Happy Hour Chatter

The Christmas Blizzard has moved on, thankfully!  But in its wake is a whole lot of snow.  Hubster finally made it home around noon today but couldn't get in our yard with the truck. There's a 5ft snow drift the entire width and length of our driveway.  Thankfully our young neighbor - Tony - came with the industrial snowblower on the tractor.  Yeah!!  I spent yesterday rearranging my office/spare bedroom, cleaning out papers, organizing files, and getting ready for year-end stuff.   I tried to get things ready today to actually do year-end, but just couldn't find it in my mind to focus.  So, I did some more cleaning and organizing. ~L~  I have the cleanest, most organized office that I've ever had! (hope it lasts).   I think my New Year's resolution is going to be "Be Organized!"   My good friend Becky said, "yeah, let me know how that works out for you!"  Snot! ~LOL~  Seriously, I had a stack of mail ...

Alone - except for my cat, Boris.  Hubster spent the day at main ranch and tended to the cattle. In a Blizzard. Talked to every one of my siblings and wished them and their families a Merry Christmas. Watched "Rachel Got Married" - a good movie about a dysfunctional family.  Love Ann Hathaway's work in this one. Had toast for Christmas dinner.  Splurged and put PB & J on top!   Did yoga.  Yeah!!!  Searched for friends - and found a few - on FB.  (Double cool). Chased Boris around the house. Talked with various people on the phone, like good friend Becky and mother-in-law Ella. Took a hot, leisurely bath and shaved my legs (ok, too much information I know, but it's what I did!). Searched for fun and unusual sights on the internet.  Didn't find anything that tripped my trigger. Read other people's blogs.  There is some hilarious stuff out there. (Blase, keep writing hon!) Did my nails. Thought about doing some bookwork.......

It's the afternoon of Christmas Eve.  It's a time for families to come together to celebrate the holidays, for friends to wish each other well and give thanks for the special bonds that bring them together.  A time for reflection on all the good things in our lives and to remember those no longer with us who have left their imprint on us.  My mind turns to my family on this day and the special memories the holiday holds for me.  I'll be going to my sister's (Peggy) tonight - weather permitting - to celebrate with her and her daughters (and son-in-law).  Very few Christmas Eves have gone by that I haven't spent  them with Peggy.  It all started back in the 70's - my parents and I would spend the evening with Earl and Peggy - eating, drinking, driving around and looking at Christmas lights or going to Christmas Eve services.  My parents and Earl are no longer with us, but the night holds us close to them and their memories. I want to extend...

I’m dreaming of a White Christmas, but seriously…I don’t want THAT much white!  Yes folks, we are going to be in the grips of a winter storm/blizzard through the Christmas holidays.  This is going to bite big time!   Though I don’t have to travel far – just to town on Christmas Eve and less than a mile on Christmas Day – I do have two nieces scheduled to come in from Minneapolis. My husband already informed me that if it gets as bad as what they are predicting, he may not be home for Christmas, opting to stay at the ranch to make sure the cattle fair through the storm relatively unscathed and still inside the corrals.   The cattle are our livelihood so he makes sure they are cared for.  He’s a lot like my father in that respect. Dad always said, “you can judge a man by the way he treats his animals.” I’m already thinking ahead  - do I have enough milk, toilet paper, and bread on hand JUST in case I get stranded at home.  ...

If you haven't gotten it, wrapped it, baked it, written it out, mailed it.....  GET TO IT!  ~L~ I had every intention of writing out Christmas cards last night, but it was hubster's birthday so we ended up going out for supper to The Grille...and I just didn't feel like doing them when we came home.  We watched a rather stupid movie called The Seeker...but it was entertainment AND I got to eat lots of buttered popcorn.  So....Christmas cards have just turned in to New Years cards! ~L~ Had a good day though yesterday and today. It's so pretty outside with the frost covering the trees. Here are a couple of pics that I snapped on my way in to the gym yesterday morning.   They are pretty enough to put on a postcard! I spent the afternoon with Peggy and Blaine.  They were doing their annual "Peggy does the baking and Blaine does the wrapping" date and they "decided" to let me in on the fun!  And fun we had!  I tell you what, I laughed a...

This email arrived in my email this morning and I couldn’t help but chuckle.  These days, I’ll all about healthy eating, watching the calories and exercising like a mad woman.  BUT, there was a day when I followed each of these 10 steps and had a good time doing it.      So, with nostalgia, I’m forwarding them on to everyone in hopes that maybe you’ll indulge in one (or 10) of them and have an absolutely fantabulous Christmas season!      CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY EATING TIPS 1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls. 2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare.. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-al...

