5189. Go to a Green Bay Gamblers Game

 I caught the hubby looking at our dry-erase calendar. Yes, we are old school and use an calendar on the wall to coordinate our schedules. It's much easier to look. He was like don't forget we have the Gamblers game on Sunday the 18th. Um.. that is not on the calendar. Apparently one of his buddy invited us to go as part of the Shriners event. 

The Green Bay Gamblers are a Tier 1 Junior Hocket team that plays in the United States Hockey League. They have been in Green Bay for 20 years and this is the first time we are going. The hubby is slowing learning to like hockey. They play at the Resch Center which is across the street from Lambeau Field. We parked at Stadium View Bar and Grill across the street and just walked over. 

We had seats upstairs almost at center ice. They were actually really good seats. I just had cold air blowing on my all game. My face was cold. I wore boots so my feet stayed warm at least. 

After seeing many Admiral games and a Coyotes game, I was truly disappointed in the Gamblers. It was like watching the Mighty Ducks. It was not the clean, crisp hockey that I'm used to watching. 

The hubby didn't like the lack of officiating. He said there were way too many fights and roughness not called. The game was a very rough and they might have been 4 or 5 power plays all game. 

One kid got a bloody nose/face. They did call penalty on that one. The referee got hit with a puck after Youngstown scored because one of the Gambler players was mad. No penalty on that. It was just rough hockey.

I did find it amusing they left the blood on the ice for several minutes. Then during a time out or after an icing call was made, the referees cleaned up the blood. 

The hubby's buddy gave us pucks to throw on the ice during the 2nd intermission trying to win a prize. I lost my puck but the hubby let me throw his. I don't remember the number on his puck but I'm pretty sure it never made it near any prize. 

His buddy also got to ride the Zamboni during the 2nd and 3rd period. Okay I am jealous of that. He looked like he was having a good time.

As the hubby said, we wouldn't pay to go to a Gamblers game but if someone gave us free tickets we would go. It is a fun time but the hockey isn't very good in my opinion. Now I just need to convince him we need to go to an Admirals game.

7148. Have Dom Pérignon

 When Erin was cleaning out her apartment, she discovered a bottle of  Dom Pérignon that her husband received. We said we would help her drink that. 

It turns out it was a bottle of  Dom Pérignon from 1998, the year I graduated from High School. That bottle runs about $380 according to Google.

Danielle did the honors and uncorked it. There was no big splash. I was kind of disappointed. 

Of course, being 25+ years old we had to do the sniff test to make sure it still smelled okay.

Then we had some mimosas. Yes, we used  Dom Pérignon to make mimosas. Even Erin added a splash to her orange juice to say she had  Dom Pérignon. 

We probably should not have used  Dom Pérignon to make mimosas but drink it straight up like it was supposed to be drunk. But when you have the choice between  Dom Pérignon and regular champagne, we reached for the  Dom Pérignon. 

I did finish the last bit of the bottle straight. It was very dry. I'm glad we used it in the mimosas as I probably could not have drunk a whole glass of that dry champagne. 

No one was dressed to the nines. We were all comfy.. me in a leggings and a hoodie. And we drank  Dom Pérignon. I'm sure there are people rolling around in agony that we "abused" since fine champagne but as Erin said "when are ever going to have it again." This was as good as any to break of out the good stuff.

Would I spend $200+ on a bottle of champagne. The cheap stuff works just fine for me. However, if someone is going to gift me (or one of my friends) a bottle of  Dom Pérignon, I will be more than happy to indulge.

Trying My Hand at Paper Quilling

 This month's Make and Mingle craft at Kaukauna was paper quilling. I wasn't sure what it was but it sounded intriguing and I was willing to give it a try. Per Wikipedia, "Quilling is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs". It sounds simple enough. 

After watching a quick demo on the different types of rolls and how to roll your strip of paper, we were pretty much left to our own device. 

The two types of rolls are tight coils and loose coils. The difference; a loose coil you let unwind after you wind it on your quilling tool before glue. A tight coil you glue without it relaxing a bit. There are also ovals which are loose coils squeezed at the end. These are the basic shapes you need to make a design. 

I choose a snowflake. It required 6 full strips of paper, 6 1/2 strips of paper, and 6 1/3 strips of paper. All the paper came in a package. There were multicolored packs. I choose double blue and gold. (Shocker). You can get these packs at any craft store or on Amazon.

Basically you slide your strip of paper in the edge of your quilling tool and then wind it around itself. I found it out it easier to hold with my left hand (non-dominant) and roll it with the right. Then depending on the shape, you let it relax or not. Then you glue the end to itself. 

Once I had all my coils rolled and the 6 full strips pinched into ovals, I attempted to make my snowflake. For whatever reason my full coils ended up being different sizes so it wasn't perfect. In order to glue the coils to themselves, it's best to use wax paper or something so it doesn't stick to what you are glue it on. However, we didn't have that and I just used scrap paper. It stuck to the paper. Now I have a random piece of neon yellow paper with a funky looking snowflake on it.

I tried. Would I do it again? Probably not. It was fun but I don't see myself having a use for quilling. I'm much too impatient to sit and coil paper strips and then glue them into shapes. Reading is so much better.

I am glad Kaukauna library does these Make and Mingle projects so I am introduce to a wide variety of crafts that I probably never try on my own. 

