Lesson 499: Put it on the Calendar

Hello, Readers.

Nice to find you here under the light of the Lamp Post

on this glorious September night.

Northwestern Pennsylvania is in full splendor.

The days are sunny and beautiful,

 golden and warm.

The nights are cool and crisp,

perfect for sleeping.

The grape harvest started!

My whole town smells like grape juice!

The Lamp Post is across the street from this winery,

6 Mile Cellars.

They have an impressive barn that they have remodeled into a winery.

Come check it out this fall!

Our own barn-build project is coming along nicely.

Thanks to help of Buddha Kitty,

the CJ Kelly Construction mascot.

He watches over the job site to make sure everything runs smoothly.

I've been having lots of fun with Buddha Kitty.

I placed him in the High Cat Temple in the trees,

and on top of the Homeless Shelter for feral cats.

My Christian cats are very accepting of Buddha Kitty.

They ran away for one night in protest,

but came back a day later for the food.

My cats don't like Buddhism that much,

and don't like dogs either--

but they better get used to the Husky,

because that's my animal.

Thanks, Dr. Krauza for the recognition.

I've gotten a lot of inquires about the Barber Beast on the Bay

that I participated in last weekend.

The post prior to this one explains the event a little more.

Here is most of my giant team--

they all didn't fit in the photo,

and some of them took off in earlier waves.

Search the crowd.

You know,

tap on the photo and pull it apart with your index finger and thumb.

Do you see someone who looks like you?

Your age?

Your weight?

Your fitness level?

I hope you all answered yes, because this event is for everyone.

If you even have a twinge of feeling like you want to do this--

make it a goal for yourself.

And you know what the first step to achieving that goal is?

Put it on the calendar,

then create a timeline for yourself.

Right now the sign up is $50 for early registration.

You can sign up for just $1 if you want to fund raise.

Natalie is fund raising this year....

yes, you all will have another chance at Happy People shirts

(and hoodies just for Cousin Bonnie--I'll even let her help design them).

The race is expensive to put on with 30 obstacles over the course of ten miles.

The event will soon cost $75 to register,

and not long after that, $100 or over.

The time to sign up is NOW.

Here is the link to the sign up.

I'd love it if you were on my team:

Choose the JOIN A TEAM option 

and make sure SuperFriends 4 (Krauza) is lighlighted.

Choose the 9:00 wave--

it's reserved just for our team.

Dear Students  Past and Present,

16 years old or older,

LET'S DO THIS!

I'd love for you to join me--

plus I need strong young 'uns to push me over the walls.

--Fondly,

Mrs. Eloise

Barber Beast on the Bay sign up link discounted--$50

Next September is a long way off,

so you may need smaller goals to serve as checkpoints.

The one I personally recommend to get you started is 

the Her Times 5K race on October 1st.

The race is designed especially for women,

and it is particularly friendly for brand new runners.

My girls and I are signed up for it.

At only $17 to feel good about yourself

(and get a t-shirt),

it's a steal.

Here is the link to sign up for the Her Times 5K

Her Times 5K CLICK HERE for sign up

Goals are a good thing.

Our Puttarama Princess did great in her Putt A Thon

to raise money for the newly established Lady Huskies Girls Golf Team.

She set a goal of 80 puts out of 100,

and didn't my darn girl go and make 81!

Pressure is a funny thing--

she started out rough,

then got frustrated,

and remembered her goal and focused and pulled it out in the end!

Congrats, Ellen!

PSU fans never gave up on our goal--

that we'd have a strong team again after the sanctions were lifted.

We've got two happy fans this weekend.

Enjoy the weekend, Readers.

Homework:

Answer that inner voice that is whispering to you 

'about something you always wanted to do.

Commit to doing it and write it on the calendar.

Pick a few checkpoints along the way 

and make some achievable mini-goals.

Reward yourself as you accomplish them.

You were made for greatness--

now go out and be great!

ELOISE

Lesson 498: Obstacles

Hello, Readers!

Eloise and her team of Super Friends

beat the Beast on the Bay this year.

Here I am at the end of the race,

showing off my finisher medal.