I was setting up the training room this morning for another round of staff training classes .   In doing so, I asked the instructor whether he showed a movie with his course.    His reply was priceless:  "I AM the movie! The good, the bad and the ugly all rolled in to one!"   I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing!      What a wonderful way to start my day!  

Almost every radio station I listen to these days is in full Christmas music mode.  I am loving it!    Every song I hear is bringing back some absolutely wonderful memories of my childhood.     When I was a little mite, my grade school would have Christmas pageants. Those pageants consisted of beautiful homemade costumes, poor acting and  lots of Christmas carols sung off-key by hyperactive children in 1st - 6th grades.    It was a big event for us.  We started practicing in November and December, every afternoon during the week.  We learned our lines, or tried, sang about jingle bells and the twelve days of Christmas, and had a lot of fun skipping out on classes in the afternoon and misbehaving while we were not on stage.   We had a lot of work to do in order to be ready for the grand event the week before Christmas and somehow managed to pull it off, much to the delight of our parents....

As I sit and reflect on my life, I realize how incredibly lucky I am.    There are days that life seems to be a complete struggle.  You know the ones; those days where you get screamed at by ungrateful shrew on the other end of the phone, a co-worker that has a chip on their shoulder and is unrelenting in their vision of the world, or the unpleasant store clerk who would rather shoot you than help you.    Then there are days when you realize that everything that may cause a hiccup in the day - is just that, a hiccup.  In the grand scheme of life, those small things are insignificant.     I hear of others in our community (and the nation) going through hardship and I look at my life and count my blessings.    Those blessings help me to get through the difficult phone call, deal with difficult or unyielding staff, smile at an unpleasant clerk at a store, or hold my tongue when a family member hurts ...

On November 18, 2002 I took the first step to help save someone's life - I signed up to become a member of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry.    It was quick, painless, and it made me feel good about myself; I was doing something worthwhile that just may save someone's life. For many patients with life threatenting diseases such as leukemia, a bone marrow transplant is their best or only hope for a cure.  Many do not have a donor match in their family and need to rely on people - such as me - to help save their lives. I often hear that being a donor of marrow - if called upon when matched - is painful.  I've heard the stories, the ones where they need to drill in to the hip bones to extract the marrow.   But you know what?  A little pain on my part isn't anything compared to to the pain of someone going through cancer.  I can - and will -put up with the discomfort in order for someone to have a 2nd chance at...

  I just have to laugh.    I was at the gym last night sweating my bootie off.   After sucking air on my last pass on the treadmill, I decided it was time I'd had enough.     While I was putting on my sweatshirt and bundling up to keep that "post workout heat" going in the frigid temperatures, a gentleman that I've seen (but have no clue what his name is) through the gym circuit for a couple of years was getting ready to head out the doors as well.    He was lamenting the fact that he'd just left warmer temperatures to "come back to this!"   A group of us were gathered around the door and were laughing that this was just the start of it and he should "suck it up and deal with it."      He just laughed, reached in to his bag and drew out a fresh mandarin orange and tossed it to me.     He proceeded to say, "try that on for size....I ...

Oh my gosh!  I did it up good yesterday.  I now have to let my belt out another notch!  It was all sooooooooo good though. I stayed up on Wednesday until 11:30pm getting the kitchen set up, stuffing made, table set, and everything ready to go so all I had to do on Thursday was get the bird in the oven, turn on the stuffing (crock pot), and finish up with some last minute cooking.   We had 8 people at my house: brother-in-law Bill, his wife Jackie, their daughter Amy and her partner Nick, Mary - Jackie's mother, and Ella, my mother-in-law, and of course me and hubster.  The food was delicious, if I do say so myself.  Most importantly, the gravy did not have lumps!  (That's because I've finally found out that it is less headach to just go by the premade stuff than to keep apologizing for the lumpy gravy!) ~L~ My in-laws are ranchers - so by 3:00pm, everyone was gone.  My first year I cooked Thanksgiving dinner, I was just SURE that...

