Pretty Fun

The fall colors were on display for us scrapbookers at the Wisconsin Lions Camp outside Rosholt. Just beautiful and accompanied by mild temperatures that required no jacket. Perfect!

It started at 9 a.m. Friday and I got there about 9:15 a.m. so felt good to get things kick-started. My bestie from high school arrived a little later and we were ready to have some productive fun – except when we stopped to chat without distraction. LOL.

They tried to have the Brewers game on a TV on Friday night but it couldn't hold a signal so we listened to the radio version and were able to cheer for our Brew fan friends. I wasn't sure if it was technology or the weird moon outside or a little bit of both!

Saturday night they set up a TV in the camp office that had uninterrupted viewing. Julie and I kept scrapbooking until it was the bottom of the 7th and nothing was certain. So we walked over to the office to watch the rest. 

What a close and stressful series! I feel for you Brewers fans. Good luck tonight!

More random photos of camp and scrapping highlights...

Love the totem pole by the lake. It gives us peace of mind at every scrap!

It's like a pathway to Fall!

First pages of the weekend – a visit with my friend in Seattle. I have a full digital scrapbook of everything from that and a trip to Bellingham when Casey and Emily were out there.

When you're behind and realize this precious princess is no longer with us, you gotta give her some photo love!

I almost forgot about our (well MY) angst when Carter left for a full semester in Germany! The hardest goodbye.

We're always grateful that Louie the Lion stands guard over the Scrapbooking Kingdom each time we're there!

A cute page with Princess Sylvester in a standoff with our sweet grand-pup Rey. It was kinda funny since they're both as gentle as flies. (The non-biting ones!)

Jules and I before she hit the road Sunday. I stayed until today since Jim said I couldn't come home until I completed 35 pages. No worries. Hit the milestone today.

Some weird things about scrapbooking 2019 is that you realize a lot of these things did not or could not happen in 2020. Glad all 8 of us R's got to join Mom for her annual cancer walk!

Oh... this also happened Sunday in case you missed it.

And here's mostly our full group for the weekend. Just a few missed the photo. Just shy of 40 of us crazy gals!

Got home late afternoon with enough time to unpack the ungodly amount of stuff I crammed into my HRV for camp before heading to Book Club. Discussing any book is always delightful with good Mexican food at el Mezcal! However, this month we recommend The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau. Very interesting!

Now I'm home to watch a little of the Brewers before my body takes over and cries "You need sleep!"

Ahhh... the price we pay for a fun four-day weekend!

A Heavy Lift

You know what weighs a lot? OK. That might be a little too open-ended! How about there's a reason scrapbookers keep chiropractors and massage therapists in business – and it's not all because we hunch over for days on end.

We also pack what seems like the equivalent of this lady's stuff into these wheeled carts and I'd estimate they weigh about 40-50 pounds each. (First we have to unpack the stuff from the last camp since we didn't open the cart since. Apparently I had FOUR paper trimmers in there from February! I mean I brought one for my sister but that's a bit of overkill.) 

And yes, it's nice these scrapbooking carts have wheels, but there is still the heavy lift into your vehicle, then out when you get to camp. Then repeat it all at the end of the weekend.

You'd think if we used supplies, the carts would be lighter but really we're just transferring the loose paper onto a page in the album cart. Sort of like taking stuff out of your overweight suitcase at the airport and putting it in your carry-on. IT'S ALL ON THE SAME PLANE!

I thought I'd get smart this time and, in an effort to save my back, load up one heavy cart per night for 3 nights. While I was at it, I knew I wouldn't be using my Cricut in the next few evenings, so that got loaded too.

I even have my bedding and towel packed in there. "Don't forget your pillow, Robyn! Don't forget your pillow!!" In fact, I think I'll put a reminder on my phone for 8 a.m. Friday!

Needless to say, this heavy lifting (with the poor posture) is why we've had a massage therapist at camp for probably the last 10 years. Mind you, it's an extra fee, but so worth it to work on some of those knots while they're taking shape! Cannot wait. I'm already overdue for one. Good thing I booked two – one on Friday and one on Sunday.

