A Two-Some Weekend

Saturday was sort of like an episode of Wedding Crashers... but we were more like Wedding Surfers!

We happened to have two weddings on Saturday – one family, one friends. We somehow managed to get to both ceremonies. First our friends' daughter Allyse (one of Carter's prom dates from forever ago) at 1 p.m. When the ceremony start was delayed a bit, we wondered if we'd get to the other ceremony at 3 p.m.

Thank goodness both wete within 5 miles of Wisconsin Rapids.

After Allyse's absolutely beautiful wedding, we got out to Rooted in Red for Jim's goddaughter's Becca Austin's wedding. It's a nice venue for any outdoor ceremony, etc. The weather was just pleasant – not super hot. So nice. And so great to visit with Austin family and cousins.

Becca was the happiest bride!! Just loved to see her joy! 

After our dinner and some dancing – oh yes, two dances with hubby – we headed home and stopped at wedding No. 1 reception at The Ridges on the way. Got to officially congratulate the bride and visit with some friends. Full day of two-some fun!

Then this afternoon we started our "two-some" couple's league at Tri-City. The fun thing is that Jim and I go against another couple and we get to do a scramble format so we can keep the pace of play going. The non-fun thing is I realize once again my hubby is a phenomenal golfer and I am a complete dead weight. Unfortunately, according to couple's league rules, they have to use at least 3 of my drives in the 9 holes. 

I need more rounds than 2 before I can contribute, that's for sure! But somehow we came out ahead in the match tonight! Whew.

At least on a surprisingly cool Sunday I had my new Cutter and Buck golf pullover that I may or may not have bought myself on my trip to Minnesota last weekend. 88 degrees that day and yet I thought, "I should plan ahead!"

Very comfy and light but warm enough when whimps like me can't deal with wind and chill!

Side note: I love it and I'll be wearing it for much more than golf!

Carter called when we were putting out our last hole. Then we connected later when we were home. We're looking forward to seeing their place up in Duluth and showing them a few sights. How is it that all the weekends in the summer just fill up so fast?!

Hopefully something works out in July. Hubby hasn't been up there and I want to show both of them plus Mamie some of the must-see sights. 

At least we all agree it has to be a summer-type month.... not winter! Appreciate summer right now!

Wild Friday Nights

After reading this list, it makes sense that when Carter called tonight we were having a wild Friday night – sitting in our respective recliners, watching The Parent Trap. Because yes, we're 80 years old!

To be fair, he was just sitting home alone and catching up on his streaming TV shows. So... winter really cuts into the socializing, that's for sure! 

It was good to hear from him. His new year has been just as exciting as ours. Work and surviving winter. There a few fun things on the horizon anyway. And I hope weather cooperates.

They've gotten into the 40s down in Dubuque. I told him our high this next Monday is supposed to be -4! How can a 3-hour drive south be that much different? I guess moving south doesn't require a beach.

Two of my sisters are in Florida right now and it's predicted there could be snow in the northern parts. They're kind of in the middle. And hopefully that won't reach them. What a waste of time if you can't sit by the pool or hit the beach every day! Be nice, Mother Nature!

Alright, I better get back to my Friday night excitement. Be careful out there! 

Reaching Out

I find this statement to be so true. I mean here we are, empty nesters, and yet life somehow gets too busy to stay connected with friends. It's such a travesty, especially when many of us live in the same town. And some of us in the same neighborhood.

I'll be the first to admit I'm a bad friend that way. Not sure where the time goes and suddenly I wonder how people are doing. It's worse when you learn too late they've been dealing with challenges and heartbreak that you knew nothing about. Because you weren't paying attention!

That's one reason I'm grateful for my Girls Night Out group. I can't recall when or how I got in it, but it's great. They make a point of getting together to go out to eat somewhere once a month. Sometimes there's 6 and nights like tonight, we had 11. I don't always make it, but I've started to be more diligent in trying. 

We all need friendship. Whether it's other couples or girls nights without our hubbies or our sisters. 

If I were to actually make a New Year's resolution with some meaning behind it, it would be to be a better friend. To reach out more. To make and take the time to connect – either virtually or physically. 

I've had enough unexpected losses in my life that I really don't want to have regrets. 

But know that even if you don't hear from me, I really do think of you. And hope God is smiling on you with all the blessings you deserve. He's way better at keeping in touch and in tune to your needs. I will try to follow His lead!

It's Only a Day Away

I'm Rockin' Robyn and I approve this message:

Every 4 years, most of us look forward to exercising our right to vote. And really, really look forward to the end of campaigning. 

