What the Fox?

When you work in Stevens Point and the craft store giant Herrschners has its annual warehouse sale, you've got lunch hour plans! Of all the yarn I could buy for a steal, this foxy latch-hook rug caught my eye. 

First of all, I didn't realize latch-hooking was still a thing. My sister Rachel did a lot of that while my twin and I were teens and we loved when we could help her. So fun. But... I don't need another new (or resurrected) hobby. So I passed.

Secondly, my foxy life has resurrected itself in multiple ways today.

The first instance... I was overseeing a video shoot at SentryWorld this morning and the LPGA Pro said, "You know, still my favorite picture was the one you took of the fox at the Senior Open."

I did admit that was my favorite, too, and that it started my "mild" fox obsession.

Then I had a fun evening at Foxy Ladies Golf League (I call it that because of my favorite head cover). And this picture was from last week since tonight we just dodged the rain – but still had a great time since we got to play with (or versus) my friends Sara and Michelle. Legit foxy ladies. 💚

Then I get home and hubby says he got a reminder on his phone of a picture he took in our front yard 7 years ago today. 

I mean.... what the fox?!

Guess we were destined to lead a life as Silver Fox and the Fire Fox. Don't tell hubby I said that. 💓

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!

PAR-allel Seasons

I'm starting to experience when two seasons collide. Tonight was our penultimate night of Ladies Golf League – and we were definitely borrowing daylight – and the kickoff of the NFL season and, thus, our fantasy football season.

As luck would have it, my partner Marigene and I had the latest tee time tonight for league – 5:20 p.m. Based on our league's track record of slow play this season, we wondered if we'd finish before dark.

Especially when this was the typical scene on many tee boxes.

After the 7th hole, Mr. Fox was enjoying the sunset views but was hoping we'd have light to finish. We did.

Got done at 7:40 p.m. when our official Wisconsin Rapids sunset was 7:27 p.m. No worries. We all found our balls – even in the rough!

When I got home, I was reminded that it was the first night of NFL football. I thankfully remembered to set my fantasy lineup earlier today. But my famous QB – Taylor Swift's boyfriend's teammate – isn't doing so hot, I got concerned.

Do I finish my golf season strong or start my fantasy football season strong?

Based on my skill set, I'd say just sit back and watch. Good luck out there!

Fox on the Run

Readers of a certain age will recall the song "Fox on the Run" by Sweet. And if you don't recognize it, take comfort knowing it's never applied to anything in my life until now. It's a cool song, though, so Google it.

Taking a cue from my golf partner, I ordered the exact same push cart as she has – hers is lime green and mine is magically a perfect matching blue to my bag. I was so excited to take it out for its inaugural run tonight for Ladies Night.

Not to be upstaged by my golf partner, but Marigene just bought a new "monstrous" head cover to go head-to-head, so to speak, with Mr. Fox.

Thus, we have the "fox on the run" photo with her Ricky Fowler Orange-inspired monster head cover chasing my fox.

No worries. Mr. Fox survived just fine. 

We played decent and were grateful the rain came before our round and is scheduled to resume later, much after our round.

After golfing 5 of 6 days last week, it's pretty strange to just have 2 tee times this week. Of course, after a last-minute decision to take tomorrow off – plus a long weekend – that could (hopefully) change.

Hope you all have some exciting long-weekend plans!

How to Get Out of a Broody Mood

Our new neighbors are a bunch of turkeys! I mean, literally. I think there are a few broods that have taken residence down the road. Because this is not the same group I saw yesterday. They had smaller young 'uns. (If you pay me during turkey hunting season, I'll show you where!)

But there are easier ways to get rid of a brood, er broody mood.

This morning after a I finished a slightly stressful work project, I thought, "What a nice day to take an afternoon off!" So I did.

Yes, the rest of my steaming pile of work will still be there Monday, but it was just such a nice, upper 70s temperature kind of day that will be fleeting before we know it. So I logged off, took a nice lunchtime walk with my friend Jenny, then did some weeding (very tall weeds) in front of the house, rested in the sun a minute, then decided to go golfing. 

