Happy Summer Solstice

For the longest day of sunshine, I certainly didn't spend much of it outside. Darn work!

Still, the way the forecast is looking, I might want to purposely stay indoors for the days after the solstice, too.

Looks like a majority of my family will have it even worse. Stay hydrated and be smart! 

I'm pretty sure I'll limit my post-solstice outdoor activities to a required photo shoot late Saturday and 9-hole round of golf on Sunday. Otherwise, I could hang out indoors and watch my Twins on TV – but after seeing the beat-down from the Brewers tonight, that's not top on my list either.

Happy Summer Solstice! Be careful out there!

Winter Solstice (aka Family Christmas parts 2 and 3)

When the stars align, not only is it the Winter Solstice, it's also the first time in 6 years (we think) all 4 cousins were together at Christmas. Same with having all 3 of our boys together. What a blessing!

So today was the Austin Christmas at Jim's sister's house. It was a full house as all boys had their plus-one with them and Colin had his two children as well. Had to be sure to get a picture of Grandpa John and his boys. Love it!

After dinner there, we came back here to celebrate our own Christmas since none of the boys will be in town on actual Christmas Eve or Day. So we opened our gifts and I just listed to the chit-chat and the laughter and was so grateful to have us all under one roof again. 

Had to get a picture of the handsome boys, of course. Both Casey and Carter are spending the night here.

And the girls! Yup, our grandpup Rey is staying here tonight, too. They're all adorable, aren't they?

We're biased. And rightfully so. 

Honestly, we're feeling the warmth of love, so we didn't really notice it was only like 10 or 15 degrees today and the shortest "day" of the year. Family time makes a great distraction.

Hope you find something or someone special to keep you warm, too. Be careful out there!

Winter Soul-less

The worst part about Winter Solstice is that it's considered the FIRST day of winter – even though we've already had plenty to go around. That's the "soul-less" part of soul-stice. The best part, of course, is that the days will start getting longer now. Early morning and late afternoon commuters unite!

The other "best" part is that today was the last day in the office for a lot of us who are using our PTO for a winter break! So of course we had to celebrate with some holiday holi-grazing!

For me, that means bringing in a holiday trifle. I pretty much replicated my Peppermint Bark Trifle I took Up North to my family Christmas. Since everyone brought something, I actually have some left over that I'll have to suffer through on my day off tomorrow before I create a similar one for Saturday's Austin family Christmas here!

We also revealed our writing team secret Santas with a final gift. That was fun. I had one of the guys I've worked with since Day One and gave him plenty of treats and sarcastic stickers that fit both of our personalities. For the second year in a row, one of our newer writers had me. Besides the amazing fox ornament I shared last week, I got this touching card yesterday...

And a few other nice things! It really can be the most wonderful time of the year if you focus on positive words of encouragement plus the fact there's not snow on the ground to create hazardous travel. And obviously, the fact the days are getting longer. Yay!

We got this!

Hello, Summer

It's definitely Summer Official when it's 89 degrees at 5:19 p.m. AND the sunset isn't until 8:46 p.m. Whoo-hoo! Welcome, Summer. So glad you're here!

To celebrate Midsommar – as we Scandi-hoovians say – I kidnapped my dream team for a brief Solstice Time Out after work. Pretty sure we all needed it.

In fact, I noticed when I resumed work at home tonight that even my stress ball (er, head) looked stressed. 

May summer ease our stress, our worries, our tension, with gentle heat, cool treats, and warm hugs when we need them! 

Sticks and Stones... and Zombies?

After Saturday night's driving rain and wind, we (I should say hubby and neighbor) cleaned up the big limb and branches that fell from one of our backyard trees on Sunday. All was as it should be until I glanced out the window and saw this tonight...

If you can't tell from the angle, this rather tall branch / stick (or maybe death sword) has its tip buried in the backyard and is standing perfectly straight. I texted Jim to see if we were on some episode of Survivor that we don't know about, and he said he just noticed it tonight, too, on the way to the ball field.

It wasn't super windy today to drive sticks into the ground. So I'm just going to go with neighborhood shenanigans. I mean, that would help me sleep better. 

That's much more comforting than thinking about recently spotted bears and coyotes in the 'hood playing Ring Around the Rosie.

Of course, Midsommar hits next week so maybe my Scandi-hoovian gods are setting up for the summer solstice. Wait, that sounds way more interesting. I'll keep you posted.

And naturally, I'll have my camera handy.

Be careful out there!

From Santa and Spam to Soltice and Singing

Lots going on this week. Gotta cram in the fun before Christmas break, I guess. A few headlines from Tuesday and today...

Oh, Little Town of Bethle-SPAM: Look above to see what a white elephant gift looks like! Yup, yesterday was our department Christmas party via Zoom and the big Secret Santa reveal. My recipient was surprised it was me (didn't see me, yay) and enjoyed their gift. 

