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!

Thursday Randomness

 

So many random things today... Since today was the last day in the office before the SuperBowl, we had a tailgate potluck amongst our writing team. 

Crockpot in the middle is my Honey Chipotle BBQ Meatballs (nope, not a trifle today) which was accompanied by hot artichoke dip & French bread, two Chex Mix concoctions, some pretzels and beer-cheese dip I sampled several, delicious times,  plus chips & salsa and guac, popcorn, cheese & crackers and sweets like cookies, bars, and Puppy Chow.

We did not go away hungry. It was a graze-ful day!

When I got home I mixed up Monster Cookie dough to bake some tomorrow since on Saturday I'll be traveling to southwest Wisconsin for (follow this if you can) Carter's former roommate and his girlfriend's bestie's baby shower. I wanted something to send with Mamie to share with Carter. Not mom of the year material since the leftovers will go to Sunday's SuperBowl party. LOL.

And of course, this Olympic junkie is set to watch admittedly delayed TV coverage, I will tune into this tonight. Since one of the first interviews was with a Wisconsin-based speed skater inspired by my Apolo, I figured I better blog now and go watch. 

Go USA. Oh, and go football!

TGIP

 TGIP?? Thank Goodness it's Paid time off!

A productive day off since I had to add "something" to the cookies I already made for our exchange tomorrow. Turns out some pretzel rods dipped in Almond Bark can fill the plate! I'll confess – too easy to really count!

Later, I cobbled together a chocolate-peppermint trifle that I hope sustains a 3-hour drive in the morning. If not, we'll just arrive with the ingredients in tact -- whether they're beautiful or not!

Now, we just wait for the kiddos to arrive "home" at a decent enough time for us all to hit the road in the morning.

Weekend Wins and Losses

A mix of wins and losses over the weekend, that's for sure!

Saturday morning started with a win when I got to join the St. Philip's church group for a private showing of Soul on Fire – a full box of Kleenex tearfully inspiring movie!

The story in a nutshell: A tragic accident leaves 9-year-old John O'Leary with burns covering 100% of his body. He soon embarks on a miraculous road to recovery with support from family, the community, and baseball announcer Jack Buck. Grateful for the gift of life, John becomes a motivational speaker who inspires millions of people to make the world a better place.

Lots of tears. But you can't go wrong with popcorn for breakfast!

From there I headed to another fundraiser for the Best Christmas Ever organization – this one held at Ryder's Roadhouse. I was hoping my raffle basket luck from the previous weekend would spill over. But I was a loser.

I did have a win with those new Hershey's Snickerdoodle kisses I discovered. Instead of flat cookies, roll the Snickerdoodle dough in a ball and roll that in cinnamon-sugar and place in mini muffin pan. When the come out, immediately insert an upside-down kiss into the center and press down. It will melt itself into place just enough.

And also.... so yummy!! Winning.

Sunday was all Loser-ville...

Even though I purpled up for church and wore the Vikings bracelet my niece Kenlee made me, nothing could help my team at Lambeau. Uff da. My plan was to go to BINGO and watch the game later. I skipped that ugliness altogether!

And BINGO was no better. Had about 200 there and someone actually did win the progressive coverall jackpot of $4,400! 

That someone was not me. Nor anyone I knew. The closest I came was 3 space left on 3 of my 15 cards! Close does not count in BINGO. Loser.

My win today was that we had Book Club after work. We went to that new Tex Mex Rodeo Grill that I've gone to twice already on girls nights. Yummy food and great company. The book we discussed was really good too. If you get a chance, read The Ladies Midnight Swimming Club. You may need a tissue at times for this one, too. I listened through audible and enjoyed the Irish accent of the reader as well as the unique storyline.

Now it's time to see if any of my favorites on The Voice can win their knockout rounds and move on! And see if my undefeated fantasy football team can pull off a come-from-behind-win!

Hope you have more wins than losses this week!

Talk Turkey To Me

I'm sure I've mentioned a time or two that our Marketing Department (of which I'm a member) has an official Fun Committee. Every month it's something fun, crazy, or inspiring. They never disappoint.

Today we had the opportunity to gather, eat Arbuckle's pizza and Sweet Juanjo's cookies, while coloring thank you/gratitude cards for whoever we wanted to.

I did one card and was completely transfixed over this box of cookies! Such talent and creativity. I see these everywhere, at every craft & vendor show, and have no clue how they do them. But the creative side of me is jealous I don't know how!

I mean I did pick up quite a few cake decorating skills in that period of my childhood/teenhood when Mom was taking a community class on that and going nuts with it. So fun.

But I also should recognize at my age that I'd probably need to wear my readers to make those tiny, straight lines. I mean part of me says I want to learn this, but do I NEED to? I absolutely do not need another hobby. Of any kind.

Guess I'll just enjoy eating them and tasting that heavenly sweet frosting. So amazing! And yes, I'm in awe of all of you who can do this.

That Odd Mix of Summer, Turkey Day and Christmas

What a strange seasonal weekend! Saturday dawned with summer-like temperatures and I was excited for some time with Mr. Deck Chair! 

Beware of roadside turkeys first!

Then in the mean time, there was shopping for Christmas cookie exchange ingredients – and supporting our community's Best Christmas Ever endeavor for families in need.That turned out to be fun. 

I convinced the Grinch that no one could silence me from spreading Christmas cheer for all to hear!

And he reminded me, "Does your husband know you're sitting on another man's lap?" LOL.  Also, he didn't care if I was good this year or not. So kids got a free pass in that department!

They had a good 100+ raffle baskets and your friend Lady Luck won two of them! Including some Tupperware EZ Speedy mixer thing that more than covers the cost of raffle tickets I purchased.