Now that my golf partner is retired, I thought there was a chance she was free! That worked out great!

So I evaporated my broody mood by splitting my time between Mr. Deck Chair and Mr. Fox. Sorry, no time for Mr. Austin today! Plus he's taking stats at the Royals' first football game of the season down in Markesan. (Don't worry, I had to Google it, too.)

Of course, coming off my best round last night, I was expecting greatness on the course. Guess that's an every-other-day kind of thing. Ugh. The good news there is that I'll be "on" for our golf scramble tomorrow! 

After our round, Marigene and I grabbed dinner at the clubhouse. This week's hot honey spiced chicken sandwich is mucho yummo! Loved it so much, I brought half of it home so I could enjoy it for another meal. 😋

Now I'm relaxing at home, taking care of a bit of laundry, and might catch up on a little Emily in Paris season 4 while crocheting a raffle basket blanket. 

And that's how to uplift your mood. Any day. Follow me here for more stress-relief hacks. 😆

The Latest Buzz

Finally broke in Mr. Deck Chair today. But apparently, I wasn't the only one enjoying the summer-like 70s. I call these guys "long-legged a**holes" because they are! They usually sting for no reason. And I'm glad today they buzzed off when I yelled, "I hate you!"

Who knew?

It seriously was a nice day. A little breezy but mostly sunny and high in the low to mid-70s. You know what that means. Skip watching The Masters on TV and go do some swinging yourself!

My golf partner Marigene and I headed to TriCity to hit some balls. Wisely figuring out how to swing again – after a 6-month hiatus – instead of tackling 9 holes. Plus, they were swamped anyway.

Just glad we could start prepping for golf, er Fox Season again! 🏌🏌

I did not do any traveling to visit any family members in the hospital. Rachel needed a day of rest with no visitors. And my other person needing prayers had a healthy amount of visitors. They're both strong women! I hope I inherit that at some point!

Tomorrow looks like another gorgeous day. Hope those long-legged jerks stay away so I can have some overdue bonding time with Mr. Deck Chair.

Get outside and enjoy it!

P.S. Don't look at the 7-day forecast. 😦

What the Fox?

What are the odds I'd be talking about that fox for the third day in a row? Well, if you're my Secret Santa, you know I'm still jazzed about it! Had this ornament waiting on my desk this morning. Thank you, Secret Santa. What a treasure.

Oh, and I realized that if you're new to my blog since summer (highly unlikely) you might not realize I'm not only a small-town girl... but a national media sensation.

And not at all humble. LOL.

When I by pure "right place, right time" luck captured this fox trying to pick up a golf ball during a practice round for the U.S. Senior Open, it first went on the local CBS station, then the national CBS Saturday Morning show. So I got a bit of a big head about this viral thing – well let's just call it pride.

And I don't know if there's a Year of the Fox on a Chinese calendar or Scandi-hoovian calendar or good old Photography calendar, but this was definitely Robyn's Year of the Fox. Thus, my excitement over Fox things.

Because, you know what? That was a fun time. And continues to be one of my top 2023 memories. I mean it can't compare to a Caribbean cruise, a son's wedding, a kitchen remodel, or a 21st wedding anniversary, but it ranks up there in the top 5!

So... what the fox? That's all the fox I know about that.

Fall Ball

It got up to 60 degrees today or pretty close to it so I could finally do some things outside. Like discard my incredibly dead hanging basket flowers and take down our Twins and Reds flags. (Insert sad face here.)

Sylvester just wanted to soak up as much of the warm sun as possible. So she hung out by the front patio door for hours. 

I got my outside chores done during halftime of the pathetic Vikings-Bears game. In the end, we did finally get a win. It wasn't pretty but it still counts. After the game, since it was still nice out, we decided that we'd engage in some more fall ball.

My new fox headcover (an adorable tribute to my famous fox picture this summer) made its debut at TriCity. I don't know if it's a Mr. Fox or a Foxy Lady, but I am open to name suggestions besides "What the Fox?!" since that was said a handful of times today. (But not quite so PG.)

