Easter Weekend

This makes me laugh every year. Predictable, juvenile humor. But I love it. And who doesn't need a good laugh these days?

Today there were a ton of egg hunts in the area. I did not participate in any of them. I did however check out a bake sale and RAFFLE BASKETS for the Best Christmas Ever program. Last time, I walked away with two winning baskets. Today, well, zero. Unless they're still making calls. LOL.

Other than that we had a lazy day. I finished the baby girl blanket and am starting the boy one now. 

And baseball was on TV. And basketball. My bracket blew up so I don't know if I care. I do like close games though!

Jim is singing in his church tonight and I have to sing at both Easter services in the morning. The Easter Bunny did not make up baskets for either one of us so that chocolate pictured above is all I'm going to get. Probably for the best.

A picture is calorie-free!

Enjoy your Easter weekend – hopefully with family, loved ones, or your own box of chocolate!

 

Today's Space Invasion

I love that my company planned today's space invasion culprit to be the sun – and warm temperatures! We're going to get spoiled. Please don't let us down, weather forecaster dudes and Mother Nature!

I had to get gas to make it from work to my chiropractor. All I could think was "tell me it's 55 degrees in Wisconsin without actually telling me." This is definitely it. Also, I'm glad I went through the cleansing line on Sunday!

I didn't get a lot of time to enjoy the nice weather since I had work after work (after my spinal but not attitude adjustment) and then had to edit photos from the Assumption boys' regional win last night to advance to round 2 AT HOME on Friday. We haven't been in this position for quite some time so it's exciting.

As for today's space invasion fun... there was cake and we could dress like our favorite space movie or TV or whatever character. I had nothing. I wasn't creative. But tomorrow we can dress as our favorite planet... and this Atari-era girl is going with an anti-planet Space Invaders t-shirt that says "Don't invade my space."

Dang I miss that game and the rolly-polly ball to shoot the enemies!

Also dang. I guess this is the week I continue to age myself.

Get out and enjoy our spring weather this week – even if it's only temporary!

TGIF Victory!

What a great day off! Except for the very early alarm, that is. Our friends Craig and Sara got to our house at 6 a.m. and the four of us headed to Green Bay for the girls state basketball tournament. Since we made good time, we had to stall awhile before entering the Resch Center. 

But (spoiler alert) every minute was worth it in the end.

Our Lady Royals were ranked No. 1 out of the 4 state Division 5 teams but really, we are still battling one of the top 4 teams in the state. So I was very conservative with my confidence. And it was a slow start before both teams started scoring. It took quite a while for our girls to get past nerves or whatever and start taking control.

With my "school photographer" pass I had the honor of sitting courtside on a hard floor (since when do I sit for a half hour at a time in the criss cross applesause stature?) I was glad to successfully rise to my feet after the first half. Not kidding. But my second half location had several friends saying they saw my on TV (above). All I can say is the camera adds 20 pounds.

It was an exciting game, though, and our feisty girls did what they always do and even set the record for most steals in a tournament game – across any division.

So awesome! Hope they can carry that momentum into Saturday when we face Barneveld – the team we faced all 4 years of Carter's high school years. Both teams ended up with 2 gold balls and 2 silver balls. Quite the long-standing rivalry.

We did get back in time to enjoy a nearly record-setting  Friday in central Wisconsin. The weather will dip a bit tomorrow, but I hope we can still latch onto some records at the championship game. Go Royals!

Lucky Number 7

When they say time flies when you're having fun, they're not wrong. I can't believe today already marks 7 years at my "new" job. I actually thought it was 7 last year, but I miscalculated. One, I'm a writer not a math person. Two, I blame COVID. They were basically lost years working from home. But they counted!

Things I enjoy about being a writer in a marketing department for a business insurance company...

1. I pretty consistently have a colorful morning commute. Yes, orange barrels ARE colorful! But the sunrises can be amazing, too.