Then last night we re-joined AHS classmates (plus) to hear our friend Lance Black sing. This was at 17sixteen, the way former Baker Street Grill. He was amazing as always and it was great to see friends!

Today was literally both of us singing in our respective church choirs and watching football. Because, guess what, the weather turned quite November-ish again – despite the sun. So we stayed inside.

P.S. I did sneak one Hallmark Christmas movie in yesterday... and I'm pretty sure I can get another one in tonight!

Right Brainers Unite

I don't even know if it's scientific proof or just an old myth that left-brained people are pretty logical and fact-focused – and right-brained folks like me are imaginative and artsy. But I can see a trend among us folks in my Marketing Department. 

Sure I bring the trifle... but look at today's options between our writing and creative (design and video) teams.

First Melissa (aka "Pinterest") brings in these delightful treats she made this weekend. All inspired by Pinterest, she said, but it must have taken forever! Love it! And oh my, the pumpkin spice cookie sandwiches with cream cheese frosting (second from left) were a-maze-ing!

Then we had Andrew's pumpkin seeds...

There were 3 different flavors and we could vote on which flavor we liked. AFTER voting, we could look at the cheat sheet of the ingredients. No surprise I chose spicy No. 3 which actually had Sriracha as an ingredient.

How fun!

Of course, I was thinking I might have an entire week off from creating a trifle, but my 27th annual sister weekend is coming up this Sunday-Tuesday (hey we'll call it a "weekend"), so I'll see if I need to do one on demand or not.

For now, my right brain is focused on our work team Halloween costumes for Thursday. 

Just so many brain cells on this side of the brain!!

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!

Oh, Christmas Trees... and More Trees

If I was lacking in holiday spirit in any way, that's no longer the truth. My oldest sister Rayna came for a visit yesterday and today and we fa-la-la'd to our hearts' content.

On Friday afternoon we went to the Shriners Fez-tival of Trees (where Carter and I went last week).

And, yes, we got to hang out with Santa again. I think we convinced him we've been good girls this year so maybe we'll get what we asked for come Christmas.

If you haven't made it there, there's still one day left to view the gorgeous trees and wreaths and enter for your chance to win. I runs from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at the Masonic Center near the Firefighters' Memorial Park and boat landing on 2nd Avenue.

For dinner, the three of us went to The Ridges for fish fries. They just happened to have R decorations so the R sisters had to take a selfie. It's what we do!

After that, we went home and watched the Merry Gentlemen movie on Netflix (ooh-la-la) and then let Jim beat us in two games of 3-to-13. We couldn't hog all the weekend fun to ourselves!

This morning, he set his alarm and we went to the Cookie Walk at St. Lawrence Church. If you've never done one, you put whatever you want in your container and then pay for it by the pound. Can you believe this is exactly one pound? That's all it takes. No wonder I put on so many over the holidays!

After that, I went to a funeral visitation for one our church members whose son and daughter (and granddaughters) I've also befriended and known for quite some time. Since Roger was one of the few Vikings fans in my church, I made sure to wear purple in his honor. 💜💛💜

When I got home, Rayna and I headed back into town to check out the 8th Annual Christmas Tree Walk at our South Wood County Historical Museum. I've attended this many times and when I posted pictures of it last year, she definitely wanted to see it in person.

It's an amazing display. Every room in the museum has multiple themed trees and decorations that volunteers provide. They're all so different and so beautiful. Enjoy just a few...

Creative use of dried fruit!

The island themed decorators made each of these Hawaiian shirt ornaments from paper, too. So tempted to try that! Cool.

The blue Starry Night room was fantastic!!

Like I said, so many different types of themes! 

An upside down tree. Why not?

Part of the Veterans' tree.

Ideas for homemade ornaments.

God, bless us, everyone!

Oh and this event runs from noon-4 p.m. Sunday and Monday, then 5-8 p.m. December 13, and noon-4 p.m. December 14 and 15. Free will offering. So worth the visit!

Rayna hit the road after that. And, since it was in the high 40s out I (and everyone else in town) thought today would be a good day for a car wash! Lines everywhere. But my car needed it since we had that one day of crappy snow and, thus, salt.

Late this afternoon, Jim and I wrapped up our holiday weekend with a Christmas concert by the  Wisconsin Rapids Area Community Choir. It's about 60 members and I knew about 10 – including several from my church choir. Excellent show for a full house! 

Now that we're home at a decent time, there may be a chance for more spirit a la Hallmark! 🎄🎅

Hope you're all finding ways to enjoy the season as well! 

Stay-cation Day 1

Today was the official start to my Stay-cation. And I had low expectations as I do the rest of this week. 

I did get a little de-cluttering done in my office, but still have quite a ways to go. 

First of all, I was confused about it being Thanksgiving week when huge Christmas like flakes were falling. This happened for hours.

So I started making some treats for my family Christmas cookie exchange in a few weeks. Ended up being 100+ treats that I now will keep frozen until the second weekend in December. I also will add another kind of cookie or treat, too.

Tonight was my intro into the winter sports season. Seems like it's a shorter break each year. Tonight was Assumption Middle School hoops. I only got to shoot the 8th grade game at 4:30 p.m. because I had Book Club at 5:30 p.m. at Ida's.

We discussed my book tonight – Where Butterflies Wander – and it was nice. If you want to borrow my copy (it was 4.3+ out of 5 stars), let me know. A tragic but heartwarming story. 

The rest of the evening was editing those pictures (since we have high school hoops tomorrow). And now I may watch The Voice since I'm on stay-cation and can sleep in if it gets too late. We'll see.