A Month of Fundays: Day 18 – Going to the Zoo on Borrowed Time

One of my favorite childhood memories:
My mom came to get me at school one day during those elementary school years. I don’t think I’d been there long that day when I got called down to the principal’s office and there she was talking about a doctor’s appointment she didn’t want to be late for. I was six, what did I know? I remember driving for awhile before noticing the brown zoo signs along the road. I wished I was going to the zoo instead of the doctor’s. And then, miraculously my mom pulled into a place and all I saw was the giant wooden moose in the shape of an “M” and my mom grinning at me from ear to ear. No doctor’s, no work and no school that day. We spent all day with the animals and each other. It was a good day, a fun day: A memory making day.

This is a lesson my mother instilled in me at an early age: It’s OK to borrow some time every once in a while – take a day off, do something fun at the last minute. I’ve noticed sometimes spontaneity works out better than a strategic plan.

Another borrowed-time memory:
My senior year of high school I was car pooling (well, she was driving) with my friend Angie. Side note to Angela if you are reading this: I hope it is OK to share this story now; I know you got creative at your wedding gift opening when you found that Indiana Jones CD strapped to whatever-it-is-we-got-you from your registry. We entered the school through the band doors one day, turned to each other, said, “I don’t think so!” at the same time, and promptly left the building. Yep, no school that day. We went back to my place where my mom called me in – because she’s always been that way – and either Angie or I pretended to be her mom and called her in as well. The rest of the day was spent on the living room furniture watching all three (yes, there were only three then) Indiana Jones movies and talking. Wow, we were rebels. Still, I don’t remember a lot about high school but I remember that day. It was more than fun; it too was a memory making day.

The memory-making present:
So for the last four days (or whenever it is I publish these posts) I’ve been talking about my 4 day mini-break with Chris. And now we are on day 5. Well see, that’s the thing. I didn’t expect day 5. It wasn’t supposed to happen. I took 4 days off of the part-time job-hobby and knew that was all it could be. But then I was gifted a 5th day from the part-time job-hobby. A borrowed day entirely unplanned for! Of course we went to the zoo. The Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth: Because neither Chris nor I have actually been there and because they have kangaroos. Kangaroos. To be honest, the state parks we spent time in during the mini-break let us down on the animal front. I saw a deer – something I see in my yard in Bloomington on a weekly basis – standing underneath a deer crossing sign, but that was about it. Alas, I don’t have a picture of the deer waiting to cross at the deer crossing sign; it made me laugh for at least 5 miles though. Chris was driving, so he didn’t even see a deer on our trip. The zoo has animals though, right?

Why is the zoo fun?
I don’t know. I don’t have kids, so that’s not it. Maybe it is just the story of the gifted day from my childhood, maybe I just like to look at animals, who knows. I enjoy people watching a good deal too, so maybe I’m just a voyeur. Not a creepy Rear Window one, though. I always ask questions without answering anything. It’s just fun, OK. Go look at some animals already.

The Lake Superior Zoo is much smaller than I thought it would be. There were advertisements all over the place going up to Duluth and even more signs further north. I was expecting something like the MN Zoo and ended up with something more like Como Zoo – but not for free ($2 donation. Those old lady volunteers outside Como are scary. Do not cross them by attempting to avoid “donating”). Duluth zoo: small but nice. We saw a lot of animals: Kangaroos!, a polar bear, lions and tigers and bears. There was a great horned owl stretching in some weird yoga/cat pose and then schooling me with his owl eyes for watching said stretching. We saw tamarinds and lemurs; lots of frogs, crazy bats, tiger kitties, a black swan and kookaburras (who – thank you elementary school music classes – will always sit in the old gum tree) were all in residence. We didn’t see the grey wolves even though their exhibit is new, the bald eagle seemed to be missing and I had the most fun watching Cletus the slack-jawed yokel and his family of ten wandering off the path constantly while jabbering about the bad animal smell and lack of high fences. Cletus found a peacock feather on the ground, told his young’uns, “We aren’t here for no mountain climbing” and then promptly chased a peacock through the zoo. Really, you can’t ask for more fun than that; or a better way to spend our borrowed day.

