Birthday Weekend Sandwich

For this birthday girl, I couldn't ask for a better celebratory weekend than having my bday sandwiched between two rounds of golf – and celebrating actual birthday with tons of friends!

After a fun round on Friday, we headed out by noon Saturday to Delafield and a cathedral on the grounds of the St. John's Military Academy just outside Milwaukee.

What a glorious and historic venue! 

All of the stained-glass windows were gorgeous.

But none could compare to the bride of course. Claire is always beautiful!

So honored to be a part of Claire and Joe's official Gotcha Day! It was so nice.

I managed to snag a hot birthday date with hubby. The reception was at The Commodore, right on the shores of Lake Nagawicki (or something close to that). What a gorgeous venue!

We each had our assigned tables, but then they went one step further.

At each of our place settings we got a personalized card. And I think to an individual, we all shed a tear at this heartfelt sentiment. Wow. Very special.

Of course I was thrilled to have perfectly delicious "birthday" cake. Yum!

And a made-to-order sunset. God knows me and my birthday wishes, that's for sure!

After a fun evening of a ton of dancing – including a few with hubby – we were spent! This morning, though, we hit the road from Milwaukee-dom to get home by noon. 

I got some shopping done and Jim visited his dad – and then (after multiple rain showers) it was time for golf!

Today was our final week of Couples League, which meant we were doing a scramble format, then dinner. Except the rain was not done. So we switched up the plans and ate our year-end dinner food first, then headed out. But it was still a soggy several holes before it quit.

We were lucky to have our friends Sean and Michelle be part of our foursome! One, they're awesome people. And two, they're awesome golfers! This is our Eagle Selfie on the par 5 4th hole. That was all Sean. Great drive, great second shot to land it close to the hole, then we gave him honors to knock it in a few feet for eagle.

Needless to say, we finished 8-under par for our 9-hole round. And won the scramble. I have a lot of wet stuff to dry out in the sun tomorrow. But with a little prize cash in my pocket, I can say it was worth it!

What a fun weekend! Maybe aging isn't so bad after all.

The Spoils of Victory

I was on such a winning streak last year between cash prizes, raffle baskets, and special giveaways, that I almost forgot about this free round of golf for a foursome at Bullseye. It had been hanging on the side of the fridge all this time and I finally looked at it a couple weeks ago.

Thank goodness I did. The expiration date is June 30! We were going to use it Monday afternoon – but that got quite stormed/rained out. Today we convinced our friends Tom and Sharon to take the afternoon off and golf with us.

Tom and I are on league at work together. Sharon just took lessons with me. All four of us worked together for years and years in Iola. So while I see them every day at work, Jim was happy to hang out with them for a change!

The weather was cloudy and steady high 60s. No issue of melting today. Just perfect. 

This was Sharon's first time out. Ever. She got a new set of clubs after our lessons and was anxious to try them out. I did what I could to sort of coach her, helping her pick the right club, line up shots, etc. She did great! And it was somewhat freeing to think about someone else's game and not bother to keep score!

I'm not even sure how the guys did, but I know there were some birdies and pars between the two of them. Sharon and I were in a zone!

Afterwards, we went out to eat for the usual delicious meal at Ida's. I hope we can do this again soon. For sure I don't want Sharon to forget what she learned today. If I have to sacrifice myself to golf even more so she gets practice, I guess I'll take one for the team! Such a hardship. NOT!

A good walk spoiled is definitely the way to spend an afternoon off. Bring on the weekend!

Birthday Weekends Start on Thursday

When you work from home on Fridays, a Saturday birthday becomes something you celebrate on Thursday. And I'm OK with that!

Was a nice surprise to see my desk decorated for my birthday. I take pride in my role as the Birthday Fairy for our team. But I love that everyone pitches in when I can't. I mean obviously I wouldn't decorate my own desk. But another team member has her birthday on July 1 and she's on vacation next week, so they took care of her, too.

