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Tennis Tuesday Is Back

June 3, 2014 by Sara

Better than Serena and Venus.

Have I told you? Tennis Tuesday is back in action. Charlotte and I are on the courts and batting that tennis ball around better than ever. Last year we found some courts that are seldom used by others and out of the public eye, for the most part. That isn’t to say our talents aren’t worth seeing. In fact, if tennis scouts were cruising around the Twin Cities of Minnesota and spotted us they’d for sure sign us on as the newest talents to hit the circuit.

Except we’re old. We wouldn’t technically be considered the “newest” talents in tennis – better yet the “undiscovered” talents. We’re so good we make Serena and Venus Williams look like beginners. For we are experienced and we have determination. And one of us even has a new joint, which make our playing more challenging than ever!

A couple of weeks ago some young men came to play in the court next to us. They had the power and placement of youth. But during one of our water breaks Charlotte said something to me that made all the difference in the world. She pointed out that we’re in a minority of women our age who don’t dye our hair. We’re out there volleying like no one’s business with our grey hair shining in the summer sun. She said to me, as we rehydrated and watched those young men playing, “our grey hair (aka our age) give us license to suck.”

It’s nice to have a license to suck, even though I don’t really believe we do. We’re out there , sucking or not. Tennis is a sport for all ages and Charlotte and I are getting our fill of endorphins wherever we can. Because we’re deserving of any neuropeptides we can get our hands on.

Yay us!

What are you doing to get your endorphins these days?

Posted in Everyday | Tagged , | 2 Comments »

Technology, Wax, And Dolphins

June 2, 2014 by Sara

OK, you’ll all be very happy to know I conquered the technology problem I was having the other day.  I still can’t tell you what the project is, and I can’t take all the credit for solving the problem as Husby and Charlotte helped me with ideas, but there’s nothing better than figuring out something you know nothing about.  I had to figure it out by trial and error too, because by now manufacturers of technology devices assume everyone knows the most basic concepts of technology and those concepts aren’t covered in the instructions.  I believe, however, that I learn and retain things much better with the trial and error method, even though it’s frustrating and takes a long time.

In other news this week I’ve been spending some time in Craftland pouring candles like mad.  I was thinking about the time I put into that project too, which is a lot.  But you know what?  I really like doing it.  I screwed up a beeswax candle yesterday, but that’s the beauty of wax.  Just remelt and pour again!

And then there’s this other thing I have to tell you about.  You know the photo site Flickr?  Every time I get on that site a song comes into my head.  Flickr sounds a lot like Flipper, doesn’t it?  That’s right, the theme song to the ’60s TV show gets into my head the minute I log into Flickr and doesn’t go away.  Like, ever.   Then I get all discombobulated because the song is so…untrue.

They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning*
No one you see, is smarter** than he***
And we know Flipper lives in a world full of wonder**** 
Flying***** there under, under the sea!******

*  A dolphin is not capable of swimming faster than lightening.  I’m just saying.

** I’m pretty sure Einstein was smarter than a fish. (OK, I know dolphins are mammals, but guess what? I bet Flipper doesn’t know that, so I guess even I’m smarter than Flipper.)

*** The dolphin that played Flipper was, in fact, a female.

**** I’m on board with this line.

***** Flipper swims and doesn’t fly. Everyone knows that.

****** When swimming under the water are you in fact under the sea? In the sea I can agree with. But if you were “under” the sea wouldn’t you be in the core of the earth and therefore being burned up by the magma contained therein?

So now, because I’ve incorporated the photo of this post from my Flickr account I’ll be thinking of this song all week.  And now I’m going to make you think of this song for at least a week, because I’m kind of mean and hateful that way.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Posted in Everyday | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments »

Lazy Days Of Summer?

May 27, 2014 by Sara

It’s after 9:00 p.m. and I should be in bed.  But you know how it is when you have all this stuff to do right when you come home from the day job and then spend some chatty time with your spouse or kids or partner or housemate or even yourself over dinner and then have a bunch of other stuff to do after that?  It’s 9:00 p.m. before you know it and there was no relaxing time at all.

I love relaxing time.  I need relaxing time.  I’m kind of lazy that way.

But tonight I was on a mission.  I can’t say too much about it because the person for whom this mission must be accomplished might read my blog and it’s a surprise for him/her.  Suffice it to say the mission involved technology, and with that I stink.

Stink, I say.

Needless to say the mission was not accomplished, but I haven’t lost hope yet.  When it comes to computers and digital devices I’m usually determined to figure it out even if it takes me months.  Unfortunately in this case I don’t have that long, so I better hop to it.  Tomorrow I’ll give it another whirl.

And tomorrow will be Wednesday already!  I had a nice, long weekend for Memorial Day, thanks to a government job that gives me national holidays off.  I wouldn’t say the weekend was particularly relaxing either, because I went to the family cottage and there was a lot to do to open the place up for the summer.  Charlotte did most of the work though, because she’s disciplined that way.  There were windows to wash, an outhouse to scrub, cobwebs to brush away, dusting to do, animal gnawings to repair and a bunch of other stuff that we all pitched in to accomplish.  It was a fun weekend though, spending time with everyone.

