Girls' Getaway

There were many times this spring when we wondered if we'd have our 26th annual sister weekend this fall with all 7 of us sisters. By the grace of God, we could.

Since we had to wait some time to know if our sister Rachel was OK first, then OK to walk in some fashion second, we waited to find a place for a getaway. What ended up working was a few days in the middle of the week rather than a weekend. 

In November.

So I found (via VRBO) a huge house in the Twin Cities area that had a first-floor bedroom for Rachel, plus plenty of dining and relaxing space also on the first floor. As a bonus, we all got our own bedrooms and queen beds – except my twin and I sharing the master suite.

And here's one view of that master suite. A king-size bed plus a couch and two chairs for relaxing or visiting, then a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and shower and walk-in closet as big as my home office. Wow. We were willing to share.

This was one of the nice living room/gathering spaces.

It was very nice and perfect since we didn't need to go anywhere and sight-seeing. We've all been to the Cities a bajillion times! The sad part was that this was our first down-time where we could talk through Rachel's tragic accident and miraculous recovery – and grieve Mom. What a year!

Somehow a bunch of childhood pictures came out of the woodwork...

Yes, me being a clown. Not far from my personality 50 years later!

Me around kindergarten age loving on one of our barn cat kitties that we never seemed to keep.

My sister Rachel helping me walk. And then decades later me having to help her walk after her accident. A sad but victorious twist!

Just hamming it up before there were selfies.

I had never seen this picture of my twin Lene and I riding tricycles. 

And this one with us (I'm on the left) and Dad. Never saw that. We both cried over that one!!

Current day at Sister Weekend (aka Sister mid-week getaway)!

This year, since we were in the Twin Cities and our brother Ron lives there, we met up for dinner at a place called Junction 70 – literally 5 minutes from our VRBO rental.

Took pictures around the table... Ron and Rayna...

RoAnn and Renell...

Rachel and Raylene...

And Romey and me...

Then our cooperative R-sister waitress Rowan took a picture of all 8 R's. We just can't take that for granted! The sad part is that we can't show this picture to Mom.

And yes, I'm crying as I type this because dang, that really, really sucks.

We did, however, manage to have plenty of fun catching up, playing games (me losing at cards but winning $$$ off my sisters at dice). Everything will just sit a bit different now going forward.

I'm sure I've said it a hundred times, but hug your parents, your siblings, your kids, and any loved ones! You just don't know! 

P.S. Love ya, R sisters!

I'll Take The Combo x 2

It just so happens that less than 2 weeks after son No. 1 moves back to Minnesota with our beautiful daughter-in-law, my Twins are hosting hubby's Reds at Target Field. 

So we decided a few weeks back that we'd go to these baseball games and invite the 3 brown-eyed bandits and their ladies. It happened that it only worked out for the newlyweds to join us Saturday night. 

So we thought... let's take this Twins-Reds combo weekend into a Minnesota combo weekend. I mean, what are the odds the Twins and the Vikings both play at home at noon?

So Saturday is baseball and Sunday will be football – our first ever visit to the new U.S. Bank Stadium! We're pretty excited!

And our hotel is within walking distance of both events, so our belated summer getaway is working out just fine. As long as I end up with a Minnesota Win-Win Combo at the end of it! 

"I fold."

Mom played her last hand of cards this week. And typical of her sneaky but skillful approach to any game, she left on a winning streak. 

Those of us R kids (and grandkids) who could, visited her one last time in the past few days to say our goodbyes. I raced up there yesterday to do the same and she'd taken her last breath before I got home to Rapids last night. 

May she rest in peace – with no worries about struggling for breath. And definitely no worries that her kids are going to do something to embarrass her. Ha. That threat will guarantee good behavior for at least 2 generations!

We will plan a celebration of life at some point down the road when my sister Rachel (who still needs prayers) can leave the hospital and attend. 

In the meantime, hug your parents if you got 'em! She had a full life at 92 years, but for this baby of the family, it doesn't feel like it's enough. Emotionally, I can't wrap my head around the words to express my sorrow right now. But I can tell you this...

My creativity. My cleverness. My courage. My compassion. My competitiveness. I owe it all to this beautiful person! I miss you already, Mom! 💔 Do me a favor and let Dad win the first hand up there -- he's been waiting 11 years! 💔

Roller Coaster Weekend

Not to sound like old hat, but I'd prefer a boring weekend with nothing to do and no place to go over a roller coaster of a ride through ups and downs and loops of emotions.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and warm – and about to get hot. 

My only mission was getting hanging flower baskets. I always wait until later in May, hoping to miss the risk of freezing temperatures.