Every election, it reaches a whole new level. I have no idea who sold a phone list with my number on it, but I have gotten countless phone calls AND texts. Even from this guy...

I must be a very important voter! Side note: The polls open in like 12 hours. There's not much that will sway me at the last minute. But as a former news hound, I know there's the tiniest percentage of chance that something could. 

Unlikely, but you never know. 

My only advice for tomorrow is: Bring your I.D., follow your heart, and if you live in the town of Grand Rapids like me, vote between 11-7.

Cast your vote then grab lunch or dinner! And meet some cool folks protect our lives. No matter who you vote for!

P.S. Our mail box will be feeling pretty empty now too. Feel free to send a card or letter or check! God, bless America! 

Partial Eclipse of the Heart

It's hard growing up with the song "Total Eclipse of the Heart"and realize you can only have 82% eclipse of the sun. Still, I attempted to make due. Today was the solar eclipse of 2024. And since I was working from home today, I could capture a scarce few images since it was mostly cloudy here in central Wisconsin.

But I did put a "meeting" on my calendar from 1-2 p.m. and managed to capture a few pictures between the way too many clouds...

All set with "official" glasses!

It was a bummer that these clear breaks in the clouds were to the south of our house. Still, we just kept taking pictures when we could see it!

All of these are taken with my cell phone with those funny Eclipse glasses place over my lenses. 

Past the halfway point! 

And soon after, as if nothing had ever happened. That's why we capture these moments when we can – blurry or otherwise!

Hope you got to see a bit of history today, too!

It Came Upon a Cellphone Clear

Oh my gosh, this has been the story of my life lately. Are you sure you trust me to host the family Christmas tomorrow? 

We had dinner tonight with some friends. I zoomed on the menu but didn't need to take a picture. This time. However, here's a few recent labels...

In my defense, I could read the separate label with the poundage, just didn't know how long to heat it up. Now I see I'll need to take an additional photo to zoom into the correct temperature setting!

We also needed to replace a bulb in the bathroom today. After all this work to zoom in and focus, we still weren't 100 percent sure of the wattage, but we went with 40. 

And don't get me started on the Advent calendar. It was a challenging month! I texted pictures to Carter some days. For example, for this one, I asked him if this was a stocking hat, a bag of money, or a fat cat wearing a scarf. For the record, it tasted like chocolate!

Wish me luck tomorrow! Or maybe I should say, wish my in-laws good luck tomorrow! Just kidding. My recipe cards are pretty legible. Mostly.

As Time Passes

As the sun was setting on my way home from work tonight, I realized it was one of a kind beautiful... and a sign of another sunset in our lives,

Yup, as part of our kitchen and dining room remodel, we realized we should probably dispose of our land line  – that long-forgottened form of communication. We realized less than 5 people (including our parents) called us on that. Plus it was best to put out new back splash over all of those outlets.

But if you don't have our individual cell numbers, definitely message me to learn more. We can't assume everyone lives in the 80's, 90's, and so on like we do!

E.T. (or C.J.) Phone Home

I realize that as I type this, there was no jackpot winner in Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing  prompting another drawing scheduled for Friday with the estimated jackpot is up to $560 million.

Sure I'll buy a ticket. But it won't trade how special it was to get an unsolicited phone call from my baby boy tonight. 

The fact that there was nothing new to report made it even better. Well, Carter Joseph is traveling this coming weekend and wanted to be sure we knew. But it's only Wednesday. I'm going to go with the "he missed his mom" theory.

I get why my mom always says she appreciates my phone calls. Even with 8 kids, she can still get lonely. 

So my PSA (Public Service Announcement) today is: Call your mom!

Especially if you are fortunate enough to still have one. My guess is they've been through more than we realize. And survived! They deserve our love, respect, and phone calls. 

What an Adjustment

I had my monthly adjustments after work today. Chiropractor first, then deep-tissue massage after. And just like a caterpillar makes the awkward-but-refreshing transformation to a butterfly, it was worth it.

First of all, I arrived fresh after a writing workshop where we learned and discussed the short attention span of humans these days – and how do we write to capture that less-than-one second of time they/we take to read content. 

Our roadblocks? Many. But they include this fact: Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London studied 1,100 workers at a British company and found that multitasking with electronic media caused a greater decrease in IQ than smoking pot or losing a night's sleep.

Yup. Our phones are making us stupid. We need our phones to communicate and receive information, but we can't go very long without them. We, as a whole, cannot handle sitting idle.

So, much like the briefly resting butterfly on the leaf above, I decided to test the theory. I arrived 5 minutes early to the chiropractor and had to sit outside of her office door anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. I vowed to just wait and not look at my phone. Uff da. 

