Well That Was Fun

I could dub thee Sarcastic Sunday. Because some parts were not that fun.

Take church choir for example. There were 4 us. Not a fancy barbershop quartet. Just 2 men, 2 women. Not the strongest singers. Myself included in that. And our director sang with us to bring it up to 5. Yes, it was just the melody for On Eagle's Wings. But still. Cringe. 

But then it got fun. 

Ran up to Herrschners for some baby blanket yarn (bless them for Sunday hours) and worked on blanket #3 (boy them #2) while watching golf.

I love watching The Masters – especially on Augusta Sunday. And frankly, I want it to be a close competition. And today delivered big time. So many lead changes and people climbing the leaderboard. In the end Rory repeated for a back-to-back win, but he tried to blow it on the last hole – driving it into the woods!

I noticed his daughter Poppy is getting big. Yes, I do "know" some of the kids. I just wonder if they understand what the big deal is when Dad always wins things! You know?

And as the leaderboard was heating up, so too were the temperatures. The windows in the house and the screen door were letting in fresh air! Also, maybe something related to pollen. Not pollen yet, but I sneezed no less than 20 times this afternoon/evening. Grrr.

Did get out for a jaunt around the neighborhood after golf concluded. 

There was a hen party going on around the bend but since I just saw 5 out of 6 sisters the other day, I kept on walking. C'mon, that's funny, right?

Ok. Break time is over. Time to get back to hookin' something! Hope you had real FUN at some point today!

Purple Rain, Sleet, Snow, or All?

 

I hate when they make my favorite color purple look evil. But sure enough, we are in the heart of the worst of the ice storm warning starting at midnight tonight. I with this was April Fools, but it's not!

Let me translate what this particular purple means... up to an inch of sleet and up to half an inch of ice. In other words, travel is not advised early Thursday.

So since my home and my workplace are both the purple zone, most of us who have a commute are working from home tomorrow!

The one purple that did me joy today was a I sort of kicked bunny tail in our department egg hunt. I don't know if I found the most since not everything was tallied yet, but I snared 41 of them! Me, competitive much? Not a surprise at all.

Hope you'll be safe tomorrow no matter what color in the map you live in. Make smart choices!

Monday's Micro-Dose of Spring

This. This is 100% me. And also why I decided at 7 a.m. – after consulting with Mr. Deck Chair and the ugly upcoming forecast – I was taking the afternoon off. I mean It's almost April and I've used one day (of 6 weeks' worth) of vacation in 2026.

Best decision!

I logged off at noon and was at my friend Jenny's house in town by 12:15 and we commenced to enjoy a leisurely but calorie-burning 3-mile walk. With so much catching up!

Got home and started assembling a trifle for tomorrow (no spoilers allowed this time). Then sat on the deck to paint my toenails a sparkling pink SUMMER color (of course!). Then sat on the swing to let the nails dry while I listened to my current Book Club book that is changing my life – Theo of Golden. Trust me, as soon as I'm done I'll be blogging about it because I want everyone to read or listen to it!

Took another walk later because well, it was still gorgeous out. Plus I had to get in a few more steps. I think my health and fitness program at work is going to think someone stole my FitBit because... 10,000 steps TWO days in a row?! This is not the Robyn Austin we've come to know.

I fully acknowledge that shortcoming. Working on it, working on it!

The challenge comes with winter allegedly returning in 48 hours or less. Gah. I think Old Man Winter and Mother Nature should just pool their resources and pay for therapy for the lot of us!

On a serious note... graphic photo alert... today is the 2-year anniversary of my sister Rachel's horrific crash that tried to claim her life (a few times!) but the angels decided it wasn't her time yet! If you don't believe in God and miracles then look at this photo and ask yourself how else she and her friend survived!

