May the Course Be With You

It was a great day at the office today – since 6+ hours of it was golfing for United Way! Hey, it's all for the kids! 

Our company's theme for this year's fundraising campaign is United is the Way so it naturally lent itself to some Star Wars themes. (Above) Which is why I teed off by Yoda (who I am taller than!) on the first hole.

But wait, this is a fundraiser! So we paid $20 to spin the wheel and we lucked out with the Luke and Princess Leia ball placement. Making it an easy birdie on our first hole!

Later on the course we ran into one of our fellow marketing dudes who was videoing things for the event. But was totally in costume!

Here's me trying to use my throat-crushing powers for good! Though coincidentally have Darth on our hole helped get my drive on the par-3 green. Let's not examine if my powers lean more to the dark side.

To be honest, most of the day was fighting wind (you can see above) instead of evil. But we can't deny that when it was behind us, it was an actual helpful factor.

Despite the morning chills (I'm serious about the wake-up temps of 52 degrees) it turned out to be a pleasant day with some cursing – but consistently gorgeous views. And so many laughs. 

I'm wishing us all a great week with continuous out-of-this-galaxy golf outing feels! 😁

Powered Up

We thankfully had power restored by the time I got home after 8 p.m. last night. As far as we know, nothing spoiled in the fridge or anything – since also thankfully, it wasn't as hot as it had been on Saturday and Sunday.

So I had no issues hearing my alarm this morning. I even took a second to take a picture of our rain gauge for Monday's total. Over 2 inches!

Work was fast and busy today. So many meetings. Didn't necessarily have a productive day. But it flew by.

Which is always nice on Tuesdays when we have golf league at SentryWorld. Of course, based on previous exhibit of rainfall and showers all morning in Stevens Point, we had "cart path only" golf tonight. Which takes forever.

And it did.

I had one par dance but also one ball taking a "swim" so I didn't have the greatest score. Still, it's golf. It's summer. It's not work.

I think our round took almost 2 1/2 hours because we couldn't drive to the ball. Ever. So I am yawning and hitting the hay as fast as I can here.

Sure is nice to type this on my computer keypad instead of my phone! God bless electricity!

More than 100% Heat

It was so hot and humid around here today that even the "feels like" temperature after 6 p.m. was 104 degrees. Insane!

Needless to say there wasn't a ton of time outdoors. I did get to a graduation party on a lake -– so that breeze was nice. Then had a photo shoot outside. That was supposed to be a few hours but they decided to take activities indoors because it was just THAT hot!

I did pop down to the Shermalot Water Ski how after that because I had to pick up some raffle ticket winnings. Oh not for me. For Mr. Austin, who hasn't gone to a show yet. But he bought a ticket from one of the skiiers at a fish fry this spring. Lucky!

While I was there, I did take a couple hundred photos of course. 

But am grateful to be home in the A/C. And hoping I sleep like a baby after all that heat and wind today.

Again, stay hydrated and be smart. Sunday will be even worse!

Czech Out the New Windy City

Move over, Chicago. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, might have you beat as the Windy City!

We both took the day off and got down there in mid-afternoon. It was so windy we could actually hear it in our 4th-floor hotel room. If you closed your eyes, it sounded like ocean waves almost. All flags were definitely flying all of their colors.

We had only a few objectives to our trip. Meet up with Carter and Mamie for dinner, then all go to see Colin race at the historic Hawkeye Downs on Friday then check out the National Czech-Slovac Museum and GENEALOGY Library on Saturday. It turned into so much more.

We met up with the kids at Up in Smoke BBQ, which had a very similar (and delicious) vibe as the new place we checked out in Waupaca a few weeks ago. But they had some good, spicy sauces like Blueberry Habernaro and Chipotle BBQ. So tasty!

And by strange coincidence, the restaurant was located in the "Czech Village" which included the museum and genealogy library Jim (my partially Bohemian hubby) had already planned to visit Saturday. And lo and behold, there was a big Boho festival going on! So we were already excited to (accidentally) be here for this particular weekend.

From there, it was off to Hawkeye Downs, celebrating its 100th year. Mamie hadn't been to a stockcar-type race before so this was her very windy and cold introduction. 

She thought it was fun – even though we couldn't stop laughing at how absurd the wind was!

Plus, we got a precipitation delay that include a rainbow at the east end of the track!