2. I have the best team on the planet! Honestly, most people do stay in jobs because of the people. If you have great co-workers – for whatever reason – you don't want to even think about leaving. You don't want to miss out. (It does also help if you love what you do.) Lucky for me, I've got both job enjoyment and like-minded potty-mouthed (or at least, unfiltered) friends. Ha. Works for me!

3. Not all surprises are bad. Though my job is to quickly accept and adapt in many cases, there are also days I wouldn't have imagined 7 years ago. Today, for example, I spent the day with a bunch of reps from NBC / GOLF Channel to discuss the golf tournament my company sponsors on Maui each January. Just crazy. But in such a good way.

4. And of course, working from home on Mondays and Fridays never gets old! Dang. I just realized it's Wednesday so I'll have to set an early alarm in the morning. That's OK. I'm putting on a Halloween costume and heading to the office. It's what we do in the Fun Department!

Here's to another 7 years. Or less. I hope they go as fast as these last 7. Retirement is a lovely light at the end of that tunnel!

Back to Back

All I can say about our Sunday is there was no time to blog because I had back-to-back family picture sessions then back-to-back sports competitions. Pretty sure most won't care since it's the Vikings and the post-season Twins. Still, it was my obsession for the day.

Only after I edited hundreds of photos from Saturday's sports events, of course. And had a 20-minute visit from Carter who was just passing through and headed back to Dubuque area for the next week. Not sure when we'll see him again unless we do some holiday traveling. But who knows?

I did get home in time after my back-to-back shoots for the Vikings game. They were on TV because obviously you know the Packers play tonight.

That involved back-to-back wardrobe changes. First feeling hopeful for my Vikes. 

Then, after they choked, I was less enthusiastic about a #TWINS victory. 

But, with my good luck kitty by my side, we saw it happen.

After losing series opener to the Houston Cheating Astros (I typically call them something else), we showed them the Twins are here for real! Whoot! Now it's back to Minnesota on Tuesday and Wednesday. So tonight I can relax and kitty and I can just watch a non-stressful episode of The Voice.

While checking the Monday night score of course. My undefeated fantasy football team needs about 10 points to beat another undefeated team. Let's go, Swedish Chef Mafia!

Keeping the Dreaded Streak Alive

If you're wondering where I've been the last few days, it's been a pretty simple but sad series of events...

Yesterday, I grabbed my baseball popcorn and had a Playoffs & Popcorn lunch. And though I couldn't watch much of the game due to work, I saw enough to groan at my Twins losing their 17th straight postseason game. Dumb, dumb error in the 9th. That's all it took. 

Today, the game started at noon so I had an extra "work" monitor set up in my office. Yes, you must know that it is a lot of work to be a Twins fan in the postseason. See paragraph above for reference. Today's game was filled with unfulfilled opportunities. And, yes, dumb mistakes again. In my opinion. So the Astros won again, eliminating the Twins from the playoffs. And they didn't even have to cheat to do it!

So if anyone's available to play Taps, I'll need you for the flag lowering and removal ceremony. I was going to do it today, but it has to dry from my tears, er, the rain!

Jim's Reds also lost today, but it was only their Game 1. "Don't lump me in with your losing team!" 

While my Twins set a record of now the 18th postseason loss in a row, the Reds-Braves game set records for longest playoff game without a score – was zero-zero until the Braves won in the 13th inning. And the game featured more total strikeouts than the World Series back in 1990 (when the Reds won it).

So we're just setting records all over the place!

To celebrate (aka drown my sorrows), I stopped at DQ for a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard. Guess what sign was hanging above the order window? Oh just some notice about a national pumpkin shortage due to COVID-19. Say what?!? So no pumpkin anything for this girl. Not in this one-patch town anyway.

Just kick me when I'm down, coronavirus. Let's keep the 2020 streak alive, too.

Screen Time-Out

I need to edit this picture to say "and adults." Not angry so much as moody and tired right now.

It was one of those "too much screen time" days where I went straight from being on my work computer 8 hours to my home computer to do some digital scrapbooking, then nearly 2 hours in an online Zoom call for a Church Council meeting.