I remember growing up, my mother would make a comment about a neighbor lady and say something like, "she keeps a good house."   It seems that woman's status in the community was judged by the way she kept her house, cooked, or baked.  You know, the ultimate housewife and homemaker.  I used to think it was so funny, but not so much when mom would have me doing the spring AND fall cleaning.   This wasn't  the usual dust and vacuum.  Nope.   This was the all out get on the hands and knees scrubbing of walls and floors.  And lest not we forget the turning of the mattresses, washing of bed linens, and polishing till I was blue in the face. I try and keep up with the fall and spring cleaning, but in truth, I admit that I get at it only once a year.  That deep down, crevace, actually MOVE the furniture and vacuum, polish and shine and wash everything down.   I feel good that I do it, but chastise myself that I do...

  Now that the weekend is here, I'm definitely showing signs of life!  Funny how that happens.  :-)   This was an unusual week in that I had two Mondays in one week....and we all know how I hate Mondays!   I enjoyed the day off on Wednesday in observation of Veteran's Day, but coming back on Thursday was a killer!    Add to that my yoga nights were on Monday and Wednesday this week instead of Tuesday and Thursday.  Let's just say that I'm a little off kilter!  (Some would say that is normal for me though!) ~L~   I had a great training session with Levi last night.  He once again put me through my paces and had me sweating in no time.  My heart rate went from 112 bpm to 152 bpm in one minute!  Yow!  I felt good though.   I keep reminding myself that everything that I'm doing now to keep me strong and healthy will help me in my later years.  I don'...

....that's me rejoicing that I made it through "hump day" and Friday is looming ever closer. I don't like to wish time away, but I do so love my weekends! (Don't we all!). It's been a whirlwind of a week so far, but I'm loving every minute of it. Monday started out with yours truly attending PPCT (Pressure Point Control Tactics) class for 8 hours. PPCT is a great class for self defense out in the world.....but inside a prison setting it is used to "take down" an uncooperative inmate with nothing but your bare hands. Now, I want to remind you that I'm five foot nothing, I'm in fairly good shape, I'm limber, flexible, and really a good sport. I was looking around the room at my co-workers and thinking..."you want me to do what?" Talk about stepping outside the comfort zone. ~L~ Travis (instructor) was fantastic at explaining things in detail, and very patient with this particular desk jockey. At one point, while performi...

Once in a while I receive a request to "repeat" a blog post. This is one of the repeat posts that I hope you all enjoy the 2nd time around. It was originally posted in May of 2008. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Greetings Everyone, I received an email about 9 years ago from a far-away-friend that touched me to the core. It was entitled "Life's Lessons." I printed it out and tucked it away to read when I needed some inspiration. I ran across it awhile ago and, not surprisingly, it touched me as much now as it did then. So, to my friend Lee - wherever you may be, thank you for sending me something so beautiful and for thinking of me. Be well My friend. Life's Lessons Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, they serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be; your ...

Goodness Gracious.....it's the time of year that the ghouls, goblins, and monsters come out and play their trickery on us poor unsuspecting folk. I've always enjoyed fall - many of you know that by now (I keep saying it enough). With Autumn, comes the holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving. Although Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite Holiday, Halloween holds a special place in my heart, mainly due to one person - my friend and coworker Bob Holzworth. "Sniper Bob" - as he was affectionately known by his co-workers - LOVED Halloween. Bob started planning for this event months in advance. He scoured the thrift stores looking for the "perfect" costume to wear, decorations for his yard and his home, and material with which to build his "spooks." He was known to have decorated - and undecorated - his yard every night because he "didn't want vandals to destroy his handiwork". His Halloween parties (in celebration of his...

I'm covering all my bases and posting yoga information on this site as well. Due to instructor illness, yoga classes have been cancelled for tonight, Tuesday October 27, 2009. Students: Information has been emailed to your email accounts on file, posted on Twitter, www.newsdakota.com (local announcements) and also www.betterlifethroughyoga.blogspot.com I appreciate your understanding and apologize for the inconvenience. PS: The 1st night of the November session is Thursday, October 29th. Namaste' Sherry

I have happiness in my heart today. I get to spend the day with my lovely family for the 9th annual Schulz Oktoberfest! Every year my siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews,and great nieces/nephews spend a day in October gathering together reminiscing of days past with our childhood memories of Mom and Dad, life on the family farm, and sharing stories and tales of "the good life." We share food, drink, laughter. I'm proud to witness the love we have for each other. To share in the laughter of happy times, to share the grief of lost loved ones (Mom, Dad, and Earl) through shed tears, and to celebrate the future of our family as we watch the young ones play together and make the start of their own 'shared memories of family'. Pictures are taken for prosperity sake to document the passing of time and the growth of our lives and family. Whomever can make it, does - as there is no pressure to attend. And we miss those that cannot attend due to living out of state or life ...

