Beauty and the Beast Mode

Things were shook up today. Our whole office building shook this morning. I mean literally. Apparently they are doing some military flight training exercises down at Volk Field for the next week. That means in our neck of the woods we will be treated to random sonic booms.

The weird thing was that we didn't hear anything. Just felt it. Doesn't last long. Just long enough that I wouldn't want to be laying on an operating table somewhere if there was an important cut to make at that moment! Thankfully I wasn't walking down the hall when it happened. A girl can get a complex, you know.

Mother Nature was shaking things up today, too. Finally have some spring blooms around here!

One thing I love about Wisconsin Rapids is the Hopa trees in the month of May. So pretty. So briefly pretty. Colors don't last long before the blossoms allegedly turn into crab apples. I honestly don't really look at them after they transition from pretty to ugly. Today, definitely pretty.

That was the beauty part. Now onto the beast. Or beast "mode."

My nephew Tony is shaking things up, too, and getting a major tattoo. He actually sat under the knife, er needle, for 8 hours yesterday. Ouch. No thank you. And it's still not done. I'll give you a sneak peek. It is definitely the opposite of the Hopa tree...

This angle looks like a soldier with a gas mask on.

This angle shows he's now a scary skeleton soldier.

And then we have both. Wow. There will be some more time with the needle man to add an image to the blank eye hole there. And maybe other color. Not sure.

I really prefer the pink blossoms. But we all have our idea of "beauty," right?

Wild and Wacky

Not that you would doubt that our Wild Women's Weekends are truly wild, but I'll share some wild and wacky photos to confirm it. Just a few weird snapshots and then I'll move on to real life one of these days...

OK, nothing tops the Sasquatch sign. Just found it hilarious when you read the fine print at the bottom that he is "prone to beer" and that the warned was posted by the "Wisconsin Department of Unnatural Resources."

Sign hanging at the apple orchard store we visited because, well, they were selling apple wine!

Did you ever see the Disney or Pixar movie Monsters, Inc.? That's what came to mind as soon as I saw this chair and door hanging on the outside of a building. If you are ever in Shell Lake, Wis., stop by the Potter's Shed and see the eclectic collection of items on display. And bring your camera. Oh, and wallet. Even though I just browsed.

Cool parrot crafted from a crescent wrench and other rusty items from the tool box. Polly wanna cracker or WD-40/

Where is the restroom? Oh just follow the signs. And make that "honeywagon," not restroom.

I love the "unattended children" signs. And they are serious. Although it looks like a lot of "junk" at the Potter's Shed, it's pricey junk. And old.

Venus Fly Traps already freak me out. Sharp, metallic teeth seal the deal. 

Blue Ribbon beauty in the Northwoods! Nothing says Wisconsin like a boat, a lake and PBR!

Didn't see Sasquatch, but we think we saw his hairy offspring. Walka! Yes, I killed it. And yes, I may have screwed up the whole ecosystem of the Northwoods. Just couldn't risk it getting into the cabin! (You're welcome, sisters!)

Me pondering how wild I should get on Wild Women's Weekend. Right. The answer is heck no, I did not get a tattoo.

Out for a bike ride with my sisters...

OK, maybe not. We may have been in the middle of nowhere, but we weren't roughing it THIS much! I saw this on the way home Sunday. I often see Amish men on bicycles along the 4-lane Highway 29. This was the first I saw the ladies out for a Sunday stroll.

What did I do before having a camera on my phone? Grab. Click. Capture. And yes, I kept my eyes on the road. That's why I got 2 pictures out of 8 to work!

Thanks for letting me share part of our weekend. We did plenty of bonding, talking, laughing, crying, and game playing. But most of what happens at Sister Weekend stays at Sister Weekend...

Game Over

Today was my last day working the car show, which wraps up tomorrow.

After I logged off last night and packed, Carter reminded me he sure could use a haircut before the hot weekend. Eye roll and big sigh (from me for a change). Of course, I didn't want him suffering from heat stroke due to long hair today, so I buzzed it and got to bet way later than planned.

Was up by 6 and on the road to Iola, with very dark clouds following me. They did not lead to anything on my shift. Just kept a nice breeze going for awhile.

I was in a different location today, right in the middle of the show grounds, and it was a busy, busy place. Didn't get a lot of photo opportunities and actually got busted once when I was going to take one. The guy looked right at me and posed. Whoops. I waved him on like he was in may way.