I remembered that since the pre-internet dawn of waiting room time, they've always had magazines for this purpose. So paging through reading material isn't technically a technical device, right? Instead of grabbing a magazine, though, I grabbed a book. I wish I would've taken a picture of the name of it because, like the effects of smoking pot or losing a night's sleep as mentioned above, my memory is squat these days.

I think the title had something to do with coping with stress. I do remember one of the strategies mentioned, though. And that might have helped me more than my physical adjustments today.

Here's what I recall. When you perceive something as negative and label it as a negative event, then it's going to carry a negative stress on you. For as long as you let it. Instead label it neutrally – like stating the facts.

For example, and this is just an example (honest), instead of saying, "My boss just assigned me a writing job knowing full well I am overloaded right now," say (and think), "My boss assigned a job. I am going to write it." This acknowledges that she had to assign it to someone. And maybe as a positive, she assigned it to me because she's confident in my abilities.

In other words, don't fold your wings ready for battle. Don't be paranoid – and definitely nip your ego in the bud. Not everyone is out to get you. You are not a victim. A series of events happened and now we move on.

Pretty decent 5-minute lesson, eh?

I guess it just spoke to me – while my phone was on silent. 😀

Dear Old (and Wise) Dad

I'm not sure why we watched reruns of this old TV show when I was a kid. Either because it was wholesome (likely the case) or because in the show, the kids always went to Dad for advice since "Father Knows Best." Unlikely Mom thought that but maybe having 8 kids nagging on her prompted a "go ask your father" a time or two.

I kind of think there's still plenty of that in today's world. And I do appreciate the wisdom (and wise-ass remarks) of dads and fathers-in-law – especially today.

My father-in-law turned 85! Jim and I went to visit Johnny after work. It just happened that while we were there, Carter called him to wish him a happy birthday.

And it was pure coincidence we were talking about how he hasn't called me in ages.

So I suddenly hear Grandpa saying things like, "Have you called your mother lately?"and something like "There was a guy on TV the other day saying you should call your mother every other day" and an offering of "If I see your mom today should I tell her you're going to call her?"

And the clincher "Would you like to talk to your mom NOW?"

He hands me the phone and Carter says, "Grandpa is clever!" Indeed. He DOES know best! It wasn't even my birthday and I got the gift of talking to my baby. Thanks, Dad!

By the way, the "guy on TV" was Steve Harvey and it was a Family Feud fast money question about how often you should call your mother. Carter will be happy to know "every day" got lower points than "every other day". You're off the hook there, buddy.

SOS (Spam On Steroids)

It's Election Day and the polls are officially closed. I sure hope that means all my spammers have closed their offices too. The screen shot above is just the most recent unsolicited texts about the election. It's strange, because we always get a plethora of phone calls for that. But texting is new. 

And I'm not a fan.

Anyway, we both voted – Jim in advance and me after work tonight – so we'll know tomorrow if we have a new governor in Wisconsin and if we'll have new representatives on state and federal levels. We'll also know what the heck people actually advertise on TV...

Joe Heller is a talented cartoonist in Wisconsin and he definitely hit he nail on the head here.

It's a new day Wednesday. May it be noticeably quiet for us all. 

Final Sunbathing Days

 

Sunday is a day of rest. And also the last Sunday of summer. Technically. So after church and after I posted tennis pictures from yesterday, kitty and I commenced to resting and sunbathing.

I'll share her picture but you can't pay me enough to share a picture of me on Mr. Deck Chair! Probably for the last time this season. 

I sat out listening to an audio book for a bit, then called my mom to chit-chat. She said it was so nice  when her children call. I told her I knew exactly what she meant. That message must have traveled over the plains and the mountains because lo and behold, my baby boy called tonight! And yes, Mom, it does do the heart good!

This evening I also had one of my last senior photo shoots of the season. By that time, it had clouded up and was picture perfect.

And my model was picture perfect, too! Makes the job so much easier, ha. Seriously, all my kiddos this year have been beautiful inside and out. Just neat kids. It's been a fun season.

I look forward to a few days of rest, though. They'll arrive just in time with fall colors. No rush, though, says Sylvester, me, and Mr. Deck Chair!

Rain Delays

Might be hard to tell in the picture, but even the spiders aren't equipped for this rain. That web is holding some big ol' drops, that's for sure.

My web is pretty much in disarray too. And by web, I mean well-constructed calendar – which included 3 mini photo shoots today that I'll have to try to fit into the microscopic holes in my calendar this month. Darn rain!

