Swinging Fore a Good Paws Cause

Mondays get a bad rep. Mondays are awesome when you're not working and you're swinging FORE a good PAWS instead!

Today was the inaugural fundraising golf scramble event for the Wood County K-9 Fund. It was cleverly called Swing 'Fore' Paws.

And we were swinging for guys like Ace here and other fur buddies in the department. I knew a few of the organizers and they've been working on this for about a year and frankly, it showed. We could tell by all the sponsors and volunteers and crazy amount of raffles and other prizes that they put a lot of hard work into this.

And one pretty big sponsor as well.

My foursome today was Sue, Pam and Jackie – who I golf with on Mondays when I sub for the ladies league at the Ridges. So last Monday we had a scramble. Then I had scrambles Wednesday and Saturday with league in between. Yup. Fifth time swinging in the past 8 days. 

And shooting.

Oh yes. On one of the holes we could shoot our drive out of a cannon-type gun. Let me tell you, that's the way to get decent yardage! Can't say I've ever done that before but I definitely would do it again!

And the weather was super gorgeous, too. Just a really fun day off, that's for sure.

I didn't stick around long enough to see if I won any raffles since I had book club at 5:30. (Priorities!) Pretty sure I didn't win anything. Also pretty sure I've never shelled out more 20-dollar bills in a week's time than this one with all these scrambles and raffles and stuff. Good causes, but dang. I need to spread them out more.

On the plus side, I bet I'm gonna sleep good tonight! 

Probably dream about big slobbery sweeties! 

Going Green in May

Kudos to NAMI Portage-Wood Counties for bringing attention to mental health by hanging green ribbons around Lake Wazeecha – and I'm sure other locales – for May's Mental Health Month.

This is what NAMI is and what it does...

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. It was started in 1979 in Madison, Wisconsin by two mothers who were looking for help with their sons. NAMI provides advocacy, education, support and public awareness for people whose lives are affected by mental illness. The NAMI Wisconsin mission is to improve the quality of life and promote recovery for people with a mental health condition.

NAMI Portage-Wood Counties offers support groups for families or individuals. They are holding some special events during May, but regularly offer classes and events that are free to the public. These are funded through memberships, donations, fundraising, and grants. Check out the NAMI Portage-Wood Counties Facebook page or their website (https://namiportagewoodcounties.org/) to learn more.

Remember, as these ribbons and painted rocks remind us...

Life is tough, but so are you! Reach out for help when you need it. And if you're not sure if you do, then it's probably time.

You are not alone. 

#MentalHealthMonth #NAMIportagewood #greenribbons

Day 301 :: Let the Sun Set on 2020

The sun is setting on 2020 and it can't happen fast enough. Pretty sure we're all saying the same thing!

Here we are on New Year's Eve... Day 301 – Post Washington. Now that is insane amount of time to be mostly at home except for grocery store trips, photo shoots, golf in the summer, and that's pretty much it.

We tell our kids that this pandemic is the strangest thing we've lived through in our entire lives. From the virus to the TP shortage to the riots to the election, it really seems like we're in some crazy end-of-days movie. And, like you, I'm hoping when we turn the calendar page tomorrow that we start getting closer to a Hallmark happy ending!

While hubby and I – and most of our families – have remained virus-free, we lost out on plenty. We both should have been traveling for work – I was so excited about Salt Lake City. We were not able to have dinners, campfires, and concerts with friends. And I missed out on several musicals that were rescheduled, then canceled. We missed the Ryder Cup. Thankfully tickets will work for 2021.

But most importantly, we missed time with friends and family and, well, anyone we normally would greet with a hug. Oh I miss those hugs. Seriously, look out when this is over. I will not be able to contain myself!

So will it be over soon? Here are the current numbers in Wood County where we live.

I remember how horrified I was when the numbers jumped from single digits to the teens. I did not see this coming. For my own historical perspective, there have been two vaccines that have been approved and are starting to be dispersed worldwide. Obviously, they'll do elderly and essential workers and who knows who else long before it gets to John Q. Public. And I don't know if we're talking months or another whole year. Plus there's a new strain of the coronavirus out there somewhere, too.

No other news for me to document. I'll continue to work from my home office through the winter at least, I'm guessing. It's hard to plan for anything at this point.

I don't even know if we're planning to stay up until midnight tonight. We have absolutely nothing going on. And we don't really need to experience any more of 2020 than necessary.

Let's hope and pray there is sunshine on the horizon of 2021. Happy new year!

Eleven Down

The year 2020 has sort of turned into a Survival of the Fittest competition. Or at least the Luckiest.

So we do weird things like celebrate surviving 11 months of 2020 – with 8 of those (or 270 days) in a "working from home, wear a mask in public, social distance from loved ones" frame of mind. So, yay!

Unfortunately, this is where we're at in my county (Wood County) regarding the virus that won't go away...

A month ago, we had 1,782 total positive cases versus 4,230 today. Our county COVD-19 related deaths tripled from 9 to 27. In Wisconsin we jumped from 214,996 to 387,235 cases and from 1,948 to 3,313 deaths. 

If this was a report card, we'd be failing. Actually, if this was real life, we'd be failing, too. 

Now that hubby and I personally know about a dozen people (not all our county) who have battled this – some still battling – we see it impacts everyone differently. Not only the symptoms, but the severity. It's a crap shoot what you're going to have to deal with if you get it. And I'm not ready gamble.

I hear there are some cute Christmas face masks out there!

Be safe, everyone. Let's finish strong!

A Dark Place

In today's headlines, President Trump tested positive for the coronavirus and Wood County (the mostly rural county where we live) is inching closer to 1,000 cases.

Even though there's been a state mandate to wear a mask, our numbers basically double each month. We went from 10 cases June 2 to 69 on July 2, then jumped to 242 August 2 and up to 487 on September 2. Since schools – at all levels – have been in session, our number jumped to 905 as of today.

But it's not just school-aged kids. Check out this report by our health department, which several agencies shared on social media today. If you need to fact check, I'll get you in touch with several friends who work at the healthcare facilities in Wood County.

The quote that got me: "We are headed to a dark place if we can't get our fellow human beings to be less selfish and more concerned about our neighbors."

That and the warning that "We're headed for a train wreck with uncontrolled community spread."

I know some people say that authorities are being alarmists and spreading fear. You could say the same about sharing stats of how many people die because of not wearing their seat belts or motorcycle helmets. It's just a plain fact: People ARE dying. And, just like cancer, COVID-19 is not discerning when choosing its victims – and there's no vaccine or cure right now. That's the difference.

Let's all try to make good choices so we don't go to that dark place.

As we tell our college kid: "Be safe and make smart decisions."