Traditions

How is it possible that this is the last day of August?! This has been a good "season" ... I think of summer as the time between Memorial and Labor Days ... not too short but of course I wish it would go on forever, especially the milder weather we had a few weeks ago. Back to school is just a couple of days away ... Chunky in 8th grade (last at his K-8 Catholic school) and Sassy a college sophomore ... and the season wouldn't be complete without the annual tradition of the Great Minnesota Get-Together. It's something you either love or hate and we love it. I didn't take many photos it was 90°+, but got a few of our favorite roosters from the Sheep & Poultry barn, the championship Hen & Tom turkeys as well as a food item I'd never tried before - Bayou Bob's Alligator (tasted like chicken).

Bring on the next great tradition ... Halloween!

Berry Good

We all know I love sweets, but somehow cobbler has never been on my hit list. While I lived in the south - Texas is the south, right? - for a few years, I never picked up a hankering for cooking southern food. Not sure if cobbler is a southern thing or not, but that's what I've associated it with. All that has recently changed - first this cake and now this cobbler. Oh my griddles, it's amazing! I ripped the recipe out of a People magazine I bought for a read on my recent trip to Sconny and have made it three, four times already. I use any kind of berry on hand that's looking a little overripe. My extra special twist is to add a few sliced almonds in the berry mix. Next time I make it - now? - I'm going to use almond meal instead of flour. I bet it will rock my world.

Sconny

I've been working on a post about my recent rejuvenating trip to sunny northeast Wisconsin to see my BFF and family. Then I had a great night out with one of my girlfriends this week (Milwaukee born and raised) and dished with another favorite girlfriend who I missed while she was on vacation last week (Appleton born and Indiana raised) and realized all three of these great ladies are from Wisconsin! There's a fourth girlfriend in Hudson I need to connect with who will put it over the top (though she wasn't born a Sconny just lives there now, that's a technicality we'll overlook). There may be others I'm forgetting - shout out if you're reading this and are a Sconny girl!

My trip to WI was wonderful ... I loved spending time with my BFF and her family. And the little dogs too. I didn't have to do anything ... get up at a certain time, make meals (though I happily volunteered to make pancakes one morning), divvy up pills. Nothing. And I got to sleep through the ENTIRE night for three nights in a row. Sheer heaven! sigh

I was honored they took time to take me on my first trip to Door County. Love it! We ate and visited an art fair in Egg Harbor, stopped at a general store near Fish Creek, then shopped and ate ice cream in Sister Bay. If I had to pick a favorite place I'd say Pipka's - they had this amazing almond cake I will be making soon as well as beautiful French inspired scents, jewelry and doodads. Everyone at home got t's and I bought myself a pair of stylish Crocs sandals on sale. These shoes are so comfortable it might be illegal. They will forever be known as my Door County sandals.

RIP Maddie Rose

Our sweet Maddie (aka The Moose or Madagascar) went to the great doggie park in the sky today. We discovered a mass on her side just 10 days ago and it turned out to be an aggressive cancer. She was getting weaker and not her self by the day so time to let go. So sad. Chunky and Sassy went with me to the vet ... Chunky had some alone time with her before, nuzzled her head during and carried her in when it was done. The vet has an outside area for euthanasia during good weather and it was perfect ... Maddie loved to be outside - so much so that she went on many unapproved adventures over the years. Hard to believe how fast the time has passed the last 12 years.

 

Here I go again

I have a long history of procrastination (see any post with "grad school" label) and I'm living up to my own expectations again. I took Friday off from work so I could really dig in and get most of my Ethical Leadership research paper done. This is Sunday and I'm maybe 50% done. Really?! It's due this Friday by Noon. Today is going to be a productive day though, I can feel it.

While I should be focused on my paper, I have been processing in the back of my brain what to do with a cruddy looking crate of strawberries in the fridge. This time of year is challenging for berries ... they taste great, but are only fresh for about two days after bringing home. Conversely, the berries available in winter stay fresh forever, yet have no taste. I came across this recipe for Strawberry Basil Tart and it seems to be a perfect way to use the strawberries as well as the abundance of tiny leaf basil growing in my herb container.

Wish me luck - with the paper and tart!

I Heart Cheerios

A Cheerios commercial is getting a lot of attention. I love the commercial because it's cute and represents the world I want to live in. I also appreciate the dialogue. Go General Mills!

The Long Way 'Round

My 10-12 page ethical leadership research paper is due in 12 days. I only landed on my research question last night. I'm trying to decide if I should panic or not. I'm leaning towards not ... I have today, a few light work days, another entire weekend and a few weeknights before then. Just think what all went down in the 12 days of Christmas! I'm sure I can pull it off. Now I'm not so daft that I had absolutely no clue what I wanted to write about, but it has not been easy for me to come up with the ONE thing for which I want to create an argument with rational connections to theories presented in the course as well as counter-arguments. That may prove to be the easy part. I've got 12 pages of notes and counting (read three books on the topic- one enormous at 1000+ pages and two at 100 pages each - as well as four scholarly journals). The reference to "scholarly" is intentional - the instructor emphasized repeatedly that web resources and opinions alone are no-nos. 

Are you ready for it? Drum roll ...............................

How Does Consensus Building Demonstrate Ethical Leadership?