Lesson 129: Run for Your Life!

It's my birthday today so I get to pick out the treat of my choosing.  I am headed here, Erieites, to Achilles Running Shop out on West 12th Street for a new pair of Sneakers.  Yes, I still call them Sneakers, but I did give them a capital S because they have risen to a new level of importance to me.  I picked up outdoor running within the last year and proper footwear is the key to foot preservation.

This is what was beginning to happen to my feet.  During my pregnancy with Sam (and the Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia that led me to a 50 pound weight gain), I think my weight became too much for my old feet to hold up.  I started killing my toes one by one.  I developed a neuroma that hurt like a *$&$^ (dickens) and then my second toe in, developed a mind of its own.  A "wayward-sole", I call it.  Visions of my dear sweet Grandma, "Grandma O" and her gnarly feet began to haunt me.  I needed to investigate this a little further.

I found out it was a neruoma of some sort, and I was not the only one to have it.  Rocker Steven Tyler also has a foot nearly identical to mine.  Ever the unpredictable Steven is, he whipped off his shoe and sock on a recent Oprah interview on her new show Oprah's Next Chapter (which receives a thumbs up from Eloise), to reveal this:



Here is his right foot, red toenail polish and all.  The first picture is a photo of him playing in his "backyard" which is Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire.  An unlikely abode for a rocker with a sordid past.  If you come across a rerun of that interview, it's worth a watch.  Very interesting.  Rather than take care of the problem, Steven numbed the pain with a few substances Eloise does not dabble in.  I decided to take the higher ground on my foot pain and drop some weight to take the pressure of my feet.

I also bought these lovely things called Running Toe Shoes.  This is a photo of me on the Huskies' Track.  They don't offer enough support for me for running, but I do run the stadium steps with them.  The treads seem to be extra sticky and do well on those slick silver stadium seats (that is an example of an alliteration, PSSA Prep students).  I wear them around my house mostly.  Sometimes I forget I have them on and make a run to the store or something where it is inevitable that someone will notice and ask me about my "Aqua Man Shoes."

They sell the toe shoes at Achilles, but today I am after a pair of running shoes.  I got my last pair six months ago on Labor Day weekend, and have since put over 500 miles on them.  This is my last pair that I will retire today.  Not really retire, recycle is a better word.  They will become my every day, wear-around shoes.  I do that with shoes and jeans--they live out in a life cycle of sorts.  Good footwear is one of those live and learn type things that you only begin to appreciate with age.  For the rest of my life I'm getting new treads on March 3rd and Labor Day weekend.  So today I will feel like a princess out at Achilles getting fitted for my new slippers.  Can't wait.

I am a far cry from Cinderella when I run though.  Cinderella dressed in rags, perhaps.  This is my shadow as I was headed out for a summer run.  And no, that isn't all my fanny---it's my fanny pack that I strap on every time I go out.  It contains all of my high maintenance accessories like Kleenex, my ID badge (as per Heather Cass's suggestion), cell phone, gum, and dog biscuits.  Got to make friends with the ferocious frothing farm dogs (another alliteration, students).  Beginning in November I start running in my Dad's flame orange hunting vest.  I prefer to run in the woods or on the back roads and I want to make sure my life isn't going to end because I look like another Disney character--Bambi.  And if you think that's bad---it's all about to get a little worse.

I'm not much for paying money to strap on a number and register for races like my sister Kenyan Karen is.  I could care less about improving my time or knowing what my pace is.  I loathe port a potties and I really don't like crowds--especially crowds of sweaty people waiting to use port a potties.  On the few races a year I register for, it is usually a 5K with my daughters and I register under the name of a former US President.  I prefer my anonymity and it helps me keep track of the races we've done together.





The next one I am James Madison.  I'll be glad to get to get that race over with.  He doesn't look like a real fun guy.

But if you watched the above video, you have now realized that things are about to get even worse.  My friend Heather Cass who writes the Erie Runner's Notes for goerie.com recommended (tongue in cheek) her readers to check this out.  I checked on her facebook post today and see that I am still the only one who responded to this.  This is SOOO me.  I simply cannot wait to try this game.

  So now, instead of seeing Eloise running in a flame orange 1977 hunting vest with a fistful of dog biscuits, I will also be running for my life---from Zombies!  That app is going on my iPod today and I will report back to you to let you know how it is (and how much of a fool I look like).



Slam, click, brrrrrppppp.  Did you hear that?  That is the sound of my sister Kenyan Karen slamming her door, clicking the lock, and pulling down the shades.  I am sure she'll want no part of this.  The chick doesn't even run with music.  Heck, I guess when you run a 5K in 20 minutes, who needs tunes?    I'll be running solo for awhile, but if you are just weird enough to try this with me, give me a ring and we can flee the zombies together.

