Fashion Show at The Club

Here is a photo of Nancy W. and me, with me holding the rose given to me by the waiter, hidden in my to-go box. What a sweetheart! Nancy brought me a set of glasses, eight in the set, as she is cleaning out her mother's home and has a bounty of glassware to get rid of. Though the box was as light as a feather, my neighbor, Maureen, in her 70's, insisted on carrying that box home for me. Did I ever feel silly, and touched at the same time.

My photo taking with the phone leaves something to be desired, as I tried to capture Nancy with her friend, Lisa. We were right by the curtain which hid the models from us. The fashions were from Coldwater Creek and they were all lovely outfits, in my opinion. There was a professional photographer taking pictures of the models, and of the group. At the end of the event as we sat around talking, he came up behind me, touched my shoulder and said, "Thank you for your smiles..." I posed for one photo that I know of, but there must be others! How nice of him to say that...

Across the table from me were Jacquie's two lady friends, Lucy and Kitty. Unfortunately, my friend was sick and had to back out at the last minute so I tried my best to be a good hostess for the two ladies. There were four others at our table, including Marlena's mom, Margie. 

Because this fundraiser for The Quigley House was so well received, people had to be added in to make tables of 10 instead of the original 8. Marlena told me that the lady working out the seating wanted Margie at Ms. Kim's table, because 'she is not crabby...' Not sure the other ladies are crabby either but I have shared meals with Margie a couple times in the past, so she was comfortable sitting with us. 

Thinking of traveling

...but not really. Actually, I am thinking about the trips taken in the past, some of which brought such wonderful folks into my life. Friday night I heard from my friend, Judy R., whom I had gotten to know on the cruise in 2007. Linda and I met her briefly, in passing, at the Women's Leadership Conference a few days prior to the cruise, but we really hit it off once we met in the airport!

Anyway, Judy asked me to go with them on a trip to England and Scotland next July, with the same host who took us on St. Paul's 2nd missionary journey tour. Judy and Jerry were at their son's home in Janesville, and he had asked her, "Is Kim coming along?" How sweet is that? I had met him and his family at Judy's a few years ago, ate dinner around her table with her dear ones. 

It was so thoughtful of her to ask me but I respectfully declined. That is the same month as the Worship Conference which I am planning to attend plus visit with my people so no, thanks, I will pass. It has not really been my heart's desire to visit these countries, though my niece just loves loves loves this part of the world. She spent a semester studying abroad as a history major, living in Scotland and seeing other parts of Europe in a whirlwind tour. Her photos are amazing but they do not match the scenery in Italy or Greece! Nor the climate...

The bluffs along the Mississippi in LaCrosse, WI where the LWMS Convention was held in June

Linda was telling about the Mission Festival they had at FG on Sunday, how nice it was. Their guest preacher was a man we had met at the LWMS Convention, ate lunch with and got to sit in on his presentation as regards missions in China. Judy R. served as hostess to Marcus and his wife, being long-time friends with this family. Her son-in-law also works for FOC as a recruiter. I think I mentioned before having met three of Judy's four children so far...and her good friend, Marcus! He seemed to remember meeting Linda at the Convention and at lunch, but then, he meets so many folks in his work. She forgot to mention to him how Judy made him slam on the brakes when she spotted Linda and me in the parking ramp, and she leapt from the car!!!!

This Saturday morning a carload of ladies from GS and Victory are driving to W. Melbourne for the Fall Rally of the LWMS. We have to leave at 6:30 to get there in time to have a bite to eat and get registered. I am looking forward to our time together with my fellow passengers and the other folks at the Rally. Hoping no one will leap from any cars this time!

Noting kindnesses

My friend from church, Gretchen, is a note writer of note! Clever, yes? It is what she does, and does well. Birthdays are remembered, thanks are tendered, folks are reached out to with 'thinking of you' cards, and so on. A week or so ago, I was the recipient of a number of such cards, but they were blank except for the image and passage pre-printed on them. Gretchen gave the cards to me to use for sending notes to our missionaries, the passage being the theme from our LWMS Convention this past summer. She just happened to have them in her collection. What a lovely donation to the cause---extending the Lord's blessings to our missionaries! 