Picture: Your favorite animal at the zoo.

Song: It’s not at all original but I’m going to have to go with The Troggs’ “Wild Thing” or the Jimi Hendrix version if you prefer.

Tomorrow: Hanging Out With Good Friends

A Month of Fundays: Day 17 – Discovering Waterfalls by Day and Searching Stars by Night

Today almost entirely consisted of hiking up and down the Northern shoreline. I’m not sure why I think I need to be so active when I’m on vacation. I’m a much lazier person in my own home. Besides each other, I think Chris and I talked to a total of five people today; the day was really just about us and the scenery. Why do I love MN? This is why!

I talked to a park ranger at Cascade River State Park today. She was incredible. I went into the park ranger station to ask for a trail map; it always helps to not get lost when you are tromping through the woodsy wilderness. She highlighted a four mile loop she liked and then told us where to go for a picnic lunch and a cool down after the hike. Sweet fancy Scottish Jesus in a kilt was she helpful! She also mentioned the blue “hiking club” signs posted along the route – something that came in handy on the backside of the loop which was much more like a deer path than a hiking trail.

Yes! We didn’t get lost, poison-ivied or mauled by a bear because of stupendous park ranger lady.

When asked the question: Beach or mountains? I will ALWAYS choose mountains. I’m a sucker for the forest, lake, mountain trail type of thing. The woods are lovely, dark and deep! Rock scrambles? FUN! Mountain biking? FUN! Swimming in a giant lake? FUN! Reading on a big pile of rocks or cliff top? FUN! Talking to only my husband all day about who-even-remembers-anymore? FUN! So, you get the idea now. Today was FUN!

What’s more, tonight was also fun! Our lodge has a camp fire circle and free S’mores fixings, our room has a hot tub and Aurora-Borealis was paying a visit to the mountain top. SO COOL! We spent some time stargazing from the balcony of our room. Stars are much bigger and brighter if you can get out from the city lights.

And can I just say the North Woods of MN smell like nothing else in the entire world. I want to bottle their aroma; it is pine and lake and campfire and something that reminds me of rain through a screen and the first snowfall of the year all rolled up into one. I quite possibly used up the rest of the month’s fun quota today, but I’m willing to keep trying to have fun every day through August.

No, it wasn’t a snowy evening, but this poem was in my head all day whilst walking through the woods. I’m quite the Robert Frost fan during my month of fundays.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
By Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.


My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Picture: Perhaps I overdid it on the pictures today. Whatever you’d like: You’re favorite painting (PS – Starry Night is one of mine), a waterfall, tree-scape, or night sky picture.

Song: My first thought is Glen Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade” but I also have Don McLean’s “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)” stuck in my head. I’m beginning to wonder what’s wrong with me in the music selection-sphere. I must not listen to anything new. “Vincent” makes me think of one of my favorite artists and what beauty “insanity” can create. Also, it makes me think of that one Doctor Who episode from season 5. SO GOOD! Yes, my TV show choices do rank right up there with my music selections. This is me, people. This is me.

Tomorrow: We’re Going to the Zoo

A Month of Fundays: Day 16 – Celebrating My Wedding Anniversary by Taking Time for Tea

Perhaps I should explain the idea of the mini-break in August is to celebrate our wedding anniversary – August 16th. I have a horrible (read: super-fantastic awesome) husband who wants to go somewhere every year, just us, to celebrate. Really, I don’t know how I cope with him sometimes. Last year we did a similar road trip, but headed to The Apostle Islands in Wisconsin, then straight through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Mackinac Island and finally down to Door County, WI. We met a couple celebrating their 45th anniversary on Mackinac last year and the woman pulled me aside to give me some advice:

Keep a journal, or at least a list, of where you go on your anniversary trips. Write in it each year and then remember to read through it after your entry for that year.

