Highlight Reel May 14th-20th, 2011 May 21, 2011

Saturday- We went geocaching in the afternoon with our Scout patrol.  We had so much fun that we checked a GPS out from the library, used Jeff’s fishing GPS and as a family we went in the evening and found some more!  Zach had a blast checking out the swag that was put in each cache and we left some of our own.  Check out the pictures in a previous post.

Sunday- First, went for a nature hike.  Then we all got in the car and took a trip to the Mississippi and had a picnic and fished.  We didn’t catch anything we could keep but it was a lovely afternoon. (and evening, we would have stayed later but at quarter to nine Jeff thought he should probably get home and get to bed!

Monday- What a gorgeous day.  I had to get Zach to Scouts early for CPR training.  It was too nice of a day for me to sit there and watch,  I brought my lawn chair along and set it up in the parking lot and read for 3 hours!

Tuesday- Today was a day from hell at work.  Everything that could go wrong did!  Was thrilled when it was time to punch out.

Wednesday- I got home from work today and was barely out of the car and Jeff was raring to go fishing.  He found a spot with some big crappies earlier in the day and wanted to bring Zach and I there.  We went out and nary a bite.  Jeff kept calling me a black cloud.  We pulled up anchor and he took me back to shore because I had an event at church to go to.  While I was at The Evening of Reflection for Women, Zach and Jeff went back out and caught their limit.  I guess I am a black cloud!

Thursday-  Knee is feeling really good today.  I think I’m cured!  Visited Mom & Papa after work and then before I went home I stopped off and visited Dad too!  It was another beautiful day so I grilled up some burgers and we packed for Zach’s camping trip this weekend.

Friday- Went to Parker Scout Reservation this evening for Zach’s “Calling Out” into the Order of the Arrow which is the National Honor Society of Scouting.  It was a native american influenced ceremony with chiefs in headdresses and drums and it was pretty cool.  Too bad it had to rain through the whole thing.  We were all soaked by the time it was done!

Highlight Reel April 30-May 6th May 7, 2011

Saturday-  Today was kind of a busy day.  After getting the Boy Scouts up for breakfast and getting them ready to be bussed out to the community, I headed back to Brainerd for the March of Dimes Walk for Babies with Janeen.  Then I headed back to Wadena to help the boys plant trees.  They were ahead of schedule so by the time I got there they only had one more area to plant.  After planting that, we packed up and headed for home.

Sunday- Jeff, Zach and I attended an Eagle Scout Court of Honor for one of the boys in our troop.  Then I visited with Mom & Dad before they headed to Litchy’s for a card party.

Monday- Janeen & I headed to Granite Falls for a girls night.

Tuesday- Headed back from the awesome time we had at Prairie Bay.

Wednesday- Jeff’s day off so we headed to Grand Rapids for the day. Went to Glen’s Outdoor Sports and picked up a new bag for the one we had blown out on the small tent Zach takes to Scouts.  Also stopped at Mike’s Outlet and ended up coming home with a new 9 man LED lighted Coleman tent that retails for $299 that we paid $75 for (and Mike threw in a Coleman sleeping bag when we initially walked toward the door without buying it!)

Thursday- Took it easy- kind of had to.  I did some gymnastics coming out of the shower and screwed up my knee.  Iced it all the rest of the day on the couch.  Really stiff and hurts to put too much weight on it but it’s not swollen so it must be okay! (Please be okay!)

Friday-Knee not okay.  A little swollen, hurts like h*ll.  Made doctor’s appointment.  Doc says I pulled a muscle and some ligaments.  Doesn’t feel like a pulled muscle to me but that’s what he gets paid the big bucks for.  He took me off work for a week and wrote a referral for physical therapy.  I think I love him!

Highlight Reel April 23-29 May 1, 2011

Saturday-  Spent the day cleaning and cooking for Easter

Sunday-  Happy Easter!

Monday- Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It’s off to work I go!  My week of vacation is over.  Scouts tonight had another troop join us to watch a Drug Prevention program put on by the gentleman of Teen Challenge.  Their stories were heartbreaking!  The boys listened raptly and asked questions afterwards.  It was a great meeting.

Tuesday-we went to St. Mathias for burger night.  I didn’t feel like cooking.

Wednesday-  I interviewed for the Personnel Manager position at Walmart.  Three other very qualified people applied for it as well.  I won’t know until next week if I got the job or not.  I would like it, but truthfully I will be just fine if I don’t get it.  I love Electronics and the people I work with are great.  I just thought after 20 years as department manager a change would be good.

Thursday-  I took the day off for our annual Pierz garage sale day.  Mom and I have been doing this for as many years as I can remember and Dad has joined us the last few years.  We always have a blast.  We start out at early so we can get there at 8am, we pack a lunch and we make a day of it.  The last few years we haven’t found a whole lot of bargains but that’s really not the point.  We just do it for fun!

