Shop Local Saturday

There wasn't any random holiday today like "Shop local!" but that was how the day went. And frankly, I loved the opportunity to support these entrepreneurs. 

First, after assessing my gift certificates for Rustic Redefined, (on 8th St. in Wis. Rapids!) I needed to start my day with clothes shopping. Every woman's dream, right? 

Side note: I'm not really a fan of shopping ... but with $250+ in gift cards from hubby and friends, I walked into the place like Vivian from Pretty Woman with "I have money to spend!" How fun is it to not even look at the price tag? A very foreign concept for us middle class folks. 

But so enjoyable! Also.. GO THERE! They have such stylish and unique stuff.

I came away with a dress, two tops, a matching necklace, and cool summer handbag. And... still one more $100 gift card to spend. 

Unrelated: My fashion show at home made me realize my advanced lady choices are "aged" because hubby showed no enthusiasm.

Who cares? I like what I got!!

After I got home, my friend and neighbor Cindy across the street and I headed down to Adams for Independent Book Store day.

If you are a bookworm of any type, visit Books on Main!

I was excited to get the last copy (in the store) of my book choice for Book Club in June. And  2 "unplanned" bonus books. Whoops. Can you stop us or only hope to contain us??

The one take away today between some very different types of retail / transactional experiences is that we should all think shop local first. And recognize not only the value of your transaction but your ability to support a personal passion for succcess!

#BuyLocal

Hookin' Away My Saturday

As soon as I woke up and was about to get up, hubby says, "You might as well stay in bed. We're at war." Say what?!

My first thought was "What did he do know?" and my second thought, as someone who avoids all news as much as possible, was "Did we know this was coming?"

No matter the answer to either, I knew I needed a day of distractions. I did watch a little news but then headed into town to Lighthouse to get a few papers for upcoming Camp Crop-a-Lot in 7 weeks since I picked up more photos yesterday and am jumpin' to go!

Then I cleaned my office "aka Oh My God Room" a bit before I earned my chance to relax.

Can't do too much cleaning on a weekend when there are projects waiting in the wings.

I have a wedding shower coming up in the same time frame as camp. The couple has many "sage" colored things on their list so I am making them a blanket that is mostly sage with a strip of white, then multi color for a wide strip, then white again close to the top – and the rest sage. 

I'm liking it. And today I realized I could close my eyes and do a whole row without looking, just feeling. I am a Jedi Crochet Master, I guess! That also means I can head back to the livingroom now and watch a Hallmark movie AND multi-task without even blinking.

Well, I better pay a little attention. This is a gift after all!

And oh yeah, it snowed again today. Stay warm and safe, everyone!

Soup's On

We woke up to enough snow that hubby needed the snowblower. Something like 4" but it has been floating down on and off all day so who knows the amount?

After Jim shoveled out his dad's driveway, we went to the South Wood County Empty Bowls event – where $10 gets you a locally crafted pottery bowl, a bowl of soup from a local restaurant, and a dinner roll and yummy cookie. Also, for those who do that sort of thing (Me!) there were more than 100 raffle baskets.

We took our soup to go so we could deliver some to Jim's dad on our way home.

My Beer Cheese Soup from the Junkyard Bar and Grill was delicious! I did not win any raffle baskets. But maybe my luck is just waiting to change. Perhaps at BINGO tomorrow??

The rest of the day was major couch potato (or recliner potato) time. Watched the Badgers upset Purdue. Yeah, Bucky! Got all our tax stuff scanned for the Tax Man. Then I managed to get in two Hallmark movies with some leftover pizza in between. 

I was super lazy and owned it like a boss. And surprisingly, don't feel guilty about it. Very unlike me. I must be maturing! 😀

We'll see. Be careful out there!

Pumpkin Spice Girls on a Spicy Saturday

First Saturday of October means everyone in Wisconsin is embracing pumpkins and fall. There were at least 4 festivals within short driving distance of our houses, by my friend and next-door neighbor Cindy and I hit 2 of them. 

The Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest – which runs tomorrow too – has gotten bigger and bigger each year. This picture is one of the hundred or so vendors. Pretty set-up.

While the top photo is Cindy and I with a large inflated pumpkin, the real pumpkins are really taller than humans – when sitting anyway.

They're so heavy, they can't be perfectly round. They have to be picked up by a forklift to the weighing station.