I had a clever person give me mine, too. In fact, I told the person – a new co-worker – just how to trick someone. Ship something and use a friend's return address. That's what she did. And that's why I didn't guess it was her. She got me some SPAM to remind me of Hawaii (where our company sponsors a golf tournament), 5 K-Cups to get me through a work week (a short one, anyway), and a golf ball and tees. Nothing bad. We may have to try SPAM and eggs for Christmas Day breakfast!

God Jul: Happy Winter Solstice! It is observed in my Scandinavian homelands more than in the U.S. uch like Midsommar (the summer solstice). For the shortest day of the year there was plenty to it! I worked, then shot some 8th-grade basketball pictures, then shot high school hockey since two friends have seniors on the Rapids team. Stayed up pretty late getting those pictures done. Actually appreciated the darkness to help me sleep. Fast! Can't wait to see more daylight every day now!

Golden Mass: Went to the annual Christmas mass at Assumption High School over lunch. It's always the day before kids get sent home for their Christmas break. I enjoy seeing friends home for Christmas and friends of Carter, too. Plus loving hearing the band and everyone singing the Alleluia Chorus at the end. I remembered both Soprano and Alto parts from high school. Pretty sure I weaved them both together today! Definitely puts me in the Christmas spirit.

Tonight have some more hockey pictures to go through from an alumni game. Then it's work one more day and jingle all the way to Christmas vacation! Ho, ho, ho!

Picture Perfect -- Again

I've sorting through my thousands of vacation photos so that I save a good chunk of them for the scrapbook. Even if I don't use all the ones I'm saving now, I'll still share all those with my sister and co-adventurer Renell. 

Since I'm seeing her tomorrow though – for our family Christmas in July (basically since we haven't all seen each other since Deceomber of 2019) – I need to finish getting through them tonight. I'm on the last two days so I'm getting close. I also recognize that's it's almost 10 p.m. so I better get back to it.

Not to skip blogging two nights in a row due to pictures, I'm going to share some more of the absolutely gorgeous, no filter needed images from summer soltice – when we stayed up until midnight and the sun stayed up even longer!

It was the world's longest sunset and you'll see why it's a dilemma to narrow down photos for the scrapbook – from any day, location, or view on the trip! Enjoy...

We're smiling because the view is so gorgeous – and because staying up until midnight is a huge accomplishment!

North to Alaska

Where the river is windin' big nuggets they're findin'
North to Alaska go north the rush is on
North to Alaska go north the rush is on

– North to Alaska (Johnny Horton)

Waking up to subzero temperatures today meant it was actually colder in central Wisconsin than in Anchorage, Alaska. In fact, they got up to 33 and we were most in the teens. However, in both places they predict 3-6 inches of snow tonight.

Why do I care? Oh I don't care so much now, but in a few months I will... Actually 142 days to be precise.

Yup! Major, major Bucket List trip coming this summer! No, not hubby and me. He's not a traveling sightseeing type. I'm going with one of my sisters! 

In mid-June, my sister Renell and I will fly direct from Minneapolis to Anchorage on a Tuesday, then tool around in a camper van until the following Thursday. And in between, enjoying all the beauty that is Alaska and taking our sweet time. Since we'll be there during summer solstice – like I was in Sweden 2 years ago – it'll be the "land of the midnight sun." It's like an extra few days of vacation, in our minds.

So 10 days of little sleep, little showering, but hundreds of miles and thousands of photos, to be sure.

Cannot wait!

We for sure will go north of Anchorage to the Denali area and then south of Anchorage to Homer and Seward. What route we take to get here and there and what we'll see remains TBD. We have determined Denali first since we have some park tour reservations. Everything else is loose.

Two of our sisters have gone and have some ideas for us. If you've been in that area of Alaska – by land – and have favorite spots and sights to see, let me know. We'd love to see glaciers up close, some eagles and other wildlife too, without having to book a bunch of extra tours. 

Plus, we'll likely still want to be socially distancing then. Actually, a few days of non-showers and that'll take care of that! 

In the meantime, don't judge me if I starting singing Johnny Horton's "North to Alaska." I'm just that excited! 

The Long and Short of It

Happy Winter Solstice? Do we say that? Maybe in some countries where the "winter "part of that sentence is more welcoming. 

I'm just glad that the shortest day of the year fell on a Monday this year. Mondays need to be as short as possible! Yes, I'm aware there are still 24 hours in the day, but this is the little mind game I play with myself when I only have two more days of work now until WINTER vacation. I like the sound of that kind of winter.

I often overlook that this is, by nature of fractions, the longest night of the year. I should already be in bed then! I'm too old to think party all night. I'm like 9 hours of sleep on my heated mattress pad will do! Also not going to happen.

What is going to happen now is... winter will really arrive – as soon as Christmas Eve day actually, with its high of 11 or something. But, on the plus side, the days will start getting longer. Let me rephrase that, there will be a longer segment of time when there is light. Yay!

And tonight we were all supposed to enjoy the light of the Christmas star.  Hope some of you could. It was cloudy and precipitating here in central Wisconsin. The longest night and no stars. See why that whole sleeping for 9 or 10 hours sounds good? Not missing a thing.