Well, you’ve probably figured out how I feel about journaling by now. Of course, I haven’t actually started said journal because I also have strong feelings about procrastination, but here’s a perfect place to record honeymoon and the first three anniversary mini-breaks. I’ll put them in a journal at some point. Promise.

A List of Trips:
2008 – Honeymoon: Land and sea Disney World trip included 4 nights in the parks and 3 nights aboard a Disney cruise ship in the Bahamas. It was hurricane season, but we lucked out with the hurricane/tropical storm occurring during our land stay and beautiful blue, calm seas during the cruise.

2009 – A long weekend in Chicago by Millennium Park and The Art Institute.

2010 – The road trip I mentioned above through WI and Michigan.

2011 – Another road trip. Well, last year was fun so why not. Also, in the many years Chris has resided in America, he hasn’t seen much of it; mostly stemming from my constant need to travel outside of the US. But since my husband is actually interested in seeing the country he’s chosen to live in, USA travel is on the agenda. Oh, and his passport expired at the end of July. It takes a really long time to get a new one when you don’t reside in the country it’s issued in. A really long time.

So here we are, anniversary mini-break, hiking to a waterfall and lazily wasting time. We began with a two mile hike into Jay Cooke State Park over the swinging bridge, to a waterfall and beyond. I’m not sure what we chatted about, but we walked and talked and enjoyed each other and our surroundings and set precedence. The rest of the mini-break could be coined: “Waterfalls of MN”.

After the day’s morning hike, we decided to go to Grand Marais and poke around with the tourist collective. I don’t know what else to call the meandering tourists who inevitably congregate in Grand Marais during their North Shore trip. You will congregate like the seagulls on the shazam (I don’t know the actual name of the bank, but “shazam” was printed on the ATM receipt) bank – the only building I could see with poky, anti-seagull structures on the roof. It’s unavoidable; you can’t fight it; just give in, drive down Highway 61 to Grand Marais and join your peers. We walked into a bunch of shops, skipped rocks on the lake, perused Drury Lane Bookstore, visited the artist colony – looked at pottery, jewelry and quilts, then debated where to eat lunch: Sven & Ole’s or The Angry Trout. In the end it was too late for lunch and we wound up at Chez Jude for Afternoon Tea.

I would like to blame this on the British man, but I can find tea anywhere; even Grand Marais, MN. If you would like to hear me expound on tea and why I love it so, go here.

While we were sitting on the porch of Chez Jude sipping tea and eating an amazing scone with even more amazing homemade lemon curd, it dawned on me that afternoon tea is an anniversary trip tradition. We’ve made a tradition without realizing it! No seriously, on our honeymoon we had tea at The Grand Floridian in WDW, the next year we had tea at The Drake in Chicago, and last year we had tea at The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island (That’s right, they don’t have cars but they do have afternoon tea).

Apparently I’m a 60-year-old English woman from 1955. Who says reincarnation doesn’t exist?! So yes; thankfully I married Chris who doesn’t mind the occasional tea outing. And also that I have friends like Tera and Megan who love it as much as I do. And also that I have friends like Matt, Mara, Shane and now Anna who willingly partake in tea rituals and the cornucopia of yumminess when we travel.

Back to our anniversary and the afternoon tea at Chez Jude in Grand Marais; well, I feel I’ve used awesome a little too much during the month of funday blogs, but that’s exactly what it was: AWESOME! After the mouthwatering scones came a delightful turkey cranberry concoction on a cibatta roll, followed by a delectable chocolate cake and a luscious lemon cake.

I hope you find time for a nice cuppa today – or a scone, or tiny sandwiches, or even a cup of coffee with a friend or two. We don’t take enough time to sit down and actually hear our friends and family – or be heard, for that matter. Yes, it turns out my fun activity for today is active listening. Apparently you just can’t take the customer service trainer out of me.

