Scrappy Weekend

If you read my previous post, you know that last weekend was a party weekend complete with a bus trip to a Milwaukee Brewers game.  The weekend before (clearly I'm not doing a good job keeping my posts in any kind of chronological order) was a fun weekend in a completely different way.  My friends from "home", Cathy and Kelly, came up to see me.  The three of us work for the same company, which is how we met originally back when I worked in Ohio.  They still have their offices in Ohio and I, of course, am here in Wisconsin.

Cathy and Kelly introduced me to the world of scrapbooking and card making, which has become a favorite hobby and creative outlet of mine.  I'm fortunate to have a space in our house solely dedicated to crafting.  This is what the area looked like when the previous owner had this house.  As you can tell by the small window, it's in the basement, which someone at some point before we moved in professionally finished.

There is something about the candelabra on the organ that I find kind of creepy.  Every time I look at this picture, I can hear spooky organ music from a Dracula movie.

You may remember a previous post from back in 2011 about a trip Scott and I made to Ikea to get furniture to transform this section of the basement to my scrapbook room.  (link)  We left Ikea with my vehicle packed full of to-be-assembled furniture.

Fortunately my darling hubby is good at putting sh*t together.  He assembled the furniture for me and the room began its transformation.

After the furniture was assembled, all my scrapbook stuff unpacked, and a few decorative touches were added, the space ended up looking like this.

I love this space.  It's cozy and I have so much storage.  A place for everything and everything in its place.

My scrapbook area has partial walls but is essentially open to the rest of the basement, including the main area that has a fireplace and a wet bar.  Scott and I haven't been able to furnish that part of the basement yet, so it's an open space that ended up being perfect to set up tables for Cathy and Kelly to come up and have a scrapbook retreat weekend with me.  Here they are.

They made the trek up here on Friday and we spent Friday night, all day Saturday and all day Sunday in the basement crafting away.  We talked, listened to music and watched several movies throughout the weekend while we worked.  I had snacks set up in the bar area and had the small refrigerator down there stocked with beverages.

Speaking of beverages, we had some of the adult variety.  Kelly had shared with me that she's been into Mojito's lately.  I had never made a Mojito before, but decided to give it a try.

Cathy loved it.  I had to do some tweaking to meet Kelly's taste, but I think I eventually was successful.

The Sunday morning they were here, we got a little spiritual.  We listened to the Reverend Al Green on CD and had a few of these.

Can I get an amen?

It was a wonderful weekend.  Quiet.  Peaceful.  Relaxing.  Both Cathy and Kelly have been wonderful, caring and supportive friends to me over the years.  I feel fortunate to have them in life and I appreciated them making the effort to come all the way up here to spend time with me. It nurtured my soul.

Oh....before I close I feel like I should explain Cathy's "uff da" shirt.  Cathy used to live in St. Paul, MN so she is familiar with this northern region of the country and the culture, which is predominantly Scandinavian/Norwegian.  She certainly knows a lot more about the culture than I do.  She was here in WI earlier this summer for a work thing and we spent a little time together then.  We went into a shop in downtown Stoughton and saw something with "uff da" on it.  She asked me if I knew what it meant.  I had no idea.  She explained it to me and I later looked it up on Wikipedia:

Uff da (sometimes also spelled huffda, uff-da, uffda, uff-dah, oofda, ufda, ufdah, oofta, uf daa, or ufta) is an expression of Norwegian origin adopted by Scandinavian-Americans in the 19th century. It is an exclamation that is relatively common in parts of the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwestern states of the United States.[

So what does it mean?  Again, from Wikipedia:

Usage

Uff da is often used in the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest as a term for sensory overload. It can be used as an expression of surprise, astonishment, exhaustion, relief and sometimes dismay. For many, Uff da is an all-purpose expression with a variety of nuances, and covering a variety of situations. The expression has lost its original connotation, and it is increasingly difficult to specify what it means now in America. Within Scandinavian-American culture, Uff da frequently translates into: I am overwhelmed. It has become a mark of Scandinavian roots, particularly for people from North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and enclaves in and around Seattle, Washington.^[2][3] Uff da can often be used as an alternative for many common day swear words.

