Colors of February Come Full Circle

February is finally wrapping up. Thank goodness we're done with the 4th (practically) month of winter!

My week has been a whirlwind. A few highs and lows. We had a Trifle Thursday this week since the birthday boy at work actually celebrates today. While everyone raved about the taste of the Cookies and Cream Dream, I find it ugly. I reminds my of dirty slush and snow. (A common February color.) Of course, I didn't say that out loud!

Yesterday the thermometer projected into the 50s so you know what that means. Everyone to the car wash!

Other than the Valentine weekend flowers, this is probably my favorite color of February!

Today was a full day. Jim and I headed down to a bridal shower for Carter and Mamie's college friend Halayna. They are both in the wedding in May since she is marrying one of Mamie's brothers! I had Jim go with since we had more time to visit with Mamie's dad (up from Alabama) than we will at the wedding. I did shower stuff and they chit-chatted.

Since it was a mid-morning start, the theme was a "love is brewing" coffee bar. Coffee is a good color any month!

And look at that cute "bar tender"! I'd have to say he's a 100% devoted boyfriend for helping out at Mamie's friend's baby shower a few weeks back and now this bridal shower. He's a keeper! In fact the bride's 11-year-old sister insisted she not be a "junior" bridesmaid but a "real one" instead and she must walk down the aisle with Carter! Adorable.

Speaking of adorable... my girls! I don't know how Carter's mom got to be the cool mom and invited to these things, but I adore them all!!

Also adorable... the kids with the bride-to-be...

And especially adorable... Jim and Halayna... They get a picture together every few years and their smiles are genuine. Her personality is larger than life! So happy for her.

Oh and I finally got to give her the blanket I did in January to match their new sage color theme. She loved it!

Our 2 1/2 hour drive home was too wintery for our liking. It was slippery. Glad Jim was driving or this winter grandma driver probably wouldn't be home yet.

As a result of the snow and slush... my car does indeed look like a Cookies and Cream trifle! Am I right or am I right? Gross!

Of course the Assumption Royal Blue is always a fan favorite in February as the girls' playoff season is underway. But I do not like that ugly Almond-Bancroft green that defeated them tonight for the regional championship. It was quite the physical battle! All I can say is I am proud of girls who left nothing on the floor. They were 100% committed and did amazing!

And when I got home a little bit ago and saw that all my slushy icy stuff was on my car, I thought, February, you are free to move on now!

Hump Day, How?

 

I have no idea how it's already Hump Day, but as I stopped behind this vehicle (and bumper sticker) this morning I realized things could be worse. Thank goodness I am NOT living in a van down by the river!

I have so much work and tasks on my list right now, but I can take comfort that I can work in an office and at home. Not down by the river. Close to a creek, but not any type of vehicle by the river.

Last night, I took photos of our girls' basketball team dominating the opening round of regionals with a 50-3 point halftime score – and I'm sure something incredibly impressive by the end. I still have to edit those photos and hope to get to that tonight.

I am trying to allot myself some time, but know other priorities may surface. All I can say is let's all do our best to get to Thursday! 😁

Monday Mental Health

With so many things occupying my recent days, let alone evenings, I lost touch with a few of my Olympic favorite sports. I knew the "Quad God" had some difficulties that dropped him to a #8 finish instead of a predicted gold medal. 

But I didn't know how much hatred (very negative) feedback he got on social media.

I mean we (holistically) called him a quad GOD, but we didn't mean someone incapable of not being perfect. I mean, that was my opinion.

It immediately reminded me of Simone Biles a few years ago when the mental pressure was too much for her to perform certain acts – even at the Olympics.

But both had to endure so much negativity (via social media mostly) as if they let our country down. So not the case. But people are very emboldened these days to express their opinions and hate on them. 

I saw the video of Ilia doing his final skate at the gala. His redemption skate. I was moved by the emotional actions without knowing the song. But here are the lyrics to Fear by NF. I hope this will open your eyes to mental health issues... just to recognize that people – no matter how famous – are going through struggles you might not understand.

Read them and re-watch his final skate.