Picture: Tea pot, coffee cup, afternoon tea table setting, who you’re sharing this extra bit of time with.

Song: Chris and I had a string quartet at our wedding and I made them play two contemporary songs. Or, I found sheet music for them so they could play two songs during the recessional. We’re going with those today: Enya’s “Wild Child” and U2’s “Beautiful Day”.

Tomorrow: Discovering Waterfalls by Day and Searching Stars by Night

A Month of Fundays: Day 15 – Go for Ice Cream

A mini-break should be about lazily wasting time; letting it spool out around you like golden thread. It’s about long walks and sipping lemonade on porches and swimming and sun bathing and also ice cream. On our way out of Duluth we hit some rush hour traffic, so Chris and I decided to go down near the Lake Walk again and uncoil a little more time before heading toward points north.

I’m not sure what it is about ice cream exactly, but it makes me think of summer fun-times more than almost anything else. In elementary school, we used to walk over to Bridgeman’s on one of the last days of school for ice cream. I remember I couldn’t wait for these walks and the ice cream. The Dairy Queen Dilly Bar treat day was a favorite at the corporate office job, and you can’t possibly visit Italy without stopping for gelato every two hours or so. Going for ice cream is something everyone likes (except the lactose intolerant. I’m glad I don’t have that allergy!) and it brings an instant smile. Who doesn’t scream for ice cream?

There’s this tiny little hole-in-the-wall malt shop in Duluth and I love it. Chris and I walked up to it and then back down as a farewell to Duluth. To start our walk, Chris pointed out the Cold Stone Creamery practically on top of where we parked the car. I shook my head at him disgustedly; we were going to enjoy a nice long walk to a ma & pop Duluth icon, dammit! Walking along the boardwalk watching the Lake Superior shoreline go by is really quite something. It was another beautiful day and since the seagulls were already busy harassing those people with mini-donuts, we got away with strolling while eating ice cream. Maybe their tiny bird brains get brain freeze? Remind me to force feed a seagull ice cream one day… As we were walking, we rounded a corner and saw the smoke stack for Fitger’s on the Lake; I was a little concerned. They have a Bridgeman’s stand on their deck and it seemed to be fairly popular. I like Bridgeman’s ice cream and everything, but don’t take away my malt shop. I shouldn’t have worried; we climbed the steps up towards the malt shop and found a plethora of ice cream fanatics standing by the little stone building, patiently waiting for their turn to order something sweet, cold and scrumptious. I ordered a Caramel Caribou shake – caramel ice cream with caramel swirls and caramel filled chocolate cups the ice cream people called truffles. Chris ordered the same but in a waffle cone. SO GOOD!!

The malt shop highlight: An inane conversation between the girl behind the counter and a man ordering for his family of four. Something about no vanilla flavoring just vanilla ice cream so he couldn’t order a vanilla malt with strawberry ice cream. He would just have to order a strawberry malt. I really thought we were in a Kafka novel for a bit. The next lady, from some central European country by her accent, wanted a float with coffee and the women behind the counter was really confused. Once she told the EU lady what a float was, she said, “Eww!” and made a disgusted face; then she asked for a double chocolate waffle cone instead – again proving the ice cream float can only be consumed by peoples of North America. We’re the only ones who can eat pickles too for some reason. I haven’t figured out why this is…if you have hard facts and truthfulness on the subject (root beer too. What’s wrong with you peoples not of North America?!) let me know in the comments!

We ambled back along the boardwalk and only felt guilty when the marathon runner ran past us obviously smelling our ice cream as he went. No, you don’t need a seaside/lake-shore view, seagulls or any scenery to go out for ice cream. I suggest picking a flavor that is new or strange to you. Getting a single scoop vanilla cone is NOT going out for ice cream. Enjoy summer in a cone, float, bowl or shake!