Friday- After work Zach and I traveled to Wadena to camp overnight.  The Replant Wadena 2011 was being held Saturday and the Boy Scouts had volunteered to plant trees in the area where the tornado had hit.

Highlight Reel April 9-15th, 2011 April 17, 2011

Saturday- Medieval Mania

Sunday-  We had Zach’s Birthday party today

Monday- Janeen and I walked 1.4 miles as a starter.  Boy Scouts today was working on rank advancements

Tuesday- Book Club review on Sunday’s at Tiffany’s by James Patterson.  Fun review but I’m excited about next month’s review of a book I read last week titled Room by Emma Donoghue!

Wednesday-  Janeen and I took a quick 2 mile jaunt and then I came home and hubby and I prepared our taxes.  Why did I wait so long?  Let’s see- our refund is $54 from federal and we owe the state $53.  We come out a whole dollar ahead!  Yay us!

Thursday-  I worked late only to rush home and get ready for a Tri-Parish council meeting at 5:30.  There are big changes ahead with restructuring in our diocese!  Zach and I played a game of chess tonight.  He accused me of changing the rules, but truth is he just didn’t listen when I explained them to him!

Friday- Brrr!  Cold and windy today!  Winter can go south at any time now!

Highlight Reel March 26th-April 1st, 2011 April 2, 2011

Saturday-  Didn’t accomplish much today.  Zach and I shopped a bit today and then was going to go to my grandpa’s house only to find out they were at my Mom & Dad’s right next door to us.  So we bebopped over there and visited with Candy & Papa for a while.

Sunday-  Monica came out for church and then we came back to my house for breakfast burritos.  In the afternoon the Parish Life Committee from our church was sponsoring a free bowling event at Jack’s house.  Monica, Zach & I went and bowled 2 games which was a lot of fun and then Zach & Monica played a game of pool before we headed home.

Monday-  My cousin Janeen has Mondays off so we headed to St Cloud just to waste the day away.  She was determined not to spend any money on clothes and I was determined not to buy any books.  So after she bought 2 bags of clothes and I bought a couple of books 🙂 we headed to Red Lobster for lunch and hit a few more stores before coming home.  After Scouts in the evening we headed to Mom & Dad’s where I made a big pan full of chicken nachos to share.

Tuesday-  Lazy morning but after Zach gets off school we are heading to the Casino where we have booked a room for the night to get away and relax in the hot tub.  Jeff will be joining us later when he gets off work.

Wednesday-  I must have really zonked last night in the hotel room.  I don’t normally sleep well in hotels but I guess I was really tired.  We had oatmeal this morning for breakfast which I had packed to save costs, then we hopped in the car and went to Milaca Unclaimed Freight.  We had fun looking at the millions of things there and we also took our time looking at all the Ice Castle fish houses.  On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a gun shop and then to a rest area for lunch (which I had also packed.)  We decided to drive through Kathio State park which we had never seen before.  It was hard to tell with all the snow, but it looked like a nice one.  Once back to the hotel Zach and Jeff went down to the pool for a few more hours before we left.

Thursday- Mom & I went shopping with my 30% off coupon from Kohl’s, then I finally got to spend a vacation day just like I had intended- reading all day!

Friday- Read most of the day (yes!) and after supper we went to see the deer on White Pine Drive and then went to Dairy Queen in Little Falls for Blizzards.  If you want to see wildlife, head to White Pine Drive around 6:30 in the evening.  You will literally see hundreds of deer feeding in the mowed down cornfields.  We also saw geese, cranes, and about 10 turkey.

Highlight Reel January 8th-14th, 2010 January 16, 2011

Saturday- Zach & his friend Eli went out ice fishing all day.  I ran into town early to get my coupon deals.  At Walmart I scored with 7 Gatorade Primes, 3 Gatorade Recovers, 4 Glen Muir organic tomato pastes, 4 Ortega Taco sauce’s and a Garnier Anti-Dandruff Shampoo= a $23.30 value for $3.86!  Not long after arriving home I ran into the coffee table (klutz that I am!) and broke my little toe.  It was sticking out sideways- I had to move it back into place!  Seriously hurt like $#@&*!!  The rest of the day I delved into my book club book.  Gotta get this 600 page beast done by Tuesday!

Sunday-  I was scheduled to be a lector in church today.  I couldn’t get my shoe on due to the swelling & pain in my toe so I walked up to the altar with a shoe on one foot and just a sock on the other.  While Jeff & Zach went fishing the rest of the day I chilled at home, slow cooking ribs in the oven and finally finishing my book club book.