Upon getting home from Bible study and lunch today, I stopped at the mailbox to see if my delivery arrived. It had! I juggled my to-go box, my soda cup, a box, and the other mail as I made my way upstairs. No spills, thankfully. I had bought a GroupOn offer from Vista Print to use for printing so I ordered more of my calling cards, address labels (guess I have to stay here now for a while), and a set of 10 note cards. I had money left after ordering the other two items so I got the notecards. The front of the card is a photo of the pools as taken from my balcony. They are wonderful! I hope they feed nicely into and out of my printer...

Another nice item came in the mail from my now Facebook friend, Karen. We had worked together years ago at Sprint, but she had taken a transfer to the Kansas City facility after I had quit there. We lost touch but reconnected these many years later via FB. Her family and she recently relocated to CA and she is presently a stay-at-home mom to her young daughter. Karen is crafty, and sent me one of the creations she made with her Stampin' Up tools. Just when I got my new calling cards, her card holder arrived in the mail. Thanks, Karen!!!

                              

Justin and I had a couple of really nice evenings this weekend. Saturday after I got home from the longest of the three days of meetings, I was worn out. He offered to make us dinner, trying a recipe his friend had used successfully. He happened to be sitting in my room late afternoon when my upstairs neighbor called, asking us to dinner. At first I declined, but then I asked Justin if he would like to go, and in true Kim form, he said, "Sure!"

In about an hour we were on our way with Dick and Debbie to Bonefish Grille, my first time there. We had to wait about an hour after arriving but our visit was so nice. After our meals were gone we just kept on talking and it was awesome. They are on the same page as regards our nation and Justin was in his absolute glory. We continued the conversations in their condo upon getting home, having some of Debbie's birthday cake for dessert. 

In the course of our conversation, Justin told about the deals he gets with his Jaguar tickets, being a season ticket holder, including pizza from Papa Johns. We also talked about scenes from the movie "Under The Tuscan Sun". Just like that plans were made to reconvene at our house Sunday night to watch the movie and enjoy pizza! 

Justin took care of getting the pizza and I arranged for our dessert, sadly not having Justin get the chocolate chip cookie pizza we had discussed the night before. Instead I served sour cream pound cake with a scoop of cherry vanilla ice cream on it. Actually, Justin served us the dessert. He excused himself from the movie, having some stuff to take care of before going to bed early. 

D and D liked the movie, based on a true story, and I let them borrow the book which follows, "A Year in the World". This book covers Francis and Ed's tour of the Mediterranean countries, eating their way around the sea and chronicling the adventure. 

Debbie and Dick had taken a cruise several years ago, hitting Barcellona and Tunisia, which prompted my mentioning of the book Mayes wrote. In that travelogue, she wrote about the very unusual foods the folks in these countries eat, and her husband tried, almost always got sick in the process! I hope Dick and Debbie get a kick out of it, having been there themselves! It's quite interesting to hear people's stories about their travel adventures and to read those who have had similar experiences. And, lived to tell about it!

"Yes, I'm from Wisconsin...How can you tell?"

Hey, y'all! Even though I live in the South and have for nearly 25 years (imagine that!), no matter what, I still get picked for having an accent. Not picked on, but picked out. The A/C guy noticed it right away and but I cannot remember exactly the words I said or how I said it (most often it is intonation giving me away, more than the use of an expression as in the article I copy/pasted below):

Have you ever been told that you have a Wisconsin accent? Did you deny such a thing even exists?

Some of us truly believe the way we speak here in the Badger State is the correct way to speak. It’s everyone else who has the accent. Sorry, but that’s just not true.

Of course, there are some things we are right about, including words which we have the authority to decide the pronunciation. For instance…it’s Green BAY not GREEN Bay. And it’s WIS-sonsin, never WES-consin. However, most of us pronounce it like Wuh-Skaaaahn-sin.

Whatever the case…there’s no reason to be embarrassed! At WhooNEW, we say proudly wear your Wisconsin accent like a badge of honor.

“Interesting” Chicken Booyah

Sometimes, people outside of our state think Wisconsinites are super friendly simply because of the way we say things.

For example – the way we use the word “interesting.”  Instead of saying “I don’t like that chicken booyah”, we might say, “Dat’s some interesting tasting chicken booyah, eh?”