Picture: What flavor did you choose? Who are eating ice cream with? What are you looking at? Where did you go? The creepy ice cream truck in your neighborhood…these are all good choices.

Song: It doesn’t fit the picture I just painted, but Ani DiFranco’s “32 Flavors” works for me.

Tomorrow: Taking Time for Tea (and also celebrating my wedding anniversary)

A Month of Fundays: Day 14 – Road Trip To…Minnesota’s North Shore

Road trip day! Yes, I’m typing this up in a hotel room in Carlton, MN. The first leg of the journey left Chris and I near Duluth at the Black Bear Casino – super cheap, yet clean rooms about 18 miles outside of Duluth if you need that information. We meant to start extra early, but that’s the thing about road trips, it takes 4 hours to pack the car. I repacked my suitcase twice; it’s a 4 day mini-break and not a four week tour and yet I have enough baggage (personal and literal) in the car to run away for at least a month. I remember when a road trip meant piling in the car and just going. I’m not that girl anymore; this road trip had to be planned out and repacked. Of course, if your road trip is last minute and spontaneous – that’s great, and also, I’m a little jealous.

We made it out of the driveway by 9:30 and promptly pulled into the grocery store a block from the house to purchase things we’d forgotten and also for cash at the ATM. We really were on the road by 10:00 – actually pulling out of Bloomington and everything.

I asked what we were going to listen too. Actually I said, “Do we have anything voyage-like?”
Chris replied, “Journey”, and popped in a Journey CD.

Over the next two and a half hours:

- I got carsick
- I rolled the window all the way down for air and promptly got hit by a pebble from the highway.
- It was too hot then too cold and then too hot again.
- I spilled Chris’ soda in the back of the car.
- We had to listen to that stupid Journey CD three times in a row. As Trip Navigator, I was just too lazy to switch out the CD.
- I fell asleep; leaving Chris to fend for himself on the open road for at least 3/4 of the actual car trip. He woke me up around Cloquet. The car ride knocks me out every time.

We did Duluth-y things for the day.

We walked around downtown and by the lake trying to decide if we wanted to do anything touristy like the aquarium or Glensheen or the William A. Irving. Decided to sit down in Canal Park and watch the ships come in and the Aerial Lift Bridge move up and down. We also watched seagulls terrorize pedestrians, kids jumping off the big concrete block of mystery along the shore and counted how many of Crabby Bill’s mini-donuts made it into seagull beaks. I’d say at least 25%; seagulls are lazy harbingers of filth, but definitely not stupid.

Classic Bits of Americana Sightings:

- Bald eagle in flight
- Giant random stuffed buffalo sculpture along the road
- Frank Lloyd Wright service station in Cloquet, MN
- Corn stands every 10 yards along the freeway
- Scenic View pullover with no actual view of anything – scenic or otherwise
- Two giant turbine propellers coming down the highway each on their own flat bed trucks with police escorts and “wide load” flashing lights.

Things I Learned Today:
- The car windshield does not keep out the UV rays.
- Cloquet, MN is entirely peopled with hockey players.
- The Red-tailed Hawk likes to sit on the ground and the wild turkey can often be found in trees.
- Taco John’s & Steak Escape coexist as one franchise restaurant in Cloquet. This is my new favorite, ultimate American treat: A Hambrosia sandwich with Potato Oles! Awesome sprinkled with awesome next to a side of awesome.

Apparently today’s blog post is all about lists.

Picture: Anything you want to take a picture of along the way. I have many pictures of the dashboard I could share, and some of whizzing by trees and abstract construction workers (bits of blurry orange, yellow and gravel).

Song: I’ve decided I don’t like Journey very much so nothing by them. Two songs stuck in my head while traveling today: Lady Gaga’s “Americano” and The Proclaimers' “I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)”. No, that’s not at all stealing from How I met Your Mother they stole it from me…or anyone else going on college road trips in the 90s.

