Soggy Sunday

Today was the extreme opposite of our sunny and 85-degree Saturday. It was rain all day and maybe a high of 55. Welcome to "spring" in Wisconsin!

So we did indoor things. Went to church. And I plunked down on the recliner under a fuzzy blanket and watched golf and the Twins-Brewers game (yay, Twins)... and perhaps napped here and there. Not a bad life. Ha.

Tonight we went to a meeting at TriCity golf course for our upcoming couples league. That should be fun again this summer as long as it's nothing like today's weather!

Now I have time to watch at least one mindless rom-com before going to bed. Look at me being so agile with Mother Nature's moods! Hope we all can do the same in the coming days!

Well That Was Fun

I could dub thee Sarcastic Sunday. Because some parts were not that fun.

Take church choir for example. There were 4 us. Not a fancy barbershop quartet. Just 2 men, 2 women. Not the strongest singers. Myself included in that. And our director sang with us to bring it up to 5. Yes, it was just the melody for On Eagle's Wings. But still. Cringe. 

But then it got fun. 

Ran up to Herrschners for some baby blanket yarn (bless them for Sunday hours) and worked on blanket #3 (boy them #2) while watching golf.

I love watching The Masters – especially on Augusta Sunday. And frankly, I want it to be a close competition. And today delivered big time. So many lead changes and people climbing the leaderboard. In the end Rory repeated for a back-to-back win, but he tried to blow it on the last hole – driving it into the woods!

I noticed his daughter Poppy is getting big. Yes, I do "know" some of the kids. I just wonder if they understand what the big deal is when Dad always wins things! You know?

And as the leaderboard was heating up, so too were the temperatures. The windows in the house and the screen door were letting in fresh air! Also, maybe something related to pollen. Not pollen yet, but I sneezed no less than 20 times this afternoon/evening. Grrr.

Did get out for a jaunt around the neighborhood after golf concluded. 

There was a hen party going on around the bend but since I just saw 5 out of 6 sisters the other day, I kept on walking. C'mon, that's funny, right?

Ok. Break time is over. Time to get back to hookin' something! Hope you had real FUN at some point today!

A Madness Most Discreet

Now that I've finished reading the Shakespeare-inspired fictional book and see the Oscar-nominated movie Hamnet, I feel I can throw Shakespeare words and phrases at will. "A madness most discreet" is from Romeo and Juliet. But I'm sure thou already knewest that!

So this was my moment of madness today. Bear with me. I'm over 50. We have earned the rights to daily rants of "madness." So I want to finish up this bridal shower gift and my silver wrapping paper at home falls short by a half inch. Any way I situate the box. 

So I go to Walmart since I needed ingredients for two upcoming trifles anyway to get either white or silver wrapping paper. Looking at this photo would you not see silver wrapping paper and two matching silver bows?

Turns out. No. It was just clear cellophane around a silver-colored rather than cardboard-colored tube. Grrr.

I'd already ripped the label off so that's how they getcha. And back to Walmart I went. 

Guess what? I just settled on red. A color I can count on seeing correctly. One that won't cause me madness. And matches the new family name I Cricuted onto the tub. Maybe that's how it was supposed to play out all along!

As for seeing red, though... Ugh. My bracket! We'll skip over that convo today. Definitely March madness.

But as for another episode of March gladness...

We had the most pleasant evening at the Sky Club supper club with our friends Jeff and Cathy. Jeff was Jim's college roommate and Cathy was Jim's high school classmate. You see how this story played out! They just moved to the Twin Cities so were back in Wisconsin and it worked out to connect. Just a great visit as always.

Make the time to make the connections so you don't regret it later!

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!

They're Back

Two things were back today! First BINGO returns to Assumption for the spring season. Had over 100 people so bigger jackpots were on the line. My dobber, however, must have still been on Christmas vacation. Did not want to do much work today. Above is the closest I got to the final coverall jackpot – and frankly, that's not close. 

Still, I had fun!

The second things that's back today is Mr. Sun. Yeah! That does not mean it was warm out by any stretch of the imagination. Still, when I looked out the windows and saw a pinkish hue, I knew there was a decent sunset close by.

Stepped out on the front deck and yessirree! So beautiful!

How lucky are we to live in a world where beautiful sunrises and sunsets can make us forget for one minute the harshness of winter. And, frankly, the harshness or the world right now.

Soak it in and be careful out there!

Succe$$ful $unday

I won't even share a picture until I admit that I did not set an alarm this morning (even though our Vikings were kicking off at 8:30 a.m. central time) but awoke at 8:46 a.m.

As I stepped into an expected 2-minute shower, some thought in the back of my mind said "You're reading in church today!" Let me rush to the computer to read the emailed bulletin and try to print out my reading – only to realize I had no ink in my printer. So yeah. Just speeding to church to practice one time in a vacant classroom.

