Friday FORE! Some Fun

We had our annual summer golf round with our friends Scott and Sandy. They come from the Green Bay area so we often find a new course to try that's somewhere between us. Today we took the day off and traveled down to the boujee town of Green Lake to golf Tuscumbia.

It was a gorgeous day with temps in the low 80s. A tad sticky at times, but when the clouds were out or there was a breeze, we did OK.

This was a pretty straightforward course. And I mean straight! Pretty much a back-and-forth hole layout. You might not see it in this photo but this is the middle of many parallel fairways. 

There were a lot of huge, old trees. This one gave shade to two little fawns. You have to look close. Ha.

And look at the size of this trunk!

Sandy and I took our usual selfie. I need to find all the ones we taken the last 15 summers!

On the way home, hubby and I stopped at Two Lakes Supper Club. There's water in both lakes this summer! That isn't always the case.

So we had dinner with a view.

That was topped only by our meal. We both had our favorites. Jim had their shrimp pizza and I had their delicious coconut shrimp with cranberry-apricot dipping sauce. So good!

Did not have room for dessert but had another treat on the drive home with this unusually wispy sunset. I see a bird in there. And the whole view is like a rising phoenix. Love it!

All in all, a great day out of the office! Which is usually the case, isn't it?

Have a good weekend, everyone. Hydrate and be careful!

Just Another Manic (or Migraine) Monday

My plan today (before weekend plans changed) was to take today off in order to sleep in if we went to see our nephew race in Slinger last night. While we didn't end up going, I still looked forward to a restful night and day off.

Then 7:36 a.m. happened.

I was abruptly awakened by what sounded like a jackhammer outside my bedroom window. Though I know in reality that wouldn't be the case for a construction crew ready to prep our house for new siding. Needless to say, there was no sleep happening after that.

Though I did try so very hard! 

But today was destined to be the day they removed all the nails and trim that we could not reach – and wrap our home in love. Or whatever "HomeWrap" is.

I forgot they have to start with the soffit before they get into the siding. I realize every day I know less and less about construction and home improvement projects. Definitely just pay the experts!

The Dumpster keeps filling up with totally legal stuff. We haven't had time to declutter our home with suspicious items we can live without.

And at the end of the day we were pretty much surrounded by HomeWrap. This view of our garage's west side is encouraging. We had terrible windows that let in all the frigid air. We hope that by siding over that (and the addition of a new, snug door in the back), we actually will retain some heat this winter. I'll keep you posted.

Just a few spots left in the back for them to move onto step 2 – which of course I have no idea what that is.

Today, I'm just glad they not only uncovered one more bees nest (with Jim still in the house) and laid the foundation, so to speak, for our home makeover. 

Tomorrow through Thursday, I'll be on the road to the office in Point before they arrive. Looking forward to a week of pleasant surprises. Without the noise.

How Sweet It Is!

How ironic that today when I was sharing photos with a friend about a candy shop in Gatlinburg, TN (from a trip 2 years ago) that it turns out to be National Candy Month.

According to my Robyn-pedia... you should get ready to satisfy your sweet tooth all month long because June is National Candy Month! "This delicious holiday was created in 1974 to celebrate the wide variety of candies available and the joy they bring to our lives. From chocolate bars to gummy bears, there's a candy for everyone's taste buds. Did you know that the first candy ever made was a form of honeycomb in ancient Egypt? And now, we have countless options and flavors to choose from. So go ahead and indulge in your favorite treats guilt-free this month!"

The Gummy Chandelier image up top is from a candy shop in Gatlinburg. They are about to head in that Smoky Mountains area and I told her there are plenty of things to see and do in Gatlinburg for a family with teenage kiddos. My candy shop photos from a store on the "main drag that I don't recall the name of" came to mind first.

The wall of ceiling-high candy dispensers caught my eye first! (Especially while I'm chewy on spicy jelly beans from Easter as I type this.)

Then there were the store's obviously sugar-laden breakfast cereals on display – that we never EVER would've been allowed to have in our childhood. I think Kellogg's Sugar Smacks and Corn Pops were the extent of that. Unless we could sneak a few chocolate chips to melt in our lumpy oatmeal!