Tomorrow (or later today if I get it formatted into Blogger quickly): Go for Ice Cream

A Month of Fundays: Day 13 – Putting Together a Jigsaw Puzzle

puz•zle

Noun
1. A game, toy or problem designed to test ingenuity or knowledge.

Verb
1. Solve or understand something by thinking hard.

Apparently I am eighty. Seriously, my weekend fun day activity is putting together a puzzle with my husband. Wow, I’m lame. And we had a really good time: I’m old, lame and crazy. But really, when’s the last time you put together a puzzle? Or did some other brain game like Sudoku or a crossword puzzle? Sometimes we need to slow down and concentrate on a mind working project so we don’t get old.

Chris and I sat down to do a 500 piece Thomas Kincade puzzle, which I received as a gift at least a year ago. I like puzzles, but it’s just not something you think about doing with all of the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. Yet, most of us think about sitting down in front of the TV every night. Puzzles equal more brain work than TV – go, do a puzzle.

What Makes the Puzzling Fun
That’s a puzzle. I am so cliché tonight. But I don’t really know. I mean we sat down and then Chris went to go get his puzzle mat – yes, he has a puzzle mat. He is clearly older, lamer and crazier than I. Then we spent some time turning all of the pieces over and sorting out the edge pieces. Side note: Before he met me Chris never sorted the edge pieces out. He always sorted by color alone and then just began putting pieces together willy-nilly. (Yep, I just used ‘willy-nilly’.) Now, he still sorts by color, but also by edge. Then I get the edge pieces and put them together because it makes me feel smart. By this time, Chris has sorted by color and then grouped by bit of picture on each piece. Not surprisingly, he’s better at this whole puzzle putting together thing than I am. Then we break for tea and stare at our little piles of color and completed border. (Ooh! Ahh!) Next, I complain about the glare from the dinning room light fixture because it makes the pieces really hard to see.

After tea has been consumed, we return to the puzzle-at-hand. (I really am on a roll.) This is when we get lost in the minutia of puzzle piece placement. You try a piece, it doesn’t fit. You try it again, it doesn’t fit. Everything about the piece matches, so you try for a third time. The puzzle piece has forgiven whatever crime you obviously perpetrated and is now willing to lay down in accordance. You fists of fury (or possibly just swirling finger of disdain; it is only a puzzle after all) the puzzle piece and then do the whole experiment over again. Time passes. At some point you start to feel the exhilaration of many puzzle pieces falling into place at the same time. You are nearly there and the thing in front of you isn’t just a heap of pieces anymore; it’s a pretty picture on bits of cardboard all stuck together without glue. There are a lot of cracks though – they kind of obscure the way the picture looks on the box.

Almost there now, your heart is getting lighter; just a couple more pieces to go. This is when the puzzle making world comes crashing down all around you. Why? How did you go from completion euphoria to the depths of despair? (By this time, I just have to keep throwing the clichés out there.) The problem is simple: You are one piece short. ALWAYS!

Now it’s fists of fury time. If you are lucky like me, you have a saner, calmer person puzzling with you. That person will look around and notice the puzzle piece lying on the floor – possibly under your cat. He or she will pick up said piece, dust it off and hand it over as an offering of good faith. You will take this piece, promptly smash it down into the final open spot and then do your happy dance with extra fist pumps. Who doesn’t want to do that for their fun day activity! Don't forget, you get to destroy the puzzle afterwards - very therapeutic.

Picture: A picture of your frustrated face when you too can’t find the last piece. That doesn’t sound fun, but now you’ll laugh when it happens to you. Before and After puzzle creation pictures are always good too.