Hey it's my weekend. My retreat!

P.S. Hubby did offer to lift the other carts tonight. But I'm not quite that organized. Good thing I have 3 more sleeps.

Super "Sweet" Sunday

It was a pretty Swede, er Sweet, Sunday! Our boy was down in Wisconsin Dells for a bachelor party weekend. When your baby is an hour away – instead of 4 – you make the effort to see him.

So we met him for breakfast. A BIG one. Kinda surprised how packed this place was for a post-water park season Sunday.

But they packed us in and piled on the food. I didn't realize I was supposed to come with a big appetite! We definitely did not get our money's worth. But if you're ever really hungry and see one of these joints, stop in! 

Had a relatively short visit since he had a long drive ahead. He made sure to give me my "Super Swede" coffee mug he found in some treasure store (aka thrift shop)!

A bunch of kids were piled on Paul Bunyan so we opted for a photo with Babe the Big Blue Ox. Carter did not have sunglasses and will was probably blinded for the first hour of his drive! 

After that we stopped at hoe to do a few things and then headed to Plover for the big fundraiser our nephew Colin and his wife organized. Several of you contributed to raffle baskets. Thank you! There were over 100!! And a huge, huge crowd.

Haven't heard my phone ring yet announcing any winnings, but when I got home my raffle winnings from yesterday's chili cookoff fundraiser at Tri-Norse had been delivered! I guess I can't win EVERYTHING!

This afternoon I got the rest of my photos in order for Crop-toberfest next weekend. Still need to do some scrapbooking paper organizing this week but I do have a few somewhat free evenings for that! 

Tonight I imagine we'll watch some football. My fantasy team apparently took the weekend off and the Swedish Chef Mafia may be handed their first loss. Gotta go cheer on Josh Allen so he kicks in gear in the 4th quarter!

That would be SWEET!

October Things

Today was totally a typical October Saturday. First I headed down to Tri Norse Ski Club for their chili contest and "colorama." Unfortunately, the fall colors have past or have yet to peak.

But I climbed up the 124 steps (yes, I counted) to the top of the ski jump...

Don't look down, Robyn!

And focused on looking OUT. Like I said, not much color.

But I felt emboldened that I sort of conquered my fear of heights. For 2 minutes anyway!

After that, I headed to the football field. (I love me a daytime game for photos!) This is our first year in the 8-player league and we only had one loss. Although it was a slow start against Thorp today, we came away with a 23-16 win and will move onto Round 2 of the playoffs... for the first time in forever!!

Exciting!

After that, I picked up some pictures at Walgreens (Crop-toberfest is next weekend already!) and stopped at Lighthouse for a few scrapbooking papers.

Sometimes you just need that perfect paper for your upcoming pages! I was thrilled to find this!

After editing and posting football photos, I remembered that I was supposed to be at a Scentsy party. Thankfully it was an all-afternoon open house. So I was able to smell all the pumpkin smells and order some waxes and room spray. 

What an October day!

Now the Badgers are on and then the American League playoffs. It's fall, y'all! 

A Pirate's Life for Me

Well I made it safely to and survived Camp Crop-A-Lot without having to walk the plank! Am so grateful I headed to Rosholt on Thursday night because when we woke up Friday morning, our cars were covered with snow with a layer of thick ice underneath. Would not have been a fun morning commute!

My high school friend Julie also went up on Thursday so that was a fun little slumber party.

Every year at camp there is a theme. This year the confirmation letter simply said "Ahoy, Mateys" with some pirate-themed clipart and we all took it from there. Thanks to some friends at work and the dollar store, I had some gear for Julie, my twin sister Raylene, and me to wear.

For the most part it was for group pictures. Not all weekend. That be too much!

Raylene and I as smiling pirates with our plastic swords.

And giving our best "ARRRRGH!" impression. We're not that intimidating, are we?