Speaking of interesting, there’s actually some pretty hardcore research behind the language of America’s Dairyland.

The Wisconsin Englishes Project (WEP), is a group of faculty, staff, and students around Wisconsin who study our unique language patterns. WEP was formed in 2006 and the group aims to understand regional differences in English across our state – including its distinct vocabulary, pronunciations, idioms and ethnic influences, among other things.

There really is such a thing as "'Sconnie speak", dontcha know? Here are some examples…

1. Dem, Dat, Dis, & Dere

Our Wisconsin dialect has mainly been influenced by the northern and central European language family. And because of this northern European influence, we tend to drop the “th” and replace it with a “d” – creating words like dis, dat, dem, dere, dese or dose.

2. Yous Guys/Yous

Here’s one that I’m not really a fan of, but that you hear often around here, and especially at a greasy spoon dinner. No offense, but that’s probably where I’ve heard it the most! The nice waitress comes up to the table and says “what can I get for yous guys today?” A true Wisconsinite, eh? Well, so are you when you ask for a “brat” instead of bratwurst for “supper”.

3. Stop ‘N Go Lights

I’m guilty of this one for sure, and I didn’t really even know that people elsewhere say traffic lights!

Since red means stop and green means go, stop ‘n go lights are a way better name. Technically, it could be stop, slow, ‘n go, but yellow has become more of a – hurry up and get through it before it turns red – kind of light anyway.

4. Up Nort’

This is where a lot of Wisconsinites go on vacation, go camping or go to hunt and fish.  It’s also a dead give away that you live in some part of the northern Midwest. 

Up Nort’ isn’t a specific location, it’s a state of being. In Wisconsin, you can always go Up Nort’ – until you get to Lake Superior.

5. Ya Know?

This phrase enters my conversations multiple times a day. We mostly say it at the end of a sentence as a way to ask if the other person agrees or is understanding what you’re talking about. Or we might say it at the very beginning of the sentence to let someone know you’ve had a thought in your head that you’re about to share.

Other people in the country have this expression in common with us, but I’ve heard it started here – and we have a very distinct way of pronouncing it.. 

6. Bag

In Wisconsin we pronounce bag or bagel like “bay-g” or “bay-gel.” People from outside of Wisconsin will argue that you must say it with a short “a” sound so it starts the same as the word “bad”.  I’ve always said bag like “bay-g”, and I’ve been in a few in depth discussions about it with non-Wisconsinites. 

At least we don’t call it a “sack” like people from the southern U.S.

7. Real Quick

When you hear Wisconsin folks ask you for a favor and then add “real quick” or “really quick” to the end of it, we aren’t talking about speed. We’re simply trying to make it seem like the favor is no big deal.

For instance, someone might ask, “Can you stop at da store real quick before you come home? I got a meatloaf in da oven.”

8. Once/One Time

Have you ever wondered why we say “come here once” or “let me see dat one time”? It’s about sounding less aggressive or like you’re not demanding too much. It’s yet another way we get the friendly vote. 

9. Bubbler

I’ve been made fun of a time or two for asking where the bubbler is when I was outside of my home state. Most people will refer to it as the drinking or water fountain. If you’re interested to know more about this specifically, my husband has written some great insight into the real reason why we call it a ‘bubbler’ in Wisconsin and who else does too. Check it out! http://whoonew.com/2013/03/why-a-bubbler/

10. ‘N So?

You’ve probably heard this before, ‘n so? Which is simply a reduction of the phrase “Isn’t that so”? My Grandma and her sisters use this expression a lot. In fact, I think I’ve heard them say all 10 of these words and phrases!

So – dere ya go, eh? 10 silly things we say in Wisconsin!

Maybe you’ve often heard people say more silly things like “you betcha” or “oh, fer sure”? Can you think of any more expressions, pronunciations or words that are unique to our home state? Leave a comment!

We should keep this list going, ‘n so?

Hope this sets the example for my day!

Crown Him with many crowns

The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing

Of Him who died for thee

And hail Him as thy matchless King

Through all eternity.

Reflective days

This past week we have had meetings at church lead by our mentor. Exhausting on a couple levels, with discussion overflowing in the next days after the meetings. Some of the leaders were meeting in the daytime with the members invited to the night sessions. Saturday morning is a longer meeting with hopes of more attendance and involvement. 