I was not the only one with this line of thinking. Apparently hundreds of people – at one store alone – thought it was National Spend Too Much Money on Hanging Flower Baskets Day. I was happy with my purcha$e$. 😀 Got home, hung them up, mowed around the house, clipped the long grass close to the curb and front landscaping area, then took a shower. 

That was an "up" the roller coaster part.

Then it went "down." My twin called me and let me know that Mom had gone from the nursing home to the ER and had pneumonia. But it did not look good. Like "maybe you better drive up and see her" type of not good. 😟

Nothing like trying to make a 4-hour trip in less than 4 hours when there's road construction and detours! Two promising signs on my drive: 

These clouds were opening up like God was saying "I got you" when it comes to prayers for my mother, sister, and close friend with scary health issues. 

Then, as I was scanning channels, some song named LeRoy came on and I figured Dad was guiding my drive and watching over Mom, too!

Got there just before visiting hours ended to see Mom and see that thankfully their emergency administrations of oxygen and whatnot (not to diminish it, I just don't know) were helping her. She was able to communicate again. And though she had a tough cough, I was there when the tele-doctor was visiting her. 

When he asked her about what she thought might be bringing on her bouts of nausea, she answered, "I know one thing it's NOT. I'm not pregnant." The doctor got a good chuckle from that and said, "Marlys, if you're still making jokes, you're doing just fine."

That's my mom! 😀

After that, I called hubby to update him and learned that we got hail twice in the evening and the future state of my new flower$ was que$tionable. 😟

I slept at my sister Nell's place nearby and was able to get back to the hospital before 9 a.m. She just finished breakfast and was very tired. I offered her a chance to nap or play cards and she responded, "I think you know what I'd rather do." So I retrieved her cards from her nursing home room.

And she proceeded to kick my butt. (I'm embarrassed to show the score!) There's a fine line between luck and skill, but I haven't determined what that is yet. Her nurse said Mom has basically played cards against every nurse on every shift and even taught a few how to play. She's definitely not ready to give in and miss her play time!

On my way out of town, I had a quick lunch with my sister RoAnn, her son Travis and his family.

My great-niece is pretty much the cutest lunch date I could have! 😀

I managed to find a route home with minimal construction – thankfully! And was still an hour from home when Jim called me asking if I got a text. I said my phone dinged but I was waiting to stop at a gas station to check them.

Turns out I won the Assumption grand raffle of $5,000! Well that's something to end this roller coaster ride with! 😀 Before today: "I never win anything!" Now: "I might not beat Mom at cards but I can win something!" Based on all my "medical trips" to see family, I'll count this is gas money for now.

And maybe hail-damaged flower replacement. We'll see. 

Thanks for all your continued prayers. Let's all have a normal, even-keel week, shall we?

March Eh-ness

Unless you live under a rock (and lucky you), you know it's bracket season – also widely known as March Madness. 

I guess Madness can be defined in a couple ways – you're fanatic (aka A Fan) or your angry (aka Busted Bracket).

I do a bracket every year and – just like my non-interest year-round – I can't expect my picks to do well. Nor shall I get MAD if they don't. I watch a few Badger games each season but have no passion for college hoops.

Sorry to offend.

But don't worry, even if my uninformed bracket with work friends is stellar, there's no money involved. I'll be lucky enough to park the traveling trophy (with bragging rights) at my desk for a year. My life really won't change.

So I wish all of you fully INVESTED bracketeers good luck! May madness mean "crazy" good, not "dreaded disappointment."

Yay, basketball!

Family of the Month

OK, we didn't win a family award. Today was our monthly family game day-dinner at my oldest sister's house in Siren. 

We all can't make it every month, but we had Mom and 7 of the 8 R's there today. The 8th R was just landing after a warm vacay, so she was excused.

Jim and I couldn't believe that we traveled 4 hours NORTH and still didn't find winter. Obviously no ice fishing going on.

Lots of folks out enjoying another spring-like day.

Shared the road with three such vehicles between Neillsville and Osseo. Since it wasn't quite as spring-y as previous days this week, I was happy to be inside our heated vehicle!

Our hostess Rayna said we could dress for whatever occasion we wanted – red for Valentine's Day (or Super Bowl colors) and Mardi Gras colors. Since she's actually been to Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, she greeted us with her colorful self!

I tried on the Jester's hat and determined it had too much green for this purple and yellow loving gal.

After a delicious lunch, we tried our hand at Mexican Train Dominoes. Now the last time Mom and I played this was probably 10 years ago when Rayna and Paul lived in Texas. The others hadn't played it before at all. Took a bit to remember but I managed to win one round and Mom won two in a row. And one time she just had one tile left – to represent her 8 R's, I say.

"Mom, teach me your winning ways!"

Got to see my twin today, too, so that was a bonus, as always. Oh I see I'm wearing beads here. Trust me, I did nothing ontoward to earn them!