Because tomorrow is Wednesday I’ll be doing some craft work to get ready for the show at Chateau St. Croix next month.  (Wednesdays are devoted to craft work for me.)  There will be some candle pouring and product pricing done, and that always makes me feel productive.  I’ll also have to get back to that technology project and see if I can figure it all out.

Lazy days of summer?  I’d like proof of that, please.  I’m rarely lazy during the summer months because the summer months demand a lot of activity, especially in places like Minnesota where half the year we’re snowed in.  That’s when we’re supposed to be lazy, but it doesn’t seem like I am then either.

With that report I’m going to sign off and go to bed.  I hope the sleep is good because I have to be awake and pay attention for the next twelve weeks or so.  I’d probably sleep a lot better if I knew I could figure out this dang technology project.

I’ll keep you posted.

Posted in Candles, Everyday | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments »

Late Night Thoughts

May 22, 2014 by Sara

Oh, the things I can get done in the dark hours when I know I don’t have to get up with the birds the next day.  I listen to the chime of the mantel clock strike a late hour as I’ve just finished producing, pricing, and recording a load of inventory for a drop at a gift shop that’s been waiting for my goods for three months.  If I were going to the day job tomorrow I’d have been in bed hours ago, probably tossing and turning with thoughts of how I could better spend my time.

The calendar flips its days, weeks and months to the finish line when I can say goodbye to the day job.  It’s all I can think about these days.  To spend time in this life exactly how I want to seems to be my purpose.  Nothing specific, just my whim.  How glorious that will be.

I’ve been avoiding writing lately, and I can’t really understand why.  It’s not that I don’t have time; I do have some, enough, yet I’ve been avoiding it.  Maybe it’s because that’s all I want to do, and the snippets of time afforded me only tease and torment.  Or maybe I don’t really want to write at all.  I haven’t figured it out yet.  But here I am in the silence of the night, fulfilled with what I accomplished without a solid bedtime, writing.

Day after tomorrow I’ll be going to the family cottage for the holiday weekend, and I’m taking my laptop with me.  Some of my family members might smirk at my bringing technology to the rustic nature of the cottage, but I’m not the only one bringing things to smirk at.  Enough said, eh Charlotte?  Perhaps I’ll find some time between roasting stale Peeps (a new delicacy Charlotte is going to try with Easter leftovers) and cleaning out boats and cottage rooms to return to my work in progress, rewriting/editing the first draft of the novel I wrote last November.

Such ramblings I have when I can relish the dark summer night.  Bear with me, for there may be more to come.  My blogging may take a turn, or continue to wane; one never knows.  I’m just getting in practice for that time when all I have to listen to is my whim.

Serene Muskie Bay

Posted in Craft Business, Writing | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments »

Unplugged, Sort Of

May 20, 2014 by Sara

Caught in a generation with one foot in the old school and one in the new I have a hard time realizing how important being online is to a business these days.  Keeping up with an online presence is exhausting for someone in my predicament.  I get all kinds of advice on what platforms to appear on, and then hear that it doesn’t make any difference at all.  Some say Facebook and Twitter are the way to go.  Others say those platforms are useless and a e-mail list and monthly newsletter is the way to go.

I admit, I’m utterly confused.  And what do I do when I’m utterly confused?  I retreat.  I’ve put my Etsy shop on vacation simply because it’s online.  Online selling is the new school way of doing things and I’ve become overwhelmed.  I’m not keeping up with my Facebook page or Twitter and and quite frankly updates on those platforms are automatic and take no thought on my part at all.  I feel like that’s really bad because I’m not actively engaging my customers.

The simple fact is, I don’t know how to do online stuff and quite frankly I don’t care what everyone says.  I don’t want to be consumed with what works and what doesn’t with an online business because you know what?  I have a business that’s live too!  But I’ve been falling behind in that also.

Work work work.  That’s all I do, whether I do it right or not.  You know what that means?  It’s time for a vacation.  And guess what?  I’m going to have one!

Right now I’m looking forward to a trip to my beloved Door County with my beloved Husby.  And what makes it even better is the fact that I’m not going to do a show while we’re there.  For the past three years or so I’ve done shows in various locations in Door County and they all turned out pretty much disastrous for me only because I had to travel six hours to do shows that weren’t too lucrative or else blew my canopy to the other side of town.

In a couple of weeks I’ll be basking in the glory that is Lake Michigan.  I’ll be sipping wine with Husby at our favorite haunts and hiking the rocks and dunes that surround the great lake.  I’ll be watching sunrises and sunsets that make all of life worth living, and I’ll be eating food so good it should be illegal.

Until that time I’ll plug on, even though I’m not completely plugged in.

Posted in Craft Business | Tagged , , | 4 Comments »

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