Though I do have some girls basketball photos to go through from tonight's rough loss against Aquinas. That does make for a long night. Sorry, girls. Keep hustling. The light is about to shine on you!

Hurray Winter Solstice Santa

Our non-Christmas holidays are becoming pretty big around here. First St. Lucia (with help from neighbors) delivered a pretty purple tree to our deck. And today, Winter Solstice Santa (with the help of hubby and me) delivered a pretty big gift to Mr. College.

It went something like this...

And what to Carter's wondering eyes did appear...

A new sleigh with 4 wheels and automatic gears!

For this Crasher and Dasher, it was a wonderful sight!

And we heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight: "Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad. You got this right!"

We hope so! It's a 2011 Accord with plenty of life left in it. Handle with care. Santa is still watching!!

Happy Winter Solstice

Happy Winter Solstice! For being the shortest day of the year, we sure squeezed in a lot!

These are the treats I brought into work today – all stuff I whipped together. Shortbread cookies, pistachio-cranberry cookies, no-bake chocolate-peanut butter cookies, gingerbread wafers cookies dipped in vanilla almond bark, and mint wafer cookies dipped in chocolate almond bark. All yummy. I my opinion anyway.

We also had our last bit of Christmas fun for our marketing department. Today was the Jingle Bell Toss Tournament. Somewhat like beer pong but no beer involved and no ping-pong balls involved either. There is a long table, though.

Basically, you and your partner toss the jingle balls one at at time – either overhand or underhand – down to the other end of the table.

If you land one of the Christmas mugs, it is removed from the table. Once yours are gone, your team wins. Way harder than it sounds since you can't just bounce them in like ping-pong balls.

My partner Rick (another writer) and I actually made it to the semi-finals but lost in sudden death. Foiled by Frosty the snowman. Could not get a bell to land in that darn cup! Oh well. It was a lot of fun and now I have a new game for all ages to play.

Tonight after work, Carter had a friend over and we went out to eat with our neighbors Mike and Cindy. Had a nice evening out before we go our separate ways for our variety of family Christmas celebrations.

Hard to believe this is basically Christmas weekend. Glad the days are getting longer starting tomorrow. I may need some extra time to shop.

Winter Skol-stice

For Seinfeld fans, today was Festivus. For last-minute shoppers, today was Christmas chaos. For Vikings fans, it was Winter Skol-stice.

For me, it was all three.

First, there was Festivus for the rest of us. I skipped the airing of grievances since no one was around to hear them. My feat of strength, though, was keeping Sylvester out of the boxes I was trying to use for last-minute gift-wrapping.

She took a nap in this one so I had to take a break and move onto my Saturday chores. Later, I was able to finish all my wrapping... but only after a last-minute run to a few stores.

Technically not the very last minute since I have tomorrow, too. But it was such a zoo today at Wal-Mart, for instance, that there is no way I'd want to return until after the holidays. If I can help it. Was nice to run into a few friends for some visits in the aisles, likely ticking people off because we're just standing there.

Shortage on patience in aisle 3!

After getting my final gifts and stocking stuffers, I came home and got that all assembled. Kitty was done with her nap by then. Whew.

Spent a few hours doing a freelance project so I do NOT have to work in any capacity on Christmas Eve or Day. That took me right up to kickoff of the Packer-Viking game tonight.

Or, as we like to call it, Winter Skol-stice. Oh, yes. That was nice to get that win under our belts. God bless the players and fans of both sides trying to function in the cold weather. Much more comfortable to watch from my recliner under my Viking blanket (one of 'em).

Carter has some high school buddies over. I was hoping we'd have some decent halftime entertainment since two of them are in the Badger Marching Band. But they're busy. Probably playing a video game invented before they were born. Nintendo 64, anyone?

So I'll just hit the hay, knowing I accomplished my feats of strength, got my Saturday chores done, finished my Christmas prep, and celebrated some purple pride.

The only major thing left on my to-do list is watching some of those Hallmark movies I've DVR'd. The gift that keeps on giving.

Solstice, Sweet Solstice

Technically, I should be upset that it's officially winter AND I had a snowy, slipper commute home AND it's the shortest day (light-wise) of the year.

But, as the solstice gods and goddesses remind me, it is also Winter Solstice day, which means the days will start to get longer (light-wise)! As it mentions above, now is the time to honor the rebirth of the sun.

So, in other words, a national holiday for Mr. Deck Chair and me. Though we both celebrated separately in our warm homes for the winter.

I am grateful the weather forecasters were off in their prediction for major accumulation today. We still may have a few inches of snow, but I can manage that drive tomorrow, I would hope. I am also grateful that even on the darkest days, it hasn't been a terrible commute. Not that we don't have a lot, well ALL, of winter left!

For now, I will remember light in our darkness, hope of good things to come, and the promise of renewed life.

And shoveling in my future.

Happy Winter Solstice!