Lesson 470: Stitches

Welcome to the Lamp Post, Readers.

Allow Eloise to shed some light on this lovely March night.

The start of this blog will contain your typical Erie weather updates,

and the end will leave you in stitches for sure.

March is a transitional month weather wise.

Lingering snow.

Lots of rain.

Really cool colors.

Lots of great photo opportunities.

There is a restlessness in the spring.

Everyone is waiting for things to come.

Sometimes the spring fog prevents you from seeing what lies ahead.

That's when you have to dig down,

trust your gut,

and just keep moving.

Sam had to employ a great deal of trust last Saturday

when he attended a roller skating birthday party for a classmate.

Roller rinks are cool, not to mention timeless.

Sam is stubborn and swore up and down he wouldn't skate 

because he feared injuring his arm for baseball season.

My boy tried wheelie-feet before with not much success.

He looked like a baby elephant trying to roller skate.

Hanging out next to the claw machine for two hours was not an option,

so he laced up and promised me one lap.

Sam did a 15 minute once-round,

clinging to the wall with his fingertips,

loudly protesting the entire way, begging for rescue.

I could hear him even over the blasting music.

There was nothing his sisters and I could do for him

but sit in the booth and laugh.

It was quite comical.

What it really took to break Sam free was watching his buddies do it.

They, too, looked like Dumbos on on wheels.

They also fell.

But they laughed at themselves,

got back up,

and kept at it.

One 15 minute lap for Sam

turned into another-and he shrunk his time to 10 minutes around.

By the third time around, he finally let go,

and PR'ed with a 6 minute loop,

falling sixteen times.

Sam got himself up every time,

and left the rink not in need of stitches!

Success!

We have so much we can learn from kids

and how they approach life.

Spring is a great time to move with my workout group.

All workouts are free during the month of April.

Team Adrenaline workouts truly are for everyone.

Scan this crowd from Tuesday night's workout.

There is a face like yours in it.

Bring your significant other,

kids,

neighbors,

and 

grandparents--

all for free during the month of April.

You will get a great workout and the light-hearted humor

will surely leave you in stitches.

I received my own little stitch fix this weekend 

from Stitch Fix.

It is the box-clothes order delivered to your home

based on a style profile you fill out.

Curious, more than anything,

I gave it a whirl,

I ended up loving all five items they sent

and kept two of my favorites.

I am going to give it a try again next month.

We're getting geared up for baseball and softball seasons.

Ellen Louise,

our Lady Huskie played her first scrimmage of the year this week.

Brrrr!

It was a cold one.

Her softball game went a little better than her Driver's License test did.

Grandma took Ellen to the test center.

Ellen's failure was a blast from the past.

I failed my first attempt way back in 1987.

Grandma was a little tougher 30 years ago,

and she spent a full hour screaming at me afterwards.

Time has mellowed the old girl out some

as evidenced by this text.

(Well, mellowed a tiny bit, anyway).

The parallel parking was shaky,

but Ellen had real problems reading this one sign.

So, I did what any good teachers do--

remediate when a weakness is found.

I made her a study packet.

I find visuals a very helpful learning tool,

so I placed some around the house for her quick and easy reference

to study for the next week.

To be fair,

I'll post the photo she took of the sign she missed.

Weekend homework:

Analyze these photos and determine if the

No Turn On Red sign

is poorly placed.

See it?

How about here?

Ahhh....there!

Ellen gets to give it another shot next week!

And to prove that it's good to laugh at one's mishaps,

from poor roller skating ability

to failing a driver's exam,

I'll post my own:

Eloise's newest claim to fame:

I drove through a wall!

My foot slipped off of the brake and stomped onto the gas,

and in one second's time,

I put the nose of the van clear through this wall!

Grandpa came over to help with the repair work.

I busted up my neon Rolling Rock sign!

Now I drink ....ing Rock!

There's been quite a local response to the CBS report on manufacturing,

centering on Erie.  Many in my community were disappointed with the coverage

as Erie was shown in a very depressing light.

Lots of #MyErie videos have been circulating facebook--

one great one from a couple of local photographers.

This is something similar I made in 2014,

prior to my 25th year class reunion,

for my classmates to enjoy.

We do have a great hometown.

This is #MyErie

ELOISE