We finished out round with our friends Craig and Sara while the last of daylight was hovering over the course. There was no one left golfing so we didn't want to make the clubhouse worker stay late and make pizzas just for us. So the four of us headed over the Ida's. Yup second day in a row, ha. Even though they screwed up the pizza orders – which rarely happens there – it was a fun end to a good day.

Hopefully not the final round of fall ball either. You just never know what Mother Nature has up her flannel sleeve!

USSO :: Day Six

Today was many things. It was Round 3 of championship play at the U.S. Senior Open but Day 1 of the cut / reduced field. Today was also our 21st wedding anniversary so I took Jim to the tournament of course. And today was also hot. Even now, it's after 9 p.m. and 74 degrees. Today was 87 and felt like it!

We headed up to Stevens Point midmorning. Basically just walked around to see what we could.

Sat in the grandstands at hole 9 for a different perspective from volunteering. Sand was just as much of a challenge as the creek!

From this angle, you can see why it was such a fun and challenging hole to volunteer on.

Vijay Singh tees off. He did not have a super great day.

Padraig hits a water shot on hole 5. That was a tough one for him!

Tim Herron sinks a putt on hole 16 – also known as a our Flower Hole.

We hung out there for a bit, just for the chance to sit down!

We did have tickets to the skybox pictured here on hole 18. Earlier we got food and drink there, but it was so crowded, we knew we'd never get a seat. And in today's heat, we didn't want to stand all day.

So we parked ourselves in the grandstands at 18 and got to see some great finishes. Miguel above.

The amazing crowd of follower seen here for Wisconsin's own Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly.

They had a great finish, both carding birdies and placing second and third for the day.

They're great friends, which is evident in how happy they were for each other's finishes.

Very cool Wisconsin moment.

At the end of the day, we got to see the leader Bernhard Langer finish up.

If he wins this thing tomorrow he'll set a record for most Senior tour wins. Pretty cool to be part of this.

Of course, I completely forget to get our anniversary picture on the course. Duh, me. So here we are on the way home. With my groom belting out classic country or classic rock on the radio! Love my hot date!

Oh and P.S. ....

I started the day making national news on CBS Saturday Morning! There will never be another birthday-anniversary-palooza week quite like this one. Ever!

USSO :: Day Three

The poor air quality could do nothing to dampen my spirits today on day 2 of practice rounds – and my birthday! 

Of course, my day was made early when I got a picture with superstar hockey player Joe Pavelski! He went to school in Stevens Point and has played SentryWorld. And recently had a crazy amazing season for Dallas! Lucky me!

Of course it was also great to see our friend Rob from Wisconsin Golf in the media center. I think hubby owes him a round at TriCity yet this summer.

Since it was still practice today, I could take some more action pictures with my good camera. Caught a few of the legends I missed yesterday.

David Toms.

Oh and a few more stogies today, too!

Ken Tanigawa.

Finally got to see Vijay Singh in action, too!! 

Driving range was busy all day.

Got to see Colin Montgomerie again today.

You can see a bit of the hazy sky here.

Miguel Angel Jiménez briefly but down the cigar to shoot.

Not the second shot, though!

Right before my volunteer shift started, my cousin Laryn brought over our cousin Leonard Johnson, whoI had no idea lived up the road in Marshfield all these years!

And the star of the day was our friendly fox. First he was sunning himself.

Then after one group teed off, He went to investigate the ball on the fairway.

Well that's one way to move your ball further down the fairway! 

He dropped it out of his mouth.

Pondered playing soccer with it.

Then moved on.

Ted Tryba and his caddy couldn't believe what they just saw!

The picture with the ball in the mouth went a little viral today. I couldn't resist sharing it everywhere!

Kenny Perry teeing off.

And Tom Lehman!

Still didn't get pictures of a few others, but now competition starts tomorrow so my phone will have to do.

Got home and Jim took us down to The Lure to celebrate my birthday. Yummy dinner as always!

Couldn't believe with this haze that we could barely see the other side of the lake!

Stopped at Sand Valley to show Laryn and Lydell those unique courses.

Was hazy there, too. But you know what? I was OK with it. It was a pretty special birthday all around! 

Thanks for all the special wishes and heartfelt messages. Love you all!