Even now, she's not out of the woods yet. She's advancing more to walking without a cane or walker but is smart when she knows she should use one of them. And the legal battle for which insurance company will pay her medical bills is ongoing. She even had a deposition today of all days. Minnesota's "no fault" rule means she was 50% at fault for the accident because she was on that road – even though the other driver crossed the line and struck her. Obviously with impact! If any of you are the praying type, she still could use your prayers.

It continues to remind our family that there are so many miracles of spring. We love the birds and the little shoots of flowers blooming. But having our sister still with us tops them all. 💖

Hug your loved ones. Or if they are far away, tell them you love them!

Spring Brake, Palm Sunday, Etc.

So I was thinking that when my church choir and I sang two songs on Palm Sunday that for sure I'd have an "in" to win the cross BINGO. Nope. There were two games that I was one away from BINGO and couldn't claim a payout in time.

Close does NOT count in BINGO. Still, so fun! Too bad there's only 2 Sundays left this "season."

When I got home and it was 64 degrees I quickly changed shoes and went for a walk. Dang the snowplow drivers did some damage to neighborhood yards when they could tell road from anything with 2 feet of snow.

Was fun to catch my friend Marigene on the circle and the a few miles in, though. So nice!

Went to the store later for trifle ingredients and was struck by the knowledge that we really never know of a spring pothole is half an inch deep or half a bucket deep! Uff da. Wow. Actually so grateful for the bucket at this grocery store because my Black Betty would not have handled that well!

Of course, spring brakes wouldn't be complete without something BREAK-ing. For me. That's my bracket. Dang Duke. 

As Forrest Gump would say, "That's all I've got to say about that." 😩

Forget all the madness. Enjoy spring the next 24 hours!

Weekend Yarns

 

Long before I became acquainted with yarn I though a yarn was a story or a tale, especially one that is incredible and probably made up.

But then a couple of years ago my friend Julie introduced me to crocheting and what the magic of yarn can do.

For awhile after that I was obsessed with making scarves of all kinds. But since then... baby blankets.

So we have 2 sets of young adults in our life who are expecting babies next month. Contrary to popular pre-parenting practices, neither is finding out the sex of their child.

With my self-imposed deadline looming, I commenced to hooking today. With a 50-50 chance I said, let me start with girly colors. Well that didn't last long because my stupid skein was somehow messed up and in knots. So, not that it will effect the outcome, I switched to some typically boyish blues. 

Got a good start... but do you know baseball is on TV now (yay, Twins) in addition to March Madness hoops? Yup. This might take me a day or two. Good thing it was cold and windy with no forecast of me doing anything outside today!

Spring. For Real er No?

In my heart I know that our first full day of spring is fake. But it felt so good to embrace it anyway!

After an in promptu choir practice this morning, it was really just hoops and hoops and little outside exposure.

And I got to meet our new neighbor! She's so cute!

That was the highlight of the day other than remembering how to use my Cricut for an upcoming bridal shower. And visiting with my father-in-law. 

With the warm temps I did sit out on the deck steps for a bit. But dang, we really want this to continue! It won't of course. Despite the calendar. But please know, Mother Nature, that I truly liked you for one day!

Whoa, Black Betty

I've been watching my odometer this week because I knew at some point Black Betty – my Honda HRV – was about to reach 6 figures. Wish my paycheck would!

This morning when I got to work, she was officially at 99,999. I had to get gas on the way home and that was exactly one mile away apparently, so I could take a picture.

In my mind she's still a new car. Because when I hit a deer on the interstate and totaled my Honda Accord in June of 2020, the 2019 was still "new" since people were concentrating on surviving a pandemic, not going anywhere, and not buying cars.

It was the "newest" vehicle I ever had in my life. And the HRV is totally a Robyn-sized SUV.

A 2019 model but less than 3,000 off the lot. I remember hubby saying, "Well this should last you 'til retirement." Now I'm like, dang reliable Hondas. 100K miles is nothing. I'll have to work forever! Grr.

