August

I have a love/hate relationship with August -- it should be the laid back, sip beverages in the shade kind of month -- and well, it never seems to be in my world.  I had high hopes 2022 would be different -- alas, wrong again.  I had two days without commitments -- most of the commitments were the normal things in my world -- but I had to "be" somewhere.  

A lot of things got knocked off the endless project list:

1.  only 35ish tax returns to go ... only 35, argh

2.  the parking lot, front flower beds have been de-foliated :)

3.  the side yard is almost de-foliated (sometimes it okay to get out the $ to get things done) 

4.  bought the truck

5.  confirmed the maker fair gig

6.  purged a few things at the office

7.  17 hours of continuing education 

8.  read more than a couple books :)

9.  ate in a restaurant .. seriously, no cooking, no takeout

The September list ... 

1.  get those damn tax returns finished

2.  more lake time

3.  maker fair inventory --

4.  leave town (AMC conference is booked)

5.  more continuing ed

6.  play more.

 

Ruby Two etc

and here is Ruby Two ... I like 'er 

my Team

love the smiles and grins

and the crocs

met this girl the other night

she's shedding her summer coat 

I think

 

imagination

 imagine this :  I  did not WORK at the office or on office projects all weekend !!!  It has been awhile since that happened -- like years.

Saturday was dedicated to truck shopping -- by the time the elders got moving we had a late start ..by 12:30 .. I had a deal ( no pictures ) ... will be picking it up this morning.  Ruby Red because Ruby Red is my color.  Post truck shopping was take out KFC -- because spending money involves greasy overcooked chicken with fake gravy.

Sunday -- oh, Sunday - lake day ... cleaning and party day.  We celebrated birthdays with a dump meal -- potatoes, sweetcorn, sausage, shrimp, mushrooms and crawdads cooked in one pot and dumped ... it was a process ... Lee used the turkey fryer -- and watched a zillion youtube videos .. I brought raw veggies and crusty french bread ... soaks up the butter .. because a lot of butter was involved ... it was messy .. 

More turtles at the cabin, well two... one on shore and one up on top.  The bottle tree made it out there and is "placed" .. more bottles needed ..

I came to work tired this morning.

Holy crap-oly -- the punch list is dwindling .. 

My weekend project list:

1.    finish yardwork at the office

2.    organize the sewing room

3.    celebrate the birthdays

4.    pack up small sewing projects for the lake

        more keyfobs

        more coasters

        more tissue packet fancies

        finish binding the potholders 

        make more potholders

        make halloween treat bags

        finish bucket bag sample

        

5.    vac/dust office ( it really needs it )

6.    prep payroll for next week

7.    laundry, endless laundry

8.    CPE - Webinar .. self study

9.    

     

 

August 26th

 

I took a little ATV ride on Wednesday night -- signs of fall are everywhere.  I'm still in denial I need more summer - a lot more summer.  I've spent a couple nights at the sewing machine - I'm hoping it levels off the crabbyness -- seems to be helping.  

Our tax return project list might just get under 35 today -- and that my peeps is truly a miracle.  I'm hoping to not work at all this weekend - another miracle.

crabby pants

I'm fast  becoming a crabby pants -- or maybe that is an apt description of my pandemic and post pandemic personality (PPP) .... yesterday was a bitch and I was a b with a capital B.  

The annual Ag Tax and Accounting seminar by the MNCPA was yesterday - virtual .. and myself and 500 of my close personal friends were glued to our monitors for 9, yes 9 hours of education.  Some of it was fantastic, some of it not so enlightening.  During the 9 hours ... 55 more emails rolled in and the phone was an endless stream of ringing - Kate was here and she was also perplexed by the constant ringing.  And a particularly annoying twit left a message on my cell phone at 7:30 chastising me for not being at work -- evidently she thinks I live here too -- which there are a select few who do think I live upstairs.  I DO NOT, nor will I ever.  40 steps up, no laundry up there, nope, not happening.  

Phones are evil -- and then someone had the nerve to share my personal cell phone with another client ... I blocked him.  Some things are sacred and my cell phone number is one of them.

