The Cookie Toss

Friday night's full moon reminded me of a cookie for some reason. Maybe because I was tossing them all weekend.

Not the "it's a fun bean bag toss" kind of game. But tossing my cookies (a.k.a. upchucking, puking, vomiting, dying). Only I didn't die. Just felt like it.

Could not keep anything all Saturday and even into the night. Finally about 2 a.m. I could keep a few sips of water intact. Big victory!

And today, I've managed some saltines and more water and 7-Up in moderation.

While yesterday I couldn't even sit up for more than a few minutes. Today I was able to bond with Mr. Recliner and enjoy a Vikings victory. They're on TV here a bit more often now that they're 8-2. But I honestly hadn't PLANNED to be home to watch it.

I was bummed all my weekend plans were shot to heck. No book club or shopping yesterday and no church, BINGO, or movie time for me today. I was too weak to even watch Hallmark. Now you know it was bad.

Not sure what kind of bug it was but another few friends have had it this weekend too so something evil is going around.

At least I was able to upgrade from Saltines to Ritz for supper. Guess I'll be all back to normal (my version of it) come morning. 

Let's have a good week!

Sunday Non-Day

I can see why this weekend would be the one we don't acknowledge Sunday is really a Sunday. And for most of us working folk, we're pretty glad the Monday is not a typical back-to-work Monday.

So I don't feel 100% guilty that I didn't get too far with my goal to organize my "oh my god room" office. 

I also don't feel bad for taking a nice nap in the sun with Mr. Deck Chair.

Or relaxing when my BFF was in town and had time to visit.

While I have plenty on my to-do list, I'm guessing my Monday (that extra day I've been wishing for) will take care of that. If I have the ambition.

Today would've been our dear Sylvester's 20th human years birthday. We miss her so! And can definitely adopt her "naps win every time" attitude.

Enjoy your extra time this weekend!

No Labor Whatsoever Weekend

Maxine is summing up my whole weekend. I even took Friday off so I'd have even more time to do "nothing." It's awesome.

My Friday was highlighted by going to the town of Rome Farmers' Market. I convinced my retired golf partner Thursday night that we should check it out. It's huge! I mean easily 4 times as big as the one we have in Rapids on Thursdays and Saturdays. 

Saw lots of people I knew so either no one works on Friday. Or they were getting into the holiday weekend vibe. (Or they're lucky to be retired like my friend Marigene.)

I didn't really NEED anything, but I was on a mission to find some things to put together for raffle baskets for my sister Rachel's benefit at the end of October. Success! 

Friday night was our first Royals football home game. Not too pretty score-wise, but I got some decent pictures.

Today, hubby was golfing at Sand Valley with some friends so I had the labor-free day to myself. I ended up running around getting things for those raffle baskets and as of tonight, there are 7 put together and labeled! Here are two examples...

My farmers' market finds included this double-sided "cabin theme" table runner, a Cozy Cabin candle from my dear friends at Midwest Nice Candle Company, and this really cool cabin-vibe Bluetooth speaker. I just added the "cozy" sign and ta-da! A basket is made!

There also was a vendor selling homemade rugs and coasters like rugs. So I bought 4 of those and today added a few mugs, some Dunkin' Smores and Pumpkin Spice coffee – highlighted by a Sweater Weather gnome and boom! A basket!

It was a little time-consuming but fun. And really, since I had an extra day in the weekend, it didn't matter. I can be productive tomorrow. 

I mean, if I feel the need to be.  

Hope you're able to have a "no labor whatsoever" type of weekend, too!

June Goes Out With a Bang

It was quite a fun birthday week! I managed to bookend it with couple's league golf both Sundays plus bonus fireworks!

On Saturday evening, I shot lots of pictures at the Shermalot waterski show team show down at Lake Arrowhead. By the time I got through half of them, it was way past bedtime so I didn't even think about blogging.

It's always so fun to watch, though. And I especially enjoy capturing action shots of the jumpers and trick skiers. Cool stuff! (And literally COOL stuff as the temps dropped and wind picked up and I was so cold!)

Today was sunny and mild and we managed to tee off at 3:30 p.m. for our golf match. I struggled on some holes but managed to par two of them! Those par dances are few and far between so I was pretty excited.