To sum up the race experience...  Colin qualified 14th, finished 3rd in the heat race, and the feature was interesting. There was an accident on Turn 1 before Colin's feature where a car had issues and flew into the turn, taking out part of the fence, wall, then there were several accidents there the rest of the night. During his feature, Colin got hung in a wreck with 4 trucks on that same turn. Colin had to leave to the pits but got his truck literally taped up while they were cleaning up the mess. And got back to the race and even though he was in the back of the pack, he fought his way up to a 5th-place finish! It was pretty fun to watch!!

By the way, this was the temperature and "feels like" temp about an hour before Colin's race ended. Uff da!

This morning, we got down to the Czech Village so Jim could do some family tree research at the museum and I could watch the festival parade and shop all the vendors. Perfect situation!

Parade with lots of Bohemians in full costume.

Oh and the wind? Still here today obviously!

There was also chalk art going on. Very impressive.

When Jim was done, Carter met us so we could cross the river and head into New Bohemia.

Upon a museum worker recommendation to Jim, we went to the Little Bohemia restaurant.

After all, they have perfect Robyn-approved pun in "Czech us out."

My partially Bohemian husband and son ordered the ghoulash. They said it was very delicious!!

My Boho Boys before we left town.

We got home around 6:30 tonight and we're a bit exhausted. Lots of driving for Jim and lots of windy fresh air for us both! Too bad we both have to sing in our church choirs in the morning and can't sleep in. Guess that means I need to turn on my electric mattress pad and hit the hay soon! 

Level Red Threat

All weekend and early today we knew we were in some sort of level red threat zone. Which I guess just means moderate. We have to be pink to be concerned.

I hope.

We had two random downpours during our work day, but otherwise it was business as usual on a Monday on Bluejay Drive. Then I felt a warm breeze and realized it was almost 80 degrees and the sun was out.

That lasted less than 10 minutes. I know this because I dragged Mr. Deck Chair to a sunny spot on the driveway and didn't get through a full chapter in my book! Both are safe inside now.

Then the evening news showed us getting the big crackdown while we're sleeping! I'm not sure what to rely on a this point. But I'm gonna watch The Voice while I can and hopefully sleep through NOTHING.

Be careful out there!

Blow it Off

We had such high wind conditions today that on the way to work, I wasn't sure if my car was moving due to black ice. And on the way home, with better visibility (above) I was just thankful to keep my car in my lane. Uffda.

Of course, it was easy to cope with the commute when I was filled with comfort food. As a whole, we're (non Chiefs and Eagles fans) all blowing off the Super Bowl this year.

But still... we started our Super Bowl pre-gaming at work today. I encouraged people to bring in appetizers and share their recipes. I brought my Rubi Reds inspired dip and I latched onto a good beer-cheese dip recipe!

With 1 Vikings fan (duh) and 10 "other" fans, we could all just commiserate and eat. Works for me!

As it turns out, I have enough chips and pretzels AND dip left that I'm already set for Sunday. 

After making it to and from work safely, I'll latch on to any positives! Hope you can do the same!

Flying Season

It so cold, windy, and rainy today, it felt like the scene from a scary Halloween movie. Though, with gas prices inching back up, I feel like I could have had good gas mileage if I'd ridden a broom to church.

I know we need the rain. But combined with chill and wind, it was not a day to be out and about. In other words, I had to postpone a senior photo shoot. No one wants to be out in a "real feel 39 degrees" kind of day and actually smile.

So we spent the day indoors. I whipped up some cheese stuffed tortellini chili in the crockpot and did some cleaning. Vikings were on bye so I had a much more productive Sunday than usual. Even got a call from our baby so day was made!

I know it's not even 9 o'clock but it's dark and my side of the bed is fully heated and waiting for me. I might have to dive into my Halloween romance book (it's a thing, I think) called Hex and the City. I'll let you know if it's worth the ride, er read!

Hang onto your hat – and broomstick – and be careful out there!

Just Blowing Through

 It was a very hot day yesterday, but we knew there was going to be rain coming at some point. Maybe thunderstorms. But what we weren't prepared for was crazy wicked winds with it. I mean it seemed like it was blowing less than 5 minutes. 

But it definitely left its mark on our neighborhood.

First, we see Mr Deck Chair getting blown off the front deck. Jim rescued him! Then, the power goes out – while our pizza in the oven was only half baked. Then, it was complete silence. Very eerie.

I couldn't resist driving around the 'hood. You see that stop sign there? This was what lay ahead of us and our usual way out of our neighborhood circle. Thankfully the other exit wasn't blocked.

Every street was littered with branches of varying sizes. And since, all the trees were falling in different directions, we're wondering if there was a funnel cloud involved or just straight-line winds. Haven't heard anything official, though.

