Flashback: 1985 The scene: My home in Knoxville, Tennessee, shortly after 6:00 p.m. Cast: Me (16 years old), My Dad (much older) Background: My Dad was the manager of a local Holiday Inn near the University of Tennessee campus and downtown Knoxville. Every now and then, bands who were playing in the area would stay there. This conversation occurred mere months after I was deeply scarred by the Prince/Purple Rain tour debacle. Dad, just arriving home from work: “Oh! I wanted to tell you. This group of kids is staying in the hotel…” Me: “A group of kids???” Dad: “Yes. A musical group.” Me, growing more excited since I was…
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And Just Like That…
After a summer away, training young scouts on wilderness survival and chasing bears into the woods he returned home. We’re all pretty happy about it.
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Lake Erie Shores And Islands: A Fun And Easy Trip For Chicago Families! (part 2)
Welcome to Post #2 about our family trip to the Sandusky, Ohio area! I have tons of pictures to share with you from our second day of the trip (and third morning before we got back on the road to Chicago in the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid that General Motors let us use: thanks again, GM!). But first, if you missed Day One you should probably catch up before reading this post. Click here to experience Day One. I’ll wait. We spent Friday and Saturday nights at the Maui Sands Hotel, which has just recently reopened. (The pool is open, but the waterpark doesn’t open until 2013!) We thought the rooms…
- Confessions, Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?, How To, I've Got Mad Skillz, Too Funny To Ignore
The Best AND Creepiest Way To Discourage A Door-To-Door Salesperson. Maybe.
We have lived in our current home for nearly twelve years. Our neighborhood is on the smallish side, and our elementary school is smack-dab in the middle. Both of my boys attended that school from Kindergarten through fifth grade (D started Kindergarten there when we were living in a rental home in another subdivision nearby). One of the things I love about this neighborhood is that it feels a lot like Mayberry: it’s quaint, neighbors know neighbors (for the most part), and until the last couple of years it was not very transient compared to other areas in my town. I have seen lots of kids grow up here alongside…
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Lake Erie Shores And Islands: A Fun And Easy Trip For Chicago Families! (part 1)
We just got back from vacation on Sunday! Well, it was technically a working vacation for me, but the best kind: I was invited to bring my family to the Sandusky, Ohio area to enjoy a whole bunch of stuff that Lake Erie Shores and Islands has to offer, for the explicit purpose of sharing it with you. (Yes, YOU.) Before I get started, let me summarize in case you’re the type that likes to read the last chapter of a mystery novel first so you can see whodunnit: WE LOVED IT. ALL OF IT. That said, I encourage you to read more. (And MORE: this is post number one…
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I Lost My Innocence Right Outside The Corner Store.
Back in the 1970s, the world was a very different place and generally safer than it is today. Parents used to let their kids run around as long as they were home by dinner, or by nine, or whatever, and kids respected that. There were no cell phones, and although it was recommended that kids not talk to strangers, generally most strangers were totally fine. When my sister and I used to visit our Grandma, one of our favorite things to do was walk two blocks to the corner store in order to pick up any random items that Grandma “needed” (milk, potato chips, gum…I’m pretty sure she came up…
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Top Five: The Chevy Tahoe Edition
My family returned Sunday night from a great weekend in the Sandusky, Ohio area on Lake Erie. I’ll be writing about that over the next couple of days but one thing I totally have my thoughts together on NOW is our sweet ride. The lovely folks at Chevrolet were kind enough to loan us a 2012 Tahoe Hybrid so that our trip would be more comfortable, and boy was it! I reviewed the 2011 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid last May when we drove one down south to pick up books from my publisher and you can read that post by clicking here. As I recall, there were no major changes to…
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Cody Simpson + Hallmark = True Love (& other stories)
A couple of months ago, I received an invitation to a Hallmark event that was actually taking place only about seven miles from my house. As a blogger who is contracted with Hallmark for 2012 and writing monthly posts for their awesome “Life Is A Special Occasion” campaign, this event was not “mandatory” by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not every day that my buddies at Hallmark have an event in my neck of the woods and I also thought it would be fun to cover it. Apparently this young man named Cody Simpson was going to perform at the event, which was to promote the new Hallmark…
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Bonus, Indeed.
When my maternal grandparents passed away within two years of each other, I was still in elementary school. Obviously life happens: nobody can plan when it’s supposed to end. (I’m not even sure if anyone would want to plan the timing of that milestone.) Those of us who are left behind usually say things like, “I wish she were still living” or “He died way too soon” or, as if to justify feeling robbed of more time, “Only the good die young.” All I knew as a young girl was that I was going to miss my grandparents terribly, and I have. Lucky for my sister and me, Marilyn and…
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The Day I Became One Of The Radio City Rockettes
I have had what are some pretty fantastic experiences in my life, some due to the existence of this blog and some for other reasons, whether I’m in the right place at the right time, I “go for” something, my sister “goes for” something, or because of other miscellaneous and wonderfully serendipitous events. I am always grateful for anything special that comes my way regardless of the reason, but some experiences make me geek out 100% because they are a perfect fit for my interests. Last year at the BlogHer conference, I had one of those experiences. I was lucky enough to do a workout with Bob Harper, Personal Trainer…