I now have a collection of 5 finisher medals/bottle openers!

(Very useful, Barber National Institute!  Thank you!)

People questioned me as to whether I really did the event or not,

because my hair looked like this after I got my medal at the end of the race.

So, to answer your probing questions:

Yes, this is just my hair.

Here I am at 9:00 in the morning.

I leave it down for the most part,

and pull it up when it's time to exercise--

here's the proof.

I leave it down a lot of the time for a couple of reasons:

#1--because it is like a blanket and keeps me warm, 

and I'm always cold

(cold hands, warm heart, so they say...)

#2--My hair is heavy and my hair bands give me a headache after too long

So, I guess you could say, there only two things in my life

that are not struggles for me. 

My hair is one of them.

I get up and comb it 

and touch it up 

and it pretty much stays like this all day.

It's not spectacular.

It's not bad.

It's somewhere in between.

It is what it is

and I'm content with that.

The other is writing.

I can just sit down and write.

I don't know why I can,

but I just can.

My writing is not spectacular.

It's not bad.

It's somewhere in between.

It is what it is

and I'm content with that, too.

Everything else?

Well, the rest of my life

is just one obstacle after another.

I have to tiptoe around certain people,

not to tick them off.

I wade into murky waters--

often leading into one big pile of $h!t!

My life is just a balancing act.

I have fears of getting lost in unknown places.

I belly crawl beneath the barbed wire of finances--

one false move and you can get really caught up.

I'm often left hanging,

not knowing what to do next.

I hate being left alone, in the dark.

Raising a family?
That sure can be a heavy burden to carry.

Raise a child with special needs,

and it is a slow, uphill climb.

I certainly have dug myself holes so deep,

I never thought I'd see the light of day again.

My life is a lot like the Beast on the Bay.

Full of obstacles.

There were 30 obstacles 

we encountered on the course today.

That got Eloise a-thinking.

I started to list my own personal obstacles.

Here are a few:

time,

age,

health,

athleticism,

money,

relationships...

Could I think of 30?

Better yet,

could WE think of 30?

Reader Participation Requested:

Post in the comment section below my facebook link to this blog,

or private message or text me the response to this question--

What is the biggest obstacle you face in your life?

I'd like to collect the responses this week

and write a little bit more about this topic on Friday.

You know,

as I write with ease,

with my Prom hair.

Thank you to the Barber National Institute for 

supplying five years of challenging fun.

I had a blast this year,

and will definitely be back for #6 in 2018.

We'll continue this discussion on Friday night.

Have a great week--

and to my teammates:
Epsom Salts!

They really do work!

ELOISE

Lesson 497: Winds of Change

Happy weekend, Readers.

We aren't experiencing Irma,

but we are riding the winds of change just the same.

High school football season has started,

so I share some of my blogging time with some bleacher cheering.

There's been a change in my Huskies!

Tonight makes 3 wins in a row!

The marching band has a neat show--

The Twilight Zone,

and I'm looking forward to seeing that progress this season.

When the fall blows into Erie,

the skies are always so interesting.

The following photos are the views from Shades Beach

during a Team Adrenaline workout.

Weekend Quiz:  Do you know where you can find this neat landscape?

Answer appears at the end of this blog.

Speaking of trees--

one of my favorite willow trees split at the trunk.

A 50 foot section crashed directly between my parents' outbuilding

(someday donkey stable...)

and their uncompleted, newly constructed barn!

Eloise is putting the dimmer switch on at the Lamp Post

a little early tonight.

I'm getting some rest because tomorrow

my posse and I are doing the Barber Beast on the Bay.

Our giant team will be wearing gray shirts this year.

When I picked up my packet I was pleased to find that

I got a special 5 Year Participant blanket!

Look how we've grown and changed!

Here we are 5 years ago in 2013.

2014 we doubled in number

and got Fireball as our sponsor.

2015 was rainy!

And last year, in 2016

the sun came out

and made a rainbow right at the start line!

I can't wait to see what adventures we will stumble into this year.

Stop by the Lamp Post later this weekend

for a Beast 2017 recap.

I think I'm going to capture him this year!

ELOISE