Fear by NF
Hello darkness, my old friend (hello)
Knocking at my door again
Beggin' me to come outside
Let you back into my life
Now, usually I'd be strong enough
To lock the doors and keep 'em shut
But not today, I'm desperate (desperate)
So go ahead and come on in
So go ahead and come on in
So go ahead and come on in

OCD is worse than ever, hands are bleedin'
Maybe I should take the pills, don't (whoa)
Know what's goin' on with me
Some days I actually think I might be schizo- (whoa)
Phrenic, prolly not, but even writin' this
Is makin' me begin to spiral, oh, God (oh, oh, oh)

Made a promise, told myself I wouldn't let the fear back in
But then I did, though (whoa)
Told the world that I was sick of runnin'
Then went back to runnin', what a joke (whoa)
Disappointed, yeah, me too
I thought I finally had finally made a breakthrough, guess not (oh, oh, oh)

It's the same song and dance, you've all seen it before
Darkness holds out his hand, then we walk to the floor
Every decision made isn't mine anymore
Like a puppet with strings, I just don't have a choice

What's the truth? What's a lie?
Help me, God, help me, Lord
Face your fears, dry your eyes
Grandma died, what's the point?

Lost the keys, lost my hope, lost my will, lost my joy
Lost a friend, lost my home, lost my faith, lost my voice
Standing back, watching my mansion burn to ash while I
Hold the gas can, asking God if He started this fire
Is this what You wanted? Is this what You wanted?
Make all my hopes and my dreams come to life just to lay them to rest
Is this what You wanted? Is this what You wanted?

Give me a false sense of peace just to show me what peace really is
Is this what You wanted?
On the verge, on the edge
(Is this what You wanted?)
Petrified, scared to death
(Is this what You wanted?)
Prayin' to God, desperate
(Is this what You wanted, what You wanted?)
(Is this what You wanted?)
Hangin' on by a thread
(Is this what You wanted?)
Empty heart, nothin' left
(Is this what You wanted?)
Breakin' down, spiralin'
(Is this what You wanted, what You wanted?)
(Is this what You wanted?)
Standing back (is this what You wanted?)
Watching my mansion (is this what You wanted?)
Burn to ash (is this what You wanted?) While I (oh, oh, oh)
(What You wanted, is this what You wanted?)
Hold the gas (is this what You wanted?) Can
Asking God if (is this what You wanted?)
He started this fire (is this what You wanted, what You wanted?)

I'm praying for all of you who can relate! 💔

A Pirate's Life for Me

Well I made it safely to and survived Camp Crop-A-Lot without having to walk the plank! Am so grateful I headed to Rosholt on Thursday night because when we woke up Friday morning, our cars were covered with snow with a layer of thick ice underneath. Would not have been a fun morning commute!

My high school friend Julie also went up on Thursday so that was a fun little slumber party.

Every year at camp there is a theme. This year the confirmation letter simply said "Ahoy, Mateys" with some pirate-themed clipart and we all took it from there. Thanks to some friends at work and the dollar store, I had some gear for Julie, my twin sister Raylene, and me to wear.

For the most part it was for group pictures. Not all weekend. That be too much!

Raylene and I as smiling pirates with our plastic swords.

And giving our best "ARRRRGH!" impression. We're not that intimidating, are we?

This is our table group with Becky (scrapbook consultant on left) and Tami and Julie on far right. What a blood-thirsty lot!

As a group, we pretty much hit our capacity at 40+. How awesome! And most of these scoundrels have been coming for years like me!

Of course it was not all swash-buckling fun and games. There was more scrapbooking than sleeping, that's for sure. Always the case. And as usual, I overestimate how much I'll get done. 

My goal was to finish 2018 family  chronological album and start 2019. I did not finish 2018 and have several pages to go. In the end, I want to be happy with my pages, though. So if I spend too much time putzing, I won't feel bad. 

I captured a few random page pictures....

This is 100% Sylvester in love with Jim... crawling in his clothes, watching him mow the grass, and waiting for him to open his office door!

Our preparations for our trip to Scandinavia!

Just a glimpse of our scandi-hoovian sisters' trip to Norway and Sweden. I have a pretty thick digital scrapbook already done on this trip!

It just happened I was working on nephew Colin's win pages on the same day it was his birthday!

This might be my favorite. The page representing Carter and the boy os 465 (Division St.) moving into their first college house. Cheers!

Today it took a minute to brush off our cars, etc., in the blustery wind and then pack up and leave. But what a great weekend. I just have to figure out when it's legal to go to bed on a Sunday night!

Have a good week, everyone. Make some memories!

Have Trifle, Will Travel

A little change of plans for my scrapbooking weekend. My friend Julie (coming up from Madison) and I are heading to camp tonight due to a forecast change. It looks a bit sketchy for Rosholt tonight and tomorrow. When they add "ice" to the forecast, I shift into precaution mode, that's for sure.

