Voting Early and Often

Had to borrow a little religion from Orange Is The New Black's character Pennsatucky. Hallelujah, indeed.

Even though our phones may be ringing tomorrow with last-ditch efforts from candidates and the commercials may still air, at least there is an end to the madness in sight.

And despite the loony campaign season, I am grateful to live in a country where we do have the freedom of choice. We can vote. It will count. But our candidate still may not win. What a privilege, though, to participate!

Tonight I started voting early and often...

Nothing illegal. It was the live show on The Voice. And while I did pick my favorites, they aren't all moving on. Again, that's just part of the process. And, as a consolation, there is a lot of great talent that was chosen.

Let's hope we can say the same in some 24 to 36 hours, right? And for each of us, that perception will be different.

I don't expect the world's going to end or anything. If it does, at least my blog career would end on an interesting number. Yup, this is blog entry number 3,333. That's a heckuva lot of expression of free speech in this great country!

Uff da. I think my term limit is just about up.

Done Saving Daylight

Happens every year, yet I cannot adjust to the end of Daylight Savings. The only bonus is that "extra" hour during the clock change, but that benefit doesn't last long.

What did you do with your gift of 60 minutes?

Personally, I slept right through it. I needed to finally catch up. But that gave me the rest I needed to take on the day. The very nice autumn day, I might add.

With temps in the 60s again, I opened the windows, let in the fresh air and got some more fall cleaning done. Today's highlight was washing rugs and mopping floors. Today's low-light was catching glimpses of the Vikings-Lions game. Uff da. Our SKOL had turned into a downward SKID. Yikes.

In the late afternoon we headed into town and met up with Jim's side of the family at Ida's for dinner. We were doing a pre-birthday celebration for my father-in-law, whose special day is Wednesday. Casey was in town so he joined us, Grandpa and Grandma Austin, and Jim's sister's family.

Afterward, we all went over to the in-laws' for cake and ice cream. Since Grandma didn't have the cake personalized, I Photoshopped a greeting in honor of my father-in-law's favorite baseball team! At least we had half the grandsons there. Hopefully, next gathering we have Carter and Clay with us, too.

Got home a little after 7 p.m. and I was ready for bed. I keep yawning but I am going to try to hold off actually getting into bed until 9 p.m. I don't exactly have the ambition to start another fall cleaning project.

Guess I can look around to see where I put all that Daylight we saved since spring. If you find it first, let me know!

Shutter Speed

Had a speedy road trip today. To paint a picture of traveling within speed limits, I should probably clarify "I covered a lot of ground in one day." Both hubby and I did. But in opposite directions.

Jim traveled south to see Carter at UW-Platteville and they did some Christmas shopping in nearby Dubuque, Iowa. I headed Up North for a funeral. Julie, my bestest friend from junior high and high school, lost her dad last week. They interred him in the Veterans Cemetery near Spooner yesterday and the memorial service was in Luck today.

Since it's a 4-hour drive, I hit the road by 6:30 a.m. so I could allow time for the forecasted fog. It was patchy, dense fog for the first hour of the drive, but as the sun rose and started to burn it off, it was really pretty.

I didn't have time to stop and take pictures. So I lowered the passenger-side window and randomly snapped on the phone while keeping my eyes on the road ahead. Let's just say I THOUGHT they looked gorgeous on my small phone screen, but in reality, they were a blurry mess. Guess that's what happens when your shutter speed is 55 mph. Still, I have to share the beauty God provided on my drive up...

 

Somewhat better focus since I was at a stoplight in Marshfield, ha.

Got to Luck by 10:30. Great to see Jules and her brother and the family. This is tough for them since their mom just died last year. I give Julie all the credit in the world for doing the eulogy. She made it pretty far before she started crying. She wisely interjected some humor, too. Totally fitting for her dad.

After the service, I headed out to Mom's so I could appreciate the one parent I have left! My sister Raylene came down and met us since we had items to exchange. It was a short but sweet visit. We even got a partial game of cards in. It's normally 3 to 13 but in the interest of time, we did 3 to 7.

Of course Mom is smiling. Her baby twins are no match for this card shark. Between her and dad, I know where I got my cocky card-playing skills from! Who's competitive? Not us! Right. Hit the road by 3 p.m. so I could arrive home before dark.

Not only did I have a great sunrise on my travels, but a pretty nice sunset, too. And I am home before dark and home in time to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie tonight!

Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight. I'm setting mine back to 1986. (Hey not every day your shutter speed slows down to get a selfie in Luck!)

Pick Your Battles

Had to laugh out loud when I saw this today. It's something every parent understands. Every. Single. One.

We learn that although we are the adults – and we most certainly are always right – that we sometimes have to pick our battles. We feel like lesser parents because of it. Like we are conceding instead of standing our ground and proving we are right. But oh, the headaches we avoid.

Is it possible to be right and just let it go when the other person thinks they are right, too?

(Don't ask me. I rarely win an argument. I do always get the last word, though!)