Lots of stuff to chew on and ponder, e-mails flying forth and back, and then my homework to do for Bible study on Thursday, and I was running late! I was able to talk to Mom for a short while on my ride over to Victory but called her back as I drove home again. Words leftover, you know? Ha ha...

I had an assignment for after class, how about that? It started innocently enough, with Suzanne S. having the corner missing from her worksheet. Pastor H. made a joke about taking the encouragement of 'inwardly digesting' to heart. Suzanne didn't get it so discussion continued to that part of liturgy where that 'collect' was used in the TLH. He could not immediately lay his hands on the revised version in the CW hymnal, but I told him I thought it was changed to 'take it to heart'. He assigned me the task of finding it for next week. Found it that afternoon when I got home! It was sort of fun pulling out the TLH and comparing page by page, a welcome break from the other stuff being dealt with.

My friend, Stephanie, was able to attend Bible study with us as she is on furlough from her job. She works for HUD, working with  the low cost/low rent housing folks. Another aspect of her job involves disaster preparedness for the same properties involved, which could get interesting with a tropical storm brewing in the Gulf...Anyway, I was glad she was able to join us, and to have Rita 'n Marilyn back again.

The ladies invited me to join them for lunch but I had to get back home to wait for the A/C man to come to close up one last pipe. Since he did not come to see me until after 2:30 pm, I could have had lunch after all. Shoot! But, I didn't know what his day was going to be like. In fact, when I left for the church meeting, and returned around 9:00 pm, his truck was STILL parked in my spot! I had to pull into a Guest spot. That man will be so glad to have The Palace valve and the additional repairs behind him!

Lots of hand-wringing going on

Oh, yes, there are a few things in this life which stimulate hand-wringing, and this time, it is A/C work being done. Normally, the type of service needed does not involve being nervous but our units, at least most of us, have water-to-air systems. Yes, water!

                                   

A few months ago one of my neighbors had troubles with their A/C unit not getting enough water from the pumps to properly cool their condo. Patti was working with various folks to get a satisfactory resolution to the problem, which may or may not include the water supply. 

At our most recent Board meeting, it was discussed, leaving out the technical information, that it would be ideal for every owner to install solenoid valves which will automatically stop the flow of water when the A/C unit is not running. A few years ago some of the owners had already done this, and now, most if not all of the water-to-air people are doing so. We are getting a quantity discount from the A/C man and having everyone done in the same couple of days is ideal. 

HOWEVER, Kim's unit has to go and have some problems, which I find out was not unique to me only. Whew! He arrived here yesterday (John is his name, my new best friend) around 4:00 pm and his last visit to my A/C closet was at 8:00 pm. The final 'blow' was his having to get a cylinder of air, looked like an old-fashioned shiny fire extinguisher, to blow an obstruction from the clogged pipes, which I am embarrassed to report having. Who knew? John said he couldn't believe I have not ever had a problem with it. That was NOT changed or checked, as far as I know, when the new unit was installed after I moved in. 

                                             

He showed me some parts he'd removed from other units, equally impacted, and said it's our 'dirty' water constantly flowing through the pipes which causes the build-up. Having this new valve in place will stop the machines from constantly pumping water and reducing the amount of dirty water flowing through. Or trying to!

Justin made us some dinner, cheddar chicken served over pasta, but I really could not enjoy it. I was emotionally exhausted and physically as well, and just wanted to go to bed. John teased me when he was done that he knew I'd be running down there to check it out after he left. Justin put one of our water leak collection pans in the closet under the pipes with one of my water alarms. All was well! 

                                                   

I will have a load of cloths and towels used to sop up the water which smell of vinegar now since we added it to the pipe to help clear it (preventative) only to have it run out on the floor when the pipes leaked! Ahhh! 

I had to laugh, though...when John came in to begin working, I cautioned him about his handling of the pipes because they are tender and he said, "Yeah, I heard about a big leak happening a couple years ago..." Oh, yes, that was me! He said he understood why I was 'paranoid' (not the word I would use!) and would handle the pipes carefully. And yet, his new pipes were the ones which leaked!