We just happened to be there when this one weighed in at over a thousand pounds!!

Very proud owner!

Besides craft vendors, food trucks, and competitions, they had some interesting attractions – like this guy who carves these giant pumpkins.

Inspiring but I know I couldn't do it. 

Pretty cool to see him at work!

And it just happens my team at work is going to dress up for Halloween as the Peanuts gang. Someone has dibbs on Snoopy, but I had to buy this hat! When I press the end of those long black cords, his ears go up! Pretty cool.

Also had to stop at our neighbor's Pumpkin Shed business. It was dress-up day for the workers so we got to see some neighbors in their finest!

My golf partner – Sir Zigs and Zags-a-Lot!

And so many pumpkins! Check it out on Deer Road close to the the intersection with 70th Street. 

After I got home, the pumpkins turned me into Cinderella so I got some windows and screens washed since I'd done my dusting and vacuuming before shopping. Then this evening I went to the wedding reception for a friend's daughter marrying a nice young man from my church. 

It just happened a "friend" put a ball and chain on Sam's ankle. I think they both were Ok with it. And I had a great time dancing, too. I consider that a great Saturday.

My spicy sneak peek tells me Sunday will be just as good!

Sweet as Sugar

Grad party season is winding down. We had a combo party for two boys, er young men, from Assumption and then my favorite girl – our sweet Lydia.

I made some white diploma and Royal blue rose mints for her party. Although, I've made these before, this time I got to use Mom's mint molds – because they were just a bit bigger than mine. And I just wanted to feel connected to her. They turned out pretty delicious, if I do say so myself.

And yes, basically sugar! Cream cheese and 2 pounds of powdered sugar!

Speaking of sweet... I forgot how many of Lydia's senior pictures turned out so adorable. We had such a good time doing those last summer. It was great to see them displayed! She's so sweet.

I also made her a special gift but I don't know when she's getting around to opening those, so I won't share a picture.

Got home from the party and I whipped together a trifle for Father's Day tomorrow. Going to Jim's sister's house for lunch. Pretty sure I'll have leftovers. This is a chocolate-vanilla-caramel concoction. If I get good reviews, I'll share the recipe! 

Hope something SWEET happened to you today!

Spring Ahead

I had to find a timely meme about springing ahead. Thanks, moody Travis Kelce. I approve of this message!

Of course I'm relieved church is at 9:30 a.m. so I don't have to sing at 8 a.m., which suddenly seems so close! And really we only have a few – oh gosh, make that 6 – clocks to change. Those darn stove, microwave, and bedside clocks we never use the alarm for anyway have to be manually changed.

I only complain because it seemed like a long day today. Got up way too early for a Saturday, but that also means it was productive. I continued Friday's post-work project of pricing and organizing garage sale stuff – mainly to clear a big area for Carter. (Not exciting, which is why I didn't blog last night.)

Well now he and Mamie aren't hitting the road with their U-Haul from North Carolina until tomorrow so I have an extra day to prepare. Losing one hour tonight means nothing. Ha. 

If I didn't mention it earlier, their lease in Raleigh is up and they'll park here for a bit until they find the next exciting place to live. This momma doesn't mind that plan one bit. I guess we'll take each day as it comes and appreciate it!

In the meantime, go change your manual clocks now. There's no way any of us are getting up to do that at the official 2 a.m. time, are we? I mean I assume it's not illegal to time travel into the future this one time.

P.S. There's nothing new there worth reporting!

Seasonal Saturday

It was nice to have a free day today. Nothing on the agenda except finishing up basketball photos. Got that done by noon.

Then we pretty much hung around the house. Hubby made homemade chicken noodle soup. I finished the last of my Christmas treat making for next weekend's cookie exchange. Got our Christmas cards ordered and all the address labels printed out.

Managed to squeeze in a Hallmark movie before we went out to eat at Avocado's Mexican restaurant. Now it's just past 7 so I'm thinking I could squeeze in 2 more maybe before lights out. Don't want to set too lofty of a goal on a free day.

But I'm also pretty competitive. Ha.

Hope you enjoyed some seasonal fun today, too!

Holiday Views

There's just a sliver of a moon tonight and apparently a meteor shower to come later. I may or may not be awake for that. I guess depending how many Hallmark Christmas movies I watch. The DVR has been very busy for a November!