The real excitement was the woman who sat on a bench in front of my booth and talked to me for about half an hour. She had tattoos on both her upper arms and had permanent eye liner and eye shadow tattooed on her eyes (which she said was the most painful 5 hours of her life). What did she have to talk about? Oh she went on and on about how women these days are getting too many tattoos. Uhm, ok. That's 30 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Got done working at 1 p.m. and booked it over to Fond du Lac. Carter's first baseball game started at 2 p.m. I showed up in the 3rd inning and we were already losing 13-0. We proceeded to lose 17-0. Yikes.

Went to check into the hotel and shower (the sweaty car show worker did anyway) and then it was back to the ball park for a 6 p.m. game. We kept it close but ended up losing by one stinkin' point, 5-4. So we play at 9 a.m. and go home tomorrow. Tournament season will be done.

I am so exhausted from my car show game, I mean work, that I could just go to bed. Carter is swimming and hubby is socializing. I may join them for a bit, but then I'll have shut 'er down.

Game over.

Car Show Day 2 :: Indecent Exposure

Day 2 of the Iola Old Car Show was a hot one. So you know what that means. As the heat was turned on, the clothes came off. And we had skin-tastic car show as people tried to beat the heat and live by the motto: "If you got it, flaunt it."

Too much flaunting, in my opinion, but here are some of the day's highlights... or low lights. It's all a matter of personal preference.
By 10 a.m., the shirts came off. Just like that. I found myself not taking a lot of pictures of the indecent exposure, though. (And you'll appreciate that!) I didn't know if it bordered on freak porn. But I wasn't short of material for other categories.

I can't really pick on this guy because I have a hard time squeezing into my summer clothes from last year, too.

Always a go-to method of cooling off at the car show is the umbrella hat.

Which evidentally was popular with all ages!

Either this guy is striking a pose for the ladies or someone needs to tell him 1995 called and they want the Macarena back.

And now for our celebrity sightings...

Bret Michaels enjoys some greasy cheese curds.

And ZZ top looks for his video car!

I used to see baskets on bicycles but never on a scooter.

Then again, I usually see air fresheners hanging from the rear view mirror -- not roosters in cages!

Just in time for Wisconsin's new law allowing concealed weapons, we have the walking stick shaped like a hammer.

"Back off, man who wears flannel in summer, I was in line first." Intimidating, isn't it?

Not as intimidating as the chainsaw brothers, though.

Or this member of the chain gang.

If you really want intimidating, check out this guy's tattoos and piercings. Ouch.

And they were everywhere! He might as well wear a sign that says: "Don't hire me. Ever."

This tattoo lover must have have been told by his momma to keep his elbows clean.

Speaking of mothers... I know Carter would be caught dead before he'd be seen riding shotgun on his momma's scooter.

Then there was the mom who fell off the wagon and got another tattoo...

But was back on the wagon to stay... as long as her little one could pull her around. Actually, this was taken out of context. The little boy didn't have to pull her around. But her boyfriend did. I just can't confirm if the boyfriend is the "Vincent" she has tattooed around her belly button. I just plain forgot to ask.

Ever wonder what Santa does in the off-season? Does he don a cool shirt and hang out with Jimmy Buffett?

Or does he take Mrs. Claus to the car show?

I bet he finds a cool red sleigh with wheels and cruises.

This is a car show after all!

A little bit Corny

I'd venture to say just about every community in America -- from large cities down to unincorporated villages -- holds some sort of annual event or festival to celebrate its heritage, gather neighbors and friends together or, let's face it, just have excuse to party.

In the little village of Scandinavia, just south of Iola, they hold a Corn Roast each year. It's a weekend festival but, ironically, they only have corn on the cob there on Sunday. We decided we couldn't wait for the excitement so we went after work today.

We walked over with some friends who live in Scandy. And Carter was nice enough to go on many, many carnival rides with their 4-year-old son. It was wristband night after all. And that means unlimited fun.

No offense to the Corn people, but I was thinking Jeff Foxworthy would be proud to see the polka band, the plethora of tattoos and -- the highpoint of entertainment for the evening -- celebrity donkey races! (Mind you, not the same caliber of celebrities I saw last weekend.)

I did venture on one ride with the daughter of a friend of mine. She's Carter's age and could not find anyone to go on the Zipper with her. Do you remember the Zipper -- the main machine rotates while each little cage can flip its occupants upside down (we found, many times in a row).

I used to love rides like that so I said "yes" before I had time to get nervous. Or, I know now, time to think. Why do I always forget that getting jerked around in circles and upside down might be bad for my back?! We had fun. We flipped. We screamed. We flipped some more and screamed some more. Now she's got something to brag about and I have a lower back memory as well.

All in good fun. I have to consider I would have been in more pain getting bucked off a donkey! Ahh, Americana at its finest.