I had it on good authority – according to the app on my phone – that rain would be done around 11 a.m. today. It was not raining at 10 a.m. so I was very excited. But it resumed by 11 a.m. and kept going and going and going all day.

So I did what any disgruntled photographer would do. I went to Verizon and got a new phone with, hopefully, an app that doesn't show rain on the days I need to take pictures. That was totally logical in my mind. 

Come on. We all know a little retail therapy is good for the dampened soul!

Hope you found a way to enjoy your day or just lazed around indoors. My new weather app (well the same one on a new phone) says were in the clear for the rest of the week.

Just don't take that rain check to the bank!

Gratitude Challenge Days 18 and 19

I wasn't planning to combine two days of the 25-day Gratitude Challenge again. But again, I skipped blogging because I was up pretty late editing pictures from the girls first hoops game of the season (at Stratford) – the Royals won, of course – and went to bed after midnight as it was. So here are days 18 and 19.

Day 18. A favorite sound.
Day 19. Something sweet.

Can you believe I can successfully combine two challenges with one answer again? I can!

One of my favorite sounds is a telephone call from boy, who as you know, is quite a sweetie!

I know I've shared this picture before but it's so Carter at that age. I just love it. Always, always wearing his backwards Nike cap. And most likely – even at age 4 – having a very grownup conversation with a grandparent.

Neither part has changed much. Except I can't hold him on my lap anymore when he's doing either of those things.

I'm grateful for memories and grateful for photos and scrapbooks that I can turn the page and turn back time when I want. At least until I see him again in, oh, 114 hours. That'll be sweet, too!

Hug your littles while they're little! They grow up so fast.

#gratitudemonth

A Variety of Treats

I had my handful of treats today. First, despite a 50-degree start to the morning, God gave us a glorious day here in central Wisconsin. Didn't get a chance to enjoy it long enough!

Another treat, if you like pain, was an appointment with my massage therapist. Deep tissue. Ahhhh. Hurts so good. After that, I pondered going over to DQ since they've acknowledged the beginning of fall and pumpkin season. But I didn't. Was trying to be good and now I can't stop thinking about a Pumpkie Pie Blizzard. 

Dang.

My other treat today was getting to talk to my mom. She's 89. When she didn't answer at lunch, I got a little worried. Like how dare she leave her apartment and do something fun without any of her kids knowing? Ha. Well she was having "coffee hour" and it turned into 3 hours. Just visiting with the ladies, she said. I told that was great and assured her I didn't sound the alarm and report to my siblings that she was missing. We enjoyed a nice 45-minute conversation about nothing and everything. Feel blessed for that privilege.

For my final treat, I think I'll start digging in the freezer. There has got to something good in there.

The Dragged Out Dozen

In case you were wondering what's occupying my time these days – I mean besides spring sports (basically wrapped up) and work – it's looking at pictures like the one above and obsessively counting down to my trip to Alaska.

12 days, 10 hours, 26 minutes and 43 seconds. In case you were wondering. 

So yep, seeing gorgeous "midnight sunsets" and mountains and lakes and getting excited. Oh Nell is just as excited. We just don't want to rush time now or the fates will be against us and rush our vacation. which by the way, is nicely organized and designed for our easy reference...

Because I have this compulsion for making more work for myself or something. But really, in case it is the last frontier, where cellular service is spotty (which we've heard), then we better go old school with a few things. Don't worry. We'll be armed with The Milepost – a must-have Alaskan map and guide book of sorts.

So that's it. Nothing new here. Just thinking and making lists and packing piles and patiently (not really) waiting for the next dozen days to drag by! 

Oooh. We're down to 12 days, 10 hours and 20 minutes now! Time's flying!

Blind Squirrel

The saying goes that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile. This applies to my rare good golf shots and the occasional great action shot with my camera.

It does not apply to my blind attempts to capture an image of a squirrel.

While walking around the lake after work, I saw a big fat squirrel hauling a big leafy branch. I thought hey, that would be a cute picture. He's big and the branch is big. So I grab my phone out of my pocket and try to get the camera on – still not a pro with this after a week and 2 days with my new smartphone. By that time I was shooting blindly up the tree and did manage to get a picture of him in his nest.

After he plopped in there and out of sight.

So there's my non-wildlife picture of the day. I will say I learned something though. I always assumed nests like that were for birds. I didn't know squirrels build nests. I guess I've watched too many cartoons and they all live in a hole in the tree.

That's something I'm probably not going to investigate any further. 

Guess I'll have to practice using my camera while I watch The Voice tonight.

Oh hi, Nick Jonas! I'll be seeing you a few minutes! 