Thankfully no anxiety city or personal names so I got through it just fine. 

Meanwhile our Vikings game was happening and I got home just in time for the glorious final minutes. Why did it matter?

Mainly because son #1 Casey and our daughter-in-law were in London at the game and hoping for a great start to their delayed honeymoon. The stars and horns were aligned, kids! Enjoy the rest of your week! 

The rest of us state-side folks were just happy with a win. And selfishly my fantasy football player Addison produced in a big way, too!

I figured I'd try to carry on the Purple Pride luck to BINGO at Assumption this afternoon.

I realized I had to go there armed with both a seldom-worn Viking Purple ring and the new bracelet my grand-niece Kenlee made me. Guess what? It worked!

I ended up using my Viking Purple dobber to get a BINGO on the goalpost pattern of all things. Pretty sure that's a good sign for the rest of the season right? Let's just go with YES.

The rest of Sunday was both of us being stuffed up and hocking up lungs from random autumn cold season. At least with both our of baseball teams' in post season reviews, we had nothing to worry about.

But the REDS and TWNS are so awesome! Again both DANG and DARN. Let's keep on keeping on for a successful Sunday for all of us!

Check Out The View

 

As our city's main paper mill continues to be dismantled, there are fewer and fewer "towers" in "Grandpa's castle." I thought most of the big ones were down until I caught sight of this tonight after senior portrait session from down river.

For my hubby's family anyway, it will continue to be a part of their history until it's completely gone.

So crazy when we think that 20 years ago there would ever be a day people didn't need paper versions of everything. Or for our livelihood, that people would ever need an alternative news source than their newspaper on their doorstep every morning.

Unreal.

As for today, I was happy to catch this view after a rushed "beat the thunderstorm" senior portrait session. And earlier today, a nice church worship in the park that also timed out perfectly to rain happening when we were in the shelter. 

Mother Nature is fickle, but some days she allows me to do what I need to do. Thanks, lady!

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. 

Happy Holiday Weekend Sunday

I'll admit the 3rd day of a 4-day holiday weekend can be pretty boring when you're just doing normal life things. So today, being it Sunday and all, I went to church.

Also mid-morning Jim, Casey, Clay and a friend went golfing. By early afternoon we were all home and I headed to a graduation party while hubby relaxed on the couch and watched golf.

When I got home, I realized the temps were close enough to 70 so I could bond with Mr. Deck Chair for a bit. He was so happy! And it turned into a gathering of 3+ neighbors by our deck. (While I tried to hide my over-exposed body!)

Tonight, after I ran an errand in town, hubby had a backyard fire going.

He had some added color thanks to our many expired, etc., strings of holiday light strings. Always looks pretty. And it's nice before the mosquito season starts, too!

Enjoy the great outdoors however you want or however you can this holiday weekend! 

Seasonal Defective Disorder

After surviving Saturday night's ice storm (a.k.a. Another of Mother Nature's Mood Swings) and being able to sing in church choir, it seemed like Sunday would be fine. But "she" just couldn't let things go.

We were able to hold an enjoyable Book Club and meal at El Mezcal last night. But as soon as we exited, the snow was coming down. And by the time I was on the home stretch, it was that fun Millennium Falcon-warp speed view. 

Not a fan.

I did get home safely but forgot how snow falls silently while we sleep.

When I woke up this morning, I thought "Yay, tomorrow is April 1st and TriCity Golf Course opens!" I mean, I have been counting down. But this view out the front squashed my dreams. 

So now I think the TBD opening date should mean "Take Bad weather Down!"

If only we had the power, right? The encouraging thing is that when I took a walk after work with my golf partner the snow was rapidly melting away. And based on the forecast – which I never know when to trust – temps will be well above freezing the rest of the week.

Not sure if there will be golf, but perhaps spring sports in the form of baseball and softball will make their debut! 

Get over you seasonal defective disorder, Mother Nature! Remember how good sunshine and warm temperatures feel!

Deja No Thank You

Since the winter storm came through on Wednesday, we had choir practice at 8:15 a.m. today before church. Little did I realize we'd have the same weather exiting church today. Mr. Deck Chair was not a fan.

Yup, all day on and off again snow and sleet. With a mix of a ton of NCAA hoops on TV. 

Later in the day, I finally decided to watch a movie on Netflix that I'd read the book on. It Ends With Us was not fun to watch but it did match the disturbing storylines of the book. I guess that means I'll have to turn my attention to a different book tonight. 

Hope you all stayed safe traveling today. Please continue to wish for spring!

What are the Odds?

The phrase Sunday-Fun Day has lots of meaning. Basically, if you're winning at BINGO, it's fun!

If not.... well...