For my part, I brought in a trifle for the July 1st birthday girl. She said she likes éclairs. So I did my best to match those flavors. Like most of my trifles, every one if a new combo of flavors and ingredients. This is what created this one...

I had a graham cracker crust type layer throughout, interspersed with French Vanilla pudding. For the middle layer I figured I should add some Cool Whip and Hershey's chocolate chips. I repeated a few layers and on the top I melted some Hershey's chocolate frosting, let it firm up in the fridge, then added more whipped cream and some Hershey's chocolate bar squares for decorations.

Not my personal preference for flavors, but since I came home with an empty trifle bowl... mission accomplished. 

Now I just have to figure out how my birthday can stay top-of-mind through Friday! Unlike college years, birthday "weekends" can be a bit long when they start on Thursday!

Another Day At The Main Street Office

Every time I casually mention that I have the best job in the world, I actually mean it! Today it was a privilege to escort the cast and TV crew for the John McGivern's Main Streets around our property at SentryWorld.

Please check out their website and previous episodes and you'll see why this was a hoot! Also this is part of PBS broadcasting so if you love to support the cause, this one is a good one.

As for our work experience, it was pretty cool and I think our interns (the tall girls next to me) would agree. John and his co-host Emmy (far right) were super friendly. 

I can't wait till this episode airs. Which will likely be in February as part of Season 5. 

Gives you plenty of time to check out their other episodes at https://mainstreets.tv/

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!

Feeling Powerless

 

So here I am at 6:15 p.m. on a Monday squatting at our local library. Why? Well, I need to charge my phone since we haven't had electricity in our neighborhood for 4 hours-plus -- thanks to the mid-afternoon storm pictured above.

I may have mentioned we were supposedly to golf this afternoon with friends.  Glad we canceled early enough to get our money back.

The storm hit quickly just when I was heading into town on a late lunch. Suddenly it was like driving through a car wash.  N9 visibility.  Slowed down enough to avoid trees in the road and took the first right to try to go around the block to head home. Between trees, branches and garbage containers in the road, I felt like I was driving a Mario Kart game.

Uff da.

By the time I was home a few minutes later, we counted 3 trees down in our yard. But all on the edge of the property line so most people wouldn't notice. 

But the neighbors? Ouch. 

Here's the house around the bend.

And here's a tree next door that thankfully fell towards the creek and not either one of houses. Is that not insane?

Since I did finally make it to town, I took a few damage pictures like any good former reporter would do.

Big fall across the snowmobile/recreational trail by Lake Wazeecha. 

Campground and entrance to part of the park there.  Thankfully it was a Monday and no campers/tents were hit. Crazy.

I'll just chill with our weird but mild damage -- for now -- and try not to think about my morning with no curling iron, etc.  Thank goodness hair spray doesn't require electricity!! 

Also,  thank goodness the temps dropped a hair with no A/C working!

Hang tough, my friends! 

What's the Big Hot Deal?

While today was the hottest day of 2025 so far in the Wisconsin Rapids area, it didn't set a record. We needed to match 96 from 1911 to hit that. It's like you're not even trying, Mother Nature.

Just kidding. She was trying very, very hard!

That high hit just before our Couples League tee time. Uff da. While hubby and I always walk with our pull carts when it's just 9 holes, today we took a cart. We didn't need to pass out or something. And a cart can hold two hydrating drinks at a time.

There were high winds the whole time. Which is nice if you like fresh breeze straight from your oven. Not kidding. Just ick. By the 7th hole, I thought we were entering the 7th circle of Hell. But nope. Not THAT hot. Just 93 with a real feel of 103.

I will say, we were playing hot though. Literally. Jim and I took the match, finishing just 3 over par. Our best score in league so far. 

We'll just take it and run with it. We are not wishing for a repeat of today's weather for any future rounds. That would be the heat-crazed brain cells talking.

Hope you all stayed hydrated and safe today.