I wanted to have some kind of a Wisconsin-themed gift for Cathy and Kelly when they came up here and "uff da" shirts seemed to fit the bill.

It was a great weekend and I was sad when it came to an end (uff da).  Fortunately, I will see Cathy and Kelly again next month when we do a 4 day retreat at a heavenly place in Ohio called A Crop for All Seasons (link).  I'm so looking forward to it.

Brewers Bus Trip

Scott and I went with our friend, Kori, yesterday on a bus trip to the Milwaukee Brewers game.  At first, I wasn't that thrilled about going, but we ended up  having a really good time.  We started off by picking Kori up and driving to a little town called Rockdale.  There is a bar in Rockdale named Heather's, which was the outfit that sponsored the trip.  Kori knows Heather, from school I think.  It's hard to keep track; Kori seems to know everyone.  I didn't get a picture of Heather but she was super nice and friendly.

I don't know if someone lives in the house-looking part of the building, but the bar is to the right, kind of tucked back in.  Not much to look at from the outside, but there was a fantastic view from the deck on the back of the bar.  The first picture, with the quaint bridge, is looking towards the left and the second picture is looking towards the right.  Very nice view.

This is looking down the street from Heather's.  Rockdale is a tiny little, no traffic light town.

We got to Heather's about 12:15, signed in, got our shirts and ordered our beer choice for the trip (it was part of the package deal).  While we waited for others to arrive and the bus to get packed up, we got the party started.

Obviously we weren't drinking from the top shelf.

Scott and me in our Brewers shirts.  We're not Brewers fans, but it seemed appropriate to wear the shirts.  Pretty much everyone else in the group had them on.

There was a large group that went on the trip.  Two buses were chartered, including a double-decker.  Scott, Kori and I rode on the "regular" bus.

I had never ridden on a bus like this.  It was nice on the inside and even had a little bathroom in the back (thankfully, because there was plenty of drinking before getting on the bus and on the ride over to Milwaukee.)  The fabric on the seats and roof of the bus kind of made me feel like I was in outer space.

This is Kori and Scott right after we got on the bus.  They are getting the lay of the land, specifically trying to identify where the cooler of beer was put.  Important information to know.

First stop after we left Heather's was just down the road to the bowling alley in Lake Ripley, where we picked up a few more folks including Kori's dad and his girlfriend Lawana.

Lawana brought "huggies" for Kori, Scott and me.  I have never been to a wedding where guests got "huggies" as wedding gifts, but apparently it happens.

Now this wedding "huggie" is on a whole different level.  Camouflage and a poem. 

What a romantic way to commemorate the occasion.

After our stop at the bowling alley in Lake Ripley, we were off to Milwaukee.  We arrived at Miller Park several hours before the game started so there was plenty of time to tailgate.  It was quite the party.  As soon as we got there, tents went up, coolers came off the bus, and the grill got fired up.

They had a lot of food going on that grill.  The food was surprisingly good (or maybe any food tastes good after enough beer...)  Not only did they have plenty of food to eat before the game, they warmed stuff up after the game, too, for post-game snacking.

Shortly after we arrived, Kori's dad had Lawana cut the sleeves off his shirt with a small pocket knife.  Scott decided he wanted his sleeves cut off too.

Lawana was surprisingly adept at sleeve cutting with such a small implement.

You know you have had too much to drink when.....

....the sleeves that were cut off your shirt with a pocket knife end up on your head.

Yesterday was the first time I had met Kori's dad, Bill, and Lawana.  They were both very nice.  This is a cute picture of Lawana.  Looking at this picture, it seems most everyone at the tailgate party was double- fisted.

I've had jello shots before, but never pudding shots.  You had to be pretty good with your tongue on these, which clearly Scott and Kori were.

In addition to the pudding shots, they also had gummies (worms and bears) soaked in vodka.  I don't know who comes up with this stuff.  I'd be lying, though, if I said they weren't good.

