Love Will Keep Us Together

We heard Captain & Tennille singing "Love Will Keep Us Together" on the radio on the way home from a basketball game tonight. It's a good thing love will do that because we certainly can't rely on Cupid.

Today, for example, you would have thought Cupid called in sick and sent in Santa and Jack Frost to do his job. We really didn't need another 3 inches of snow or so overnight. I was not feeling the love when I was snowblowing on my "lunch hour" -- even if I was doing it to be nice to my Valentine!

Overall, it was a different Valentine's Day. We exchanged a few gifts before Jim headed off to work and Carter went to school. I worked at home today since I had what turned out to be two appointments with Dr. Fun. I suppose I should have given him a Valentine! But while I wasn't exactly loving what he was putting me through, I can say I love the results of his exams, extractions and tests. I am in good health! Whew.

After we picked Carter up from school, we stopped to get a heart-shaped pizza at Rocky Roccoco's. I even got a nice red heart balloon, too. We ate and headed up to Auburndale to watch the Assumption girls (conference champs!) play and keep their undefeated streak alive.

It was the closest, most intense game of the season. Tied after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters. With less than 15 seconds left, we managed to get 2 free throws in so we led by 4. That was enough to do it and we won 45-41! Worth the road trip!

At some point during the game, Carter handed me a frosted, heart-shaped cookie and says, "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom." I say, "Oh cute, where did you get this?" The typical teenage boy responds with a sarcastic, "Off the floor in the boys' bathroom."

Well, the sentiment was there. Right?

Like I said, good thing LOVE will keep us together because we can't always rely on cookies or pizza or a good basketball game.

Some days, they are a nice bonus, though! Hope you felt some love today, too!!

Once in a White Moon

It seems these days that once in a Blue Moon (not the ice cream flavor), hubby and I are in the same house together. Tonight starts a 4-day stretch!

Yes, he had a great time seeing his friends and seeing The Who. I will have to download photos and share them. Probably tomorrow. It's gorgeous out in Colorado and the entertainment, this time anyway, can't be beat.

Pretty sure it's going to be boring around here in comparison.

Our excitement today -- that fun stuff he was missing -- included school and work, then witnessing Carter pick out some Valentines (definitely more than one) and signing him up for summer baseball.

That was a topped off with a phone call to my parents, home from their extended stay at my sister's in Texas. I heard a little about their trip then spent some time (oh let's not say how long) trying to talk Mom through some instructions on their cell phone. I should know by now. But every time I think maybe I'm explaining it a little clearer. While clearly I am not.

While I haven't quite decided what I am going to give up for Lent, I most certainly have no patience to spare. In fact, I've got a whopping headache right now that stems from my lackluster "technical support" effort coupled with lack of sleep last night.

Time to hit the hay before all the crabby leaks out!!

Oh, and speaking of Blue Moons or white moons, here's a little creative piece I designed from a picture I took in June when we were visiting friends in Door County. I will keep this in mind during Lent when I figure out my goal.

Good night, Moon!

We Got The Bead, er, Beat!

I screwed up. I guess I was under the impression that Fat Tuesday was automatically followed by Skinny Wednesday. Are you telling me that is NOT the case?!

Dang.

I still don't think that would have stopped me from indulging in what I believed to be a bead-free, sin-free, guilt-free slice of Vanilla Bean Caramel Pretzel Cream Pie!

I mean I really had to have a piece. I brought it to work after all. I certainly didn't want anyone to think it was no good. If anything, I guess we'll have to blame the Schwan's man. (Though I honestly can't, at heart, because, well, he really is my best enabler.)

I did try to run it off on the treadmill at lunchtime. However, I doubt burning 300 calories was enough to cover that sinfully delightful dessert! And no, I refuse to look at the nutritional -- or in this case, non-nutritional -- info on the box.

Nope. I will just work it off for the next 40 days.

Most likely I'll skip any other attempts to get Fat or earn Mardi Gras beads. Especially with hubby out of town. One would guess that he is dancing -- well, grooving anyway -- his extra Fat Tuesday calories off tonight to an extremely loud beat.

Yup, just 3 days after receiving his AARP membership information packet in the mail, Jim is in Denver to see The Who, whom he saw 30 years ago on their "farewell" tour. The irony.

This probably will be their farewell tour, with 2 of 4 original members gone to that Classic Rock Station in the Sky. I know they still can rock it, though. And I'm so glad Jim got to fly out to visit his high school friend Pete, who went to that concert with him 3 decades ago. What a neat thing for them to do. Plus he gets to visit and sight-see a bit, too.

Maybe we should all start living like it's Fat Tuesday and live on the edge a bit. Or at least cross something fun off our Bucket Lists. A great concert or whatever.

Of course, next year at this time, Jim and I could do something together .... and cheaply with his AARP discount!

Room With A View

Remember last year when I managed to get a nice hummingbird picture -- after about 323 attempts? Well every time a cardinal comes to our bird feeder, I miss it. Carter sees them. Jim sees them. I never do.

The other day Carter took this one and said, "Here, now you have one for your blog."

Works for me! Of course, I won't give up. One of these times I will see them out the back window and will have my camera in hand. In the meantime, it's good to know I've got Carter looking out for me!