Last night it as fun to watch a Heidelberg Holiday. Carter attended college there for a semester and I visited him one weekend. Things looked familiar and it was awesome!

This is the Church of the Holy Ghost. And we saw the inside of it, too.

Here's my scrapbook page!

And of course every view has Heidelberg Castle in the background. It was cool to see in person!

Today's views weren't as exciting. Ran a few errands and got a car wash on this mild opening day of deer hunting. Then went with the neighbor to a craft show at Fallback while her electrician husband updated our kitchen and dining room outlets.

Now I'm onto the Saturday round of viewing DVR'd Hallmark Christmas movies. I'll be sure to let you know if I have any recommendations! 

Hitting (and Watching) the Sticks

Pretty much the best way to start a summer Saturday is golfing. So hubby met his crew at 7 a.m.-ish and I met mine for an 8:50 tee time. Works for me. 

I maintained my typical golf round of one par dance and it wasn't until the 8th hole at Tri-City.

Still, I had a blast with friends Sean and Michelle. It was cloudy but no rain and just a bit humid. 

Got home before noon and showered so we could go to a grad party for Miss Emma. Had fun visiting with family and then heard what sounded like daytime fireworks but ended up being a big tree limb falling across the street! 

Our truck was 3 feet to the right on the other side of the street. Uff da. That was close. And still no reason why it fell.

When we got home by 3 p.m., the heavens finally opened up on our brown grass and we got rain!

At least 2.25 inches as of 8 p.m. and guess what? That fireworks-tree falling sound came in handy! I realized we were losing a limb in the back yard!

We've waited awhile for this one to give up and fall so it's not exactly a surprise. Just didn't have Sunday penciled in as a wood chopping or chainsawing day.

Hope y'all were safe today. Be careful out there! 

Wind Fall

 windfall: an unexpected, unearned, or sudden gain or advantage

In addition to the 20-30 mph wind gusts and resulting wind chills today (not exaggerating), my windfall was more in line with enjoyable riches in life.

Had a nice time as always at Book Club this morning. All 6 of us regulars were there so it was good to catch up. Oh and talk about a book. I highly recommend Remarkably Bright Creatures. I gave it a rare (fo me) 5 out of 5 rating!

After that, I picked up neighbors Cindy and Terri and we checked out the Spring (not quite) vendor sale at the Outpost Ranch. We each found some treasures, including gifts for others and I'm pretty sure we each got some cute shirts for ourselves. We figured long-sleeve season wasn't going away any time soon.

When I got home in early afternoon I planned on getting a few things done but accidentally took a 2-hour nap on my recliner. Remind of that the next time I brag about staying out 'til midnight like a youngster!

This evening, we gathered with a bunch of friends at Assumption for dinner and a show – their first talent show. That was very entertaining! The talents ranged from singing and dancing to juggling and martial arts. Oh, and a trickster goat.

Our friends' sons were the emcees and pretty funny. I was surprised how many boys there were competing. I figured they'd worry about getting picked on more than girls. But they just had fun with it. Love that. And loved seeing all the talent. 

And loved that I didn't take one picture. Look at me taking a night off seriously!

Hope you find a way to enjoy this last weekend of winter (according to the calendar, anyway). Be careful out there! 

P.S. There's plenty of reasons I didn't mention my bracket today. And I won't.

When There's Not a Latte Going On

The best way to start the weekend is a fancy Saturday morning coffee drink with girlfriends. We had a nice almost 2-hour book club this morning. Not that the book took 2 hours to discuss, but we had to catch up on life after the holidays.

And my cruise.

Hey, I had a captive audience!

The rest of the day was super low-key. I mean almost forced relaxation. I was going to do something – anything – with the kiddos but since they were up til 3 a.m. or so watching movies or playing video games, they didn't get up until mid-afternoon.

So hubby went to church to sing in the choir and I binged half of Emily in Paris season 3, plus watched a little football in case the Chiefs couldn't hold on, plus uploaded 2,835 photos from my cruise to Shutterfly so I can work on a scrapbook Camp Crop-a-Lot weekend.

Crazy what a person can accomplish on a latte, er light, schedule.

And I still have time for one more episode or time to start a new book. Or nothing. I'm hedging toward reading until my eyes close. I could use one more night of 8+ hours of sleep. By Monday my mind and body should be in sync with central time. 