Shortly after I took the picture below ... we docked and found a "herd" of baby turtles making their way to the lake -- and yikes when they hit the water they took off like a rocket ... it was awesome.  The not so awesome -- I tripped and crappie flopped -- scrapped both knees -- because my 62 year old body thinks it is 12 ... it's always good to have blood running down the shin.   I did not land on a turtle!!!!

 

focus ... need to focus

 August 16, 2022

Another crazy week in my world ... I've lost track of time again and it's exhausting

Monday - budget workshop #3, back to Monday office chaos and then Planning/Zoning
Tuesday - Dept Head, Board Workshop and Employee Picnic and back to office
Wednesday - Tri County Trash and doctor appointments -- 
Thursday - clients
Friday - clients

the good thing -- all the payrolls for the week are done, all of the sales tax for July is done, the weird issue pile is dwindling ... and the tax return pile is dwindling 

the challenge was to be done by the 4th of July -- I'm aiming for Labor Day now :)  time will tell -- 

emailed the MFair peeps - haven't heard from them and I thought I should have by now .. haven't heard back yet ...    time will tell --

Tonight is laundry and homework ... maybe an ATV ride or a spot of lawn mowing.

August 18, 2022

The meetings are done -mostly -- not it is "catch up and get shit done" while I was away.  I am feeling a bit swampy and then once I can cross things off the endless list -- feel a tad bit better ... a tad.  Tackling my next nasty project next.  They never seem to go away.  ever. never.

Yesterday was oncology day and immunotherapy -- new oncologist, yet again.  It feels like we need to keep educating our doctors.  He was still asleep when I left -- I had to go back home and retrieve a file..( I forgot to park a spreadsheet on OneDrive) ... and he was up feeding the felines and getting the paper.  Looks tired -- although he said he slept well.  

This journey we've been traveling is certainly full of unknowns.  It is exhausting.  

yes, the pot 'o gold is at 117 S 3rd Street 

pix from Patrick's wastebook page

grateful for the rain

even more grateful for the Kwik Trip in the neighborhood and the touchless carwash .

happyness is a $10 touchless carwash 

Ruby shines this morning

edit:  I washed Ruby ... and by 2:00pm it was raining ... and I forgot the window was down ... seriously peeps, why wasn't I doing this 2 months ago.

It really has been a week

August 12, 2022

and there is more to come 

Monday was a work at the office day

Tuesday was Board Meeting and the Primary
   (go team Marie ! )
Wednesday was County Budget Day 1 and late afternoon was a R9 meeting in Mankato
    I took time to return shoes to Kohls and check out trucks at Mankato Ford
Thursday was County Budget Day 2 ..
Friday - client meetings, lunch at the fair w/Commissioners old and present--then off to Mankato 
    for Transit chatting and maybe Mankato Ford (again)

Next week isn't any prettier ...  

August 13, 2022

And she came to work and is actually working -- it never ceases to amaze me -- how many projects that I can knock off my project list -- when no one knows I'm at work -- no phones, limited emails .. it's blissfully silent -- 

Expect the quilting video's rolling on YouTube .. because one must watch quilting if one doesn't have time to quilt ...

Yesterday, I had old commissioners and current commissioners for lunch at the fair -- plus our admin staff and the Sheriff -- always important to have law enforcement at lunch :) .... It was good.  

I'm headed to the happy place after I finish a couple more projects ... I loaded up some sewing shit and plan to be crafty for 36 hours .. there was also a stop at the grocery store because I must spend my weekly allowance at HyVee before the week ends.  

August 14, 2022

again, I've sewed for 55 years and I'm making key fobs with webbing and gross grain ribbon -- I prepped and quilted 10 more potholders too..

we were the only ones on the lake last night .. it was so quiet 

this is back in the hole where we used to rent 

always checking out the old place

never see anyone there ...

although seeing the deck is damn hard from the lake

darn geese -- they can stand on one foot in the water on a sandbar 

I can barely stand on two feet on dry land.

08/10/22 It's been a week

08/07/22

what to do when it rains at the happy place

sew and watch netflix at the same time

takes skill 

sewing project #1 .. a nice sized throw ..

project # 2 finish the bindings and tidy up the 24 potholders

more on the way

the miracle of rain .. 

rained more at the lake than home

all in 12 miles

and our only watermelon ...

we won't be sharing

08/09/22

    

    It is primary election day and I'm nervous as a cat floating on aa raft.  Damn, I hate elections.  