Good thing neither Kori or Scott plan to run for political office.  I have way too many compromising pictures of them.

Part of the reason for the trip to the game was to celebrate Kori's dad's birthday.  Love these pictures of the two of them.

I love my husband, but he can be a crazy hillbilly.  Really?  He couldn't just have used the bathroom on the bus? 

A tailgate party isn't a tailgate party until someone breaks out a beer bong.

Speaking of compromising pictures, these guys were part of the group whose bus parked next to ours.  They apparently decided to have a wrestling match.

I wonder how embarrassed these guys would be to know I got a picture of them like this?

At some point, Scott ended up with food on the front of his shirt.  Kori's solution to this problem?  Pour beer on it, rub it out and then pretend to lick it.  Scott appears to approve of this solution.

After plenty of beer, shots and food, I was ready for bed.  But, alas, the baseball game hadn't even started yet. 

Miller Park is a beautiful stadium.  It was a 6:10 PM game, so evening was setting in as we walked over to the stadium.

Scott and I don't typically sit this far up when we go to games, partly because of my fear of heights.  I handled it OK though.  It was a perfect evening for a baseball game, so they had the roof open on the stadium.  That retractable roof is some kind of engineering master piece.

Part of the crew at the game.

What is up with Scott?  I laugh every time I look at this picture and see that expression on his face.  Kori's dad is down at the end.  He looks crushed.

Considering we were ready for bed before the game even started, it seemed like a long 9 innings.  We hung out for a short time after the game and then the bus pulled out and headed back to Heather's.  Fortunately Scott had quit drinking before the game started so by the time we got in the car to head home from Heather's he was plenty sober to drive.  We got home close to midnight.  It was a long day of partying and we were exhausted by the time we got home.  But, we enjoyed ourselves.  We always have fun with Kori 

and we really enjoyed hanging out with her dad, Lawana and the others.  Sadly, I couldn't even tell you who won the game.

Special Delivery

Scott and I have spent several weekends this summer boating on Geneva Lake.  We motor around a while, sometimes Scott fishes and I read/nap, but then we eventually anchor at a place called Bigfoot Beach where boaters gather, get out in the water and party.  It's quite the happenin' spot.

We were hanging out at Bigfoot Beach when I witnessed this.

A Jimmy John's delivery car pulls up on the road that runs along the beach area (some of which is sandy beach and some of which is grassy).

And then I witnessed this:

Delivery guy makes a delivery right to a customer on the beach.  That totally seems like it should be a Jimmy John's commercial.  The purchaser then waded back through the water, with her box of Jimmy John's subs, to her boat and the people waiting there.  

I learned later that Domino's and some other vendors also make deliveries to people right along the lake shore.  No exact address needed.  Gotta love it.

And I must say I admire the woman in the picture above for being confident enough to wear such a little bikini.  

Babcock Hall

There is a building on University of Wisconsin campus named Babcock Hall.  (link)  It's a dairy plant (we are in Wisconsin, after all) and they have a store where they sell ice cream, cheese and sandwiches.

I had heard about the ice cream at UW soon after I moved up here.  Scott and I finally went there for the first time about 2 weeks ago.

There is a typical campus-looking sign that denotes the building.

And the entrance to the building itself is typical campus.

We didn't go to the observation floor to look at the dairy processing plant.  We bee-lined it for the ice cream.  The diary store is a cute place inside.

Looks like they are selling a lot of cheese.  Sold out of several varieties.

We weren't there for cheese.  We were there for ice cream. Scott ordered a pistachio waffle cone and I got peanut butter something-or-other in a cup.

Ice cream was yummy.  They have a few varieties that are "super premium", which I believe translates to "high milk fat".  Next time we go there, I already know what I'm going to order: super premium chocolate.  High milk fat?  Bring it.

I've probably mentioned in other posts how lovely it is that UW campus sits right on the shore of Lake Mendota.  As Scott and I drove away from Babcock Hall, we took this picture from the road through campus looking out over the lake. Gorgeous.

Friends from home:  yummy ice cream and a good view anyone?  Come see us!