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Let’s See If I Can Learn American Sign Language
Back in high school, I studied Spanish. I really enjoyed it and was actually quite good at it. (For the life of me, though, I cannot roll my R’s! It’s really frustrating!) I was the kid who went out of her way to look up and learn additional vocabulary words. In college, I took a one semester Spanish writing class. I have always wanted to be fluent in the language. I still can’t say that I am fluent, but I can still interact decently in Spanish if necessary. For approximately five years, I worked in an office in which I spoke Spanish on a regular basis, and I became…
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Learning to Juggle (Literally, not Figuratively)
January 2020: I have always been entertained by watching jugglers. It always seemed like a really cool thing to be able to do. When I was in junior high, I knew some people who could juggle, and one of my friends tried teaching me. I had the juggling balls and everything. I never progressed very far. I don’t know where those balls are today, but every so often, I will try juggling balled up socks. This doesn’t last long. I have decided to once again make a concerted effort at actually learning how to juggle and keep something in the air! Nowadays, instead of turning straight to a book, the…
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Reunion with the Too-Long Ignored Bread Maker and Garlic Roaster
With extra time on my hands during the pandemic, I have been able to spend more time in the kitchen and realized it was time to revisit some wonderful kitchen “gadgets” that had not been forgotten but were so out of use that I would never think about them at times when it was appropriate to use them (I would remember them before going to sleep or in the middle of a work day when I could not do anything food prep related). First of all, I knew that in one specific drawer in my kitchen, I had a garlic roaster. I knew it was there but simply had not…
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Homemade Pizza Night!
(Personal disclaimer: Currently, my family is celebrating the holiday of Passover. This pizza was prepared and enjoyed before the holiday. During Passover, you cannot eat leavened products.) If you have been to a grocery store recently, you may have noticed the lack of cheese pizza availability. Of course, this does absolutely nothing to diminish the craving for pizza. Other items people have had trouble finding recently, from what I have heard at least, include items for baking such as flour and yeast. Well, as members of warehouse clubs, despite not being able to find these items at our neighborhood grocery stores, my husband DID find them at a big box…
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Experience Five (Virtual) Tours of National Parks in Just One Hour! (aka How to Travel while Sheltering at Home)
I am in desperate need of a vacation, and with the world’s current turn of events, I will be waiting even longer than originally hoped. Saying that, I decided that it was worth checking out one of the many sites available that allow for virtual tours, and I chose to play tourist from the comfort of a cushioned chair at home. I won’t even pretend to imply that virtual tours were anything like the real thing, but I certainly enjoyed them and have a desire to visit these sites in person someday. I recently posted about multiple websites that might be of interest while we are spending more time at…
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It’s a Sign! (aka The Birth of a Banner)
I have known Andrew for quite a while (our kids have gone to school together since they were little), but I honestly never really knew what he did for a living. Guess what. Now I know! When I posed the question on-line of who would be interested in teaching me something new, he offered to introduce me to THE WORLD OF SIGNS (my emphasis : ) )! I had a behind-the-scenes look at a business about which I knew nothing. What is the name of your company? Creative Edge Visual Solutions http://www.creativeedgechicago.com/ How did you get into this industry? Does your previous education/background tie in to your current work? After…
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Bored While Stuck Inside? These Links May Help You Avoid Going Stir Crazy.
Now that so many people are going to be stuck inside, we know that we need more than just a few days worth of ideas and activities to keep us from going stir crazy. I am trying to put together a list of links that we all may find useful in our quest to make the most of this difficult situation. We may actually find something really unique that we otherwise would have never seen, tried, or experienced. This post may not be pretty or look complete. I just want to make it available as soon as I can. I have tried to list items in a somewhat organized fashion. …
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Israeli Folk Dancing on a Wednesday Night
My good friend, Donna, invited me to join her at her Israeli dance class on a Wednesday night. She has been dancing with this group for years, and she knows that I love both trying new things and dancing. I marked my calendar for a Wednesday night and gladly joined her. I could quickly tell that this was a wonderful group of individuals who knew each other not just as classmates or dancers but also as people. They developed real friendships through their dancing. That feeling had a positive impact on the whole evening. Since I was a newbie with the group (I had done some Israeli dancing…
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My First DJ Lesson!
Ryan lives in my community and, in response to one of my regular requests for people to teach me something, offered to introduce me to his professional world! I knew what he did, so I was excited! I was about to have my first DJ lesson! Before getting my hands on any of his equipment, I asked lots of questions, and he was nice enough to take the time to answer them for me. What is the name of your company? 4 Sure Entertainment & Chicago’s Best DJ How did you get into this industry? Does your previous education/background tie in to your current work? Started as a little kid,…
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Furnace Fixing “FUN”!
One recent Saturday afternoon, I heard a beeping in my house and followed the sound down to my basement. Lo and behold, I realized that the beep was to inform me that a nice puddle had formed which I thought was coming from the hot water heater. Fast forward to later that day, my husband realized that the problem was the furnace, not the hot water heater. Neither is fun, but a non-functional heater in Chicagoland on a weekend in the winter, to put it gently, sucks. To add to the situation, my husband, the handy one in my house, was going to be out-of-town few that following Monday and…
If it's not illegal, immoral, or blatantly stupid, I am willing to give it a try!
