Other Stuff I Learned
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I FINALLY Know How to Fold a Fitted Sheet!
Not to brag, but, academically, I have earned a lot of letters behind my name. (If curious, they are B.S., M.D., M.P.H.) I have a career and work outside the home. That does not, however, mean that I don’t want to have the skills of the stereotypical domestic goddess. I would love to keep a spotless home, prepare gourmet meals, and dress like I just stepped out of a magazine. Reality kicks in, and I do the best that I can. That is all any of us can do. That does not mean that I am not going to try to make little bits of progress toward the unrealistic vision. …
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The Breathing Festival 2021–The Power of Our Breath
I have always been interested in health and wellness. Recently I completed some additional Gale courses on brain health and mindfulness. (I previously did a Gale course to learn some sign language.) Participating in The Breathing Festival and learning about breathwork seem like a great next step. I learned about this festival from a wonderful person, Nicole Price. (I am biased. She is my cousin, but that does not at all change the fact that she is absolutely fabulous!) Rather than just sharing my Festival experience after the fact, I want to let you know about it now so that you can check it out and hopefully share your experiences,…
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Great Decisions–We All Benefit by Learning about our World
As an adult, I have learned to appreciate the library, much more now than I did as a kid. In addition to checking out books, movies, and music, I have taken advantage of multiple library programs. These have ranged from lectures to demonstrations to hands-on projects and more. Last year I chose to participate in something new (to me), and this did force me to step outside of my normal “box.” My local library is one of many hosts of the “Great Decisions” program. This is a discussion program on world affairs and was developed by the Foreign Policy Association. I will admit that my knowledge of world affairs is…
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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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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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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…
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Looking for Something to Read?
In my effort to continue growing and learning, I will often look for book recommendations. (There are WAY too many options available if I were to just check out the shelves at the bookstore or library.) Using the WWF (Wonderful World of Facebook), I posed the questions below to part of the FB community. More specifically, I posted this (and received responses) on my personal page as well as three local community pages. I knew that I would be reaching out to groups whose members’ opinions I respect. This is what I posted: I want to try to create and share a list of non-fiction books which have had a…
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TEDx: Reboot–Prepare for a Reset, a Fresh Start, a Do-Over
We all have times when we feel a need to reboot. We need a reset, a fresh start, a do-over. Sometimes you need to stop, turn, and take a new path. Sometimes you want to simply find a better way to do something. My local library hosted a TEDx event back in September A TEDx event is an independently organized TED event. These events take place literally all over the world. This type of program is about community. They spark conversations. A TED talk presents “ideas worth spreading.” The recent one in my community had the theme of “Reboot.” Although the event was last fall, now, with the start of…