Since our (Assumption's) progressive BINGO jackpot was well over $5,000 yesterday, I got there about noon to stand in line. A line that stretched a LONG ways down the hall. All I can say is that my "BINGO besties" saved a spot for me so it was all good.

I even brought a new "good luck' charm – my foxy spirit animal. Which a lot of veteran BINGO-ers do! 

All I can say is the 8 of us "regulars" sitting together were close to that $7,700 jackpot. But did not have any "cover all" success. Three people I do not know ended up splitting it!

Dang.

It was almost pleasant just having a normal, non-melodramatic work-from-home day today. I didn't even have any meetings to show off my St. Patty's Day green! I might have to wear it into the office tomorrow. I hate to waste any blarney or shamrock vibes!

P.S. I am 100% Scandi-hoovian, but my hubby and sons are a wee bit Irish, so I'm entitled to wear a wee bit of green once in a great while!

BING-Oh Shucks

Like the meme above illustrates, I was pretty excited to go to BINGO at Assumption today. The progressive jackpot was $4,000+ AND I had a special guest.

Thanks to peer pressure from a few of our friends, Mr. "Hard No" at BINGO came along today for what he called his first – and last – time. He did have fun visiting with the guys, but that was about it. 

One of our group of 8 won a game, but had to share winnings with other winners. The 50-50 prize was $900 and none of us won that. As for the progressive blackout jackpot, that pot is going to keep growing for the next session on March 2. 

Knowing hubby has no interest in the game, I'll just keep my mammoth winnings to myself when I surely win in March! Ha.

I still had fun. And it's always fun to have friends there, too. Being losers together is a good bonding experience!

The rest of the day was recliner time watching golf and I guess some racing. I think I fell asleep for that part. No sense doing anything too exciting. We're plunging into a deep freeze, so I'm just snuggled in my chair and counting down to bedtime at this rate.

I used to say that just because I play BINGO doesn't mean I'm old. But counting down to bedtime at 6 p.m. might count!

Bundle up and have a good week!

Not So Super Sunday

When your hometown or home team (sort of) isn't playing in the Super Bowl,  there's only three things you can hope for.

You want a close game to keep it interesting but really want the game – no matter how it goes, to match your numbers. Well as a nice Mom, added Carter to some boards. And guess who won? Not me. But my donation on his behalf did. Figures. I was on 4 participation boards and came away with not a thing.

Oh well, the third thing we hope for is at least some good commercials.

As someone who saw this original scene from When Harry Met Sally on the big screen years and years ago, I found this one highly entertaining! Which one was your favorite?

I'd comment on the halftime show but one, I don't know his music at all. And two, I was visiting with a friend who was in town so really wasn't into it. Did you like it? 

What about that score? Congrats to the Eagles for dominating. I'll admit I was not expecting that. Not like I am one to place bets on something like that. 

Or am I?

Have fun the rest of the week with not much on TV. Time to countdown to baseball! 

Jimmy for the Win

Sorry I didn't get time to blog yesterday. I was doing too much research trying to figure out if I should believe  Punxsatawney Phil's prediction of 6 more weeks of winter (boo!) or Wisconsin's own Jimmy the Groundhog (above) who says we're in for an early spring.

In the end, of course, I'll go with Jimmy for the win.

And there's actual data to back that up. 

While groundhogs across the country are asked to predict the weather without a formal education or degrees, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says some of them are accurate more than 50% of the time.  This includes Sun Prairie’s Jimmy the Groundhog, who ranked sixth in the country for most accurate Groundhog Day forecaster. Jimmy was found to be accurate 60% of the time in the past 20 years.

As for the furry forecaster in Pennsylvania? 

He may be the most iconic groundhog and the one that started it all, but he was found to only be accurate 35% of the time, placing him at 17th on the list.

Go, Wisconsin!

And was my only win of the day. I played BINGO and won diddly. And that progressive jackpot sits at over $3,000 for the next game day on February 16. Maybe the Dobber Diva Gods are just waiting for me to win a bigger pot.

I should ask Jimmy the Groundhog if he has any predictions!

So Sunday Much to Do!

 

I don't usually side with the Grinch, but if he has a way of stopping Monday from coming – or at least delay it – I'm all for it!

I did accomplish going to church this morning and breaking down sobbing as our guest choir – kids from Port Edwards high school – sang Mary, Did You know? A moving and heartfelt performance!

After that, I baked some cookies for my neighbors and upcoming family cookie exchange. While simultaneously watch the Vikings vs. Atlanta.

So amazing to capture a win versus a team we've loathed since 1998. SKOL!

This evening I have to decide if I should watch football to keep tabs of my pathetic fantasy football team or catch all my DVR'd Christmas movies. I have a feeling you know what I'm going to do!

Let's have a festive week, everyone!