Monday-  I couldn’t get my shoe on my foot yet so I had to call in since, for safety reasons, they won’t let me work in just a sock.  Jeff is on vacation and the look on his face was priceless when he got up and asked me what I was still doing home. I told him I took the week off to be with him on vacation!  Tyler had a short shift today so after work he picked up Gracie and they came out to visit.  After supper Zach and I went to Scouts where he started his Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge, and then we stopped in at Papa’s to visit with mom for a while.

Tuesday- Able to get my shoe on today so I went to work. Book club went to Giovannis tonight for the buffet.  We started out 2011 with a 5 star book which is  VERY rare for us.  We reviewed The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.  It’s long, but worth it!

Wednesday- Visited with mom & papa on my lunch break today.  I shared my chicken strip with Papa but he didn’t want to share his pumpkin cookies with me!  Came home from work and threw a ham in the oven for supper.  Jeff and Zach were going out to the lake to fish for a little bit.  Well a little bit became a lot bit because by the time they came back the ham was very overcooked!  Grr!  Way to wreck a good ham!

Thursday-  Bible study tonight was just Henry and Cheryl but the discussion was still great.  I hope the Lord grants us a few more participants for next year’s study on Revelations.  More people=more dynamic conversations!

Friday-Went to Papa’s again today for lunch.  Mom was out shopping for groceries but Dad was staying with Papa so I got to visit with Dad for a while too.  Today is Tyler’s 21st birthday so I’m making tacos tonight for supper and I invited Dad to join us.

Highlight Reel January 1st- January 7th, 2011 January 7, 2011

Saturday-  Happy New Year’s Day! Mary invited us over for the afternoon so I threw together a hamburger spread and we played cards there.  Of course, in a rush I forgot my camera so no pictures of your cousins, sorry Mike!  In the evening we watched The Other Guys.  Zach is a huge Will Farrell fan.  I, unfortunately, am not.  Dumb movie!

Sunday- After church we went to the breakfast buffet at St Mathias.  We had not eaten a real meal in 2 days due to the appetizers served at the 2 parties so it was nice to enjoy a good breakfast.  After dropping the 2 guys off at home I stopped by to visit mom & dad and then went in to town to get my hair cut.  My aunt Candy called frustrated again over not being able to get her internet hooked up so I stopped by to help her out.  We made a trip to Walmart to get the rest of the stuff she needed.  We were still having problems and I had to go so I’ll have to stop by later this week and see if I can figure it out when I have more time.  AND, today is Monica’s birthday so- Happy Birthday to my future daughter-in-law!

Monday- More light snow made the roads slipperier tonight.  As we headed to town for scouts we saw 2 more cars in the ditch.  Elections for scouts tonight made Andrew our new SPL and Josiah the new Mighty Eagles patrol leader.  Congrats you two!

Tuesday- Went to Papa’s for lunch to visit with him and Candy, then went back after work and FINALLY got her internet hooked up. After taking in the Wild game, we watched Dinner With Schmucks.  Ok, I am a huge Steve Carrell fan.  But, again, DUMB movie!

Wednesday-Went to Mom & Dad’s tonight to play cards.  I brought over some crab dip and crackers and mom brought out her spinach dip.  We played 3 games of 35 (I won once) and 2 games of Pass the Ace (I won again!)

Thursday- Bad day at work.  My supervisor and I do not see eye to eye.  Everybody knows I’m right.  Why doesn’t she just give it up?  Bible study tonight was on Acts 17.  Great discussion Henry and Cheryl!  Came home to find the Wild had won 3-1.  Good ending to a horrible day.

Friday- TGIF!!  Zach has his buddy Eli over to spend the night so it’s a quiet night for me.  I’m going to see if I can finish my 600 page behemoth book club book this weekend.  I won’t be venturing out much since the wind chills this weekend will be 20+ below. Oh- and today is my friend Kris’ 40th birthday.  Happy birthday you old bag!

Highlight Reel December 26th, 2009- Jan 1st, 2010 January 1, 2010

Saturday- The day afetr Christmas was spent watching the snow come down all day long and addpng to the 12 or more inches we already had.  Becuase travel was not a good idea it was a wonderful reason to stay home and accomplish nothing at all except recuperate from the hectic couple of weeks preceding Christmas.

Sunday- Church then breakfast buffet at St Mathias. Zach and Jeff went to Gander to spend their gift cards but didn’t end up spending anything.  They are still undecided.

Monday- jeff watched the game at home, Zach watched it with my dad at their house while I visited with Mom and then at 9:30 I went home to watch the game that was MOST important.  Wild vs. Kings.  And we won…oh yeah!

Tuesday- Picked up Zach after work and I went to Kohls to spend my gift cards.  Got me some new tennis shoes, jeans and a hydration bottle and still have $27.00 left!

Wednesday- Last day of my work week and boy was I looking forward to it!