After golf, we stopped to visit Jim's dad a bit on our way to Rudolph. They had the band Southbound playing for the evening to lead up to fireworks.

And they had a few food trucks there, too. I was especially excited about this one. But guess what? After our huge burgers, we were too full for dessert. And yes, it was kind of too cold. We were all in sweatshirts with blankets over us if we had them.

How is this July 4th week? Crazy!

It was a nice transition though to Jim's birthday week. So his started off with golf, too. And we had fireworks on our Anniversary Eve.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Sweet as Sugar

Grad party season is winding down. We had a combo party for two boys, er young men, from Assumption and then my favorite girl – our sweet Lydia.

I made some white diploma and Royal blue rose mints for her party. Although, I've made these before, this time I got to use Mom's mint molds – because they were just a bit bigger than mine. And I just wanted to feel connected to her. They turned out pretty delicious, if I do say so myself.

And yes, basically sugar! Cream cheese and 2 pounds of powdered sugar!

Speaking of sweet... I forgot how many of Lydia's senior pictures turned out so adorable. We had such a good time doing those last summer. It was great to see them displayed! She's so sweet.

I also made her a special gift but I don't know when she's getting around to opening those, so I won't share a picture.

Got home from the party and I whipped together a trifle for Father's Day tomorrow. Going to Jim's sister's house for lunch. Pretty sure I'll have leftovers. This is a chocolate-vanilla-caramel concoction. If I get good reviews, I'll share the recipe! 

Hope something SWEET happened to you today!

Community-Wide Bargain Hunters

If you're like me and you work Monday through Friday, there's not much opportunity to hit any garage sales until Saturday. Good news for you! The Grand Rapids Community-Wide Garage Sale is in full swing and there will be plenty of action Saturday!

Yes, there are 87 sales listed on the official map – which you can find at a Kellner business or on the Grand Rapids Community-Wide Garage Sale Facebook page. Make sure you stop at 2111 87th St. S. (just off of County Trunk FF).

In case you missed the sale I participated in in April, this sale features some fabulous leftovers – including teen/young man clothes, lots of books (including many nonfiction sports ones), and dozens of underpriced Stampin' Up rubber stamps!

I know I personally don't NEED anything right now. But it will be hard not to make lots of pitstops between Point A and Point B anytime I'm out of the house tomorrow! 

Should be a beautiful day to find those bargains!! Happy hunting!

New Beginnings

Pretty appropriate that our dinosaur-obsessed little boy got to drive a "dinosaur truck" from Bluejay Drive to his new home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Yup, he and Mamie arrived Friday night with the U-Haul and somehow got everything in there – including some of the big stuff (dining room table and chairs, coffee tables, etc.) that have stayed in our basement for the past two moves! We've got some space back!

Why Cedar Rapids? Well, just like their moves to Denver and Raleigh, they researched areas for things like quality of life and safety – and interesting things to do. This time, they also prioritized being able to comfortably afford the cost of living there. They've learned the hard way.

I'm just glad it's just a little over 4 hours away! Same as going Up North to see family. No biggie.

So while they moved south, I attended a dance recital at the Performing Arts Center in town. A couple of senior moms were paying me to go. And I saw a handful of other dancers I knew, too. Let's just say I took a thousand pictures and leave it at that.

From there, I went straight to Stevens Point to celebrate another new beginning – our friend Marigene's retirement party.

While Marigene is my golf partner, Dar is her real-life partner – and Jim and I just adore them both.

Looking forward to having her at my golfing beck and call during her retirement. Ha!

Stayed up super late editing dance photos and continued this morning. Pretty much a low-key day until our next new beginning for the summer: Couples Golf League at TriCity.

It's I think just a 6- or 7-week league so I'm glad our first opponents were our friends Craig and Sara. Fun to golf with people you know. There's like 22 couples signed up so there's a chance (even though between hubby and me we do know a lot of people) that we'll be playing against strangers (aka new friends) in the coming weeks. Should be fun!

Only thing is that we got home at 8 p.m. and I feel like the weekend was gone in a blink of any eye. 

I still gotta get that petition going to add a day between Sunday and Monday. Who's with me?!

Have a great week, everyone! 