My golf partner's house was missed but this big ass tree was blocking their driveway!

View from the stop sign looking into the 'hood.

Three houses away.

Our only loss.

Snapped right off between our yard and the next door neighbors'.

Damage around the corner.

And some more nearby on Deer Road. So crazy.

Meanwhile, once the power came back on after 2 hours, our cable and internet were still out. After talking with the help desk guy for more than half an hour, we couldn't get it to work. Thankfully, they sent someone out this morning – even though "we don't usually have techs working on Sunday." So glad they could fix it. Our main concern was needing internet to work from home tomorrow (and of course, blog!).

Good neighbor Mike was also promptly on the scene with this chainsaw this morning so we could get things cleaned up before it got too hot.

And trust me, for someone who loves heat, it was sooooo hot!

Jim and I had couples golf league this afternoon and we were roasting! Thankfully, we took a cart so we could create our own breeze once in awhile.

Mark your calendar. I am NOT turning on my electric mattress pad tonight! Hope you all survived the heat and any storm-related fun in your neck of the woods!

Weathering the Round

It was a crazy day of on and off rain. So I was glad the rain clouds took a pause for golf league and our 4:50 p.m. tee time. But don't give Mother Nature too much credit. Because it was chilly and windy!!

Still... any day on the golf course is better than... you name it!

Tonight was fun because we played against a fun team and my golf partner was celebrating – or at least acknowledging – her retirement. We have official celebration plans Saturday night. Still... yay for her. And I'm so jealous!

Didn't have the greatest round but we only got sprinkled on a few times (thank you, clouds, for keeping on moving) and I got home by my bedtime.

Yup, it's early. But I have an early alarm tomorrow to head down to Madison for state softball. Let's go, Lady Royals!!

P.S. I guess you know what I'll be blogging about tomorrow night! 💙🥎

Daily Dust Bowl

With high winds and very dry conditions today, it definitely seemed like some sort of Dust Bowl was happening on my ride home today.

And shooting some middle school baseball after work, you could definitely see both the dust and the wind billowing through their uniforms. Needless to say, I didn't stay long. It was one thing for my camera to get some dust, but then the light rain started. Not a good combo for me!

Got home and realized it was time to figure out how to face the real Dust Storm in our lives.

My sister Rachel had her 6th surgery in 16 days – this time to repair the broken right ankle. It went well as far as everyone can tell.

Then my mom, who is the special person we've been praying about, has had an up-and-down journey of her own in the hospital after a fall. 

I decided to take tomorrow off and head north to see Mom. Depending on timing and other things, I may swing over to the Twin Cities to visit my sister. Right now our clear answers are whirling around in the dust. Hopefully things will be clearer as I travel.

And hopefully, I'll be able to deliver a few personal hugs and prayers to family scattered here and there. And hopefully the thunder and lightning wrap up so it's a smooth drive. Trust me, I'll never take "safe travels" as seriously as we all are now!

Hope you survived the wind, dust, and rain OK! 

P.S. Please continue to pray for miracles! 

It's a Fine Line

For as much as I watched the weather this weekend, I wasn't quite prepared for this return to winter. I guess I should've paid attention to that fine line (circled in red) where we live and where it magically divides between 1-3 inches and 3-6 inches.

I'm guessing we're on the north side of it!

Our first surprise was waking up to snow. We were concentrating on the actual 1 p.m. start of the storm advisory. But like those magic lines on the map, weather isn't always an exact science. So our morning plans changed. 

I had planned to go since at 9:30 church then book it home so Carter could borrow my car to drive down to a funeral / wake in Dubuque. Since it was already snowing, I stayed home and he hit the road by 8 a.m. so he could try to stay ahead of it. Thankfully he did and made it down there OK. And he'll just drive back up tomorrow after work. (Yay for remote jobs!)

As the afternoon went on, the snow wasn't accumulating a ton but icicles were forming – never a good sign.

And most of the time the snow was blowing sideways. Uff da. I can't imagine what my family up north – in that hot pink 10-15 inches bubble – is dealing with. We have spring break here in Wisconsin Rapids this week but I'm sure schools are closing everywhere!

The last look down the road before it got dark. Not that the visibility was super anyway.

The only good thing about being housebound for the day was that I had time to clean off my desk in my office, make a cheesy chicken dip in the crockpot, and price dozens of garage sale items. 

Oh and maybe watch a little basketball – despite my crumbling bracket.

Hope you stayed safe and are careful out there tomorrow! I'll let you know which side of that fine line we fell on.