    It was an entertaining day around here yesterday -- I hired someone to wipe out the foliage :) surrounding the chain link fence in the parking lot -- it was pretty dense and well, it's gone.  They are coming back today to work on the yard space between me and the bar.  It's well worth the money ... 

    #1 came to supper last night -- with an announcement -- "I now weigh 120 lbs" .. he hasn't weighed that since Christmas -- onward and upward is the phrase.  He was pretty tired last night -- sounds like he was on the go most of the day.  

    Other than get elected -- or get enough votes to move on to the general election -- I'll be killing wasps -- found a couple nests on Jessica's garage door .. large nests.  WTH, not sure why such creatures actually exist.

08/10/22 -- I won my primary race

on to November ...

Unofficial Results Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Results Home    Previous Page

Precincts Reporting in County: 100%  26 of 26

Last Updated:   08/09/22 10:11 PM

Voters Registered at 7AM:   20,826

Results for Selected Contests in Nicollet County

County Commissioner District 1     Results By Precinct

4 precincts in contest. 4 of 4 precincts reported in County.

Nonpartisan	Candidate	Totals	Pct	Graph
	Marie Dranttel	743	55.91%
	Darrell Pettis	249	18.74%
	Jennifer Andrashko	337	25.36%

County Sheriff     Results By Precinct

26 precincts in contest. 26 of 26 precincts reported in County.

Nonpartisan	Candidate	Totals	Pct	Graph
	Dave Lange	3,572	55.96%
	Marc Chadderdon	1,538	24.10%
	Chad Honetschlager	1,273	19.94%

 

    So I spent the night fretting over a primary election, health of the elders, my future and all the other things that seem to be ailing in this world.  

    By 8:15 the Secretary of State's website was posting results -- and I kept on refreshing my browser and surfing wastebook .. 

    November -- on to November ....

    M

08/05/22 Friday afternoon updates

08/05/22

I am a control freak.  I know it. 

Learning to accept what is -- is a work in progress.

RKH came for coffee this morning - we got to visit for 2 hours!   She got me thinking ... she always gets me thinking - "have you had any fun this summer--any adventures?"  -- nope, I work, I mow lawn and I work at the cabin -- it hasn't been a fun summer -- it's been a long time since I had a fun summer or an adventure.  Need to work on that.  Soon.  ( Once it cools off -- like Sunday or Monday )  perhaps -- adventure and fun aren't meant to be for me in 2022 -- 

The countdown is on until the primary election - I'm nervous and I think nervous is a good thing.  Cocky and overconfident are not a good thing.  It's my nature to be nervous.   I am humbled by the positive feedback I've received -- it is hard for the introvert in me to accept accolades -- it's the way I'm wired - or cross-wired, or un-wired. 

My weekend on-line shopping binge all got delivered -- t shirts for mom, enough bath/body to last the rest of the year -- cute shoes from Old Navy (flowers!), this morning it was a Target moment - tp, paper towels, a chair, a messenger bag - all the things an aging Diva needs.  Amazon had goodies too -- plastic washable re-useable straws, shampoo for white haired Moms, adorable denim jacket,  paper .. coffee, pizza crust mix -- the "extra wide fat calf" boots from Kohls -- are not extra wide fat calf enough for me - I had hopes, they were darn cute -- at least Kohls are easy to return ..

Not a lot of major accomplishments this week.

1.     Elder #1 got his hip and head staples removed -- all is good.

2.    All the payrolls and payroll taxes have been completed.

3.    All of the sales taxes except one are done.

4.    A couple tax returns were completed.

5.    I made it to downtown Gaylord, MN 

6.    Ruby got gas...it's been 2 months !

7.    all the usual stuff happened.

The weather forecast is weird: so this weekend might be dedicated to work (ya, work) ....

1.    Basement fluff/buff

2.    Piece some throws - attempt to quilt one.

3.    Finish binding the potholders and whip up some more.

4.    Finish my book -- watch a Twins game, stare at the lake ...