My eyes are fried. And so is my mind. Way too much screen time today. Don't even think I'll turn the TV. Perhaps I'll read a large-print book in bed, ha!

No offense, but I can't look at my computer to even blog. Not much new to report beyond screen time anyway.

Outside, the weather is sunny and windy and chilly. Inside, we're still safer at home.

Hope you are as well!

White Celebration Confetti

Finally got to see my boys in purple pull off a victory today. They were on TV here since the Green Bay team plays on Monday Night Football.

By the time I got home from late church, I had to quickly whip on my purple and take my seat! First half was a joy to watch, as we were kicking the Eagles' butt a bit. I was happy as I took a walk at halftime until... what is this white stuff raining down?!

It looked like snow. Sort of. More like if someone exploded the innards of a bean bag chair. Ya know? Little white balls. Weird. I think I'm gonna go with white celebration confetti!

It was like the Eagles were trying to rain, er snow, on our parade. But nope. Not today, birds.

It was a closer second half but we came away with a 38-20 win. That left the rest of the afternoon to do chores and get some stuff done around the house.

I must have had a black-out or purple-out because while I know I didn't do those things, I can't think of what I did with the rest of my day. There was a nice phone conversation with my mom in there. And one load of laundry. The rest? Not sure.

You might have to ask Mr. Recliner about that.

How the Grinches Stole Playoffs

Turned on Monday Night Football and I thought our brand new TV was out of whack already. Nope. Thank goodness. Just a team of Grinches (aka Seahawks) trying to steal our Christmas. Or at least our playoff hopes.

Seriously, as much as I love lime green – and I have a kayak to prove it – it was too much. So hard to watch.

Well. That and the fact that the Vikings stunk.

Still, it was fun to get some back-and-forth razzing in with Seahawk fans. Some are family so I have to love them as they are.

In the end. Did the Grinches' hearts grow three sizes? Nope. Not so generous. In fact, they cheated. And we had a few injuries at their hands.

At least our TV isn't broken.

Cutting the Cord

When our children are little, they rely on us. First we feed, clothe and bathe them. Plus wipe their hinders. Eventually they can wash themselves and take care of other personal hygiene – with nagging from Mom. Up until they turn 16, they need us for rides to important places like school or a friend's house (usually the latter).

At all ages, they need us for low-hanging fruit on our Money Tree in the backyard.

And what do we need kids for?

Besides having an easy target to pick on, we (or this mom anyway) need them for all these new-fangled high-tech gadgets and such.

I didn't want to be THAT mom but I had my reality check a few years ago when Carter had to show me how to answer my smart phone. I wasn't smart enough apparently. And I've needed him a few times since.

Tonight I had a new challenge. It's the new season for fall TV and I wanted to watch The Voice down in the basement so hubby could watch football or whatever he wanted from the comfort of his recliner in the living room.

Now I am not much of a TV watcher. Probably only watched 2 or 3 hours of non-sports TV since the season finale of This is Us last May. Seriously, I have too many other things going on so it's just not my thing. Until The Voice and This is Us are on. Then I'll watch.

Needless to say, I hadn't watched the basement TV in ages – especially during the summer when it was the "Man Cave." So when I turned it on and couldn't get "TV" I didn't know what to do. After checking out the cords in back, I saw College Boy went off to college and left mom's TV hooked up to some gaming system. Now what? How do I get cable? How can I watch The Voice??

After getting a flashlight and checking out the back of the TV I was able to pull the plug on the gaming system and found the red, white and yellow cable cords to take their place. By then, hubby just let me watch upstairs in my recliner anyway.

There's still something I gotta adjust on that TV downstairs – the color seems off – but maybe I'll just wait until College Boy comes home next month.

Not that I'm afraid to learn something new. I'm just not ready to completely cut the cord yet.

Orange you Glad?

Remember this one?

Knock Knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana, who?
Knock Knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana, who?
Knock Knock!
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange, who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

I would always get sick of the joke, but never the color orange. It's kind of my favorite (but I also favor lime green and the color purple, too, for obvious reasons).

