Choose Your Luck

Being from Luck, Wisconsin, I have had the occasion to be "in Luck." It doesn't always equate to a lucky streak, though.

Case in point, last evening. I stopped at the library on the way to choir practice to see if maybe they'd have our December book for Book Club. Then, there it was – on the Lucky Day shelf! Whoot!

But then when I got back to my car, I thought, did I just use up my luck on that book and those lottery tickets I just bought won't win me anything? The answer is yes, that's exactly what happened. Dang.

I did have a fortunate – I won't call it lucky – turn of events after that, though. 

When I got to practice, I got a text from hubby that he was going to the Springsteen movie he wanted to see. I did, too, so I replied, "Darn choir practice!" But then only 2 other people showed up besides me and the director so he said, "You might as well go join Jimmy at the movie!"

And since the theater is like 5 blocks from my church, I only missed the first 5-10 minutes.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is a biographical drama which focuses on the making of the 1982 album Nebraska. I mean I knew older songs like Born to Run, etc., but I honestly didn't fall into fandom with him until I was in high school and his 1984 Born in the U.S.A. album became the first vinyl record I bought!

So while I liked the movie, I didn't honestly love it. Unfortunately, it was pretty darn depressing. So in essence, it successfully reflected a dark period of his life with an alcoholic and abusive father, but there wasn't a balance of lighter moments like we've experienced in Bohemian Rhapsody or the Rocketman Elton John story. 

Wow. I just realized I'm coming off as a cynical movie critic! See it if you love The Boss because you'll love and respect him even more.

And I'll let you know in 14 days or less if I give my book thumbs up!

Find Your Happy

Love this inspirational advice today: Always find time for the things that make you happy to be alive. Pretty appropriate these days.

Today was a long day of combing through old photo albums, my blogs, and my scrapbooks for photos of my mother-in-law for the funeral picture boards. If you're too young to know, photos in the old days were like 2 by 2 inches. A whole house with people standing in front of it can be seen in that tiny square. See with a magnifying glass or the next best thing – my phone zoom. I decided to make the boards user friendly for people who need cheaters to read. So I scanned them all in, color corrected them and will put them together digitally to print out as one big poster or 2. 

It was tedious but it was heartwarming, too, to see the early days of my in-laws without kids, then along came Jim and Sherry. So many, many cute pictures. I might have to embarrass him with a full blog of pictures sometime, but now I'll just share evidence that he's been a Vikings fan forever...

Our new starting quarterback... at age 9, I believe! Ha. Much-needed lighthearted stuff!

Mid-afternoon I took a break and ran into town to get my final food stuffs for Thanksgiving. I also had to get my library card renewed since I use it all the time checking out audio books on my phone via the Libby app. My old card was cracked and still had my pre-Austin last name! So I got a brand new one I will not mistake for a credit card in the future. You're welcome, sales clerks.

So I celebrated with a Fa-La-La-Latte at Caribou. It was a nice little happy. 

May we all find little or big things to bring us happiness this week!

Oh It's Over, Pumpkin

This cracked me right up! And I needed it. With the first official day of autumn yesterday, my rise-and-shine temperature was....

Feels like 39! OMG! Then today...

Oh goody. Same morning temperature (even colder earlier) but at least it only felt like 42 instead of 39. So we've got that going for us, pumpkins!

Yesterday afternoon and early evening, I was outside anyway. The cool 61 degrees felt just fine when I was running around the golf course trying to snap photos during Assumption's home cross country meet. 

It was a challenging mix of sun and shadows. Either the kids were squinting into the sun as they ran, or my camera was struggling to capture their faces when I was facing the sun. Yuck. On the plus side, our girls high school team won and so did our boys middle school team. I'm going to have to get to another meet this fall so I feel better about myself. Ha.

For today's fun... After work tonight my friend Cindy and I went to the library to hear an author speak as part of this weekend's Central Wisconsin Book Festival. I know. Wild times on a Friday night, right? 

