Did you know that I make notecards, announcements, and invitations? I’ve done it for years, ever since my life became way too busy for scrapbooking. I love crafting cards out of paper* and cool embellishments: it’s relaxing for me. (Well, except when I decide to make way more than I need “since I’ll be doing it anyway”…that’s just ridiculous. When will I learn???) I’ve done baby announcements, save the date cards, engagement and graduation party invites, and of course, birthday invitations. I love stretching myself creatively to come up with something that surprises people. A few weeks ago, I made some holiday notecards (blank inside) to sell at the salon.…
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If The Quality Of A Birthday Is Any Indication Of How The Next Twelve Months Will Go, I’m Gonna Have An Awesome Year.
A couple of weeks ago, Jim asked me if I was getting excited about my birthday coming up. I said, “Eh, not really.” It wasn’t that I was dreading it (I wrote about my thoughts leading up to it in my last post); I was looking forward to our family dinner out and evening at an improv comedy show, but I couldn’t say that I was jumping for joy about the birthday itself. The day started off great and only got better. When I opened up my laptop for the first time in the morning, I had a flood of well wishes from my Facebook friends. I put up this…
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Amazing Moments in Parenthood
Whenever I speak with the parents of really young kids, they almost always comment on “how lucky” I am that I don’t have to change diapers anymore or do any number of assorted tasks related to having really little ones. In an attempt to be encouraging, I say things like, “Don’t worry, your kids will gradually become more and more self-sufficient as they grow. In fact, once they can make their own breakfast in the morning, you’re on your way!” (That’s when whomever I’m talking to usually sighs as their eyes glaze over at the happy thought of what I said.) It was a huge milestone in this house, when…
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Call Me Selfish, But I’m Keeping Zumba Just For Me.
Believe it or not, I was not active as a younger person. Unlike my sister, who began playing soccer as a child and continued into college as I recall, I never participated in any sports other than the occasional trip to the bowling alley. I was more of the Couch Potato variety. When Jim and I moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin, I was 24 and decided that I should start exercising. I found a little women’s-only gym, got a tour from the owner, and signed up. I remember vividly how I used to be very jealous of the ladies who would get on the stairmaster for a full thirty minutes: whenever…
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I’m Showing You What I Did So You Can Imagine What I’m Doing
It is early (5:30 a.m.) and I am already dressed in my black workout pants and black sponsor t-shirt: Midwest Mania begins today! The Mania is a fitness conference that is full of workshops and lectures for personal trainers, instructors (that’s me!), and others in the fitness industry. (For me, it’s nothing like BlogHer, because MY fun at Mania is actually going to the sessions. Wocka wocka wocka!) Last year I worked the conference (it’s a cheaper way to get continuing ed credits I need for recertification), and at the staff party, I won the choice of either going for free this year (and not working) or working part time…
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McMels Gone Wild*!
My high school friend, McMel, came for a visit last weekend. Actually, she didn’t come for a visit, technically: she came for a two-day seminar, sent by her new employer. I was thrilled to find out that the seminar wouldn’t be in the city after all: it was in Oak Brook, which is only about fifteen minutes from my house. That location made it easy for me to pick McMel (and her super-nice co-worker) up for dinner both evenings, and then take them to the airport for their flight home on Saturday. Getting together with old friends is a priceless experience. Sharing a history, especially history from the teenaged years,…
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We Did It!
This picture was taken by Secret Agent Mama with the PEN E-PL1 camera that Olympus was kind enough to loan me! Yay us! Michelle and I completed the Blogher 5K this morning! Michelle ran just about all of it; she had to stop at certain intersections to figure out which way to go! I ran more than half of it before I alternated running and walking. I have a blister the size of a quarter on the bottom of my foot that I got over the last two nights while hoofing it all over Manhattan in non-sensible shoes (THANKS, annoying sandals…NOT!), and that bothered me a bit. Plus? It was…
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Goal #1: ATTAINED!
Gah! I was really, really hoping to do one last vlog, especially today WHEN I COMPLETED MY FIRST GOAL (woot!), but I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off, getting ready to fly out to New York at o’dark thirty tomorrow, and the thought of waiting for the vlog to upload and process and…well, you get the idea. Quick summary: I got very little sleep last night (what else is new?), mostly due to my ongoing mental insanity about what I still needed to do around here before leaving town for five days, but also because there were really bad storms starting around 3:30 a.m., which…
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Couch to 5K Mini Update: The Penultimate Workout
I just returned home from my Week 9, Day 2 run and wanted to tell you about it, but first I wanted to say thank you so much to all of you who piped up with advice and encouragement when I hit the wall on Friday; you all really came through for me. As you know, I’m swamped, but I wanted to respond to comments and I can save myself a few minutes by responding here, quickly. Sarahndipitea: I did not even know that there was special Couch to 5K music out there! I checked it out after you left your comment and was amazed. I didn’t download any yet,…
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Teenaged Boys + Cars = Forever
I have learned that it’s a given, the torrid love affair between teenaged boys and cars. The day on which the older boy bought his car (with his own money!) was quite possibly the most exciting day of his life. He was positively giddy. All wasn’t perfect, however: the car came with an oil leak that required constant monitoring and topping off of oil. We took it in a few months ago to see if the pros could determine the source of the leak, and it was the worst oil-related diagnosis possible: the head gasket. The quote? $2600. (more than twice what the older boy paid for the car) It…