Just as much as much I would love to capture a cardinal on "film," our poor sentenced-to-life-indoors kitty would love to capture the obnoxious red squirrel that torments her out the front window. She should thank me. I actually did capture it!

But only on film. Sorry, Sylvester.

He looks so cute and innocent, doesn't he?

But then... "There he goes, Kitty! Get 'em!"

Oh, that stinkin' squirrel! Just mocking her and her imprisonment. If only kitty would realize that she is snug inside while the birds and rambunctious rodents are stuck out in the bitter cold.

Then she'd be content with her station in life. Of course, I think from her lofty pedestal (several of them actually), she's gotten that figured out.

Now if only I would be as content when I miss out on things. Maybe just enjoy the rooms with a view and capture it in my mind.

Then take a nap...

Slippery-Do-Dah... Slippery Day...

I saw the weather "advisory" last night predicting freezing rain from around noon-6 p.m. today. So I made sure I got up for 8 o'clock church so I'd be home safe and sound in plenty of time.

Good plan.

All I had was one stop at Wal-Mart. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. Ran into several people I knew and had a nice long chat with Carter's former babysitters, too. While I was dilly-dallying around, I had no idea the freezing rain had started early. Well, earlier than predicted.

Good thing a guy coming into the store warned me on my way out that it was slippery already. My shopping cart became my life line between me and my car! Yup, it was definitely icing up. The roads were slick but I thankfully made it home OK and so did hubby.

Since we were "trapped" at home all day, he had plenty of time to pack for his next trip. (He'll be gone to Denver from Monday to Wednesday, visiting a good friend from high school and seeing The Who in concert!)

We also had time to play some cards. We each won a game of 3 to 13 and I left it at that. It's so rare I beat him, I didn't want to push my luck. After that fun, I spent some time in the kitchen making some Valentine treats for work (or whomever) and making chili for supper. Somewhere in there, I also finished a book for an upcoming book club visit. And edited some stories for work.

Now it's time to sit down and watch the Grammys and hope I can at least count on one hand how many "artists" I know. Just not hip enough any more.

I'm pretty sure the only thing cool around here is the thick layer of ice on the driveway.

Bowled Over

Today was the inaugural South Wood County Empty Bowls event. And, pun intended, I was bowled over by the success and support for it!

Since I was on the planning committee and Carter is always on the lookout for community service hours, we both headed to our church at 8 a.m. to help prep. It was evident from the moment we walked into First English Lutheran that this was a community -- not a just a congregation -- event.

We had volunteers from our parish and Scout groups and the neighborhood. We had multi-gallon soup donations from 7 local restaurants. We had desserts aplenty from "church ladies." We had about 230 pottery bowls crafted by our pastor and two other talented potters from the area.

And we had nerves and excitement.

You just never know how a first-time event is going to go. We felt pretty good about getting the word out -- with coverage in both local newspapers, the radio and even television. But still, our committee was conservative and cautiously optimistic. Our pastor, however, predicted we'd sell out of soup and bowls.

Good thing Pastor Josh has a decent track record for being right. Especially this time when it counted!

How did it work? Each person who attended paid $10, got to choose a ceramic bowl to keep (not an easy decision, I tell you), then enjoyed a lunch of delicious soup, fresh bread and dessert. The money raised goes to our local food pantry and a few other anti-hunger programs. The bowl goes home with donors to remind them that every day someone in need has an empty bowl.

If you thought choosing a bowl was hard (Jim grabbed this one in front before treating me to lunch and Carter got the one in the middle with the yellow and blue design) -- choosing a soup flavor wasn't easy either. I highly recommend the Cajun Bean, while hubby supports the Chicken Gumbo and Carter favored the Chicken Dumpling. Yum. Yum!

Here's Pastor Josh with one of his bowls. I think even though he predicted a good turnout, we were all amazed that we had 100 bowls sold by 11:10 a.m.... and it officially started at 11 a.m.! Whoo-hoo!

It was encouraging to see such community support and hear all the wonderful comments from attendees. I am grateful to be a part of it.

And, of course, any time I can spend the day with my baby is a bonus, too!

Melt Down

I had to work from the home office for two reasons today: One, I had to be here to let the drywaller in. Two, I had a doctor's appointment at the end of the day.

Somewhere between there I lost my Internet connection, thus connection to my work computer, so I found something creative to do. You guessed it... take pictures!

If one was just looking out the window and seeing the sunshine and the icicles melting, one would think we are in the midst of a major warm-up. Not the case. The sun did help melt the icicles but it was only 20 degrees. In my book, that feels warm compared to recent weeks!

I was just happy to have a picture or two turn out. Here's one I designed for my Facebook page. (Yup, the Internet was down that long!)

That about sums up the day, too. But I'll fast-forward through that to tonight's fun.

Our Assumption girls hoops team played rival Wausau Newman at home and we finally beat them. And soundly. I think it was by 20 points, which is unheard of in recent years. Last year we split the conference title with them. It would be nice to win our last 3 games and not only win the conference title, but enter playoffs undefeated. Our girls are 11-0 in conference games and I think now 19-0 overall this year.

Feel free to be impressed!

After the game, we went over to a friend's house to celebrate awhile. It is now almost 1 a.m. and I have an early morning so I'll wrap it up, get some decent sleep and hopefully not have any meltdowns tomorrow!

If I do, I hope they make pretty pictures at least.