Tonight we got to hear from and meet Annalise Ryan, who wrote the Mattie Winston Mystery series and just released the first in a series called A Death in Door County. The next one in the series will take place in Bayfield! So that's interesting. She signed our books for us, too.

It was interesting to hear her journey from a similar childhood to mine to getting published, etc. I'm not sure if it inspired me or gave me a reality check that it probably won't happen for me. Or just a reality check that I'm not getting any younger if I actually want to have people read something when I string more than 300 words together!

Anyway, check out the libraries in Wausau, Stevens Point, and Wisconsin Rapids this weekend. 

Autumn is the perfect time for pumpkin spice AND snuggling up with a good book. Especially one autographed by the author!

No Foolin'

I must be getting old. It didn't cross my mind to play any April Fool's jokes on anybody today. Saw a few funny ones, though.

Hats off to Culver's for introducing what could possibly be the grossest flavor around. Nope. Wouldn't dream of trying it.

To get the perceived taste out of my mouth, I did go to DQ though. As it happened, I went straight from work to a meeting at church then to the library to catch the playing of Bohemian Rhapsody movie with my friends Cindy and Sharon.

No time to eat supper in there. So even though it was after 9 p.m., I knew DQ was still open. Can you believe they can still make the Christmas-y Candy Cane Oreo Blizzard? No foolin'. And it was way tasty, even if my teeth were chattering while I waited in line.

Was warmed up dancing (to myself) and singing Radio Ga-Ga. Yep. I'm a fool. No thought in my head about being embarrassed whatsoever!

Did you get fooled today?

If You're Cold, They're Cold

I was a little startled this morning to find out the temps were only in the single digits. It is still autumn, after all.

What I found entertaining – with a warm cup of coffee in my hands – was that we had a heat index today. Real temperature is 2 degrees but it FEELS like 10 degrees. Plus it's sunny. Heat wave! Just glad I remembered to wear a coat today. I don't always think about it because I go from warm house into cool garage in the morning and start up the car right away. It's a luxury now that I think about it. I really feel bad for people who have to work outside in this.

Or those who might not have a warm place to go. They are out there. Correct that. They are out here.

Was impressed this evening to see these scarves tied to the railings in front of our library in town. I've noticed the library is one of the few places in town that a person of needs can go to get out of the elements and not have to buy anything. They can read a book or newspaper quietly and stay warm in the process.

Each scarf contains the following tag and message:

I am not lost or forgotten,

I have been made and placed here

by Wisconsin Rapids Rotary 

Special Needs Boy Scouts #105.

I am here to make your winter warmer

and your day a little brighter.

If you need a winter scarf, please take me home.

Not sure who is in charge of this project, but thank you! Thank you for thinking of others. Thank you for recognizing a problem and providing a helpful solution. Thank you for caring.

We could all learn a thing or two from your actions. And maybe do the same!

Spring-Loaded Trap

Another day. Another trap!

Around mid-afternoon it was 29 degrees and "felt like" 19. Still, according to the calendar, it's the first day of spring.

Our local Dairy Queen was trying to (well, they succeeded) to entice customers with a free cone today. While supplies last! A first day of spring trap, to be sure.

You know I'm an ice cream snob and much prefer the hard stuff over soft serve. But it was conveniently on my way to and from my after-work stops. Had a meeting a church and needed a new audio book from the library. Both less than two blocks away from DQ. So yeah, my car did slow down.



But then I saw just enough of a line that I kept on going. Swear to God.

I reminded myself that when I went to Weight Watchers today I registered a small loss. So why sabotage it for lowly soft serve? I can wait 'til the weekend to blow it, as usual.

But for real, I am 2 for 2 on the sugar traps this week. Please don't push my luck. Pretty sure my willpower has gone the way of winter.

Buh-bye.

Just Another Mechanic Monday

It's the Monday after the Superbowl. People are either hungover or tired or both. So why does Monday have to out-do itself and become even Monday-er?