This is our table group with Becky (scrapbook consultant on left) and Tami and Julie on far right. What a blood-thirsty lot!

As a group, we pretty much hit our capacity at 40+. How awesome! And most of these scoundrels have been coming for years like me!

Of course it was not all swash-buckling fun and games. There was more scrapbooking than sleeping, that's for sure. Always the case. And as usual, I overestimate how much I'll get done. 

My goal was to finish 2018 family  chronological album and start 2019. I did not finish 2018 and have several pages to go. In the end, I want to be happy with my pages, though. So if I spend too much time putzing, I won't feel bad. 

I captured a few random page pictures....

This is 100% Sylvester in love with Jim... crawling in his clothes, watching him mow the grass, and waiting for him to open his office door!

Our preparations for our trip to Scandinavia!

Just a glimpse of our scandi-hoovian sisters' trip to Norway and Sweden. I have a pretty thick digital scrapbook already done on this trip!

It just happened I was working on nephew Colin's win pages on the same day it was his birthday!

This might be my favorite. The page representing Carter and the boy os 465 (Division St.) moving into their first college house. Cheers!

Today it took a minute to brush off our cars, etc., in the blustery wind and then pack up and leave. But what a great weekend. I just have to figure out when it's legal to go to bed on a Sunday night!

Have a good week, everyone. Make some memories!

Have Trifle, Will Travel

A little change of plans for my scrapbooking weekend. My friend Julie (coming up from Madison) and I are heading to camp tonight due to a forecast change. It looks a bit sketchy for Rosholt tonight and tomorrow. When they add "ice" to the forecast, I shift into precaution mode, that's for sure.

But of course, I still had things to get done after work. Finish organizing (bwaahaa), pack (just finished) and whip together a chocolate-mint trifle for the scrappers! That's the only thing I better not forget!

So for this one, the bottom layer is crumbled brownies, next layer is white chocolate pudding using Kwik Trip Mint Milk, then it's a combo crunchy layer of Thin Mints and Keebler Mint Stripe cookies. Then repeat and top with some whip and Andes Mints – pieces and grated.

I'm 99.9% sure I will not be bringing any home on Sunday!

Gotta hit the road soon. Be careful in the dang non-spring weather!

The Current Version of Fat Tuesday

After organizing a little pre-Super Bowl tailgate potluck at work I kinda alluded to a Fat Tuesday treat buffet. And halfway to work this morning while thinking about singing for Ash Wednesday service tomorrow evening, I realized... shucks. It's Fat Tuesday.

I failed everyone, ha.

What I did say a few times was "Hi, I'm fat and it's Tuesday so feel free to celebrate me!"

Got some chuckles, but no good food. 

I did get some goodies today after realizing Camp Crop-A-Lot is 3 sleeps away and I need to create a delicious trifle by Thursday night bedtime. So I stopped at Festival Foods in Stevens Point and now am down to two ingredients, I think.

But when I got home, I realized I better create a "staging area" for what I have ready for camp so I can figure out what else I have to organize the next 3 evenings.

This is only a fraction of what will be jammed into Black Betty, my compact Honda HRV. But it will all fit and there's a good chance not all of it will be used. Very realistic good chance. Still, that's how we roll in the scrapbooking world. The only thing we'll be giving up for Lent (mostly) is sleep this weekend! 

So happy flipping Fat Tuesday! 

Stuck Scrapbooking Pig

I never paid heed to the phrase "bleeding like a stuck pig." Until I was the pig. And I have to blame scrapbooking. Noooooo.

In advance of Camp Crop-A-Lot in a few weeks, our scrapbooking consultant reached out to see if we needed any product ordered before camp. We could earn tickets for fabulous prizes, by the way.

So I had a feeling I was in need of some tape runners – what we use to adhere paper and photos to the pages. 

I pulled out my main supply cart (yes, it's a thing) and blindly reached in to see if I had any new ones in pages but instead came face to face – or finger to blade – with a paper trimmer cutting blade. Just lying face up, waiting for a quick, very tiny slice.

