Lesson 260: This & That This Week

It's time to knock this week out, Readers.

Welcome Weekend!

Last weekend my friends and I beat the Beast.

We  body slammed the 16 mile obstacle course run, The Barber Beast on the Bay, that is.  

I wrote about the race from my perspective last week.  Check out blog post Lesson 259:  Slay Your Beast in case you missed it.  Eloise is a mere goofy amateur when it comes to running any kind of serious race.  Everyone knows I do these things for the togetherness, the fun involved, and for the t-shirt.  I'm never concerned with my time or out to win in the traditional racing sense.  My wins are calculated by the number of people I can convince to come along for some fun.  The smiles in the photos I capture along the way are my paychecks.  

Last week's blog circulated faster than any other blog I've written to date, even my Tim McGraw ones.  The only one I think would move faster is the one I have in the works titled Bikini Shots of Kenyan!  I'll save that for when my numbers are dropping.  

Still, I want my readers to have a real racer's perspective of The Beast if you are considering the challenge for yourself next year.  My friend and racing veteran Heather Cass and her husband Dan joined my team and ran with the Krazies.   CLICK HERE FOR HEATHER'S BLOG about The Beast on the Bay from her perspective.  It is very good.

Whether you enjoyed the endurance challenge or not this year, know Team, that I will be asking you to sign up again next year.  Kenyan and I have had lots of people contact us, stating they want a chance to slay The Beast (which is really THEIR Beast, if you paid attention last week).  Great!  Next year I want to wear capes. 

Even if you don't feel like signing on the dotted line for the whole thing, perhaps I could convince you to try at least two miles.   My daughter Natalie who has autism, and some of her friends are signing up for the first leg and need some buddies to run with.  We'd love your support.  Grandma is hellbent on slaying the beast, too.  Hell, if you take on Helen,  I'll not only make you a cape, but buy you your very own sword AND shield.

Supporting one another is so important in life.  This beer commercial from Guinness is my New Favorite this week.  It illustrates so beautifully what I am struggling to say in words.  Watch this:

If you can't get the video to work directly from the arrow in the middle of that blue box, CLICK HERE.  It will take you directly to youtube.

Guinness got it exactly right.

Dedication

Loyalty

Friendship

The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.

Join Kenyan and next year.

Except I won't have a Guinness waiting for you at the finish,

I'll provide a Rolling Rock.

Onto other Lamp Post news from the week.  

It's a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

The Minion, aka Fionnula Flanigan,  turned 40 this week, 

on the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie, nonetheless.

Oliver Hazard Perry wishes her a very happy birthday,

and many more years to come.

My friend CJ, Minion's husband, threw her a surprise party.

Alcatraz my favorite baker made her this minion cake.

How cute!

My daughters tried their sneakers out at a workout this week during our late summer blast of 90 degree heat.  They both liked it, and Natalie picked up a new catch phrase:  "LAST ONE!" she said all night long.  We all catch your drift, Natalie.  

It's amazes me what you can do with 30 minutes, a curb, and a pair of sneakers.

This one is for Kelley.

Natalie continues to enjoy her new school.  I ask her how her day went every day after school, despite the fact that she has a severe communication impairment.  For fifteen years, I've never had a single conversation with my daughter.  Still, a mother always knows her child, and Natalie and I converse in our own ways.  I interpret her phrases, expressions, and body movements as language.  I usually know what she means, but Ellen, her sister, is best at decoding Natalie.  

"Art class.  Mr. Rocky.  Yes please."

This means Natalie likes art with my long time high school friend, Bill Rzodkiewicz, Seneca High School Art Teacher.  Emotion is always expressed through art, and judging by Natalie's projects this week, she is one happy girl.  There is something about Natalie's smiley people that make me smile.  It's the noses. Thanks, Bill.

Speaking of art, Erieites, did you happen to catch the cover of the Sunday paper Living section last week?

Readers, what do you see when you look at this cover?

And who do you think are the two people that pointed this out to me??  Grandma and Sam, of course. 

Earlier this week when I was visiting The Flame, my parents' house next door, Grandma held up the newspaper for me to see.   "Stand back and look at this.  What do you see?"  Sigh.

I walked back home, shaking my head at Grandma's funny discovery, wondering if that could have been intentional.  I dug out my own copy of the newspaper and put it on the counter to reexamine the art.  Sam walked by, took a glance, and exclaimed, "Hey!  That says FART!  I can read the newspaper now!  Long, hard exhale.

Speaking of reading, we found this book waiting on top of Sam's desk at the 52nd annual, Clark School Open House.   

Love the picture of my black lab, named Josie.

My boy has my flair for the imaginative.

And thank the Lord his boundless energy and fighting spirit is going to keep him on the right side of the law.

Whew!

I'm headed off to another home football game tonight, which is why I am posting earlier than usual. The view into the stadium this year looks a bit different than in the past.  For the alumni, do you remember the sign that used to be on the corner of Depot and Buffalo Roads?  To refresh the memories of those who have moved away, this was the sign that nestled in the trees.  

Now the corner looks like this:

Bye, bye trees.

We had to run electricity to our new LED sign.

I can't say that I love it.  Eloise is a traditional girl and it takes a long time for me to adjust to changes.    Perhaps with a little landscaping, that emptiness will fill in.  You can't help what you love.

I do love my fall skies, and I captured this one this week.

Environerds, can you answer this question for Eloise:

Is some of this pink pretty sky, actually caused from chem trails?

Inform the informer.

How long will our ceiling hold us?

Enjoy your weekend, Readers.  Here are some photos from The Barber Beast on the Bay.  The ceiling sure couldn't hold us then!  Thanks for the song, Macklemore.

Later,
Eloise