After staying up late for an emotional, clear-your-sinuses episode of This Is Us, I was tired today. Woke up to really chilly (not dilly dilly chilly) temperatures. And really really didn't want to go anywhere.

Yup, that says minus 15 degrees. Uff da. Good thing I have an indoor job.

Had a super busy day at work, but that's not just because it's Monday. It cycles into a busy time of year right now. And that's OK. The day flew.

Left 10 minutes early to go the chiropractor. She couldn't figure out all my pains. Have some right shoulder pain that radiates out to my finger tips and she hopes it was something pinched that she un-pinched when she wrenched my neck around. All in a good way. Still there but that was the least of my worries the rest of the evening.

Decided that since I was too late to go to kickboxing class, I'd go to the library and check out an audio book or two for my commute. Found two books, chatted with a friend, went out to the parking lot and my car wouldn't start.

Correct, my wonderful new (to me) car that I love. Just wouldn't start. And because it's a fancy push-button start type vehicle, I couldn't wrap my gearhead around the issue.

Enter the knight in shining armor...

So hubby should have had the night free to pack for a work trip to New Orleans in the morning. But no. The needy wife calls with an S.O.S. and he had to come to town. While he was enroute, I checked over the owner's manual – sitting in my freaking cold car, mind you. Tried a few things and it just wouldn't start.

By the time Jim got there I was suspecting it might be the juice in my key fob. Although the doors locked and unlocked fine. Since a car was facing me and Jim couldn't give my vehicle a jump start, we went to ShopKo to get the correct battery for the fob. Ran back to the library. I had power in the vehicle but not an engine turning over type power. Since a vehicle was still in our way, we ran down to Wal-Mart so Jim could buy a suitcase for the trip. I was really cutting into his time. Went back to the library and I had just tried unsuccessfully – again – to start the car when the one facing me left its parking spot. So I hailed Jim and stood in the spot 'til he could park there. Naturally the car started right away with the jumper cables. Hmmm.

Got home and I backed into my spot in the garage in case I would need a jump tomorrow. And hubby shoveled out Carter's car parked in the yard in case I need to use that tomorrow. Again, totally cutting into his prep time.

Enter the second knight in shining, amped up, armor...

So good neighbor Mike comes over because he happens to have some amp checker thingy that could read the juice in the battery and alternator. According to the doo-hickey, they are fine. So my guess is it was just a combination of cold weather and Monday.

Thank goodness Tuesday is right around the corner.

Time Warped

The calendar may say 2015 but my mind is back in 1940.

Although I have known for months we are having a Hedberg family reunion this Saturday, I naturally am waiting until tonight to get my family tree stuff together. I previously forwarded all my names and dates, etc., to my two cousins hosting the event. But, I had hoped I could also get some Census records together and bring those along.

I had only done up to 1920. So that meant a trip to the library, where they now have free access to a genealogy website for the info. Darn, I wanted to fire up the microfiche machine! I did find out a few things and wrote them down.

Now I should really type them up so they look nice, but I actually will not be home between now and when we leave Friday afternoon – except to sleep. Well, I have to squeeze in work, making a dessert, going to a potluck picnic, packing, work, packing some more.

Probably best I log off and get to it.

I wonder if I'll figure out which forefather or mother passed on that procrastination gene...

Thirteen Shmirteen

Hope you all survived Friday the 13th OK. I mentioned the date to my fitness instructor this morning and he asked, "Are you superstitious?"

I don't think I am. A few unlucky things have happened on the 13th. Not necessarily on a Friday the 13th. And plenty of unlucky things have occurred on other dates. Thirteen, shmirteen.

So no, I don't get freaked or let it rule me. I mean, heck, I live with a mostly black cat!

I do step on cracks on the sidewalk and I haven't broken my mother's back yet. Though she does have severe osteoporosis in her spine. Whoops.

I even manage to actually breathe rather than hold my breath when driving past cemeteries.

Perhaps I have come a long way.