24 in 2024: Play at Least one new game -- Monopoly Deal

 While killing time on Thanksgiving, I was a reading a post by Jen Mann about Christmas Gifts. It included the game Monopoly Deal. I checked it out on Amazon and saw it was $2.49. I bought it on a whim. Playing regular Monopoly can take forever and we don't even own the game. The hubby I used to play games when we were dating and still do occasionally. I thought this would be a good way to spend a winter night.

The game, once you learn the rules, is quite easy. Be the first to acquire 3 full sets of proprieties of different colors. There are wild cards that make other players pay as well as cards that tell others to pay you rent.

I won the first game only because the hubby was still getting the hang of it. Once he figured it out, watch out. He beat me like 5 straight. There is some strategy to it. With 2 people, it's a bit easier to strategize. The more people you have, the more cut-throat it could become. I warned Heather that there would probably be tears and fights at her house with this game.

The only downfall is trying to get the cards back in the box when you're done. You have to split the cards in half and stack them bottom to top. I will probably eventually just put them in a bag like our UNO cards.

We will definitely play it again. I may toss it in my bag to bring on vacation to give us something to do at night. 

If you are looking for a fun game for all ages, this is a fun one. Depending on how many people and how good you are at shuffling it can be quick or it can take a while. We have never ran out cards yet. 

23 in 2023 -- Go to Sweet Lair in Menasha

Knowing Heather is usually up to a good coffee shop and likes board games, I suggested we meet at Sweet Lair in Menasha to catch up and exchange Christmas gifts. She was intrigued and agreed. Sweet Lair was on my 23 in 2023 list that I did not get to and I still wanted to check it out.

Sweet Lair is a board game cafe/coffee shop downtown Menasha. It is open Tuesday-Sunday. Hours vary by the day of the week. It has coffee drinks and sandwiches with names that play on board games like Hungriest Hippo or Mint Condition Frappe. 

The entire decor is board game themed. It is just a fun place to hang out.

After we ordered, we played a game of Uno Flip with the kiddo that was enlisted to help with grocery shopping later (and bribed with food). They have a whole wall of games including classics and modern games. At first the kiddo wanted monopoly but we didn't have all afternoon. Uno Flip is similar to Uno but has switch cards which means you flip the cards over and play with a different set of colors (Purple, pink, teal, and orange). 

Our food arrived. Heather ordered a Terrafroming Fusion Quesadilla. It was a buffalo chicken quesadilla that included bacon. It looked amazing. I wasn't overly hungry and decided to just have a brownie. The brownie was good but not as good as I expected. It needed something. I should have gone with a quesadilla. My mint condition frappe had coffee in it. I was not used to having coffee in my frappe. Let's just say I survived my first coffee drink but I did have a headache after.

I would definitely go back. I doubt I would convince the hubby to come with me but definitely a place Heather and I will keep in our list of places to meet up at. I might have to take Stacy the next time she's in town. If you haven't been, go check it out.

24 in 2024 -- Try at least one new recipe: Beer Cheese Dip

 The hubby and I have struggled to find the perfect beer cheese dip. I suck at making roux because I'm too impatient. Stovetop cheese beer dip isn't my forte. Stacy mentioned using cream cheese instead of a roux. I found an easy crock pot recipe that didn't sound bad and decided to give it a try since we had a giant pretzel in the freezer.

Ingredients -- I cut this down to a 1/3 of a recipe since it was only the two of us

• Cream Cheese
• Cheddar Cheese -- Use good cheese. I did not,
• Lager -- I seriously was looking for a straight lager. I didn't realize lager encompasses so many different types of beer. We used Sam Adams because it was Boston Lager. I didn't want Miller Lite or Bud Lite because I wanted to be able to drink the beer. Not a fan of those.
• Dijon Mustard
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Garlic Powder
• Salt

Toss everything in the crockpot and cook for an hour. 

It was okay. 

I think we need a milder beer (less beer) and better cheese. It had too much of a beer taste and not enough of a cheese taste. The hubby really wasn't a fan but I think I have a starting point to continue to experiment.

24 in 2024

I managed to complete about half of my 23 in 2023 list last year. A couple I really had good intentions about doing but life go in the way or I just ran out of time. This year I decided to keep it vague and hope for the best

1. Have at least one adventure every month -- big, small, repeat. It doesn't matter. I just want to have adventures.
2. Shop local at least one new shop
3. Read at least 12 non-fiction books
4. Watch at least one movie a month
5. Explore at least one new park or trail
6. Try at least one new restaurant
7. Play at least one new game
8. Make at least one new recipe
9. Visit at least one new brewery
10. Visit at least one new winery
11. Walk/bike/hike at least 400 miles
12. See at least one live performance 
13. Visit at least one new baseball stadium (major, minor or spring training)
14. Try at least one new cocktail
15. Try at least one new coffee shop/cafe
16. Buy myself flowers at least once -- I just want pretty flowers 
17. Go to at least one book signing/author talk
18. Watch Gone With the Wind -- I just read a book about Hattie McDaniel who played Mammie and now would like to read it.
19. Read a comic book -- The hubby has a stack of comic books sitting on the coffee table. I better knock this one out before he sells them on E-bay
20. Try a new food
21. Get at least one stamp in my NPS passport
22. Complete a 5K every month.. official or just for fun -- A walk of 3.1 counts in my book
23. Complete the 50 state book challenge
24. Get at least one stamp in all 6 of my baseball passports (Spring Training, Big Book, Baseball Attractions, Brewers, Minor League, and T-Rats)