When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler”, by E. L. Konigsburg. The story detailed the adventures of Claudia Kincaid and her younger brother Jamie as they ran away from home and moved into the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. They spent their days tagging along with school groups exploring the museum’s exhibits, and spent their evenings bathing in fountains (grabbing coins from the bottom to buy food from the vending machines) and sleeping in the beds of kings and queens from another time. Though I wasn’t the kind of kid who wanted to run…
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Midwest Mania Wrap-Up 2010
I don’t know about you, but I’m still recovering from the weekend. Remember that picture I shared last week, in an attempt to describe to you how I’d feel after the weekend? Well, I was right. That’s not to say that the weekend wasn’t fun, though. I had a great time, but I worked SO, SO hard. Midwest Mania, for those of you who, like me, have been too busy to catch up on all of the blogs you read, is a fitness conference that is put on by SCW. Because I am an ACE-certified group fitness instructor, I need continuing education credits (CECs) to recertify, and going to a…
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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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How To Drive All Over Chicagoland Without Seeing A Thing. Almost.
You people never cease to amaze me. I slipped a little somethin’ somethin’ into yesterday’s post, wondering if anyone would catch it, and I was thrilled when I got Sue’s comment: “The most perplexing part of your post was this: ‘most of which were closed (I didn’t check hours and such before we got on the road)’ You are the organized travel/event queen! Could there be a chink in your armor?” Well SUE, of course there could be! I’m not perfect, you know! Here’s what happened. It was a Friday in the summer, a couple of years ago. Julesie was not working that day, and so we arranged to take…
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Rock and Rainbows
Our family has always had the most fun on our official “Fab Five” outings and events. (If you’re new here, the Fab Five is made up of me, Jim, our sons, and my sister Julesie.) One of our best-known adventures here on the Scrawl was the time when (two years ago) we got together to make international burgers–including a German burger with mustard and sauerkraut on it, which my German twin Kat was disgusted by–in honor of the premiere of “The Amazing Race”, one of our favorite shows. This past weekend, the older boy came home from college for a special Fab Five event: attending a live performance of the…