I treated her to a car wash on her special day. I mean we almost hit 50 degrees today. I know with the massive meltdown, she'll get all splashed up and dirty again, but it was the least I could do. She's got my back and keeps me going places!

Who's got your back today? Maybe give them a special nod of thanks!

WTF (What the Forecast?)

When this is the first thing I see when I get home tonight, I am slightly enraged... and slightly jealous.

I'd take a March heat wave warning any day before an ICY forecast on a day when we're supposed to reach 50 here. It's insane.

This morning's commute proved this is far from done. Yes, the roads were plowed. But quality? Meh. Lots of snow-covered and glare ice-covered surfaces. Plus occasional drifts to drive through. Normally takes 30 minutes to get to work and today it took 50.

When I got to Stevens Point, it was obvious they got more snow because they didn't know where to put it. I was mostly concerned at the roundabout by work because the snow bank was so high I couldn't see to my left. I had to inch out super slowly and pray not to get sideswiped. Thankfully, I didn't.

I was so distracted by concentrating on driving after work that I just realized I forgot to stop to get a Shamrock Shake to celebrate St. Patty's Day. That's definitely the worst kind of distracted driving.

If you're Irish in any way, I hope you found a fun way to celebrate! When we were growing up we had an "Irish blessing" of some sort hanging on the wall – even though we're 100% Scandi-Hoovian. So maybe everyone is a bit Irish today.

Sláinte to us all! ☘

Blizzard of '26 :: Round 1

I guess when they suggest on Saturday that Sunday will bring a blizzard... and churches, restaurants, and even bars in Wisconsin (gasp!) are going to be closed Sunday... and that travel was 100% not advised, they weren't messing around. 

The "black roads" in the map above indicated "travel not advised" and I know portions of some of our nearby four-lanes (like Highway 10) were closed. 

Wake-up views gave me a clue why they called it a blizzard and not just a winter storm warning. The crazy wind made visibility a nightmare!

The morning routine was hubby snowblowing us out, then he went to snowblow his dad's driveway, and I shoveled the drifted front deck. The back deck (shown) will not be touched until April at this point!

I realized that the wall calendar in my office doesn't even have spring arriving at all in March. No wonder I saw signs of several seasons today. Here's autumn.

Here's winter/Christmas. Yeah, I'm a little behind at un-decking the halls outdoors.

And poor summer crying like it's a thing of the past that shall never return. Poor summer.

As for spring... I'm convinced Old Man Winter has no heart. This poor expecting mother who arrived with her girlfriends and sisters on the 65-degree day last week does not know what to do. I made sure I scared her a bit so she flew into the woods where there is much better shelter than the few trees in our front yard! Yes, I'm a writer and photographer. We save lives every day. That's what we do. Ha.

A couple hours ago we hit a predicted 3-hour lull in snow so my hero snowblowed a second time for us and his dad.

As you can see, we've accumulated at least a foot of snow so far. And Wausau slightly north of us already has 22 inches! They say tonight could bring another 6 inches here at least. With possible freezing rain just for fun.

It's disheartening to think that after all this snow-removal progress made today that it will all have to be repeated come morning. This really is the meaning of March (very) MADness!

I finally appreciate the true meaning of my new mittens gifted to me from a co-worker. If you know, you know. If you live in Wisconsin or Minnesota right now, you definitely know!

Be careful out there!

Windy Day in the One Acre Wood

I know Winnie the Pooh and Piglet made a pile of money of their portrayal of a windy and blustery day in the hundred acre wood. Today we had the same thing on our one acre wood, er yard.

I guess my pompass grass is my compass. When I was at the end of the driveway before running errands at lunch I figured the wind was blowing strong toward the west.

And then, 5 seconds later, it completely changed directions. Quite the rude awakening to our disappointing delivery of spring so far. But the winds and chill today are not the worst of it in central Wisconsin. We've seen what is coming for "spring colors" and it isn't pretty.