The analogy of the argument with a toddler immediately brought the election to mind. I wisely have kept my mouth shut for a change and I'm not about to get on a soapbox now, promoting one candidate over another. I would love to say, "Not my circus. Not my monkeys." But I think we're all unavoidably in the 3-ring circus of Hell, aren't we?

To be clear, I applaud individuals who have firm beliefs and want to get involved in the political process. That's what a democracy is about. I am concerned, though, about those who carry it too far. Sure, words can hurt, but these reports of physical harm to people (or their belongings) because they are on the "wrong side" are scary.

Elections are notorious for mud-slinging, but everything seems negative to the extreme this time. It makes me want to skip the whole thing on Tuesday. But I can't. People fought hard for our right to vote and we should honor that privilege. I just wish it were a more positive atmosphere for some 18-year-olds I know who have never had the honor before of casting a ballot.

But that's not reality.

Can we at least act like the adults and not the 3-year-olds in this scenario? Pick your battles wisely. Prove your point on the ballot. No matter the outcome, feel a sense of pride that you, at least, had your say.

Then walk away and see what you can do to keep your community, your state, your country moving forward.

God, please bless America!

Missing Person

Funny how you don't know what you're missing, until it's gone. Or until HE is gone, I should say.

Just like senior year when we were constantly running into situations that would be our last, we now are continually dealing with so many firsts. Experienced empty nesters know this. We novices are a bit slow on the uptake.

Tonight, for example, it was really strange to get photos taken for the church directory without Carter. Although Carter and I go to a Lutheran church and Jim goes to a Catholic one, we always made sure the three of us were in the directory photos together for both churches.

When you have a "kid" with you, you're sometimes more likely to buy a photo beyond the complimentary one provided, too. When there's just two of us, we flounder. Why would we want a picture of us? We're not quite ready to be just two of us. (Well, I'll speak for myself.)

Although the pictures turned out fine – which you can barely tell in these teeny black-and-white proofs – we didn't want to buy any extras of any poses. There just seemed to be a hole in the photos.

Maybe we'll feel differently when we take pictures of just the two of us on a tropical island vacation, but not right now. We still gotta get through this period of adjustment. (How does it last??)

We're still missing that person.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I suspect there may be more people watching Game 7 of the World Series tonight than the recent presidential debates. But that's just my guess.

Game 7 with two teams that haven't won a World Series during the lifetime of most of their fan base. It's exciting and nerve-wracking for the Cubs and the Indians. And makes for good television. Even for those of us who aren't necessarily fans of either team. The fans, though, gotta be going crazy.

Been there, done that.

Yes, despite this dreadful 2016 season, my Twins were good once. Very good. Although the series win in 1991 was exciting, winning it in 1987 was more memorable and more personal for me. The summer leading up to it, I had the privilege of attending at least a half-dozen games at the Metrodome, even sitting within shouting distance of Kirby Puckett in centerfield (he turned around and waved, too!). Watching them play in the Series was like watching MY team.

And I know that's how it is tonight, too.

I have lots of friends who are Cubs fans. I don't know any Indians fans but I do know some very non-Cubs fans. Ha. So we'll have to see later who feels this was all "worth waiting for."

OK, 7th-inning stretch is over. Gotta get back to the game.

Play ball!

November... We Know What's In Store

November 1st... hmmm... while hubby got up to go to 7 a.m. church for All Saints Day, I was thinking about how I will never be close to a saint. Maybe if it fell on November 25th I'd be more optimistic, but the day after Halloween? You know the reality...

Hey, we only had 5 trick-or-treaters so there are a few leftovers. PLUS Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are a good source of protein to kickstart the day!

This is my sad new empty-nester reality. I do not have Carter's Halloween haul to pick through. If I would have thought it through, I would have bought larger Reese's, some Twix and Snickers, too, to pass out to our gaggles of goblins. I was trying to be good, though. Trying so hard...

This is still the reality, though, because parents everywhere are trying not to eat those leftovers at home and, instead, bringing them to work for their CWWWs (co-workers without willpower). So yes, maybe I did have a few mini treats and there-in lies the danger of the seasonal segue.

You KNOW that November 1st also means we segue right into Christmas, typically even bypassing Thanksgiving hype. Yes, I admit I already DVR'd three Hallmark Christmas Movies over the weekend. It's not my fault they kicked off their sappy season already!

And Wal-Mart was quick to the punch, too. Pretty ornaments and poinsettias now line shelves where scary masks and plastic pumpkins sat yesterday. With a 50% clearance on Halloween items, those other shelves will likely be emptied by the end of today and there will be season's greetings to customers by tomorrow.

Let's also remember a few other important things in store this month...

It's No-Shave November so the winter fur on my legs can now commence to growing.

It's considered the Gratitude Month as it leads up the Thanksgiving. I thank God for my blessings every day but pay even more attention to them now.

In writing circles, it's also National Novel Writing Month, or as we say, NaNoWriMo. The challenge each November is to write a complete novel from beginning to end in one month, forcing yourself to write a couple thousand words a day. I've often thought of doing this, but haven't been in a position before where I could commit the time.

Heck. If I don't have time to shave my legs, how could I write a book? I am grateful I don't HAVE to do either this month, but likely will make some efforts at both.

Happy November!