Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Land of the Lost :: Office Version


This was our second week of the every-other-week schedule of being in office. For the next 40 months. Nothing quite seemed natural yet since I parked on a different level of our parking ramp and had no idea how to get to my desk!

Sort of a maze to get to the only set of elevators in the building!

I was thinking in the morning that I needed something to identify my "street" to turn down... aka row of cubicles. So I brought in my two purple Carter beanie bears to sit on top of the tall cabinet. But they weren't tall enough. (For my height anyway.) So I ran to Hobby Lobby at lunch and was tempted with a lot of beautiful fall decorations and even Christmas stuff.

But you know Hobby Lobby has everything so I found the sign above in their Big Foot/Sasquatch section. Totally appropriate for our situation. So I found the ribbon row and the scissors row to be able to hang the sign at the end of our "intersection."

It helped me and a few others.

I also reached out to the employee I'm sharing a desk with. I realize he must be a tall person since I had to lower the desk, lower the arms of the chair so I didn't look like I needed a booster seat, and lower the height of the seat so my feet could touch the floor. I apologized that we'll both have to make adjustments when we come in for the next 3-4 years. 

And asked if I could keep some items in one of our shared locker drawers since I didn't want to haul stuff back and forth constantly. I mean important stuff like my birthday fairy supplies and well, signs to hang on the cubicle. 

I am so used to personalizing my space, I know this will be an adjustment. So I'm grateful he said take all the space I need.

Do you know what I didn't have trouble finding today? SentryWorld!


It was so fun after doing our United Way outing yesterday for our foursome to get back together for league (which is just 9 holes, by the way). We just kept the same running jokes and laughs going from yesterday. For those who don't know, that's the cure for a stressful day at work!

Got home in time to blog... and start to edit those senior photos from Sunday. Have a good, relaxing night y'all! If you're lost, ask someone to help you find the way! 

Monday, August 24, 2026

FORE! the Kids

I love working for a company who is so committed to philanthropy and charitable giving on all levels. And we employees are invested in it, too – especially our annual United Way campaign. (Which of course benefits far more than just kids.)

Since our golf outing is consistently a popular and successful fundraiser, we hold it in August (across two days due to the high interest) as sort of a pre-kickoff to the official kickoff in September. So today was not a bad day at the "office." 

Our organization's theme this year focuses on the magic of giving so naturally we had some Magic Kingdom vibes going. This is our golf league foursome and I think we've done this several years now. Going with the theme, our team name was It's a Small, Small SentryWorld!


I call this one "Channeling my Grandma Minnie's spirit!" She's been gone too long! 😟


They tied in some unique activities, too. On the first hole for every Disney trivia question we got right, we'd inch closer to the hole for our first shot. We rocked it so we bypassed Pluto, Goofy, and Minnie to start at Mickey – just 50 yards from the hole! Nice.


The weather was perfect and views were stunning, per usual. So much fun!


Our scorecard looked pretty, too. We finished 5-under par, which we're pretty sure is our best finish yet. No prizes for us. The leading team was magically 25-under!! That's why we focused on having fun in the sun!

It's going to be tough to return to the real office tomorrow. Thank goodness it's our golf league night right after work! 🏌🏌

Sunday, August 23, 2026

Birthdays, BINGO, and Beloveds

Hit the road pretty early yesterday to help my oldest sister celebrate her 75th birthday!

First stop was the Sundown Saloon in little Lewis, WI, just north of Luck. Daubing for Dollars as a cancer fundraiser. For you non-BINGO people, we mark our spots with daubers now. Using field beans was so 1970s.

You know me and BINGO. Probably 20 minutes in and I already was yelling BINGO with hands raised in the air. Nice $100 cash prize. I won a second time later but so did 2 other people so I picked a local gift certificate I'll let one my sisters use!

Nice turn out. Our sister Rachel was also there so was our cousin's wife and family. Fun. From there it was onto an adventure at Adventures in Siren.

Had a late-week thought that Carter living in Duluth means he's less than 90 minutes away from family fun. So he joined us. Six of my R siblings were there along with 2 nieces and spouses plus 4 great-nephews and a great-niece! 

Can't celebrate a milestone without frosting. I mean CAKE!

Raylene was the only sister who couldn't make it since she and hubby had a booth for their seed business at the Burnett County Fair. So most of us ventured down the road to Grantsburg to say hello and check out the entries two of my sisters entered – Rayna photography and Renell drawing/painting.

Second Saturday in a row my twin and I are in a cornfield. Yee-Haw!


Drove Rachel home and stayed at her place in Luck last night. Long drive home today. So much road construction and detours.

Got home in time to get a few things done before going to a senior photo shoot at a farm in the Rudolph-Junction City area. I mean the kid was cute, but look at these kitties! I miss Sylvester!


Anyway, need sleep. Catch you tomorrow!

Friday, August 21, 2026

Here it is :: Fall sports season

 

Fall sports season 100% sneaked up on me. I mean Royals tennis started yesterday and cross country started this morning. Thank goodness hubby does stats for football so I knew game time was tonight!

This year is a a little different for Assumption football. We are going to 8-man teams. So that was really different to look at and photograph tonight.

In the end, they beat Rosholt 49-0 so I guess we're getting the hang of what we're doing.

I'm just hoping I can capture all these other fall sports!

Thursday, August 20, 2026

Why IT starts with SH


So there's this weird thing in our house where I can answer all IT-related questions. Beats me why. Especially when I use a Mac for my photos and creative stuff and hubby and I both use PC laptops for work.

Usually it's no big deal....

Assumption football starts tomorrow and Jim needs to keep stats. Suddenly I cannot print his freaking sheet of defensive players to mark stats on. I have been trying for 90 minutes and have no reason why this isn't working!

I mean it's an Excel spreadsheet but I can't print it. I think I'll have to take a screen shot then print it out.

Oh gosh. Sorry! No one really cares about this crap. I'm just so frustrated!!

This is why all IT issues shout be spelled SHIT!


Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Talk To Yourself –– Nicely

 

I love this sentiment. I mean why do we talk to friends and "sisters" so supportively, but knock ourselves down?

I am so not blaming my mother. But I just can't pinpoint when this started. At what age did I think I was too fat, too poor, too unworthy, etc?

When we use the term "mental health" we mean anything and everything about our self worth.

We realize that isn't enough!

Last week, we were so saddened to learn that one of our neighbor boys (well one who grew up across the street for 20+ years) took his life. It definitely gave us all a renewed focus on what mental health needs mean. 

This happened more than a week ago and the funeral was Saturday. I just haven't wrapped my head around the fact that he's gone. To realize he will never show off his skate bording or bicycling skills on a ramp again. 😟

It's not just random 80's and 90's song lyrics when when we tell you to don't stop believing!

Believe in YOU! 

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Random Pokes of Color

Not sure who thinks of "these rose-colored glasses" when seeing the sunset. But suddenly that is me.

I do want to talk more about my post of many colors and sounds but I must confess it was a quite a Hee-Haw related engagement!

A lot of friends are gathering photos and feedback -- and I love that we're so POPULAR  -- just hoping to share it all with you and, according to rumors, invite you to the next one if you missed it!

Like I said the other night, "We'll see you next tine on Yee-Haw!"