Gross, right? What I do know and appreciate is they are holding those sectional playoff games at 1 p.m. rather than 7 p.m. tomorrow to "beat the weather." I just wish that means we could avoid it altogether. Dang.

Be careful and be safe out there this weekend. And buy some popcorn ahead of time so you can watch movies (or NCAA hoops) while we're shut in!

So Springy!

Oh gosh. Today was a legit false spring. So close to 70 degrees and definitely snow-melting weather!

I hate that we're predicted to get a ton of snow this weekend because this bare and brown grass suits us just fine. Not pretty, but definitely pretty enough.

I was just glad that after traveling to Stevens Point for a video shoot that I got home in time to take advantage of another "fake spring" day!

Keep them coming, I say!

Bring on March Gladness

Don't forget that March Madness actually begins at the high school level with the regionals and sectionals leading up to state hoops. And when we're lucky, it turns into March Gladness.

The crazy and amazing thing Friday night was that our boys won their Regional round 2 game versus a higher seed, Blair-Taylor (which is my college territory around La Crosse).

I had a few things to do and did not travel 80-plus minutes to shoot pictures last night in Elroy when they faced the No. 1 seed. But I quickly heard through the grapevine that our boys claimed the Regional Championship!

That is so exciting. Now onto sectionals for the first time in at least 8 years.

The other part of March MADness or GLADness is always weather dependent, of course!

Today after we both sang in our respective churches, we went to a retirement party for our friend Christine. Alwasys great to see old / long time friends. When we got home, the temps were in the mid-50s so I went for a walk.

Got to chat with my friend and neighbor Cindy and my favorite four-legged creature Buddy. Then ran into golf partner and neighbor Marigene.

We literally went the extra mile, so to speak. I forget how long winters somehow stop us from seeing people! No one likes to hang out on the swing in front of the house when it's 22 degrees! You know?

When Carter called this afternoon he, of course, was having slightly warmer weather "down south" in Iowa. But we both hoped this wasn't a fake spring again. And we know, naturally, that it probably is because this is, well, the Midwest and the calendar won't acknowledge spring yet for 2 weeks.

I heard a rumor, though, that tomorrow's high temp could bring Mr. Deck Chair out of winter hibernation. Just saying.

Hope you find your March GLADness this week!

Today's Space Invasion

I love that my company planned today's space invasion culprit to be the sun – and warm temperatures! We're going to get spoiled. Please don't let us down, weather forecaster dudes and Mother Nature!

I had to get gas to make it from work to my chiropractor. All I could think was "tell me it's 55 degrees in Wisconsin without actually telling me." This is definitely it. Also, I'm glad I went through the cleansing line on Sunday!

I didn't get a lot of time to enjoy the nice weather since I had work after work (after my spinal but not attitude adjustment) and then had to edit photos from the Assumption boys' regional win last night to advance to round 2 AT HOME on Friday. We haven't been in this position for quite some time so it's exciting.

As for today's space invasion fun... there was cake and we could dress like our favorite space movie or TV or whatever character. I had nothing. I wasn't creative. But tomorrow we can dress as our favorite planet... and this Atari-era girl is going with an anti-planet Space Invaders t-shirt that says "Don't invade my space."

Dang I miss that game and the rolly-polly ball to shoot the enemies!

Also dang. I guess this is the week I continue to age myself.

Get out and enjoy our spring weather this week – even if it's only temporary!

Marching on in Like a Lamb

New month means a new calendar view! I hope the phrase "Blossom by blossom, spring begins" comes true!

Yesterday's weather was just nice enough for me to wash the sludge off my car. And today we tipped 40 degrees. Not that I got out to enjoy it. Ended up having an extra long workday and I am about ready to put on jammies and veg out for the night. Definitely won't stay awake until The Voice is over.

How old am I?! Geez.

Hopefully this lamb-like nice (for Wisconsin winter) weather this week will put some pep in my step as we March toward spring! 

Hope you find a way to enjoy it this week.

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!