I got up early and hit the gym for turned out to be an awesome workout. I had the place to myself so I didn't have to wait for machines or weights. I even spent 15 minutes in the sauna! LOVE feeling the heat! The usual errands had to be done - the weekly trip to Walmart - then home to clean house. I am definitely not a fan of housework, but if I don't do it, certainly no one else will. The best part of today is the sun! It's out! We haven't seen sun around these parts for a looonnnnnnnnng time. It's amazing what it does for the disposition. Tomorrow is supposed to be super nice - temps in the high 50's - so I'm thinking I may go running outside and let the fresh air shake the cobwebs loose from my brain. Namaste'

Every once in a while someone says something to me that causes me to beam from ear to ear.   I was recently told that my blogs are a source of sunshine and laughter.    Imagine that.  I wouldn't have thought that my writing about my every day trials and tribulations would be of interest  but it seems that I have been mistaken.    I like writing, I always have.  My high school English teacher said I had a gift for words and encouraged me to pursue writing further.  I always thought she was slightly off-center, but maybe she was on to something.  I should have taken heed.   I've kept journals since high school.  Almost everything that has happened in my life has been written on those pages.  The good, the bad and the ugly.     In times of great heartache, it was liberating to let it all out on to the paper and not worry about being judged about what I was...

I just spent 20 minutes on the phone trying to explain to an individual that they were a security risk and were not allowed in to the facility.     In the course of the conversation, the individual said to me, "the application said to be honest about my crimes; I was honest and now I'm denied.  I shouldn't have put anything down and then I could come see my brother. You people are untrustworthy."     Huh?????     When I explained that the recent nature of the crimes and the shear number of crimes that came up in his background check was enough to get him denied, he went ballistic on me.    Lemme see: Mother - denied for attempting to bring drugs in to her son (who is in prison) Father - denied because he's on probation for drugs Sister - charges pending for drugs.     Do I see a pattern developing here?   Yes, I am untrustworthy and out to destroy the lives o...

Good afternoon good peoples!   I hope everyone is doing fine this day.   I'm tired today after staying up a little later than usual on a Monday night, but all is good.  I didn't have to be in to work until 8:30am this morning (flex time for wellness), so I had a little extra time to ease in to the day and shake the cobwebs off.    I did some yoga, drank some coffee, took a wonderfully hot shower and started the day with a smile.  The smile bit the dust at 8:31am!  Oh well, I had good intentions.   Today it seems like everyone wants everything yesterday.  I have had to continually fight the urge to retort "Lack of planning on your part does NOT constitute an emergency on my part."  But then someone says, "I come to you because I know you'll get it done for me." or "You are my go-to gal."   It may be a bit of sucking up on their part, but it works!  I'm not above the adage "Flattery wil...

in my eyes as last night as I said my goodbye to Wendi. I tried to be strong and I was, right up until the point where I gave her a hug and looked in to her eyes. Mine filled with tears as did hers. All I could say was, "I love you sweetpea". I hope she knows that. My brother had an open house yesterday for his daughter, inviting both sides of the family to come say farewell and good luck. It was a wonderful day filled with laughter, good food, good drink, and even better company. I was able to see four of my five siblings (Ron is in Mexico). My niece Lisa was able to attend as well. She stopped in on her way back from Fargo after running a 1/2 marathon. The following are some pictures from yesterday. This is Wendi, the guest of honor And this is me with my marathon running niece, Lisa Marie. This is the three "Schulz" girls together. Wendi will do fine, I know that she will - she's a Schulz, and we Schulz girls are pretty strong individuals - someti...

In celebration of the hard freeze, the crisp morning air, and the grace and beauty of the falling leaves upon the gentle days breeze,      Namaste'  Sherry October gave a party; The leaves by hundreds came - The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples, And leaves of every name. The Sunshine spread a carpet, And everything was grand, Miss Weather led the dancing, Professor Wind the band. ~George Cooper, "October's Party"

  This will be posted on both blogs...   I had an interesting conversation with some of my students tonight before class started.  We were talking about how hectic life is (becoming) and how stressful it is when "one more thing" gets added to the schedule.    I can appreciate this thought as I, too, often have to breath and take a step back to evaluate the important things (priorities) in life.    I'm going to address this as coming from the "female" point of view, as I do not have men currently enrolled in my classes.  So men, please be patient.  If you have thoughts on the subject, feel free to comment.   As women, we are the caregivers of our world.  We make sure that everyone is fed, clothed, the laundry done, homework done, the household is running smoothly, and - in many cases - we work full time jobs outside of the home.   We put others needs and wants before our own.  We are often the ...