But of course, I still had things to get done after work. Finish organizing (bwaahaa), pack (just finished) and whip together a chocolate-mint trifle for the scrappers! That's the only thing I better not forget!

So for this one, the bottom layer is crumbled brownies, next layer is white chocolate pudding using Kwik Trip Mint Milk, then it's a combo crunchy layer of Thin Mints and Keebler Mint Stripe cookies. Then repeat and top with some whip and Andes Mints – pieces and grated.

I'm 99.9% sure I will not be bringing any home on Sunday!

Gotta hit the road soon. Be careful in the dang non-spring weather!

The Eagle and Fake Spring Have Landed

As a purely self-proclaimed photographer, I am the sort of person who is beyond irked when I see an eagle while I'm driving – and I don't have my good camera. Just my phone. So while I realize I should just enjoy the majesty of our national bird and (for me) a sign my daddy's watching over me, I still get a bit ticked. 

They are just so majestic and beautiful. Of course tonight on the way home from work there were two of them and one was flying while this guy was parked for a minute in the field. First photographer thought: OMG this will be awesome to catch them both! First eagle thought: What is that lady thinking? I'm flying off and out of here!

Still for me, when I hear random birds in the early morning hours, I have false hope that spring is near!

Of course when I got home, the warm temps and rain (not snow) today had my front yard also thinking spring is here. Sorry, yard, it's fake and this is just a reprieve. There's a meeting at 6 tomorrow night in our living room. We can all grieve together.

The weird weather thing is that it's supposed to snow Friday a.m. when Camp Crop-A-Lot commute time happens. Obviously nothing will stand between me and my scrapbooking weekend, but I will continue gathering my stuff tonight so I am ready to heave-ho at 8 a.m. Friday. Top priority!

It's Ash Wednesday. Never forget your priorities this Lenten season. 😄📖

 

The Current Version of Fat Tuesday

After organizing a little pre-Super Bowl tailgate potluck at work I kinda alluded to a Fat Tuesday treat buffet. And halfway to work this morning while thinking about singing for Ash Wednesday service tomorrow evening, I realized... shucks. It's Fat Tuesday.

I failed everyone, ha.

What I did say a few times was "Hi, I'm fat and it's Tuesday so feel free to celebrate me!"

Got some chuckles, but no good food. 

I did get some goodies today after realizing Camp Crop-A-Lot is 3 sleeps away and I need to create a delicious trifle by Thursday night bedtime. So I stopped at Festival Foods in Stevens Point and now am down to two ingredients, I think.

But when I got home, I realized I better create a "staging area" for what I have ready for camp so I can figure out what else I have to organize the next 3 evenings.

This is only a fraction of what will be jammed into Black Betty, my compact Honda HRV. But it will all fit and there's a good chance not all of it will be used. Very realistic good chance. Still, that's how we roll in the scrapbooking world. The only thing we'll be giving up for Lent (mostly) is sleep this weekend! 

So happy flipping Fat Tuesday! 

Buckeye Book Babes

Tonight was our monthly book club meeting. This time at Perkins (still in business thankfully) with 6 of us discussing Brenda's book Buckeye.

Buckeye is a 2025 multi-generational novel set in the fictional town of Bonhomie, Ohio, spanning from the 1930s to the 1960s. It follows two couples, Cal and Becky Jenkins and Margaret and Felix Salt, as their lives, secrets, and relationships become intertwined, navigating WWII, societal changes, and personal crises. 

A lot to unpack.

And of course, it was just nice hanging out with the girls for nearly 2 hours.

If you do further research on the book and are interested in reading it, I have the hardcover available to lend. 

That's what's nice about this amazing book club. Just chit-chatting for awhile and also having very different types of books each month. World War II saga this month and a murder mystery next month. Almost always books I wouldn't have known about (and therefore chosen) on my own.

Plus, even though I have a personal connection with every member, they didn't all know the others at the beginning. So it's enjoyable to see us deepen our bonds each month. 

That being said, I need to shut down the books conversation and go watch the TV for today's Olympics highlights! Happy reading.

The Family Lucky Genes

 

When my sisters hit the road when I was heading to church today, they made sure they gave me the good luck vibes from our Grandmas Flossie and Mom – both legal gamblers, naturally.

Of course, when I did get to Assumption and I was one short of a BINGO a few times, I thought for sure there was no luck on my side. But then... there was also the 50-50 raffle fundraiser for the hosts. Today was the Assumption baseball team. A cause I'm quite fond of.