Thursday- Had the day off so spent it running around picking up last minute stuff for my party tonight.  Got a pounding headache so I didn’t even stop and see Nana in the hospital.  I felt really guilty about that but then Mom reminded me because of my cold they probably wouldn’t have let me see her anyway.  Came home from town and cooked, cooked, cooked! Party started at 7pm.

Friday- Happy New Year everyone!

Highlight Reel November 21st-27th November 27, 2009

Saturday-  I woke up early to sneak into town to take advantage of a sale without Zach  since the present was for him.  We lounged the rest of the day.  I tried catching up on my sleep.  I haven’t been sleeping very well at night because my carpal tunnel is so bad my arms are constantly falling asleep.  I spend most of the night with my arms hanging off the side of the bed and shaking them to get the circulation back in them. After church and supper Zach and I went to mom & dad’s to play cards.  Zach and I both came out money ahead.

Sunday- was kind of a busy day.  I made breakfast then dropped Zach off at catechism.  I came back and made sandwiches for the turkey bingo later at our church.  I stopped off at moms, picked up her sandwiches, dropped them off at the church, picked Zach up and headed into town for the Boy Scout wreath sale at Trinity Lutheran Church.  Once that was over we headed back out to St Mathias for the turkey bingo.  It was my turn to serve so I helped get the meal ready and then sat down to play bingo.  Tyler and Monica joined Zach and I and lucky Moni won $5.00.  She would have won more but there were 4 bingos that round!  I helped the ladies clean up there, went home and made Porcupine Meatballs, baked potatoes and a salad for supper then sat down and watched a documentary a friend had loaned me.  Zach and I managed to sneak in a game of Racko and a couple of games of Getta Letter before bed.

Monday- Had lunch with Papa and Nana today and then stopped and visited with Mom  after work.  Scouts tonight was practice for Court of Honor Sunday night.  We went over the flag ceremony many times to make sure we could work out all the fidgits!

Tuesday-  Came home with a migraine but did manage to get to my Adult Faith Formation meeting at St Andrews tonight.  jeff was a huge help cleaning up after supper and doing the dishes for me.

Wednesday- The stress at work today was incredible- getting ready for the after Thanksgiving sale.  Hopefully smoother days ahead after Friday.  Watched the Wild game.  It’s so dishearteneing to watch them play so well and get sooo close to the win but lose it in the 4th round of the shootout.  Transition year, I know. 

Thursday- Happy Thanksgiving all!

Friday- At work at 2:30am this morning.  I thought it went really well at Wal-Mart today.  People didn’t seem quite as rude as they normally are.  Got off work in time to come home and watch the 1pm Wild game which they WON!  Took a nap and then Jeff, Zach and I cleaned the house for tomorrows patrol activity.

Highlight Reel November 14th-20th, 2009 November 20, 2009

Saturday-  I was hoping to get out early and hit some of the bazaars and holiday boutiques at the local churches today, but Gracie (who I was watching while her mom was hunting) slept in too late this morning.  I finally woke her up at 10:55am!  I was lector at church tonight and was wondering what I was going to do with Gracie since  Jeff, Monica, Tyler and Zach were still out tracking a deer, when Tyler showed up just in the nick of time.  I stopped and dropped mom’s jewelry order off and picked up my dad for mass.

Sunday-  Jeff went out hunting this morning.  While Zach was in catechism class I finished my book The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers.  A very good novel about how an abortion can devastate generations of a whole family.  The guys watched the Vikings game and I listened to a little of the Wild game before we celebrated my dad’s birthday.  I didn’t make it to my nephew Seth’s birthday party.  I hope he had a great day.  We love you Sethers!

Monday- Zach had his first conferences of the year.  Even know we all know he can do better then what his grades reflect we were happy with what he’s accomplished so far. In Scouts, deadline for rank advancements was tonight.  We have a great bunch of hardworking scouts and the proof is in all the ranks and merit badges that will be awarded 11/29.

Tuesday- I had a Tri-Parish Council meeting tonight where we spent a long time discussing attendance trends in the church and other denominations of churches and whether we need to form an Evangelization Commission to deal with this.  Some of the percentages were very disturbing.  Why does the world think they don’t need God?

Wednesday- Jeff spent his day off winterizing the home.  When I came home I quickly put a load of clothes in, did the dishes and went to mom & dad’s to help rake leaves.  Jeff and Zach joined me a little later and we finished off the ditches just before dark.  Went home and watched the Wild lose their game.

Thursday- Bible study tonight on Matthew 6 focused on The Lords Prayer and personal acts of piety like almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.

Friday- Zach babysat a friends son tonight while she went to the movies.  I grilled some ribeyes outside in the dark and when Jeff got home we had a romantic candlelight dinner.  Afterwards I watched the Wild game while Jeff watched it with earbuds in so he could listen to the Warrior football team at state.