snow

Not to  be confused with the Disney live action movie (failed version) of Snow White, I literally have seen snow white (er, white as snow) 2 weeks in a row now.

After visiting my back cracker after work today, I stopped my car on the way home for 3 brown deer crossing the road. Then Mr. White Deer, the second I've seen in 2 weeks, starts to cross then turns around and bolts into the woods. Both me and the driver in the opposite lane stopped to watch. For some reason, we figure it's bad enough to hit a normal deer, but super bad luck to hit a white one.

Not sure there's any proof behind that thought. But I know from experience, every car versus deer collision is painful to the car, the passengers, and the pocketbook.

I'm glad it ventured just a bit into the road because when it changed directions, it was using that white snow as a camouflage!

Speaking of snow... Apparently official reports put our community at just 2 inches of the slushy stuff on top of the layer of ice. Our street never did get plowed during the night or today. I guess they were relying on Mr. Sun to melt it away. 

Not quite.

When I left for the chiropractor at 4:15 p.m., there was still some unkind slushy ice piles dragging against my low-rider vehicle. I don't mean it's  a cool low-rider, it's just closer to the ground than hubby's truck.

Hope you all were able to enjoy some white or interesting winter scenery today!

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.

Night Watch

We've been so blessed with stunning – and visible – Northern Lights this year, plus many gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. So I was hoping for the trifecta with comet viewing. Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas, also known as comet A3, is allegedly visible across the U.S. tonight through Oct. 24. 

I must have missed the best viewing opportunity while I was at choir practice because the only Comet I found was under the kitchen sink. Oh c'mon. Someone appreciate my attempt at pun humor!!

I did see an unusual moon though. My camera picked up a ring of light around it. Cool.

But then when I zoomed in, there was nothing unusual about it. Oh well. I still enjoy watching the night sky for the beauty – and the unusual.

If I remember tomorrow, I might see if I can time my viewing to the suggested "just after sunset" time. 

Did any of you see A3? Would love to see what you captured!  📸

Those Picture Boards

After talking (well maybe whining a little) about scanning photos and designing the picture boards for Mom's service, I thought I should share what we had on display yesterday. For the main picture boards, I  used my graphic design program to fit them to be printed out as 20- by 30-inch posters. (You can get those printed same day at Walgreens!)

This reflected Mom's growing up years with her parents and three sisters.

This was a representation of Mom and Dad's 63 years of marriage before he passed 11 years ago.

The 8 R's in the early years and then some. Plus at least one fave photo of each of us with Mom.

The treasured grandchildren!

A reflection of some of Mom's creativity and her desire to have fun!

My sister Romey also put together a board displaying some of her many fair ribbons, plus poetry and other writing samples.

We had a framed picture of one those rare moments all 10 of us were smiling at the same time!

And my brother Ron put together a picture book with very nice photos of Mom.

Like I said, I am sure she looked down and was very pleased that we took such care of representing her long and full life!

Goals, right?

P.S. I slept in today and am pretty much exhausted. Physically, mentally, emotionally drained. I'm sure we all are. Olympics are done so this girl is hitting the hay in short order! Have a great week!

Two Pears in a Pair: That Rocks!

Because I am the Princess of Puns – my mom was the Queen – I thought this was the perfect illustration for our 22nd wedding anniversary. Don't try to change my mind!

Of course, a Monday anniversary (after food, fun, and fireworks this weekend) means it's pretty low-key. We both worked from home and had a few things to do after work.

So for our minor celebration, I chose this picture of us at Red Rock outside Denver from a few years ago. Because a rock-solid marriage means surviving the rocky times and being a bedrock of support for each other no matter what the other is going through.

I'm so grateful to have my best friend by my side for each small rock and the big one – 22 years. 

Yours always. 💜 

What the Fox?

What are the odds I'd be talking about that fox for the third day in a row? Well, if you're my Secret Santa, you know I'm still jazzed about it! Had this ornament waiting on my desk this morning. Thank you, Secret Santa. What a treasure.

Oh, and I realized that if you're new to my blog since summer (highly unlikely) you might not realize I'm not only a small-town girl... but a national media sensation.

And not at all humble. LOL.

When I by pure "right place, right time" luck captured this fox trying to pick up a golf ball during a practice round for the U.S. Senior Open, it first went on the local CBS station, then the national CBS Saturday Morning show. So I got a bit of a big head about this viral thing – well let's just call it pride.

And I don't know if there's a Year of the Fox on a Chinese calendar or Scandi-hoovian calendar or good old Photography calendar, but this was definitely Robyn's Year of the Fox. Thus, my excitement over Fox things.

Because, you know what? That was a fun time. And continues to be one of my top 2023 memories. I mean it can't compare to a Caribbean cruise, a son's wedding, a kitchen remodel, or a 21st wedding anniversary, but it ranks up there in the top 5!