The Cat's Meow

It was the strangest coincidence last week. One day hubby mentioned he wished he knew what Sylvester was saying because she's so vocal now. (Must be a typical old age / lose your filter type thing.) Then the next day on the noon news they were talking about an app for your phone that can interpret dog barks. As an aside, they mentioned there's a cat one, too, called Meow Talk.

They weren't even to commercial break before I was downloading that. I couldn't wait to figure our girl out. I honestly followed her around for days. The result? She will not make a sound when she sees that phone of mine getting close to her. And if she's howling down the hallway, as soon as I pop my head out, she stops. The challenge is that you have to be really close to the cat to pick up her sound so the app will "translate" it. 

I finally hit pay dirt when she was trotting into Jim's office and she didn't know I was standing there. Any guesses what her meowing meant?

I laughed out loud. Very loud. Oh my gosh. Of course this is what she's saying. Jim is her human!! She can't be more than 3 feet away from him most of the time. My love?! Who writes this stuff?!

Anyway, I'm thinking maybe it's best I don't know what she's saying to me – especially when he's not around. Whatever it is, I'm sure there's not any filter!

If anyone gives it a try, I'd love to hear what your cat is saying. I'm not giving up... until my feelings are hurt. Ha.

Technology Time Capsule

Thought I'd actually try to accomplish something today while hubby was out of the house working the boys' Cranberry Classic basketball tourney at Assumption. So I tackled the closet in what was formerly known as "the computer room" and has been "Jim's office" for the past eight years or so.

The picture above shows what happens when you're cleaning out a closet and you stumble upon a Technology Time Capsule. Apparently, we were concerned about keeping the instructions – and boxes – just in case we needed them. For what, I don't know. (Pretty sure I inherited that logic.)

How many gadgets from the past decade can you identify? Ha. 

We've got a flip phone box, a few non-working pedometers from our days in Iola, boxes for at least three different generations of Samsung Galaxy phones, a box for a Garmin (I guess that was pre-GPS in vehicles and on phones), two for wi-fi routers, one for a "netbook," and lord knows what else.

I got as far as taking them out of the closet and to the kitchen table. I really meant to go through and figure out if it all can be discarded or recycled. But purposely distracted myself and went to take pictures at the basketball tournament. Just the two Assumption games... so I could justify my procrastination.

Looks like it's going to be a Thursday project. After a few more basketball games, of course. 

I mean those boxes aren't going anywhere. Technology might advance while I'm still sorting through them, though!

P is for Plenty

 

We're more than halfway there! Alphabetical gratitude month continues today with the letter P which means I have Plenty of blessings to be thanks for.

A = Autumn, Austins, Assumption
B = Ballots, Books, Book Club, Bible
C = Casey, Clay, Carter, Church, Creativity, Camera
D = Dad, Daughters, Deck Chair, Dar, Design
E = Eggs, Election, Energy, Empty Nest
F = Family, Friends, Faith, Flu Shot, FastForward
G = Games, Golf, Guilty pleasures
H = Hugs, Hurricanes, Humor
I = Ice cream, Impromptu Invitations
J = Jim, Jokes, Job, Java
K = Kindness, King Cone, Knock on Wood, Karma
L = Laughters, Love
M = Mom, Masters, Musicals
N = Nieces, Nephews, Neighbors, Norse Force

Pigging Out: I never said that every blessing that brings me joy is good for me. By sheer coincidence, I have been Pigging Out this week on pizza (Monday night dinner) and popcorn (today's lunch AND dinner) not to mention Pumpkin Spice coffee. And, next week, here comes Pumpkin Pie! Perfect! 

Passport: I will never take for granted my ability to travel "wherever I want" thanks to my passport. Because, what good is a passport 2020? No place to go abroad and nobody wants us. That's why I'm so grateful I got two trips to Europe stamped on my passport – Norway, Sweden, Denmark two summers ago, and Germany and France 18 months ago. So amazing to expand our horizons! It has opened my window to the world. Cannot wait until this global pandemic is replaced by global travel! 

Phone: I do panic a bit when I leave the house and realize I forgot my phone. It's not like there's that many people besides telemarketers that actually call. But I get plenty of texts. And yeah, I what if a photo op comes up and I don't have my phone (aka small camera)? Guess I just picture it in my mind, right? (Unless I'm traveling somewhere a passport's required. I need share that image somehow!) I am grateful that smart phones especially have made it much easier to stay in pretty constant contact with my siblings and, uhm, parentally persistent contact with the boys.

Hey, it all pleases me today. 

#gratitudemonth #gratitudealphabet