Thankfully a few others were supportive too, because when they drew the winning ticket there was a $300+ prize for the 50-50. And yes, that was my ticket! The very last number of my string of tickets!

So even though I didn't dob my way to any BINGOs, I still had some luck after all. I may have to figure out a way to play it forward in this house!

A LOVE-ly Day

Happy Valentine's Day! We currently have a lovely floral display in our kitchen – thanks to the tulips from the girls last night and the roses from hubby this morning! Smells great. Now just gotta keep them all alive!

Sometime this morning, my sister Rachel texted me to see if we had plans for the day. Turns out that she and our sister Rayna were not anxious to get home to Wisconsin after a month-plus in Florida so they wanted a detour.

So they came from St. Louis and made it here to have a tasty Valentine's dinner at The Ridges. Rachel got her hair braided and beaded when they hopped over to the Bahamas last week. How fun!

After dinner, the four of us played cards – competing like it was an Olympic sport, naturally – then watched some real Olympic recaps so we could see our Wisconsin boy speed skate to another gold! That's so awesome.

My sisters are staying here tonight at the Bloody Run Creek Cabin and we'll figure out the mayhem of church choir and pancake breakfast and BINGO in the morning.

For now it's just nice to have a house full of love. Hope you can say the same! 

We're All Seniors at Some Point

Tonight was Senior Night for our Lady Royals basketball squad. They've been fun to watch in various sports over the years and a few of them, I took their senior pictures.

So after I took pictures of them tonight introduced with their parents tonight, one of them came over to me with flowers. FOR ME!

I was so surprised and touched. And when I got home, I realized the "thank you" card was signed by all 5 seniors. That really touched my heart. I mean I love taking pictures, but I never know in this digital age how much it matters to this generation.

And technically, I am a SENIOR but not in the way I like to acknowledge. So yay, Senior Night!

What I do promise... is that I'll try my hardest to keep these tulips alive and thriving because, honest to God, it's not every day that people appreciate this little photography skill. I already told hubby he's off the hook for Valentine's Day. He can't top flowers on behalf of 5 people.

Or can he? 💜

You're So Vain... I Bet You Think This Blog is About You...

I'm at the point in life where it turns out the best-laid plans never work out compared to the last-minute plans.

So when friend Becky (who I plan to spend all next weekend with at scrap camp) told me yesterday she had an extra ticket to some live music at the Wausau Grand Theater for tonight, I said, "Heck, yeah. I'll join you."

I actually didn't care what was on the agenda since I'm that weird "I love musicals, stage and live concerts" chick. But in this case the band was called Three American Troubadours – a tribute to the music of James Taylor, Carly Simon, and Carol King.

As a fan of the Tapestry album, I was "count me in" in no time.

So I headed up to Wausau straight from work and met Becky for dinner at Texas Roadhouse (where one of her kiddos usually works when he's not injured from a wayward knife – ooof). It was great to catch up since we USED to do that at 2 a.m. at Camp Crop-A-Lot, but now value sleep much more. So next weekend we can scrap to our hearts' delight and feel good about where our friendship updates are at!

It was also a weird coincidence that we sat in front of one of Jim's cousins and his wife – who works where I work and we just happened to connect today. I swear I'm not stalking anyone!

While we felt like Flower Children from the '70s, I think Becky and I were among the youngest flowers there. As for the talent tonight, they were amazing. They each sounded like their Taylor, Simon, and King counterparts. And, obviously, there weren't any song we didn't know. And they included insights to the songwriting for some of the numbers – so that was cool, too.

Still surprised (in the back of my mind) how "tribute" bands do so well. But they do somehow fill the house!

Managed to get home by midnight with my only deer sightings within 5 minutes from home. Obviously listening to the '70s channel on SiriusXM radio kept me calm. Ha.

Midwest Nice Manners

We have a new coworker on our team who comes from Ohio. Which I think is technically Midwest. But she's consistently surprised – nicely surprised – by our ingrained Midwest Nice manners!

Yesterday, for example, I showed up to work with a Tupperware (duh, I'm a church lady!) container full of my Mini (as in average sized) Monster Cookies because, well, I had plenty to spare. Then coworker Mel "my middle name is Pinterest" walks in with cookies she baked and decorated for Valentine's Day (above). Impressive! Then coworker Darc walks in with cherry turnovers – "Sorry, not homemade," she said in that Midwest apologetic voice we all use.

Miss Ohio asked if she missed the memo on treat day. "Nope. It's just, uhm, Tuesday."