So I treated today like a normal Friday. It was not normal at work where we had two "Monday" deadlines moved to today so we can have Monday, Presidents Day, off. That was a bit hectic but worth it. Got to leave at 3 p.m., too. So it was really worth it!

Tonight was a home boys basketball game versus Pittsville, who beat us on their home turf earlier this season. Hubby had to sell tickets so he needed to be there at 5:15. I dropped him off, stopped at the Cravings coffee shop, dropped some letters off at the Post Office and went to the library.

Nobody tailgates before a Royals hoops game like I do.... I enjoyed a Sweetheart Mocha Something from Cravings while sorting through 475 photos for next weekend's scrapbooking getaway. Who has more fun than ME? No one.

Except the basketball team, who came from behind to beat the Panthers tonight. Nice!! Very good game!

Perhaps luck – if you believe in it – was on our side. We'll take it.

I'm Nuts

While running errands with hubby this morning, we stopped at the library where our school system was having an open house to wrap up Catholic Schools Week. Basically, it was a chance to bring in new students / families or just view artwork and projects.

When we saw this drawing, he immediately said something along the lines of "Hey, it's you. And I knew this all along! And she likes purple, too."

Nice, eh? So I took a photo and made this my new "selfie." Because, yes, I am a nut, yes, I like purple, and yes, you're darn right I'm a goddess.

A goddess named NUT? Yup...

According to Egyptian mythology: The goddess Nut was the daughter of Shu and Tefnut and the wife of Geb, the earth god. She was the goddess of the daytime sky and the place where clouds formed. In later periods, she was no longer the goddess of the daytime sky, but of the sky in general.

Goddess of the daytime sky?? Totally me! I love the sun. I guess I shouldn't be offended by the label. I am sure hubby meant it with all good intentions. Nothing related to nuts being another word for insane. Right?

Pretty sure you better agree with the goddess of the sky with Groundhog Day right around the corner. Just sayin'.

Not To Do List

Things NOT to do on your first day of the weekend AND vacation....

Wake up early: Got that covered. Did wake Carter up around 7:30 to 8 a.m. and figured I'd "just lay down for a few minutes." Next time I looked at the clock it was 11:11 a.m. Oh yeah!!!!

Anything involving a broom, dust cloth, vacuum cleaner, dish towel: Totally played hooky on my Saturday chores. Yes, I know I have to do them tomorrow instead, but it felt good to bypass them for a day.

Work: The easiest way to not work is to stay away from the computer. In fact, when I went into town to the bank, library and store, I didn't even bring my phone with me. Granted, I forgot it on the charger. But I did manage 2 hours without it!

Diet: I didn't overindulge too much, knowing I have to pace myself to keep the Festive Fifteen weight gain down to a Festive Five this year. I actually went for a walk for an hour. Granted, I spent 30 minutes of that talking to the neighbor in her kitchen, but I had good intentions.

Follow a schedule: When a person sleeps 'til almost noon, can they really plan anything? That's fine. I enjoyed an impromptu visit with a girlfriend in the aisles of Wal-Mart. Had a nice phone call with my twin. Visited the neighbor (as mentioned). And, no need to ask, made time to watch a Christmas movie. This one might have been DVR-d from Lifetime instead of Hallmark, but still good. Ha.

I think I did pretty good NOT doing much today. The question is: Can I keep up the pace over the next two weeks?

You know me. I love a challenge!

Back to the Books?

When I was a child, one of my favorite summertime activities was the Summer Reading Program.

On a certain day each week, a "book-mobile" of sorts would stop by the church and we could check out one, two or as many books as we desired to read until the next week. The organizers kept track of our progress on one of those charts where you'd earn a little star sticker for each book read.

Oh how I loved to get my "new" books each week. And oh how I loved to see all those stars after my name. Yup, a little bit competitive even at a young age.