On that note, don't judge my parenthood skills, but it just happens that Carter's fave cereal is Cinnamon Toast Crunch and his girlfriend's is Fruity Pebbles. Where did we go wrong?

I guess we all need that sugar rush.

Of course, as the maintainer of our team candy dish at work, I can tell you my peanut butter M&M's dispenser is the most popular. Followed by ... I'm not sure. Some love Snickers. Others love Hershey Toffee. And still another finds York Peppermint Patties to be the ultimate treat. 

So I buy them all and wait anxiously for my Yelp reviews.

And often think, "It's free. Don't complain to me if your favorite isn't there!"

But in the end realize we all need that little boost of sugar at some point in our day. 

Thankfully for you, I'm just so sweet by nature. 😁

Home, Sweet (but Chilly) Home

 

My whirlwind of life in the past 13 days has finally come to a slow stop. And I am home, sweet home in Wisconsin Rapids. Though temps are a bit chilly compared to Iowa and Missouri! The photo above is what greeted my when I walked through the door yesterday at 12:40 p.m. (Thanks, hubby!) But then I had to work a half day and shoot and edit softball pictures. So I had no time for bloggage.

Last time we checked in it was Easter Sunday night. That evening my sisters and I decided we'd check out of our VRBO early enough on Monday that we could join a Clydesdale Tour at nearby Grant's Farm. So packed and gathered up the tons of snacks we didn't have time to eat and made our way there a little after 10 a.m.

It was amazing. Such unique history and interesting details about how and what it takes to be on the official "Budweiser Hitch." 

First of all, if you want to be the biggest guys on the hitch, you have to be 19 hands high (at the shoulder) and the others have to be 18. You see I'm a bit short of qualifying for the hitch.

The fun part was spending some up-close and personal time with a few of the horses. Raptor seemed to take a liking to my hairspray. I should tell my hair artist that the expensive hairspray she sold me does not hold up to Missouri winds (see any previous photo from this trip) or horse saliva. 

We also each got a chance to carefully groom WolfMan. And by careful I mean don't touch near his lower leg because if his foot goes up, it must come down. 

And based on this horseshoe size, we did not want a hoof connecting with our human hooves.

Got a group picture though so that was cool!

We hit the road after that with a destination of Cedar Rapids again. Since we did our side trips to Swedesburg and Hannibal on the way down, we didn't have too many pit stops to make. So we got to the "other" Rapids at 5:30 p.m. and were able to join the kids for dinner at Chili's next door at 5:45 p.m.

Although full from dinner, Carter and Mamie have a favorite frozen yogurt place that we somehow ended up at hours later. Yum!!

I left around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning so I could get home during my typical lunch hour and work a half day. Pretty much no traffic so it was a smooth "commute" home. I can tell you my alarm this morning was a rude awakening. But it was worth suffering through after such a nice long weekend with loved ones!

Tonight, though, may require an 8 p.m. bedtime just to catch up! Just gotta get through choir practice, then I'm off to bed!

Reality Bites, Y'all

After experiencing some 4 summer-like days in Nashville – including Monday's 86-degree afternoon temps – it was so hard to come back to reality last night.

When we landed and our "real feel" temp was more than 40 degrees colder, that was tough to take. It made me wonder why I didn't cave and buy a Nashville hoodie somewhere along the line!

This morning, waking up to an annoying alarm and only 32 degrees, was even tougher to handle. At least it was a fast day at work with so much to catch up on. Then it was straight to Girls Night Out at el Mezcal. Who knew we were already at the middle of the month?!

It was nice catching up. And I realized I should probably start sorting through some photos before my next long weekend – in 36 hours or so. I'll share when I can tomorrow. I am having unfortunate technical difficulties syncing my pictures from my phone to Google.

There's always tomorrow, I've heard. 😀 

So Much Work!

I realized today that when hubby and I have a 4-day weekend planned, Thursdays can be awfully long. I mean beyond the tolerable 8 hours!

So I earnestly tried to get my work done so that I didn't have to worry about my co-workers getting dumped on. Then I realized, tomorrow is Friday. They only have to deal with 2 days -- Friday and Monday -- so I need to chill and embrace some stress-free time for a few days.