So... what the fox? That's all the fox I know about that.

What the Buck?

What are the odds hubby and I would both have a TV famous picture in the same calendar year? 

Not that it's a competition, but he wisely chose to share his white buck photo with our local ABC station after I shared my fox golfing photo this summer with our local CBS (not FOX, unfortunately) station. 

I am bummed it was on the 5:30 a.m. newscast. Who gets up then? Well, apparently, plenty of people since we've had a handful reach out about it. 

I shared Jim's, er Jimmy's, picture with Carter and he replied: "Dad's coming for your throne, Mom!" Ha. It's fun when we realize our child is the perfect blend of both parents' humor and sarcasm. 

Anyway, if you have Solarus and you can "rewind" back to the 5:30 a.m. show around 5:45 a.m., meteorologist Justin Loew talks about the hunting forecast, shows Jim's pic and reminds hunters it's illegal to shoot those albino deer. And says "Thanks, Jimmy, for sending that photo."

Guess our Christmas card won't have pictures of our kids ... just a fox hole-in-one and a majestic white trophy buck! Easy peasy. We can mail them out now.

And will suggest a small fee for our autographs, of course. Merry Christmas!

West Coast Vibes

What a whirlwind of a work week. I mean I say that often, but at least this time there was some scenery. Our Marketing 6-Pack flew out at 7 a.m. Monday from Mosinee to San Diego. Our mission was almost impossible. Capturing two customer testimonial videos in 2 1/2 days – when normally that's what we need for just one.

But you know what's motivating? Palm trees! Whether it's Florida, Texas, Arizona, or California, they always put me in a good mood.

I mean a productive mood. This was a work trip after all! We seriously were pretty busy with the two clients from Monday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon, but we did have a few hours in the evening to see a little bit of southern California – which, like Wisconsin, was going through a bit of a heat wave.

On Monday night, we went out to get dinner and stopped by the Sunset Cliffs area by the Pacific Ocean on the way...

A prickly Mickey Mouse out there!

It was very scenic. And we couldn't find a parking place anywhere near the dozens of restaurants, so we ate back at the hotel in San Diego-Mission Valley. 

On Tuesday, after we were done videoing our client, we all went to lunch. As soon as I saw one of the guys had a Porsche, I called shot-gun!

I mean it wasn't a sport Porsche Cayenne, but who cares? When would I ever be able to ride in one?

 

Naturally I called Carter the minute we hit the highway to remind him what a cool mom he has. And that the Porsh-a has a bit more pick-up than our Hondas! Pretty cool.

And frankly, you needed pick-up and super brakes for the crazy San Diego traffic. Yes, small-town Midwestern folks, that's 5 lanes each direction. Uff da. I was glad I didn't have to drive one of our two mini-van rentals. Being navigator was stressful enough!

After a successful day Tuesday, we took our client out to eat on Coronado Island, across the San Diego bay.

It required traversing a very long and very high bridge so I distracted myself snapping pictures of the harbor out my window.

Peohie's was a pretty nice place, right on the water. We could see naval ships and the entire San Diego skyline.

And watch the sun set. It was spectacular.

Basically, I felt like I was part of the Top Gun movie and I couldn't get enough of it!

This is the bridge we crossed – with the gorgeous almost full moon!

Let me impress my new friends with a close-up from my phone! 

Pretty cool, eh?

Of course, there were a few not-so-cool places. Like the neighborhood where we needed to get through a prison-looking gate. And the fact there was a homeless encampment in the trees and shrubs outside our hotel. It's not all Hollywood on the West Coast!

After we wrapped all the work up Wednesday, we headed down to the famous Gaslamp District for dinner. I kept calling it the Gaslight District, but I'm sure that has an entirely different meaning.

Pretty cool area. After dinner, we ended up at a Coin-Op Arcade for our entertainment. Fun times.

Time definitely went fast! And just when I was getting used to Pacific Time, it was over. We met in the lobby Thursday morning before 8 a.m. to head to the airport. Kind of sad when one whole day was basically traveling!

Had a layover in Minnesota. Hello, Twins Territory! And actually was able to start my Fantasy Football draft before boarding. Only got a few picks in and the rest was the dreaded auto-draft, which got me 3 kickers and no backup QB. Uff da.

Sunset was gorgeous as we left Minnesota.

Then that Blue Moon – which looked more like a Harvest Moon – guided us into Wisconsin. 

Today it was tough to get up on Central Time and work. Thankfully from home since I didn't get around to taking a shower until lunchtime! Might take me one more day to switch my West Coast vibes to Midwest vibes. Thank goodness for the long weekend.

Have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day Weekend!!