Can't recall if it was the ORANGE or what that got me interested in watching the Netflex series Orange is the New Black. I believe it was the recommendation of two neighbors that got me started. Since I don't have Netflex, I rented the DVDs for Season One over the course of the last 2 weeks.

Who would have thought I would be so entranced in a female prison drama? Well, not just drama. I laugh out loud a lot, too. Just quite the mix of emotions and story lines to make it interesting. Really interesting.

I finished Season One tonight and wow. Shocker. I really must move onto Season Two ASAP. That, however, is only available on Netflex. Don't subscribe but now might be the time the take that one month free trial. Ha.

In the meantime, I'll have to dig out some of my orange garb so I am stylin' with the "new black."

Just as long as it stays on this side of the vertical bars.

Orange you glad I'm well-behaved at this point in my life?

To Do or Not To Do, That is the Question...

I probably shouldn't take liberty with Shakespeare, but the revised "To Do or Not To Do" is a genuine puzzler. What should I have done today?

Let's see.... Slept in. Went up to Stevens Point for a softball game, traveled to the Rapids west side for recycling, BBQ rib pickup up at IGA, visit with in-laws and movie store stop. Finally was home to start my day at 3:30.

Nobody avoids housework better than Robyn Austin!


To my credit, I got dishes done (yes, dishwasher) and laundry (no, didn't need to beat it on a rock in the river).  I did get the kitchen cleaned up, including floor mopped and rugs washed. Somewhere during the process of letting the breeze dry the floor via an open door, the cat got out.

Nope, didn't have a clue she was gone until a half hour later, heard hubby getting home and suddenly saw her on the front deck. On the wrong side of the screen! What the heck??

I race out there via the garage and didn't even have to trap her on the deck. She was on her hind legs trying to get in through the screen. Whew. Good thing she didn't hide under the deck like the last time or get lost.

How was I too busy to notice? Well, I rented season one of Orange is the New Black and I guess it captured my attention. This is probably a sign I should do my "To Do" list chores and not sit on my butt watching TV. Maybe.

Since Sylvester wasn't too traumatized from her adventure, hubby and I went into town, grabbed supper from Culver's and sat on lawn chairs at Lake Wazeecha to watch a few minutes of the State Water Ski Show. Literally just a few minutes. It was almost over for the day when we got there. Still, it was nice to have "dinner and a show" with hubby. (Carter was working this tonight.)

Got home, did a little freelance work and, yes, watched another episode of Orange. I am vowing not to let it fill in ALL my To Do items for tomorrow, but a few.

Hey, if I don't schedule time to be a couch potato, it doesn't happen. And since I never get through my "To Do" list, it still may not.

Fine Print

On one of the favorite TV shows in our house is The Big Bang Theory. We get a kick out of the very anal-retentive character Sheldon, who is book smart -- genius actually -- but runs a little low on tact and relating to other humans.

Before his roommate Leonard could "qualify" to live there, he had to pass several Sheldon personality tests and sign the dotted line on a very, very, very extensive Sheldon-authored roommate agreement, covering every topic from TV viewing and takeout meals to girlfriends and scheduled bowel movements.

Last night while Carter and I were eating at Culver's (after a double no-cavity appointment for us at the dentist), Carter suggested Dad and I have a roommate agreement. Apparently the day before, Dad had picked him up after school and when they drove past Culver's they saw the Flavor of the Day was Mint Avalanche. He said Dad was going to call or text me but they would have been past it by the time I responded.

So, Carter concluded, we need a roommate agreement. "That way Dad will know if you want Mint Avalanche or Mint Chip at Culver's every time they have it or just once a week or month and what size."

I like how he thinks.

I suggested it to hubby and he nodded with a huge grin on his face. He's all for creating one. What could possibly go wrong with that?

I could tell by the gleam in his eye I better withdraw my suggestion. I will NOT be signing on any dotted lines after the ice cream section!

Or I can always just get it myself.

March Madness, Gladness or Sadness?