This is a new concept for me especially since I have time-off plans two weekends in a row. So unlike dedicated work-minded me.

But most of me is excited for relaxing times with friends and family in a few states that we just love hanging out with.

Can't wait to experience it and tell you more!

Oh Sweet Hump Day

Today was another reminder that we somehow managed to work 5 days in a row most of last year – and now it feels like a challenge.

For me, a "5 days in a row" work week hasn't happened since before Thanksgiving. So I'm already caving to mild exhaustion this week. Who made up this rule of 5 days in a row anyway?

Luckily there has been plenty to keep me awake – er, mind occupied – at work so I can be productive. And tonight I had our monthly Girls Night Out to look forward to and carry me through Hump Day.

There was 8 of us who met at Gordie's (formerly Layla's, Goose's, etc on the west side of Rapids). Our food was amazing and we were there catching up for at least 2 hours. That's how you jump into Hump Day and gain momentum to finish out the week!

Hope all of you are adjusting back to your reality after the holidays. Don't judge yourself. It does take a minute!

Days Off, Movies, and More

I loved that today I had the day off and could catch up on at least one Hallmark movie – and one traditional one. White Christmas.

And that movie happened to be on my mind this season since my loving twin got me a sweatshirt from that movie last month when we had our sister gathering. Love it!

Then, since I was in the Haynes sisters and White Christmas movie mode, I got Raylene and I matching... puzzles! Did I mention this was one of our Sister Weekend opening acts??

Yup. There is a company to match every Christmas wish. And in this case, I got to order a puzzle with our fun Haynes Sisters White Christmas theme and match Raylene's and mine hairstyles plus include our names. 

I put mine together Thanksgiving week to make sure it worked. Not sure if Lene has had time or not. But it felt good to watch White Christmas this afternoon via Amazon Prime.

I also happened to get garbage bag #5 full of clothes to donate too. I only point that out so I don't feel guilty admitting I'm going to get at least one more holiday movie – traditional or otherwise – viewed and knocked off my list tonight.

Hope you're having and equally productive (aka relaxing) week as well!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Austins. It was a very, very, very low-key day today since it was just Jim and I. After sleeping in, we opened out stockings (with our perfect goodies, of course), then had the rest of the day free.

I caught up on few Christmas movies while Jim visited his mother's grave and saw his dad. When I was feeling guilty about too much recliner time, I got outside for a walk around the neighborhood and captured a few more White Christmas photos...

It was pretty – especially when I had no place to drive! And I had just enough fresh air to relax while catching It's a Wonderful Life and Christmas Vacation.

Hope you had a lovely day with friends, family, or your favorite movie or book! Merry Christmas!

White Christmas? Somebody's Wishing Hard

Since I actually slept in until after 9 a.m. on my first day of Christmas vacation, I had no idea it was silently starting to snow outside. But when I looked at it, I figured someone somewhere was really wishing hard for a white Christmas. And like the song says, since I had no place to go, let it snow!

Since this is Christmas Eve Eve, I was reminded though that we should be grateful there were clear skies in Bethlehem long, long ago. Today's 3+ inches of wet snow would've made a mess of things.

While the flakes fell, I enjoyed "brunch" and watched a Hallmark movie. (So many to get through in 10 days!)

Then I started the first of many ambitious stay-cation projects: Cleaning out closets! Not as fun as it sounds. But hey, 2 garbage bags full for Goodwill so far!

Probably why I volunteered to shovel off the deck. That and the fact I wanted to test out the Milwaukee M12 heated hoodie from Santa. Wow. I was sweating and it wasn't even hard work. Am loving this already!

Some backyard views, too, out the livingroom window.

Enough snow to cover the tree branches and some of the pine boughs, too. Pretty!

While I did shovel a little, hubby took care of most of the driveway before going to his dad's and removing his slushy mess. After running a few errands in town (including my first of several Goodwill drop-offs) I was grateful for the other thing I accomplished on my first day off today. Finally ordering new tires (and alignment) for my car. 

Really, nothing says Adult Christmas like a new set of tires. Am I right?

Hope you found a reason to celebrate Christmas Eve Eve today! Especially since the real reason for the season is just hours away.