Niece Brielle during her baptism on Saturday afternoon. Is there anything that makes a person feel better than watching a baby smile? We love you, Brielle.

January 6, 2012 – Sunday

24 degrees/partly cloudy

Pentoga Road

We’re supposed to be sleeping in this morning, but old habits die hard. I awakened at the usual time of 5:30 and lay in bed, my mind racing from one thought to another. I could tell by her breathing that Sargie was awake. Sure enough, when I spoke, she answered back.

Baby Brielle taking a pre-baptism nap under her Packers Victory Blankie

I sneaked out of bed hoping Sargie might fall back to sleep. Once my brain is awake for the day, my body follows whether I like it or not. Tossing and turning only served to keep Sargie awake. I’m relatively certain there’s a nap in my near future, sometime after lunch.

Ready to head to Brielle's baptism via Green Bay

Saturday was a three hundred-mile marathon to see our niece, Brielle, baptized. We left shortly after 8 and had a pleasant drive to Green Bay before stopping at Harbor Freight to purchase a set of ramps for the truck. I’ve been using a pile of dirt and homemade ramp the previous owner constructed alongside the drive to load and unload my four-wheeler, but as Sargie has pointed out, it doesn’t make a very pretty lawn ornament. The girl has a point. The ramps usually sell for $80 or more. With the sale price, plus a discount, I purchased mine for about half that.

Sargie drove us past Lambeau Field

We stopped at the mall and exchanged a sweater I received at Christmas for a larger size. Sargie flew through the women’s wear section looking for after-holiday bargains, but didn’t see anything she liked.

We arrived in Manasha, Wisconsin, around 2 and enjoyed a tour of Ashley and Brent’s home. I settled in front of the large screen television and along with the other men, talked football and about Green Bay’s first playoff game set to begin later in the day.

Time to go to the church

Mass started at 4 PM and the baptism was directly after. With Godparents and parents, grandmas and grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins, little Brielle was baptized. Only a few months old, the little girl smiled, laughed, and giggled through the entire ceremony and even had a sometimes-somber priest chuckling. It was wonderful.

Cousin Aubrey wants in on the action

We enjoyed pizza and conversation at Ashley’s after, but needed to start the one hundred-fifty mile drive home. Yooper Mark had given us directions for a shorter route. It eliminated Green Bay and other bottle necks completely and allowed us to navigate remote state and county roads the entire way. We made great time and pulled into the drive at 10 PM.

We listened to the Packers game all the way home. Other than a slow start, Green Bay played good ball, something they’ll have to continue to do if they want to defeat the 49’ers in next Saturday’s contest.

I spotted a package on our front doorstep. Andy had sent a Clay Matthews jersey… a late Christmas present, which I immediately put on and wore around the house until bedtime. I asked Sargie if when I wore the jersey, she could tell me from Clay. After all, with my long flowing blonde locks and deeply chiseled and defined body… She just giggled and tried to ignore me.

Okay, since it’s been established I don’t really resemble Clay, in the continuing quest to work off some of this holiday flab around my waist, I’ll get my walk out of the way first thing this morning. With a fairly mild day in the forecast, I’d like to continue cleaning the workbenches in the garage and put more things away in the barn. No doubt, the rest of the playoff games will be watched later.

We’re to have a week of above freezing temperatures, which means ice fishing and enjoying a mid-winter reprieve. The thermometer is forecast to drop to more seasonal temperatures the week after. Other than fishing, I’d like to spend the next several days preparing and replenishing for the second half of the winter. Maple syrup season will be following and after that, it will be time to think about gardening and getting ready for the summer months. A man’s work is never done, you know.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Auntie (and Godmother) Leah after.