As a teen, my summer time was divided between work (weeding and mowing), play (slathering myself with baby oil and sunbathing) and escape (reading). Didn't need a book club then, but I did take advantage of a book-by-mail program where they actually mailed books from the county library some 20 miles away. I don't think they even charged us. Wow. Times change.

Not my love for reading, though.

Carter, on the other hand, is my complete opposite. The image above may look like a boy enjoying reading, but my mind sees a book dragging a reluctant boy along, hoping to hook him into the story.

During the school year, he absolutely hates reading. During summer vacation, why would he even give it a thought?

Well, it turns out he should have much sooner than now, one month before school starts. Pretty sure he's known all summer he has to read Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath (nearly 600 pages "in small print, Mom!") for English class and 1776 by David McCullough (just shy of 400 pages) for history. Now, instead of reading at his leisure, it is stressful crunch time. Could it get any worse for Mr. Procrastinator?

Why yes.

Today an email from the English teacher announced another book has to be read by the start of school, The Last of the Mohicans. While I personally think that is kind of late notice, I really do hope Carter reads that one and enjoys it. It was one of my favorites.

That one, I might just have to add to my own Summer Reading List. The question is: If I finish it before school starts, do I get a gold star??

Re-Entry Re-Charge

As I continue my re-entry into real life after vacation, no one in this house was allowed to set an alarm this morning. It really felt good to get 8 or so hours of sleep in my own bed!

Wasn't exactly re-charged yet, but it was enough for a good effort on a long list of things to do. 

After coffee, of course.

First order of business was getting rid of the yellowish-green layer of pine pollen covering just about every item of living room furniture, plus the dining room floor. I could literally write my name in pollen dust on the coffee table! Tried to get it dusted up the best I could, then swept and vacuumed.

Since it was sunny out by then, I took a 4-mile walk to multi-task sunworship and exercise and finish my audio book.

Accomplished all three! 

Showered and went to the library to return the book and pick out new one. Not sure which took longer, picking out a new audio book or a Father's Day card. Had one for hubby from me and one from Carter then had to go back and get one for father-in-law.

It was then I overheard a fellow Dad's Day card shopper tell her husband, "This is a nice card. Oh wait. 7 dollars? Put it back. There's no way I'm paying 7 dollars." I held my tongue but wanted to tell her I would pay ANYTHING to have my dad back for Father's Day. 

I didn't say anything, though, because I have been guilty of the same line of thinking in the past.

After a few more errands in town, came home and changed and headed to a graduation party for the son of some good friends. Carter had to work so he missed the beginning of the party and his Legion baseball game in Nekoosa. The good news is the team won AND Carter was able to join us at the party after work.

Nice time visiting with several people I knew. And while it was chilly, the rain held off until after 8 p.m.

Great party and super way to ease into that vacation-to-real-life re-entry!

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?

With more snow and a windchill advisory (again), you'd think March came in like a Lion. But I kind of think it was a Lamb, sporting extra-thick wool socks and an extra large fleece!

I was going to illustrate that with some graphic design today and ended up creating this...

You get the point.

I only ventured outside when I ran errands in town, getting groceries and stopping at the library to check out a new audio book. Both times I had to brush off my car when I got back outside -- not that I am a slow shopper or take too much time with my selections.

Oh wait, that IS me.

Got home and did my Saturday chores and then some. And by "then some," I mean while hubby was away at a hoops game with the neighbor, I did laundry, cleaned up 7 pairs of soccer and baseball cleats to sell and, get this, this undomestic goddess sewed buttons on two pair of hubby's pants AND darned two socks.

Darn!

Yes, I am that good. My reward was an hour to myself on the couch to start a new book, The Book Thief, and eat a tiny bit of Peppermint Stick ice cream. Yup, in the mother of all March surprises, I found one final container in the freezer in the garage.

So if you ask me, and you didn't, March is definitely coming in like a white fluffy snow lamb and minty-green grass!

Home Office

When I agreed to serve on a committee at church last January, I was pretty sure I could handle the commitment since this particular group only meets 4-6 times per year.