Fry-Day

As work weeks go, this was a long one. For all of us under this roof. Hubby had technical issues and Carter and I just had outright piles of stuff to get done.

So Friday comes around and we're thinking a good ol' Wisconsin fish fry.

Of course, Jim volunteers at his church fish fry and runs the dishwasher, so it was just my boy and me tonight. At 50 degrees, it felt pretty spring-like so I found this palm tree fish fry graphic to illustrate our evening. But then I realized my imaginary second home in Florida was 30 degrees warmer today.

So we just enjoyed some delicious deep-fried perch from The Ridges and gave a sigh of relief that nothing further was required of us for the evening.

Now I just have to decide if I'm more invested in basketball, some catching up on Hallmark movies, or major catching up on my streaming series. As long as the most work is changing a channel, i'm good.

Hope you all survived your week OK and have some weekend relaxation in your future!

Spring Ahead

I had to find a timely meme about springing ahead. Thanks, moody Travis Kelce. I approve of this message!

Of course I'm relieved church is at 9:30 a.m. so I don't have to sing at 8 a.m., which suddenly seems so close! And really we only have a few – oh gosh, make that 6 – clocks to change. Those darn stove, microwave, and bedside clocks we never use the alarm for anyway have to be manually changed.

I only complain because it seemed like a long day today. Got up way too early for a Saturday, but that also means it was productive. I continued Friday's post-work project of pricing and organizing garage sale stuff – mainly to clear a big area for Carter. (Not exciting, which is why I didn't blog last night.)

Well now he and Mamie aren't hitting the road with their U-Haul from North Carolina until tomorrow so I have an extra day to prepare. Losing one hour tonight means nothing. Ha. 

If I didn't mention it earlier, their lease in Raleigh is up and they'll park here for a bit until they find the next exciting place to live. This momma doesn't mind that plan one bit. I guess we'll take each day as it comes and appreciate it!

In the meantime, go change your manual clocks now. There's no way any of us are getting up to do that at the official 2 a.m. time, are we? I mean I assume it's not illegal to time travel into the future this one time.

P.S. There's nothing new there worth reporting!

Dancing Queen or Something

I've spent a good chunk of the last two days in dance mode – either taking pictures at the recitals or editing them.

What I know for sure is that I would never be cut out to be dancer. Nor would I have been able to endure months of practice like they did to put on these amazing shows!

But is was so fun to watch some of my favorite girls. Here's Paige as Jessie in the Toy Story segment..

And here's Anna in the Race Car role in the Toy Story dances.

And let's not forget my friend's daughters Amelia or ... 

... Raquel who will keep this dance program going! How fun to be a part of it. Pretty sure I'll be trying some (unsolicited) dance moves this week! Way to go, Variations team!

Hooping it Up -- Not Really

While I could've spend a second day seeing four games like this. I felt more like this... 

The end result was that I decided I could get by without photographing hoops games today and maybe get a few things done. Had a little non-holiday shopping to do – plus a few potential holiday things to look for. Also got a few things done around the house and got at least one Hallmark movie in.

As for the Cranberry Classic, I watched our Lady Royals take the girls championship – from my recliner. But did go to school and see the exciting boys game (top photo) as they vied for 3rd place. It was the most exciting 3rd place game ever, if you ask me. And we ended up beating Nekoosa in the last seconds by 2 points. Hope this is a sign of an exciting season!

As for me, I might have to continue my close to home routine on Sunday, too. More to do.

Plus, Mother Nature's dandruff is flaring up. And I'm not quite sure what she has in mind for us. Be careful out there!

Holiday Views

There's just a sliver of a moon tonight and apparently a meteor shower to come later. I may or may not be awake for that. I guess depending how many Hallmark Christmas movies I watch. The DVR has been very busy for a November!

Last night it as fun to watch a Heidelberg Holiday. Carter attended college there for a semester and I visited him one weekend. Things looked familiar and it was awesome!

This is the Church of the Holy Ghost. And we saw the inside of it, too.

Here's my scrapbook page!

And of course every view has Heidelberg Castle in the background. It was cool to see in person!

Today's views weren't as exciting. Ran a few errands and got a car wash on this mild opening day of deer hunting. Then went with the neighbor to a craft show at Fallback while her electrician husband updated our kitchen and dining room outlets.

