Finding the Right Pair of Glasses

“Your face is off.” That is a memorable quote from my visit with a feisty little optician in the fall of 2011.

Flash forward to almost two and half years later. I am gazing upon the eye-glass frames at a different store, eagerly wondering what fantastic frame will bless my face while I play tennis and take my refreshing bike rides to the Chicago Botanic Garden when it is NOT 0 degrees outside.

I remark to the optician, “I really like purple.”

She handed me an ugly maroon/bruise colored oblong goofy-shaped frame and said, “Here, these are sporty.”  I gasped at the not only ugly color but the incredibly unflattering frame shape. I put them on and looked like Mrs. Magoo.

When Snow Day Becomes Tow Day

Snow is beautiful to watch as it falls down without gusty winds. I love walking in it, especially when the Christmas lights are still out.

The snow seems comforting at night, especially with lights along the way.

This morning, my efforts to ge to work were thwarted by the deep snow in the alley.  Then snow becomes a pain.

Years ago,

2014 – The Year of Fabulous Views

Riveted readers – a year ago I put together a short and simple wish list for 2013.  How did it go? The results are in blue. 

Christmas on Cleveland Street

Last year, a friend of mine alerted me to some amazing lights not too far from where I live. There are many light sequences – each in synch with a different song that can be found on a radio frequency. I took some stills last night and some are below.

Elvis is singing “Blue Christmas”..sigh!

The lights dazzle!

Christmas Light Delight

Last night, despite the frigid weather, I covered up in warm clothing so I could walk around town to complete my annual mission of capturing Christmas lights on film. The slabs of concrete were slick with ice and crunched as I spotted various delightful lit up displays. I waited for my blurred lenses to de-fog and used my fingers (slowly transforming into icicles) to snap some shots.

Starring…star lights!

Classic Christmas Feel – with a wreath, of course!

Love the wreath and all of the color!

Taken Too Soon

The other day, I read about a couple in Ontario, Canada, who had been married for over 56 years.  They were returning home from their weekend getaway in a snowstorm. Visibility had to be a challenge but they were no strangers to the Canadian winter road conditions. They were within ten miles of their destination when their car collided with an unloaded logging truck.  The driver of the truck was unharmed but the proud parents of six children and grandparents of 16 did not survive the crash.

Normally, I would gasp at reading such an account. However, in this case, I knew the victims. Slowly, it sunk in that the husband of my cousin had lost both of his parents in an instant.

2013 Chicago Skyrise – Willis Tower Climb

The day started with the Rocky III theme, “Eye of the Tiger” blaring through my brain. I bounced to the train to keep my date with some stairs up the Willis Tower. CUT! My neck knotted up!  Are you kidding me?  I spent the majority of the train ride manipulating my neck so I could at least turn it.  As I got off the train, an older gentleman stepped on the back of my shoe, nearly thrwarting my ambition even before I reached my destination.  Then, when I got to the Tower, a cart full of food almost took me out.  But, despite the obstacles that tried to vanquish me, I was still standing. It’s game time and

The Day Before Climbing The Willis Tower

Tomorrow, I take on the beast known as the WIllis Tower. It’s 2,109 steps, 103 floors and 1,353 feet above the ground. Whenever people hear that I am doing Skyrise Chicago 2013, they picture me scaling the building like Spiderman or should I say Spider-Dan ala Dan Goodwin. Whatever happened to that guy who donned a Spiderman outfit and had suction cups  for hands in the early 80s? But I digress.

My fundraising efforts have paid off (get it) and I’m delighted to say that the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago will see an impressive increase from Team Support Lauren over last year.  I’m giddy with gratitude! My Facebook family has really stepped it up (oops, another pun) as well as the inner circle of people I can overload with spirited “give me your money” emails, who are really good-natured about it and supportive.

My training efforts had me climbing up and down a bunch of stairs at an outside venue with Lake Michigan as the backdrop.   On the weekends, I shared the stairs with fellow exercise enthusiasts.  I saw one guy who was probably in his 70s. He was taking two steps at a time and jumping up them.  I was impressed.

I also saw a quartet of pre-teen boys jumping off the high stone walls at the top of the stadium. It was like a cut scene from the early 80s movie, “The Outsiders” – with their younger siblings, of course.  Whatever happened to C. Thomas Howell?  Again I digress.

At one point, one of the boys declared that they should take their bikes down the stairs to the stage and ride in circles.  The grandma who was overseeing this scene didn’t think it was such a good idea.  I heard this loud thump after thump as the frame of the ring leader’s bike got smashed with each step and the rims got trashed!  He wasn’t carrying it down the stairs, he was almost pushing it down the stairs. Toward the bottom of the stadium, it was as if the bike had morphed into a dying horse as it spouted its last cough before its final collapse, teetering to the side.

The wheels were no longer round but misshapen like

Supportive but not Smothering

A frequent adventure during my childhood was visiting this big mansion – this house was huge by our family’s standards.  It was the biggest house where we actually knew the people who lived there.  The mom and dad who lived inside with their three sons became fixtures in our lives. 

The two dads played tennis together on a regular basis. Our families spent many holidays together, often camping and cross-country skiing.  

Upon arrival at the mansion, the two fathers would disappear into a room and watch football while I hung out with the two mothers (who would be besties for life) in the kitchen. We nibbled on onion dip and potato chips as I held my doll.  The mother with the long black hair tied into a single braid in back would smile at me as she shook her head:

Girl, I Want to Skate Backwards With You

Some of the best moments of laughter, for me,  are when I am not expecting it and out of nowhere I get sucked in by something really witty and laugh for a long time. It’s therapeutic.

Last night I was catching up on the family sitcom, See Dad Run.  Full disclosure, I watch this show because my brother writes for it. Being the ever devoted sister,  I was multi-tasking so I wasn’t completely paying attention but then I had to hit rewind because I was drawn in because I realized Scott Baio was singing!

It’s just a