Here's the gang with Mom somewhat squeezed into the picture.

And just us kiddos. Jim and brother-in-law Rick were the plus-ones of the day. So fun!

We wanted half of our drive to be in daylight so we left late afternoon and got home at 7:30 p.m. That gives us time to rest up for church and the Super Bowl tomorrow (in that order).

Hope you're enjoying a good weekend and are blessed to have a family as amazing as mine!

Family Dinner, er Winner

When my oldest sister decided to move back to northern Wisconsin from Arizona, she wanted to be sure she saw family on a regular basis. So Rayna invited her siblings (and spouses if available) to join her the second Saturday of each month for a game day and dinner.

I missed the first one since we were getting cupboards installed that day, but made sure to get to this one.

I timed my 8 a.m. departure to be sure Hawkeye Dairy in Abbortsford would be open for ice cream for breakfast – my tradition when traveling Up North. And be sure I had an hour to spare browsing through Hobby Lobby in Rice Lake. 

Shortly after noon, I was at Rayna's new digs in the Siren area. A brand-new two-bedroom apartment. It looked so nice and is the perfect amount of space for her. 

Seven out of eight of us siblings were there today – and we got a little spoiled because Grandma RoAnn brought my great-niece Khloe and she was so cute and entertaining! 

Rayna was already in the Christmas mood with two twig trees decorated, music playing, and a nice Vikings fireplace if you caught the color change just right!

Grandma Ro and Khloe. Those dimples!!

Ron, Nell, and Romey. And don't ask me how I was holding my phone. Weird angles. This is when we started playing a card game and I went out with the hand up top (those 2 jokers) and felt confident.

But the queen of cards rules! Mom just kicked my butt today. First in Sequence and then in Crowns or whatever that game was called. She must know by now we all get our competitive streak from her! She's doing good, though, and it was great to see her. 

Great to see everyone! And enjoy a tasty dinner and dessert – thanks, Rayna!

On the drive home, it was dark and I was quite concerned about deer, especially after Jim texted me the picture of this buck he saw on his way to church this afternoon.

Wow. As luck (or not) would have it, I had snow and rain my whole drive back this evening so the bucks were snuggled at home with their new brides and such. 

Thank you, Lord, for lots of smiles and safe miles today!

Cabin Fever

There's two cures for cabin fever. One is spring-like weather. I mean Sunday really was SUNday today!

Loved taking a walk with my neighbor and just having to wear a sweatshirt this afternoon! Even opened the bedroom windows a bit. (Yes, we do things like that in Wisconsin.) I was actually motivated to do cleaning and laundry and our taxes. 

Whoa. Slow down, girl. Save some for the rest of the week!

The second cure for cabin fever is a night in a cabin with your girlfriends – off the grid. Had a great "slumber party" at my friend Brenda's cabin last night. It's seriously off the grid with little cell service, about two counties over from here.

And that was perfect. A wonderfully fun night visiting and playing games and laughing until the wee hours of the morning. Not kidding about that, either. But I think coffee and our laughter fueled me today, too.

Until about now.  Pretty wiped out. Not sure how long I'll last until it's legal to declare it bedtime. All that fresh air is like a sleeping potion and cabin fever cure in one. Hope it comes back to visit again soon!

Silly Goals

My new goal in life is to be as excited about eating my bowl of Fiber One cereal as Sylvester is waiting for me to finish – and leave her a few drops of milk in the bowl. You'll notice I threw in some Pumpkin Spice Cheerios in the bowl to add a bit of flavor to my cardboard.

It helps a bit. Healthy eating sucks sometimes.

My other new goal is to solve the Wordle puzzle each day. If you haven't heard of it yet, no worries. I apparently was living under a rock for the first few months it existed. 

Wordle is an online 5-letter word game that was invented by somebody in the U.K. It's actually only accessible by visiting the website here – it's not an app for your phone.

Each day a new word is released and you have six attempts to guess what the word of the day is. No clues, just guess a 5-letter word. If you're a Wheel of Fortune fan, you probably know the common letters to guess. After your guess, the tiles will change color to yellow if the letter is correct and green if the letter is correct AND in the right place in the word. Then you guess again and hope you get close enough you get the word in 6 tries. Word nerds like me love this.

And word nerds love getting it in 2 guesses and bragging about it! Yup. That won't happen again but it sure is fun to try! (Oh and the 230 is the puzzle number, not any type of score. You just get bragging rights.) My only advice for newbies is to pay attention to your "used letter board" so you don't waste guesses. 

Anyway, that's my random fun. Not like I'm setting Olympic goals here, people. Just normal middle-aged lady attainable ones!

Have a safe and fun weekend – whatever your version of fun is!