Did you hear that? That's me groaning rather loudly after I learned that the team I picked to win my NCAA pool lost in the first round! Are you kidding me? What were you thinking, Georgetown??

Of course, what am I thinking when I spent maybe 3 minutes filling out my bracket? I guess it will be a nice donation to some lucky person -- who hopefully lives in this house. I admit I know the least about college basketball of probably anybody. I just try to pick random "upsets" and hope I am right. I don't have a good track record with this. Yet it does not stop me from trying.

I guess I can't complain when that was the only downside of my day.

Work was busy as I continue to play catch-up. After work we picked Carter up from baseball practice (he made it to school) and then met hubby's family at The Wildhorse Saloon for supper to celebrate March birthdays for mother-in-law, brother-in-law and our college boy. I bypassed the fish fry and went right for the coconut shrimp. Yummy! Afterwards, we went over to Jim's sister's house for birthday carrot cake (Oh yes, I am spoiled some days) and visiting.

When we got home, instead of watching college hoops and seeing my Hoyas throw away their future, I finally got to watch the Assumption girls in their state championship game from last Saturday! Spoiler alert: We won!! Whoo-hoo!

Carter was mocking me for getting nervous and emotional even though I knew the outcome. It was hard to explain that it was still exciting to see how it happened. I mean really, the movie Titanic grossed millions and millions at the box office but we all knew how it would end! Thankfully, our "show" tonight had a happy ending. It was just cool to see everyone celebrating after our win and, yes, see Carter on TV a few more times!

Now it is time for bed and there will be no morning alarms set in this house. That is what turns March Madness into Gladness... for this bracketology loser.

Frosty Flexibility

It's a good thing my job is flexible most of the time so I can work from my home office when the wimpy side of me feels I need to.

Today I felt like it.

I was concerned about the weather and actually got up around 3 a.m. It was freezing rain then so I made the decision I would not be venturing out at 6:45 a.m. Some of the schools around here were two hours late. Not ours, though.

So off Carter went and, after a cup of coffee, I sat down at the computer. I honestly did not move -- hardly -- until about 2 p.m. I just kept typing away and clicking off items from my work list of things to do. About 2, I went out to get the mail and realized the plow had gone through and left an ice shelf at the end of my driveway. So, against my better judgment, I got the shovel and picked away at it. I needed to make a path just wide enough for the car. The snow/ice mix was so heavy, I did not shovel the path any wider than necessary! (Later when I returned home, a secret snowblower came and finished!)

I had to get out at 4 to meet Carter at the dentist office. Then, since he was such a good boy and had no cavities, we went to Wal-Mart and bought a 40-inch HDTV!

OK, that's not exactly how it happened.

True, he didn't have cavities. And true, we bought the TV. But that was planned.

Tomorrow we are getting a long-awaited cable-Internet upgrade that will give us faster Internet connection and, on the TV side, give us something like 90 more channels and 60 HD channels compared to our current 15 or 20. That includes both Hallmark Channels in hi-def. Whoot!

We figured the timing was right to get rid of the 15-year-old clunker TV in the basement with the big crack along the side (yet still functional) and replace it with an HDTV so they can hook up all our HDTVs (that would be TWO) in one visit.

So while hubby was getting sunburned at work in California, Carter and I went and spent my "gold" money! Got a decent deal and, more importantly, got the TV to fit in the car AND hooked up correctly at home. Even though it did require some assembly for the stand attached to the TV and the stand it sits on. It wasn't quite deep enough so I had to hammer an extension into place.

For now, it looks good, but we wisely did not throw out the box. We'll see if it looks even better with an actual HD connection. Ha.

Tonight we are supposed to get that darn freezing rain again but I will have to get to the office no matter what tomorrow. There's things I can only do at the office, so I will brave it and go. I'll just take my time, make sure I have some homemade treats with me and they'll take me when I get there!

Snooze Button

In hindsight, it was a bad parenting decision on my behalf to allow Carter to even think of getting up at 5:30 a.m.

Because he did.