At the end of the day, I took my 5 or 6 leftover cookies home. (Don't worry, hubby was not neglected all day. There's yet another Tupperware container full. Always makes a huge batch.) And Mel had a few left that people were enjoying at work today. When there was one cookie left, I heard one obviously Midwest Nice guy say, "No one's gonna take that last cookie. We will fight over NOT taking that last cookie."

So true. Because when I got home tonight...

There's that last cookie in my container, too! Bwaahaa. I ate it. UNAPOLOGETICALLY! Thanks, honey!

Some days Midwest Nice cannot stand up to my Mini Monster Cookies!

Silver Linings

 

I pretty much should just put my blog on DND (Do Not Disturb) during the Olympics, because I am that weird junkie and I want to see as much as I can... while working full-time... and capturing high school sports.

Today, it just didn't work out that I could see the LIVE pairs curling competition between my original homeland Sweden and my current/real one USA. It did my heart good to see hundreds of people in nearby (somewhat) Duluth cheering on Korey and Cory. Cool.

And, spoiler alert, even though I'm about to sit down and watch delayed NBC coverage, I know they fell just a teensy tiny bit short of the gold. Still... yay USA! I usually wear more silver than gold anyway!

As for other events, you know I love figure skating but I do love a good hockey game (saw Miracle of 1980), long ski jumps, and the very creative snowboarding runs with flips, corkscrews and mathematical degrees of twists.

Just throw in all the other sports, and I'm good. Enjoy the games. No matter what OG Homeland (Scandi-hoovians are awesome in winter!) you're cheering for!

Sport Shorts

The last 48 hours have pretty much been all sports. Yes, it was SUPER Sunday yesterday. What that meant was that is was "Souper Sunday" at church with a fundraiser for the food pantry/soup kitchen.

Then, I got home in time to watch legit LIVE Olympics coverage of team figure skating.

The Quad God for the win! I mean, WOW. How fun to watch!

After that, I did pop over to what I believe is like the 44th annual SuperBowl party in our friend Chet's basement! Said hello to all and participated in some "investment opportunities" (which yielded nothing!), then came home to actually watch the game and/or flip with Olympics coverage.

Boring game if you ask me. I like the ones that are super close and down to the last second! But that's just me.

Today was a work from home day that ALMOST had me wishing for a lunch hour with Mr. Deck Chair.

Oooh this high temperature was amazing. Obviously not sit outside for endless hours, but still so refreshing!

After work, I continued on my sports quest with Lady Royals middle school hoops. Turned out we were hosting Stratford – home of all the Austin clan that I'm related to (through marriage). Didn't take me long to recognize their coach as Jim's cousin's daughter. Then, when I talked to her at halftime, she said one of the players belonged to another cousin's daughter... so granddaughter. How fun. I then had players from both teams to shoot pictures of. 

Just got done editing and uploading pictures. And since I know what happened with co-ed curling and ice dancing today, I don't need to watch the delayed Olympic coverage. Or do I?

All the time delays... I just don't know. Go USA! And Royals! And, yes, Stratford!

Baby Border Hopping

With a wake-up temp below zero, I hit the road at 7:30 a.m. with one destination: SOUTH.

So maybe South is a stretch but I did end up in Iowa! Remember me crocheting that "Love's Baby Soft" blanket? Well today was the day to gift that to mother-to-be Hannah down in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. Never heard of it? Me neither. Thank the lord for GPS that last half hour. Turns out we were "this close" to the Iowa border!

Spoiler alert for those who didn't have the insider intel: They're having a girl!

Random fact: Carter has lived with all three of these women – including the mom-to-be. To clarify: He and 2 other guys were roommates with Hannah (center), who is BFFs with his girlfriend Mamie, who has a friend Halayna (right) who is marrying Mamie's brother in May. Not confusing at all.

In a nutshell, they've all felt like extended family to Jim and me for years!

So it was nice to drive 3 hours to celebrate Hannah and Hunter's upcoming daughter. She loved the blanket, by the way.

 Then, after the shower, head down to Dubuque for a coffee date with Mamie, Halayna, and MY BOY!

We had coffee at Charlotte's where we had it maybe 5 years ago. Still tasty! But it was good to catch up with Carter and deliver a couple dozen cookies!

How do I get shorter every picture with him?

Anyway, I managed to get home safely before it was completely dark (encouraging) and in time to catch the "delayed" recap of Olympics coverage today. Worth it. 100%.