Party Planning and Games People Play!

I can't recall a month of windier weather than what we've been experiencing in the Midwest. It got old a while ago and most of us are ready for some warmer, less rainy, and less windy days. 

I had a longish gravel ride of 74 miles (119 km) planned for Saturday with hopes of getting out early ahead of the stronger winds that were forecast but I was grounded as I waited for some heavy downpours to pass. By the time the rains moved out, the winds had begun to ramp up. I did my best to keep my head down and work my way south into them but there were occasional gusts close to 40 mph (64 kph) that nearly blew me over more than once. I stopped several times to put a foot down and steady myself when they became too much. After 14 miles of white-knuckling my bars, I'd had enough and turned for home. That's what indoor trainers are for!

We met Rachel and Drew at Drew's parent's home yesterday to strategize about the wedding celebration they have planned for September. They were married last September but had to limit the wedding size to just immediate family due to the pandemic. Waiting a year for the reception was a smart move and a sign of the times we're living in. It will be an interesting story they can share with their children someday. The reception will be at Doc and Bernie's home (Drew's father and stepmom) where they have several acres and multiple options for how to go about setting up tents, porta-potties, buffet lines, bars, and such. I believe they're planning for somewhere between 200 and 250 people. They're having to roll the dice a little as it will be an outdoor celebration. It was nice to put our heads together and establish some direction about how to proceed. I know Rachel is feeling somewhat relieved to have run through their concerns and brainstormed whatever other considerations there may be so the day goes off as smoothly as possible.

Tammy and I took a road trip to Sleepy Eye Stained Glass in Sleepy Eye last Friday. It's more of a drive than I'm used to for stained glass supplies but unless someone opens a new shop in the cities, the 3 1/2-hour roundtrip is the best I can do now that the shops I'd been using nearby have closed their businesses. We always enjoy a road trip together with a stop for lunch so it's actually something we look forward to doing.

As we entered the front door, we were met by Athena, a cute little 11-year-old Yorkie. She allowed me to scoop her up which surprised Linda, the manager of the shop and the pup's owner. Apparently, she's not the friendliest shop dog but we'd never have guessed. Perhaps she smelled Charlie on us as he came along and was waiting for us in our car. The glass selection at the shop was actually quite good, leaving us both pleasantly surprised. 

Our upper-level remodel is complete after some delays with plumbing fixtures. It's nice to have things back in place. I made a quick video for a friend of ours who normally helps us with color choices and such but Karen and her husband Bob moved to Florida a few years ago leaving us to swim or sink on our own. I think we did well. Here's the video. The only thing left in our home to upgrade at some point is the vinyl flooring in the guest bathroom. We're in no hurry.

I'm still working on a stained glass design for our bathroom windows but I've been sidetracked a little by a new design program I purchased last week. I'm in the process of learning how to use it and I'm feeling nearly competent enough to begin working with it. It's called Affinity Designer. I think it's going to be very helpful when I begin working on some new stained glass sun-catcher designs with (hopefully) some elements of Art Nouveau-style in some of my future work. 

Tammy and I have been playing the word game Wordle since early last winter. It's usually the first thing we each do in the morning. There have been several Wordle-inspired games that have come out recently and we like playing those as well. There is Dordle (double Wordle), and there is Quordle (quadruple Wordle), and also Waffle. Waffle is a fun variation of these games that I've only recently begun playing. And today, a friend just turned me on to Crosswordle (a crossword puzzle Wordle); one of the more difficult versions of these games that I've played. And one last game that I need to mention—a game entirely different from the others I've linked to here; it's called Semantle, and it's going to challenge you to go through your Rolodex of words in your brain in a way that no other game will. We obviously don't play each game every day but I'll take on several of them over the course of a day. They can be time-consuming if you're not careful!

The games people play!

Extra credit viewing here, here, and here.

That's all I've got.