Sunday Stress

While I was happy my Vikings were televised early since the Packers played mid-afternoon, I didn't welcome the stress.

I forgot how close our Central Division games can be. And was so grateful we finally have a field-goal kicker on our team who can make the shot. So we won! Beating my father-in-law's Bears in overtime. Sorry, not sorry, Johnny.

Other the stress of singing in choir and then that game, Sunday was pretty easy. 

Put a few things away for the winter – like golf clubs and cart – from the garage to the basement. And put a few boxes of leftover garage sale stuff I never did sell – so it went from garage to my trunk, destined for GoodWill.

It just wasn't warm enough to tackle much else out there. Maybe this week yet when I'm off. If not, the stuff will just stay by the wall and out of the way until spring when we either have the time to deal with it or be empowered to just get rid of it!

Hope you addressed and released all your Sunday stressors today! And if you're lucky like me, you can do it gradually during some time off this week. 

Skate-By Sunday

Naturally, I'd love to brag about a Vikings win during a Packers' bye week. But since we barely won, I made sure I adjusted the graphic above to reflect our just skating-by victory. 

I'm disappointed but at least honest.

Since the Pack was on bye, though, we got to watch the game in central Wisconsin. After our duties in church (my choir does have 2 other Vikings fans!).

While we were watching our friend Christine came over. She was in town for the weekend and was willing to visit while her Packers were not playing. We definitely did not force her to cheer for the purple. It was just great to see her, that's all!

I was supposed to have my final final senior photo shoot after the game, but that got postponed until Friday. So it was really a low-key day. I may or may not be planning a few things for my "sister getaway" this week. Since it's Tuesday-Thursday this year, we can't really call it our usual Wild Women's Weekend. But we can pretend.

Hidden message: I only have to work tomorrow (and Friday if I'm up to it) this week. Yay, me! Yay, sisterhood!

Hope you all have something to look forward to this week! 

Flying Season

It so cold, windy, and rainy today, it felt like the scene from a scary Halloween movie. Though, with gas prices inching back up, I feel like I could have had good gas mileage if I'd ridden a broom to church.

I know we need the rain. But combined with chill and wind, it was not a day to be out and about. In other words, I had to postpone a senior photo shoot. No one wants to be out in a "real feel 39 degrees" kind of day and actually smile.

So we spent the day indoors. I whipped up some cheese stuffed tortellini chili in the crockpot and did some cleaning. Vikings were on bye so I had a much more productive Sunday than usual. Even got a call from our baby so day was made!

I know it's not even 9 o'clock but it's dark and my side of the bed is fully heated and waiting for me. I might have to dive into my Halloween romance book (it's a thing, I think) called Hex and the City. I'll let you know if it's worth the ride, er read!

Hang onto your hat – and broomstick – and be careful out there!

London (jet) Bridges Falling Down

It's not often I have to set an alarm to wake up and watch the Vikings. But when I do, it better be worth it. 

And thank-SKOL-ly, today was!

Had to get up early enough to shower and get ready for church before sitting down for the 8:30 a.m. kickoff vs. The Jets in London. It was a great start and it was tough to trade the recliner for a church pew at 9:15 a.m. But witnesses can confirm I did! While I did have my phone on silent during church, I may or may not have been checking the score occasionally. We were kicking butt and I was missing it!

Raced home after to catch the 4th quarter and witness our defense saving our team that seems to be forgetting we play TWO halves. Grr. Thankfully, Aaron Rodgers could not lead his team to comeback victory. He was too close for comfort.

But in the end... we're 5-0, baby!

With an early game, it was the perfect opportunity to take advance of BINGO at Assumption. Didn't win anything but had a good time. 

This was as close as I got to winning the progressive coverall jackpot. Nobody did so that goes up to almost $2,800 in two weeks. It's already on my calendar.

That finished just in time for me to head over the funeral home at 3 p.m. for a visitation for our dear friend Dewey, who lost his battle with cancer last week. Jim was out of town at a Gene Watson concert (you probably have to Google it), so we paid our respects at different times. I found some friends to stand in line with because we have a ton of mutual friends. In fact, so many people, it took me 40 minutes to even get into the building. Obviously, Dewey was a kind, generous, and popular man – who impacted a lot of people in a special way. God, please bless his wonderful wife and family!

When I got home, I had to study a few minutes before heading out to a new type of volunteer work. I was on one of the panels interviewing young ladies (vying for a certain title) so they'd get real life experience answering questions and improving that skill before they face the real deal in a couple weeks. It was very interesting and I had a great time brushing up on those journalistic interview skills of mine! Can't wait to do it again.

For now, I need to brush up on that habit of getting 8 hours of sleep! The wind was so strong today, it blew us way closer to Monday than I was prepared for.

Be careful out there!