Song: I was trying to think of something newer, but puzzles made me think of the Rubik’s Cube and that makes me think of the 80s; I’m afraid it’s going to be the most 80s song I can think of: Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round”. I already told you I was old, lame and crazy; I think this may actually prove it. Please feel free to comment on that video too. Wow. There are heavy metal covers by Dope and Marilyn Manson if you want an update – and of course Flo Rida w/ Ke$ha. That one’s new-ish.

Tomorrow: Road Trip To…
And here’s where I tell you all that I’ll be out of town for a few days with my husband on a little mini-break for our wedding anniversary. We’re going Up North or to The North Shore for those of you from MN. For everyone else, we’re headed up towards the Canadian border and hiking/biking/swimming along the Lake Superior shoreline. We’re staying at a ski lodge resort so my Month of Fundays will not include camping…s’mores and campfires are still on the table though. I’m telling you this now because it may mean I don’t have access to the internets for blog post uploading. I promise to write about each fun day and post when I get back, if needs be.

A Month of Fundays: Day 12 – Go to a Sporting Event

I love the idea of summer baseball games outside, so I can imagine this is a fun activity for most. If my facebook news feed has anything to say about it, it’s a fun activity for pretty much all of my facebook friends. I want to like it, I really do. I just don’t. When I first drew up my list of funday ideas, I thought: Huh, that sounds fun. Peanuts and Cracker Jacks and MN’s still new ball field for the Twins. I should go to a game.

And then I realized that I don’t like peanuts or Cracker Jacks…or hot dogs…or beer…or the game of baseball. So maybe it wouldn’t be fun for me, but it still sounds so happy and…American. The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd…sorry, I went to a NewsRadio place there.



I love YouTube. Yes, that episode. And valuable writing lessons too: You do have to take away some of those wonderful words now and again.

I think for a fun day activity any sport is up for grabs – watching it or playing it. In the last blog post I mentioned I’m not a team sport kind of girl. I think that goes for both watching and playing sports. The exception is ice hockey – I’m from MN after all. I get it though, the whole sports fandom. If you don’t know how fanatical I am about tennis, then look no further. I’m pretty sure I kept the sports themed activity in the mix because the US Open starts on August 29. But as much fun as me watching tennis on my TV screen – or iPod and computer as I don’t have cable – would be, I’ve decided to play the sports card early and talk about my niece’s swim meet.

My niece likes to swim! That’s awesome all on its own – because swimming is something I get; it’s a sport I can watch, enjoy and actually discuss with her. Also, I think it is more fun to participate in the sporting event for your fun day activity. I don’t know why participating as a fan in the crowd is better than participating as a fan at home, watching or listening to something far away; it just is. Back to the swim meet. Kayla is going into the 3rd grade next year and I think she’s only been taking lessons for 3 or 4 years. She’s a natural – and that’s not just the proud aunt in me talking; she is a joy to watch. Move over Michael Phelps. I’m holding out for the 2016 Olympics, especially after her dad told me it was too late for the 2012 Olympics.

Sitting in the humid and chlorine-filled Apple Valley Middle School pool today, I had feelings of nostalgia – remembering sights, sounds and smells will do that – followed by feelings of maternal pride. I’m not sure I’ve ever realized – if I have kids – I’m going to be one of THOSE mothers. At one point during her final race – the 50m freestyle – I found myself screaming, “Swim Kayla! Take out those 6th grade girls; you’re better than them!” She did, she is and she won. But I should probably not be screaming that at a family friendly event with the parents of those same 6th grade girls sitting near me. It’s really not my fault. She was in the middle lane; it was exciting!

Having fun and learning a little something about yourself – that’s really what this Month of Fundays project is all about. Go, me! Go, all of you! (Said in my best cheerleader voice with hand clap and raised fist move.)

Picture: The sporting event you’re attending. A picture of your favorite sport, or a sport you play.

Song: Um, it’s a blog about sports so I’m going to have to leave you with a little classic Queen: “We are the Champions”. One day my song choices might break into this decade…or the last decade even.

Tomorrow: Putting Together a Jigsaw Puzzle