Buildings and a Show

For years Hubby and I had talked about going to a show at the Grand Theater in Wausau, about a 40 minute drive away. As a school bus driver, he used to take kids there all the time, but I don’t remember ever going inside myself. In the Spring of 2015, I finally got us both tickets to an Eagles Tribute Band. I blogged about that night at the time. I also promised at that time that we would return some day.

Early in September, I stumbled across a blurb for the Wausau Community Theater production of “Fiddler on the Roof”. And they still had tickets available for the night that Hubby had off from work. Booked it. Just like. For three days later.

We got to downtown Wausau plenty early enough, and as it was a beautiful evening, I wanted to walk around. There are a lot of interesting and historic buildings in that area of town. And as it was the weekend of "Artrageous", there were other interesting things to see.

 I could probably do a bunch of internet research and let you know what these churches and buildings all are. But you can just enjoy them for what they are.

And the play, by the way, was great as well. 

(And I just reread that post about the show last year and me losing our tickets. This time? Left the tickets at Will Call. That's the way to go.)

We all can use more Friends

About four years ago, my daughter Val dragged me into an artist’s co-op. I know, I don’t consider myself an artist, but the term was used pretty loosely. Like any other organization, we needed to raise funds, but more importantly, we needed to find people who wanted to be involved, warm bodies to volunteer their time and efforts, to spread the word, to share their knowledge and talents. When we started planning our first event, the organizers called it a friend-raiser.

I googled “friend-raiser” and found a wide array of events. Many of these were another avenue to solicit donations, substituting the word “friend” for “fund” to lull people into a false sense of security for their wallets. I am sure that attendees quickly saw through that guise, or hopefully realized this was the purpose before they even arrived.

To my totally uneducated mind in the realm of nonprofit organization, my definition of a friend-raiser is simply what it says. During this one day out of the year, we don’t want your money. Instead we want your brilliant mind, your strong back, your quick wit, your technical savvy. We want whatever it is you can bring to the table to help our nonprofit reach its goals. We also would love you to bring all your friends who do have money, so we can get their contact information for when we do have a fund-raiser.

And that, dear followers, is what our nonprofit organization, Tumaini Volunteers, hopes to achieve on Sunday June 1 when we host our first “friend-raiser”. Come learn about our mission and vision, spend time getting to know us, enjoy some good food and drink, see the Kenyan arts and crafts which have made the long journey to central Wisconsin. And don’t forget to bring one or two of your own friends so that they can become our friends.

See you at Sunnyvale Park in Wausau, Wisconsin, on June 1 any time between noon and four. 

My Only Blog Post This Week. And Why

Doesn't look like I will get much writing done this week and certainly no blogging. Why? Date Night.

This is our first major fund-raiser for our non-profit organization, and it seems to have taken over my life right now. But that is ok. After tomorrow night, I can take a break and get back to other things. For now, however, with Kenya blazing in my brain, here is a link to a blog telling you about how this happened in the first place: Kenya was Calling Me.  

Or if you rather listen to music  and listen to pictures, this youtube video tells the story too. 

Have any good news?

“A twinkle in the eye means joy in the heart, and good news makes you feel fit as a fiddle.” 

Proverbs 15:30 The Message 

 Everybody loves to hear good news, whether it’s a healthy report from the doctor or a good grade on a paper or a raise at work. It’s amazing what it can do to your spirits.

What about bad news? It is so easy to let bad news bring us down more than we feel good news raise us up. And if you get good news and bad news on the same day, which is the one you carry with you? I’m guessing it’s the bad news.

Today, take whatever news you get, whether good or bad, and turn it into something positive. No matter what you’re dealing with, turn that frown upside down. With a twinkle in your eye, make the best of what you have.

The pictures are from the Wisconsin Valley Farm this past summer. 

Make every day a blue ribbon day. 

Works of Chalk

I probably don't do it as much as I should, but every week or so, I try to save everything I've written onto a jump drive. I know that there are other fancier ways to back up your work, but this is the system that works for me. On occasion, just to be sure, I've e-mailed things to myself as another way of saving them. I rarely resort to printing anything out anymore – seems a waste of paper - but sometimes things need to be printed for posterity. 

Imagine spending hours on a project, pouring your heart and soul and back into it, knowing full well that it was only a matter of time - perhaps only hours -before your work would be erased, destroyed forever. 

Last Sunday, I went to Chalkfest just down the road from where I live. What masterpieces of art these people have drawn on the sidewalk. What talent. And patience. And all it's going to take is a little shower, or a hundred footsteps, and that work of art will be gone. Amazing. 

And because of stupid Blogger and whatever the world it does with my writing with the white spaces, I was going to scrap this entire post. See, I could be a chalk-drawer after all.

Wow, this is where I was 30 years ago?

It appears that it has been a very long time since I have been on my schedule of writing about people, places or pets on Tuesdays. There was the whole Christmas theme going in the month of December, and November was all about that writing a book in a month goal. (By the way, I have added another 343 words and am on chapter four of the revision; my current goal is to start sending it off to agents by the end of the month.) It is time to get back on track.

This week’s person I met in the fall of 1981. I was in my second year of college, living in Marathon Hall, the only dorm on the tiny UWC-Marathon County Campus. A few of my friends from the year before had signed up to room together, but I wanted to take a chance on meeting someone new. Plus I knew that sometimes the best friends made the worst roommates.

I can’t remember who my original roommate was supposed to be. I could possibly find it in my old journals, but I’m not that ambitious tonight. Whoever it was supposed to be, something fell through or she dropped out or her plane crashed. I was remorseful for a very short time, before I became excited to hear who I would get next.

The rumor was that it would be the sister of one of my friends already living in the dorm. Deb was from Antigo and a total brainiac. She currently has a string of degrees and works for the CDC in Atlanta. I stay in contact with her coz I never know when I will need a connection in the CDC.

Like most sisters, Deb held her younger sibling at arm’s length. They could get along fine when they had to, but got along the best when they were in different cities. Plus they had another seven brothers and sisters at home. That scared me a lot.

I wish I had a video of Gundy. Ok, I won’t go into where that nickname came from (just like I won’t tell you what they called me or why), but Gundy just seemed to fit her. Someday I will have to at least scan a picture of her, but my scanner isn’t quite working yet.

Anyway, Gundy had this little dance move, jiving her hands up and down and jutting out her butt. She couldn’t jut out her chest because she didn’t have one and joked about it constantly. “Honestly, I put my bra on backwards this morning and never even noticed.” Some of the things she said. “I am hotter than a bee in Siberia”. She was the sweetest girl, never talking bad about anyone, and slapping her hand across her mouth if a swear word spilled out.

She wasn’t the best housekeeper and how we got our room deposit back when we moved out in the spring is beyond me. I have no clue how all those floor tiles came loose or how that lamp broke. And the Halloween pumpkin that Gundy found in the bottom of her closet in May? It didn’t leave much of a stain on the floor and the room actually did air out rather quickly. Ah, college memories.