Then I found out their meetings are at 11:30 a.m. on a weekday. Was I the only working, non-retired one in the bunch??

Turns out there are at least two others working full time who work near enough to our church they can just use our typically short meeting as their lunch hour. I decided to do the same.

I am so grateful I work for a company that allows me to work from the home office as needed. Typically, I try to one day a week just to save on gas. And in the winter, well, that could jump to a few days a week now that this winter driving chicken has lost her chauffeur.

It's not a vacation day to work at home. Though I envision it like this photo! I can dial into my computer at work and basically pretend I am right there... without the candy dish or funny comments from co-workers. Well, now I actually do have a "co-worker" in the office next door. We actually didn't really talk today, though. Business is booming for hubby's new job so he is plenty busy. That's a good thing.

I worked in the a.m., went to the committee meeting, which was a half hour, then stopped at the library a half-block away from there to return my audio book and check out a few new ones. Then back home to work until Carter called later from school.

He got some drive time today, driving us home from school with a stop in the bank drive-thru (with no dents or scratches to show for it), then picking up Dad and taking us all out for pizza at Polito's. He drove home, too, to get a taste of night driving. Can't really avoid that now that it's dark at 5 p.m.

Tonight, we had company for a bit and now I am going to watch The Voice. I have spent enough time on the computer today and not nearly enough time in the "hammock."

Though, with wake-up temps at 15 degrees, I would have passed on that opportunity today anyway.

Too hard to concentrate, you know?

Subject Matter

Since we just got back from parent-teacher conferences, I will divide up my Monday briefs by school subject matter...

Reading: We got a scare the other day when Carter got an overdue book notice in the mail from the city library. He had 2 Mayflower books checked out and renewed for his research paper. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite done with them when the second renewal came up. And he didn't renew them. So the letter stated the books are due. And the only monetary figure listed: $29.95. What?? I told Carter he would have to dig into his fish bowl and pay for at least half.

He was prepared to do so, too, but when we got to the library, the worker said we only owed $2.60. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Because we got a letter..." She quickly jumps in and says, "Oh I wish they would be more clear in those. They consider the book 'missing' so the total is what it costs to replace the book." So we didn't owe $29.95 and no, Carter did not learn a lesson. As soon as he knew he didn't have to fork over 20 bucks, he says, "Can we stop at Wal-Mart then so I can get an iTunes card?"

Writing: Carter was quite upset to learn yesterday that I blog about him. Seriously? What does he think I've been writing about for 5 years? A girl can only pontificate so many times on my love for ice cream, the Vikings, the Twins and scrapbooking. He mainly doesn't want me to say anything bad about him. I understand that. But I also can't paint the picture that he is a perfect child when he's not. Sure I like to brag about him, but I can't overlook the fact that he is becoming a snarky teenager. In the coming years, I suspect that will fuel more words from my fingertips than anything else!

Arithmetic: If you do the math -- and Carter's good at it -- he should have known that if he divided his homework over his 4 days off, he could have gotten it done with minimal stress. Instead, despite prompting from his nagging parents over the long weekend, he waited until today. He told me last night, "Call me when you get to work, no matter how early it is, so I can get up and get going on homework." Well, I called at 7:30, 7:35, 7:40, skipped to 8, then 8:02, etc. The caller ID registered that I called 29 times over the course of 3 hours until he finally got up. Guess who's fault it was? Not the teenager's. I'm sure he's still stewing about as he struggles through his 70 pages of reading in the basement. Do the math next time, kiddo, and save yourself the headache!

Social Studies: As long as I'm writing this whole blog about my favorite subject matter, I might as well wrap up with his parent-teacher conferences. It's usually a pretty positive experience. The teachers like him and appreciate his polite manner and respect and effort to get good grades. We learned tonight, though, that we have a blossoming social butterfly in the house. I don't know where he gets that from, but neither hubby nor I are taking the blame on that one.

Or is it the credit? Thanks to my big mouth, you know him as well as we do. You decide.