And, by scientific deduction regarding the location of the alarm clock, you can logically deduce Carter was not the only one up before sunrise. As a result, while Carter was off hot-tubbing with friends (girls included), you guessed it, we had some crabby grownups in our room.

I didn't quite recover. I really would have loved to have hit the snooze to the off position and get back to some good dream. But no, we were up and therefore on the road well before 9 a.m. The good part about that is we got home at a decent time so I had my "Saturday" chores of dusting, sweeping and vacuuming done by noon.

My plan was to get some final scrapbooking stuff together for next weekend, but I couldn't get the energy. In fact, I actually got sick in a projectile way and knew I needed some more sleep. So while Jim dragged Carter to the batting cage to see if he had energy, I laid down for 2 hours. Didn't really sleep but got enough rest to get on with my day.

And by "get on with my day," I mean sit on the couch and watch male figure skating and then a dramatic finish in a golf tournament on TV. Somewhere in there, I did do Carter's laundry and give him some pointers on an upcoming science presentation. But I still anticipate I'll be on the couch shortly to watch part of the SAG Awards at 7, then probably be in bed by 8.

That alarm and first snooze will come soon enough!

Geek Squad

I'm not sure how I earned the reputation, but I am the live-in Geek Squad at our house. (Don't worry Steve Jobs, even when you're gone, I can't touch Apple or find my way around a Mac!)

But somehow, I can "fix" the PC/computer when it doesn't work, the printer when it quits printing, hook up the home theater system for a Blu-Ray player (when I don't even know what Blu-Ray is) and tonight, restore sound to the TV.

I got home at 9:30 or so and the first thing I notice is the silence. I thought the guys were in bed but then I hear hubby on the phone in the living room while he and Carter sit in front of the TV. When Jim hangs up, I don't hear the TV yet and am quickly informed they've been watching without sound for an hour or so -- but "no one touched anything" so it's no one's fault it happened! It just suddenly became soundless.

So I figure I should investigate since I assumed they explored all options. I get the owner's manual out. Yes, it's conveniently located in the TV stand where anyone can access it. Then look under "troubleshooting" and learn how to do a sound check. Did the sound check and heard sound. But when it was done, there was silence. The manual said it could be our signal. But since the TV downstairs was working fine, we figured that couldn't be it.

But wait, our upstairs TV gets a signal now from a separate HD box. How about turning that off and on? I ended up resetting the power strip and once it all loaded back up, ta-da! We have sound.

I'll let you in on little secret about being a Geek Squad member. When all else fails, you just shut the thing (whatever the thing is) off. Wait 30 seconds and turn it back on again. Even if you have to force it off by resetting the power strip, this is what you have to do. And it works 9 times out of 10.

Just don't tell anyone else in my house about that. I want them to think I'm smart. Plus they might be so grateful, they'll pay me.

In ice cream.

Manic Monday

Oh is it hard getting back to the daily grind when you've essentially been away from your desk for 4 days.

I still had some car show "cleanup" to get done today, but I had so much other catching up to do, I never made it outside. When we did step out at the end of the work day, it was pretty stinkin' toasty out! I would have been disgustingly sweaty if I had "worked" outside earlier. Probably a good thing I can't get to it until tomorrow.

After work, we went to pick up Carter at his babysitting job. All in all, that's going pretty good for him. He enjoys the kids but has had a few challenges now and then. I think that's good. That maybe gives him a little insight into how frustrated Mom and Dad can get when he cops an attitude. Not an attitude, really, just answering in that annoyed tone that sounds disrespectful. (Sort of like my mother heard when I was, oh, about 13!)

Got home and Jim went to drop the CRV off for an oil change and I went grocery shopping. Don't you love when you make out a nice organized list (in order of buying from the back of the store to the front), then get to the store and realize the list is sitting at home on the counter? Grrr. Well I still managed to spend almost a hundred bucks so I figured I got everything.

Close. All but one thing so that's pretty good!