Now I'm onto the Saturday round of viewing DVR'd Hallmark Christmas movies. I'll be sure to let you know if I have any recommendations! 

Unofficial Start of Summer for Sure

There's no doubt Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer! I don't care if it's back in the 70s again next week. Right now, it's summer. And I'm loving it.

Also, if you notice the time on the TV – 10:19 a.m. was when I was enjoying my morning coffee. When I say I'm sleeping in on my day off, I'm not messing around.

Finally think I'm caught up on sleep. Finally unpacked and have my work bag reorganized. And finally killed off nearly 200 work emails. I KNOW it's supposed to be a holiday, but I had to do it. Or there wouldn't be enough caffeine for tomorrow morning's re-entry into the real work world!

I did treat myself to some fun. My friend Marigene went golfing in the mid-afternoon. Jim had already gone this morning with buddies before having baseball practice.

I was sporting my new truckin' hat from our customer. Definitely not wearing it golfing again. Not a true trucker hat with ventilation. Instead, it was a bit hot. Like my golf game!

Just kidding. Only checking to see if you were still with me.

Got home to hubby grilling steak and brats – not something we had at any grad parties this weekend. I think we're now rested and fortified for the short week ahead. Hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend, too.

Hello, Summer! You're welcome to stick around.

Holiday Weekend Party Circuit :: Part 2

From the archives... 7 years ago today, this young man graduated from high school! I texted the picture to Carter and he commented that he looks like a baby compared to now. I said, "But you ARE my baby!" Time flies!

Today was round 2 of graduation parties. After church, we had 4, starting at noon-ish. I went to one first for a graduate from our church, then I went home and got hubby and we went to one for one of his senior baseball players, then onto another one for one of his players (and friends of ours, of course), then onto a party for one of our favorite little girls-now graduate.

I joked that Jim and his buddy Craig were walking billboards for Wisconsin. Craig's shirt says: "Call me old fashioned." Jim's says: "Life happens. Beer helps."

We wrapped up the night honoring our sweet Miss Ava. Wanted to cry when we saw this picture she's holding up. She's always little Ava to us – even though she's taller than us – and we're Mr. and Mrs. Awesome to her.  Amazing girl and amazing family. 

Another fun day for sure. And perfect weather. 

Tomorrow will be much of the same – just weather-wise. There's a zero percent chance of an alarm for me and 100 percent chance of bonding with Mr. Deck Chair. It is a holiday, after all.

Holiday Weekend Party Circuit :: Part 1

Graduation weekend started last night without me. I got a sub to shoot pictures of the ceremony since I was getting home late. But got to catch up on the details today as we started the party circuit.

That was after I slept 11 hours – I needed it – finally got the car washed and, oh yeah, found myself listening to country music on Sirius. What is happening to me?!

Today marks 10 years since my dad passed so it was good to have full day of fun to distract me. First grad party was at 1 p.m., followed by a 50th birthday party for my BFF's baby bro...

That wasn't meant to make you feel old, my beautiful friend!

Then it was off to a 5-for-1 party for some of the Royal boys (4 who play baseball). That was followed by a round of golf at 6:10.  You know you're golfing late, when the sprinklers on the greens start coming on right after you hole out.

Made for a pretty picture. Much prettier than my game. But still it was fun!

It was about 80 degrees still even at twilight golf time. I didn't mind it.

Of course we did break a sweat. I'll blame the temps, not the fact we swung a lot.

Had this artsy shot, too, with Craig hitting out of the sand with the cool U.S. flags instead of standard golf flags on each hole. Absolutely love that!

After golf, the four of us headed down to Hooziel's on the Lake to hear our friend Todd's band Rising Phoenix.

Always a phenomenal show! And we got home at the stroke of midnight so we can sleep and enjoy round 2 of the party circuit.

At some point I need to unpack. Guess that'll be a Monday thing. Hope y'all are enjoying this gorgeous summer weather this weekend! Be careful out there!

The Busted Bracket Blues

As of 30 minutes ago, my bracket was busted. As of 30 seconds ago, my south and west brackets are completely shredded. Let's just say my final 2 won't make it to the Elite 8, much less the Final 4. Dang.