I don't mind easing into it.

Hope you're having a relaxing weekend, too!

Almost Missed That One

This 100% sums up today's Vikings game. And the jaded fans in this house almost missed the historic moment.

Oh yes, it was on TV.  But when we trailed by an embarrassing 33-0 at halftime, hubby changed the channel to golf and I finished editing posting my JV basketball pictures from last night. Even my sister in Arizona texted me asking what was up and I said between the interceptions, fumble, penalties, and more, it was a Christmas stocking full of purple missteps. I might have thought a stronger word, believe me.

When I was done editing pictures, I checked the score on my phone and not only had we missed the 3rd quarter, but we missed some Viking scoring.

I went out to the living room and said, "Honey, we're trying to make a game of it." No response. So I said, "What channel is this on so I can watch in the basement?" He told me the channel and then added, "Sucker!"

I know, right? We are lifelong Vikings fans so we do have a long jaded history behind us. So many "so close" moments that weren't close enough.

But still, I didn't want to miss out in case, as I texted to Carter, "We pull off a miracle here."

We kept scoring and closing the gap and I kept pacing – you can check my FitBit – and yelling the score up the stairs in case Jim cared. It was unreal. They kept saying that if we won, it would be the largest comeback victory in NFL history. No pressure, guys.

And then it was OT and we found ourselves with little time on the clock and in a situation no Viking fan wants to see...

Needing to kick a field goal to win. It has actually happened in our favor this season a few times, but we can't forget moments when we really needed it – like NFC championship games, Gary Anderson and Blair Walsh! Uff da. Instant tears, headache, and teeth grinding. Today wasn't going to be season-ending if we lost or tied, but we had the opportunity on the line to clinch the North, which doesn't happen often and definitely not when there's a few weeks of the season let to play.

So we held our collective breaths across Purple People Land...

And it was good! A historic comeback! A division clinched! And there was much SKOL-ing and rejoicing! I think my heart rate will come down by Christmas. We couldn't have scripted this any better.

That was a way happier ending than the two Hallmark movies I watched to day. No offense, Hallmark. Believe me when I say that unlike my favorite NFL team, you've never let me down yet. 

Find your happy this holiday season. Keep believing!

Jingle All The Way

It's come to my attention that no one likes a half-arse jingler, so I jingled all the way today. Got my Christmas cards ordered and picked up. I mean they're still in boxes but I got that far. 

And...

I put up our tree and decorated it! It always looks so pretty in the corner when it's dark and it's providing the only livingroom light.

Still, it's nice to see it in the daytime so you can observe some of our colorful (yes, purple is a Christmas color) ornaments!

It's not just any old Vikings ornament. Before my Aunt Gwen died, she passed along a few to me. So even though there are several that fit that particular holiday color scheme, there's always room for more!

I took a break to go watch the Rapids girls' hoops team play. Took pictures of daughters of two friends. Will have to get to a JV game at some point. Jim's goddaughter is coaching this year. That's pretty cool.

Got home and edited my pictures quickly so I could keep on jingling. And by jingling, I just mean watch a Hallmark movie or two that I've recorded. Might not be too late to start another one. 

And look at the tree lights. It IS the most wonderful time of the year!

Saturday Night Lights

My Saturday night lights definitely had a different vibe from Friday night lights. Not as much action and certainly no yelling or cowbell from spectators!

It rained all day until about 3 p.m. Thankfully the first half of the day was indoors.

Went to a baby shower for our neighborhood grandma-to-be's daughter-in-law. The grandma graduated with Jim so I saw a few of his other classmates there, too. Was at a new event space of sorts called Rooted in Red – you guessed it, cranberry country. It's a nice place. And it was a fun time!

Also, I won a give-away basket, which brings my total to three baskets this week! Here's my pile of goodies that I haven't had time to go through yet! Just when I thought "I never win anything!"

Tonight I was hired to take pictures at a 100-year anniversary party for a local golf course. Was so glad the rain stopped before the 5 p.m. start since I wanted to take some of the pictures outside. Rain held off and we even got fireworks off and stayed dry. This time I could actually see them from our river view!

Now it's definitely past bedtime and I need to say special prayers for NO RAIN just between the hours of 11-1 and 5-7 tomorrow! Amen.