I ran across this last night on the internet and thought it worth sharing.  I know that we've ALL felt like doing this at some point during our lives.   Enjoy the read and smile.  And.....Tag! You're it!   My Resignation   - Author Unknown   I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided  I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year-old.   I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant.   I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks.   I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.   I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day.   I want to return to a time when life was simple; when all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn'...

As much as I don't like the prospect of colder weather, I do have to admit that I like the laziness of fall and winter. It's too cold to do projects outside, so therefore I stay indoors and attempt to tackle projects inside. Or not. ~L~ I have good intentions though. Take today for instance. I wanted to clear off my desk and finish up some bookwork. What did I do instead? I watched a movie. A Knight's Tale. LOVE that movie, love the soundtrack. It's one of those entertaining feel good movies that just make you smile. Of course, watching the very young and talented Heath Ledger was bittersweet. It felt good to veg out on the couch and lose myself in it. I was just talking with a friend about reading books and how I can lose 24-48hrs of my life when I get engrossed in a good book. I just don't seem to have the willpower to put it down. I have been reading a series called the Outlander series for the last 10 years (four books in the series, now there are five). I hate ...

Life can be such a challenge, and other days it seems to go off without a hitch. Why is that? Are there days that have better karma than others? Is it MY karma? I try to be in a sunny disposition 99.9% of the time, I really do. But even when it's bright and sunny in my world, someone always manages to rain on my parade. Must be their karma and not mine! ~L~ Today was good day though, seriously. I kicked it hard on some work projects that I've been pondering on (notice I didn't say "procrastinating"). I had the stereo-radio turned up a little and the songs floating through the airwaves were jammin! I couldn't have picked the play list better. Anyone who knows me, knows that my taste in music is eclectic, to say the least. Much to my heart's delight, they played U2's "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", Eagles, "Hotel California," Blondie's "Heart of Glass," Bon Jovi's "Raise Your Hands", Ste...

Sometimes it is quite remarkable how things work out - luck, coincidence or divine intervention? You tell me. Waking up this morning, I realized that I had two appointments scheduled for 4:00pm. After some coffee and a little bit of procrastination, I decided to get ready for the day. As it happened, the phone rang at 8:00am (she usually always calls my cell phone or office phone, but today opted for my home phone) and it was Brooke calling to say she had a cancellation at 3:00 and would I be interested. Yes! Kewl beans! I went to my 3:00pm appointment with her and it ran a little over. I called my 4:00 appointment (by this time it as 4:15pm) and said, "I'm running late! I can either cancel or do a 1/2 hour, which ever you want." She said, "no problem, you're my last appointment for the day, come on over." Wayyyyyyy cool! In May, my path was crossed with quite a nice, dynamic individual who expressed interest in my yoga classes. Through several conversations...

Root canal scheduled for 8:30 am tomorrow morning.  What a lovely way to start the day! (sighs).  Not only the pain associated with the tooth, but the bill also!     

I don't and cannot divulge a whole lot of information about where I work or what goes on inside these walls, but this tore my heart open.   My heart aches for the grandparents of an inmate in the facility.  The mail cleark just brought me a letter from a grandparent who is responding -for the last time -to her grandson's wishes that they "be gone from his life" because he has found a new religion while in prison.  A religion that unites him in brotherhood with his fellow brothers (inmates) and discourages contact with family who shun this "new found religion."     The grandmother is very gracious and spells out the differences between being a Christian (love, faith, peace), and his being a member of this brotherhood (hate, violence, and fear) and goes on to say that, although they are "dead to him," they will continue to pray for him and love him.    Sad, very sad.....and just a little glimpse of what goes on in the dark wo...

  I was thinking that rainy days and Mondays always get me down.  But today, my day radiated with sunshine all by the flash of a smile by a co-worker and a little good natured joking around.   Thank goodness of friends and co-workers.   I'm happy to report that I survived my crazy weekend!  The night-time wiffle ball tournament was an absolute blast!  People were pretty easy going and there to have a good time- which I'm sure everyone did.   I left around midnight so that I could head home and be bright eyed for my free community class on Saturday.    Ten people arrived for the class and it was wonderful to spend the morning doing yoga with them.   Some of the beautiful faces were new to me, while others were wonderful souls that I've known before.    We didn't do alot of strenuous movement, but enough to get our blood flowing and set the tone for the rest of our weekend.  It was ...