The guys don't care anyway. They are too busy watching the All-Star Home Run Derby, which, like everything else, looks great in HD. Our only challenge now with our new TV is that our DVD player is so old it can't connect to the TV without some expensive converter. We like our surround sound though, so I had to "browse" at Wal-Mart for some sort of replacement in-home theater system. I didn't buy anything without talking to hubby first, but it's amazing we can get it for less than half of what we paid for our system about 8 years ago.

Why is it that technology keeps getting cheaper but gasoline costs keep going up? Unfortunately, we're dependent on both!

These days, I am also dependent on drugs. Can't seem to shake that congestion and cough crud I started a week ago. I am treating it as allergies -- but now recall that this is what I did last summer and I ended up having bronchitis. So we'll keep close tabs on this.

It's quite possible this is a side effect of going too many days without ice cream! Sorry, Mr. Pharmacist, I've got my own cure for that.

Age is Just a Number

For some reason, I lose track of my age during non-milestone years. If it's between one of those 5-year deals, then I just guess. Am I 36 or 37? No, 40. And now, am I 41 or 42? No, this is the 3rd anniversary of your Birthday Extravaganza!

What? Already?

Time does fly when you're having fun ... and your body fights you on it!

But for a non-milestone, weekday birthday, it was a darn good one.

Hubby worked from home today so he could could be here when they delivered our new flat-screen TV. That was just coincidentally arriving on my birthday. I'm pretty sure I'm not in line for that big of a gift! So I didn't get to see him all day and our plan to golf right after work in Iola had to be revised.

My first stop of the day was the chiropractor. If that's not a sign of age, I don't know what is.

Then it was off to a normal workday... with cake. I made a Hornet's Nest Cake last night so I would have something to share. And could handle the leftovers, of course. Went for a 4.3-mile run at lunch. (It just looked like a good number.)

On the way home, I had permission to stop at King Cone and have ice cream for supper. Had a little cup of After Dinner Mint ice cream so I took care of my mint and my ice cream!

Got home and opened the non-TV gifts from hubby. Two very cool Minnesota Twins shirts that I am not ashamed to wear. No matter how their season is going! I was excited one of them is a tank top since we'll be at Target Field in 6 days and July 4th is typically hot. Can't wait!

At 6 p.m., Jim and I went golfing at The Ridges. Managed to get 9 holes in before the sun started setting. Shot a 56 and I will take that my second time out this year. (And thanks, hubby, for allowing the 3 Birthday Mulligans!!)

Got home in time to read lots of birthday e-wishes from family and friends and my twin sister. The only one I will not hear from -- for the first time in 13 years -- is my baby boy! I somehow suspect his day at camp was just as good as mine, though. It's his baptism birthday today, so maybe he got cake, too!

If not, I'll save him a piece. Not sure if they'll be any ice cream left, though!

Winter Recreation

The 3 of us under this roof are not big fans of the cold and snow. Which means for about 6 months, maybe 8, we are not doing much in terms of recreation outside. Other than the sled run (which has not taken form this year).

So when big brother Casey offered to take Carter to Powers Bluff -- a winter recreation park northwest of Rapids -- we thought that was great. So the 2 of them and cousin Colin spent the afternoon there, tubing down a big hill, then not even breaking a sweat to climb back up. One, because it was only 15 degrees out. And two, because they have tow ropes there. Now that would have been nice for our Hedberg "sliding" parties back in the day.

I figured if they could brave the cold, I could, too. So I layered up and went for a run. I managed 4 miles without breaking a sweat. Well, a little, but only under my awesome Twins hat! So I guess I really did get in shape last night! Or maybe it was just 15 degrees out...

One of the indoor activities that I do enjoy in the winter is watching the award shows for television and movies. Tonight is the Golden Globes and in a few weeks, the Oscars will follow. I never really see any of the movies beforehand but I do know some of the actors and actresses. In tonight's case, a lot of the folks on some of my favorite shows (Glee, Mad Men, Modern Family, Big Bang, etc) are nominated.

So I plopped myself on the couch in my comfy sweats (which did not pass Red Carpet inspection) and am watching 3 hours of glitz and glamour. Something tells me I won't break a sweat doing this either.

Gotta love winter recreation!