Weekly Blog: May 27-June 2

You ever have bad things happen to you and someone says, "bad things happen in threes"? But then the 3 becomes 5 and then 10 and then 25 and then bad things seem to be happening so much that they start to repeat? But also, you're aware that these bad things could always be worse so you should be grateful. Anyway, that's how this week started on Memorial Day.

I didn't initially have any plans for the day after the busy weekend. My friend reached out to see if I wanted to go on a hike, which I became pretty excited for. I packed the car with water and started driving over when I realized, my tire was flat. So, no forest for me. One flat tire shouldn't make a person spiral, but for about the past 6 years, Mike and I have had multiple car problems on multiple cars. I had tire problems, a flat tire, a new car in 2021, bald tires in January that needed a tow during a winter snowstorm, bought new tires, and not even 5 months later, I have a nail in the tire. Now things I am grateful for is that this didn't happen while we were in the middle of Illinois or out in the woods. But it sucks it happened..again. At least it stranded me long enough to do laundry and make protein jello (pack of jello, two cups of high protein yogurt, and protein powder is optional).

On Friday, I met up with a friend for Kung Fu Tea and we walked down State Street.

I had a big debate on what I was going to do with my weekend. I decided my plans at the last minute and was grateful I did since I woke up to yet another rainy day. I headed to the Angel Attic Sale and bought a $10 bag of goodies. Afterwards, I hit up Festa Italia where I watched a pasta eating contest, ate a pasta dinner, learned about Italian Madison history and listened to some music.

On Sunday, I went to the Great Cheese Festival in Little Chute, WI. It was a beautiful 2 hour drive there, including a stop at Sisson's Peony Gardens. I realized I was a bit early so I stopped at Fox Valley Mall to grab a new car scentsy thing from Bath and Body Works. If you don't know, this is probably the most famous Bath and Body Works that put Appleton on the map thanks to this video.

I pulled into Little Chute and parked a couple blocks away from Doyle Park, where the cheese festival was being held. I grabbed a hot dog from the 4H tent and watched the community band. The petting farm opened so I watched the family bring out all their animals. You may not know this, but I grew up on a petting farm and spent most of my childhood running the business. It was not easy or fun. So I had a few flashbacks of running our petting farm while watching this family work theirs.

I then sampled a bunch of cheeses from Simon's specialty cheese. I waited for the cheese curd eating contest, which I thought started at 1pm, but started at 2pm I found out a bit later. I checked out all the carnival rides that were only a $1 but didn't ride any since they weren't really for me. Overall, while a great fest for locals and families, this festival wasn't great for someone who solo-ed it. I just didn't know what to do with myself in between events.