And it was such a teeny tiny puncture wound to my righthand middle finger, yet I am still bleeding 20 minutes later. Good grief, I had no idea our fingers carried so much blood!

So now this little piggy really needs to cry all the way home so she can order some tape runners without more blood on the stinking computer keyboard.

How is it I am a hot mess every day without even trying. Must be a superpower, I guess.

Doing My Things

Starting your Saturday with Book Club at the coffee shop sets the tone for a really nice day! Glad to see 3 of my girlfriends at least as we discussed a tough book – The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb. A really tough story but a good read. 

Ran some errands and when I got home I started organizing my scrapbooking stuff for camp – a whole 5 weeks in advance. Who am I?!

Then it was time to watch football playoffs. The Bills-Bronco was very exciting. Dang Broncos pulled it off in OT. But my win was almost finishing the rest of the blanket I'm making for a wedding shower. Based on how boring the Seattle-49ers game is so far, I might just finish by halftime.

Feels good to do MY things. And make progress!

Hope you had a good day, too. Bundle up tomorrow!

Chance of Accumulation

Had to get up a bit early today since we had a short choir practice before church since we were off from practices during the holidays and wanted a great performance. Naturally! I was still a bit stuffed up – including my stinkin' ears – but went anyway since I also had to read in church today. 

No one fired me from these two volunteer positions so I guess I did OK.

Our last Vikings game of the season was on TV since, well, we were hosting the Packers. We won, but not an exciting game. And it would have been better for our Draft situation if we had lost. Oh well, SKOL!

After that I switched onto craft mode. Not crocheting today. My big project I INTENDED to attack on my week off was tackling my office a.k.a. Oh My God Room a.k.a Scrap Cave. Which I obviously was too sick and weak to do. But I did make some more progress today.

I have a pile of "to donate" scrapbooking paper that continues to accumulate. It there was something unique, I offered if for fellow scrap friends on Facebook and so far have most of that claimed for. Still have a ways to go.

Why get rid of it? First of all, I will never admit I have "enough" scrapbooking paper or that "I don't need more." But some of this I've had for 20-plus years – a lot were free samples when I edited scrapbooking magazines back in my "best job ever" days – and it's just sat there "in case" I needed it for this page or that. 

And that hasn't happened yet. LOL.

So next step it choosing which "organization" or whatever would really use this stuff. I've been given a few ideas, so I'll see what's the easiest for me. Because if this hoarder-in-the-making is willing to let something go, she better have an easy way to do it!

But speaking of accumulation...

In addition to those icicles hanging from our still sexy soffits (top photo), we have a chance for so much more. I love the color purple but it is never a good thing on radar. It's accumulating right now and we'll have another round Monday night into Tuesday morning – when I actually have to drive into work.

Not fun. Be smart and stay safe, everyone!

Hookin' Away My Saturday

As soon as I woke up and was about to get up, hubby says, "You might as well stay in bed. We're at war." Say what?!

My first thought was "What did he do know?" and my second thought, as someone who avoids all news as much as possible, was "Did we know this was coming?"

No matter the answer to either, I knew I needed a day of distractions. I did watch a little news but then headed into town to Lighthouse to get a few papers for upcoming Camp Crop-a-Lot in 7 weeks since I picked up more photos yesterday and am jumpin' to go!

Then I cleaned my office "aka Oh My God Room" a bit before I earned my chance to relax.

Can't do too much cleaning on a weekend when there are projects waiting in the wings.

I have a wedding shower coming up in the same time frame as camp. The couple has many "sage" colored things on their list so I am making them a blanket that is mostly sage with a strip of white, then multi color for a wide strip, then white again close to the top – and the rest sage. 

I'm liking it. And today I realized I could close my eyes and do a whole row without looking, just feeling. I am a Jedi Crochet Master, I guess! That also means I can head back to the livingroom now and watch a Hallmark movie AND multi-task without even blinking.

Well, I better pay a little attention. This is a gift after all!

And oh yeah, it snowed again today. Stay warm and safe, everyone!