Foxy Friday

Ever since I made national news (CBS Morning News!) with my famous fox photo from the 2023 U.S. Senior Open, I've declared the fox as my spirit animal.

So today, on my day off, imagine my delight in finding these fox paper plates at Dollar Tree while I was hunting for other raffle basket related items! Not sure when and where I'll use them, but it was a must-buy!

Speaking of must-buys... I went to the downtown farmers market at lunch yesterday (not many weeks left) and made sure to feed my guilty pleasure of buying myself fresh flowers. How can I resist full bouquets like this for merely $10? I don't feel so guilty after all!

Today I took the day off for no reason other than to have a 4-day weekend. I went down to the Rome farmers market so I could get some candles from our friends who run Midwest Nice candles. (They smell so yummy!) 

A perfect addition to these raffle baskets I'm putting together for a benefit my nephew Colin and his wife are organizing. A fellow racer has a newborn daughter who spent many, many weeks in the hospital due to seizures. Very sad.

For the rest of the day off... well I was going to get steps on this hot and humid day. But now I see it's 87 degrees and "feels like" 95. Uff da!

Enjoy your holiday weekend! 

Vert Der Ferk?

I'm just a short time away from my fantasy football draft tonight for the Swedish Chef Mafia. I have claimed the coveted trophy before but came in second last year. This year, I am going to be doing some speed studying for the next 90 minutes like it's a college all-nighter!

I don't know anything this time. Have not watched pre-season. Do not know who's injured. Do not know who's been announced as a starter. I am praying the ESPN app is my friend. AND that 60 seconds is long enough to look up the status of the next "best" available player.

In the end, it's probably one of the many things that is seriously out of my control! LOL.

Plus, as hubby often points out during the season, "How much money is on the line?" Well... zero entry fee and a bragging rights trophy for the winner. So no stress.

Except for that smack talk in the office! 😁 Hopefully I don't have to say "Vert der ferk?" too often. Go, football! 🏈 

Tip-toeing Thru Tuesday

On the weeks that we're out of the office, our schedule takes a different turn. Especially on Tuesdays when we have golf league. 

 

No matter what day of the week, the flowers look immaculate!

It was a challenging night of golf league mainly because it was 80+ degrees and so humid! Then our 4th couldn't make it. By some lucky coincidence, we saw a fellow Marketing Dept employee on the driving range we could nab to join us!

Ugh. These geese were all over my tee box on #5 and I was grateful they didn't hiss at me when I tried to shoo them out of the way before my drive.

All part of nature!

Monday Sports Report

It was a Monday sports day! I gotta say I wish all football games were playing during daylight hours. Perfect lighting and great focus. This switching to 8-man football also brings me a few yards closer to the action! 

I stopped at our Royals' JV game after work. It started at 5 p.m. and book club started at 5:30 so I knew I had time to shoot pictures of one quarter at the most.

It was just enough time for me to catch a long kickoff return for a TD!

What made it special is that the varsity squad had finished practice and were watching from the end zone. Loved to see their excitement and support for JV!

Jim was actually officiating at the game. He said it ended in a 22-22 tie. Since it was 90+ degrees out, everyone was fine with ending it in a tie. I don't even know if they keep JV stats/records anywhere to see how they compare to other schools in the conference!

Put me in the right frame of mind for book club since the main character of the book also played some football. If you get a chance to read Life & Death & Giants, do so. A brief synopsis:

Shunned by her Amish community in Lakota, Wisconsin, Rachel Fisher lives on her own and gives birth to an 18 lb., 27" baby boy. Orphaned at birth and not knowing who his father is, Gabriel Fisher ends up being raised by his older brother, his Amish grandparents, and the local veterinarian who delivered him. Over the years, Gabriel rapidly grows to become a giant in height and weight. He spends his entire life trying to fit in; both literally and figuratively. However, no matter his size or where he went, he was loved by animals and people alike.

It got high marks from us all! As I've said many times, I love my book club. We rotate picking out the books so there's always something I never would have thought to read! 

And yes book club is a SPORT. We're exercising our minds! 😀

Comfortable Sunday

Today was our "Quilters' Sunday" at church. (Photo way before service!) Not only did we have a loose change offering to support their work, but we got to see all that group accomplished before we ship those gorgeous quilts around the world in a few weeks.

I'm always jealous of their work because it's the same thinking pattern as me (as a scrapbooker)... What colors blend well and how can we keep the patterns different enough to make it interesting?

But do I need another crafty hobby? NO!

Since Jim was golfing with a buddy at Lake Arrowhead this afternoon, I focused on a different hobby. I realize Crop-toberfest is more than 6 weeks away, but I figured I better order a few more prints so I ordered a few prints to be sure have enough work to do!

Very low-key day other than that. I got some steps in – not 10,000 but I could go outside and be ambitious after this! 

I can hear your laughter. Since I only have 5,101 right now. I can see why we'd be both be hesitant!

I'll fill you in tomorrow. With an honest report. Promise!

Rainy Day To-Do List

I woke up listening to the rain and it was just cloudy/dark enough outside, I snuggled deeper under the covers and tried to go back to sleep. Which of course I can never do. But it sounded like a good plan. 

All these wonderful Rainy Day choices and I chose the cleaning one? Something's not right. But I had to tackle my Oh My God room, which is also my office, which is also my Scrap Cave (and all things crafty). A lot is packed into this 10x10 room. And it is not organized!

So I got the "office" work space looking a bit better – even ran out of Lysol wipes! But I have so, so far to go with everything else. Things just accumulate. Anyone need any random note pads?? This old newspaper reporter thought she'd always take notes on paper, I guess?

If I find any goodies that need a new home, I'll be sure to pass those along.

Of course, I did find a loose screw and wonder what's going to fall apart next. Probably me!

And yeah, yeah, I know. I've always had a screw loose. 😜

A Loony, er Lunar-y, Night

When we saw the early evening moon outside our Yee-Haw party shed last night, I was sure to capture it. Then I got totally confident about catching the "deep partial" eclipse later ... with the BLOOD MOON.

Give me points for trying!

Full disclosure: This just my phone. Not my "good" camera. But I could see the "blood red" with the naked eye AND when I didn't zoom in too closely.

When it was close to peak viewing just before 11:12 p.m., it was just (to my phone camera's opinion) a dark side where it was getting eclipsed.

Then the clouds moved in and I don't remember anything after that! 

Thank goodness I do remember our Yee-Haw cast party! It was beyond positive. Everyone reported they'd received countless feedback – all 100% positive, that's for sure! How exciting and also fulfilling that we could give people some entertainment, kindness, humor (sort of), and a teeny bit of inspiration.

We came to the conclusion that – like the rare Blood Moon deeply partial eclipse – some things just can't be replicated!

Please share any decent shots of that darn eclipse last night!