Oh well, I didn't know much going into it and I've proved it. I may have covered my investments, however, thanks to some random acts of randomness. If ya know what I mean. Of course, upsets in any stage of the game are what make this whole tournament fun to watch. 

I mean, when I can catch a bit of action between making t-shirts and trifles and such.

Tonight after work I whipped together this trifle for a special girl turning 91 tomorrow who happens to love both purple and pistachio! 

I think my momma will like it. Had to take a picture beforehand in case it doesn't arrive completely intact after a 4-hour drive in the morning! I'm also hoping these layers jive together for a delicious flavor.

If you wish to try this at home... I've got some crumbled up pistachio muffins (Thanks, IGA!!!) on the bottom, then finely cut vanilla wafer frosting cookies, then pistachio pudding, some cool whip, some purple-dyed white chocolate pudding, then repeat. I also found "Mythical Creatures" frosted animal cookies that only come in lavender and white. Perfect. 

So we'll see if it tastes as good as it looks. Like my mother, I like pistachio. And those wafer cookies. And frosted animal cookies. So if it doesn't strike anyone's fancy, I'll be happy to lick the messy bowl of leftovers on our way back home!

As we lick our wounds from our busted brackets. I think the trifle will taste better, don't you?

Good luck to those still in the hunt!

Wind Fall

 windfall: an unexpected, unearned, or sudden gain or advantage

In addition to the 20-30 mph wind gusts and resulting wind chills today (not exaggerating), my windfall was more in line with enjoyable riches in life.

Had a nice time as always at Book Club this morning. All 6 of us regulars were there so it was good to catch up. Oh and talk about a book. I highly recommend Remarkably Bright Creatures. I gave it a rare (fo me) 5 out of 5 rating!

After that, I picked up neighbors Cindy and Terri and we checked out the Spring (not quite) vendor sale at the Outpost Ranch. We each found some treasures, including gifts for others and I'm pretty sure we each got some cute shirts for ourselves. We figured long-sleeve season wasn't going away any time soon.

When I got home in early afternoon I planned on getting a few things done but accidentally took a 2-hour nap on my recliner. Remind of that the next time I brag about staying out 'til midnight like a youngster!

This evening, we gathered with a bunch of friends at Assumption for dinner and a show – their first talent show. That was very entertaining! The talents ranged from singing and dancing to juggling and martial arts. Oh, and a trickster goat.

Our friends' sons were the emcees and pretty funny. I was surprised how many boys there were competing. I figured they'd worry about getting picked on more than girls. But they just had fun with it. Love that. And loved seeing all the talent. 

And loved that I didn't take one picture. Look at me taking a night off seriously!

Hope you find a way to enjoy this last weekend of winter (according to the calendar, anyway). Be careful out there! 

P.S. There's plenty of reasons I didn't mention my bracket today. And I won't.

Random Acts of Appreciation

In a random coincidence tonight, I received three gifts of appreciation while I was shooting pictures at the boys basketball game (including these lovely flowers above). 

There was no way these three people planned to do this the same evening. I think they just figured I might be there taking pictures since it was a home game.

There was also no way they knew I had the crappiest, most stressful day at work and I really, really, really needed something uplifting in my life. I guess God knew. Thanks for putting these three in my path so that when I was frustrated and filled with self-doubt today, they were there to boost my self-confidence by pointing out how my talents touched their lives.

I needed that so much!

I can now commence to weekending with a smile on my face. Yes, even though our Royals lost a tough battle with Edgar, I will still think positive thoughts and move forward.

Thanks for being special and thinking I'm special, too!

The Road Worth Taking

Had a full day today. Morning golf for hubby and tennis for me. Photos that is. Then we were off to Rudolph in mid-afternoon to sing at 4 p.m. church with the guitar choir. From there, we went over to Custer (east of Stevens Point) to see our nephew's new home. He and his wife were having a housewarming party.

As we hit Highway 10 to head back home, we noticed a beautiful sunset in progress. When we got further down the road, it got even more bright and colorful. 

Hubby says, "You think of I race to Galecke Park we could get there in time for pictures on the river?" Let's do it!

And we did speed down that road. And we did get there on time. And thanks to Jim supporting my habit, I got these gorgeous shots...

So pretty from yellows to pink! I hope you enjoyed it from where ever you are, too!