Run On, My Friends.  Run on.
Eloise

Lesson 128: Feel the Love

Just like love never fails, Eloise came through with another blog post despite a busy weekend.  I'm cleaning.  Not Operation Clean Sweep level cleaning, but the Hoe Out Meter is reading somewhere between yellow and orange.  When it's Operation Clean Sweep time, the meter blinks red.  When I tried to open the "pencil and pen drawer" aka "the junk drawer" on Friday, it wouldn't open.  I pulled it out an inch or two and something was stuck on the lip.  I wriggled my skinny hand in the space, scraping the skin off of my knuckles and almost damaging my costume jewelry Will & Kate replica ring.  This made me crabby.  However, when I discovered the object that had been jamming the junk drawer up was a FRISBEE, I screamed "THAT'S IT!" It was time to clean the house.

We who reside in the north live inside for months straight during the long winter.  Even though this winter has been mild across the nation, still there's not much to do outside on a "warm" 40 degree and rain day versus 10 degrees and partly cloudy.  In some cases, I think the snow is almost better.  While we're inside, we tend to make lots of messes.  I've been cleaning out little misplaced items shoved everywhere:  missing marker caps under the couch, goldfish crackers beneath it's cushions, and two overdue library books in the toy box.  I worked most of the day yesterday on just a couple of rooms and the place looks like it had a fresh shower.

I kept myself motivated yesterday with my tunes.  I'm on an Adele kick lately since her big Grammy wins two weeks ago.  I decided to share her version of Make You Feel My Love with you.  Wow is it great.  I've just added another thing to my list of things I always want, but will never have (like a size 6 body)--Adele's voice.  On the slide show I put a few things I love, including some older pictures of my children.  How fast the time goes.  When their hands spell L-O-V-E, I am the L, Ellen is the O, Natalie is the V, and Sam is the E.  We got a light dusting of snow, so I was able to write LOVE in it.  That is my boot print.

I was reviewing the movie this morning and I heard footsteps above my head.  Sam was up.  He's usually the first one up every day after me.  He bumped down the steps on his butt one at a time, dragging his blankey.  He stood, puffy-eyed in the middle of the living room, looked around and inhaled.  He has the nose of a bloodhound like his momma and his sister Natalie.  "It smells clean in here," Sam commented about the lingering aromas of Murphy's Oil Soap and Spic and Span.  I smiled at him.  "I love my house."  I tipped my head slightly, Awwwww.  "This is MY house," stated Sam to no one in particular.  I choked back a snicker.  Sam looks at me and says, "I'm so glad that I let you live here, Mommy."  Record scratch.  Back to this thing called My Reality.  My eyebrows are now furrowed like the Angry Birds.

 So, just for that Sam, I am sharing my new cover suggestion for the book I just finished (twice) called Raising Your Spirited Child, by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka.  It gives me tips on how not to drink all of those Rolling Rocks in one sitting after dealing with you all day.  It should be written by Eloise Hawking.  I seriously could have written this book.

Sticking heads of people on things is my thumbprint in this life, my calling card so to speak. It helps me combat the winter boredom that I get every year.   I get so many school pictures every year (I am a staff member in five buildings and have ID tags in all of them), I always have more pictures of me than I know what to do with.  My head looks great on Faith Hill's body, by the way.   Because this book is really written about Sam, I thought I'd see how his head looked pasted onto this cover.  If he catches sight of himself in a pink shirt and pigtail braids my life is going to be a nightmare, so keep this to yourselves, Readers.

Can you feel the love from The Lamp Post?

Love you,
Eloise

Lesson 127: Moon Me

20 years ago, I would have walked away from it.  Turned around and drove the other direction.  Wiped my hands clean of a constant frustration.  But with age I've gained persistence and determination.  I will not give up on the video I love.  It's one I made of the moon and Erie winter scenery this weekend.  It posted to youtube no problem and I can play it from my home computer just fine.  However, when I go to share it, the block pops up.  That happens with some older songs and this one was made in 2003.

So here is my very lame attempt to rectify blog post 126.  It's gross for sure, but it seems that this is my only option because I have nothing else to work with.  I have to give thanks to some other person in this world who realized (probably after the fact as I did), that Under the Same Moon by Blake Shelton in 2003 does not have the copyright release.  This very strange video was made a few weeks ago by some random person, probably a concert goer like myself who discovered this old Blake Shelton song and wanted more of it.  He or she recorded the playing song with a very hideous picture of Blake and posted it to youtube.  Thanks for the loaner, Random Person.  Some men get better looking with age, and I will take the 35 year old Blake any day.  The video shot is of what he looked like nine years ago.  This is Blakey Baby today.   Much better.

I suggest playing the song and at least scrolling down to see my photographs while the song plays.  The images and the sound won't be perfectly matched, but it's all I could do.  I did put them in the same order of the original photo show.  The moon is so pretty, I'd hate for you to miss it.  Slovenians, I suppose if you look at the photos of the Erie landscapes in February, you'll probably never come for a visit.  Don't let that stop you.  I live in a great town.  Come for a visit.

So your main lesson for today is don't ever give up.  You can find a way around any problem if you try hard enough.  Look at me.  Even when I felt like shooting someone the moon, I worked around it and ended up giving you my moon shots instead (thank the Lord).

Enjoy your disjointed song and photography.  Scroll below for the pictures and play the song while you look.
Eloise

Shadows of the night
Moving on the ground
Like silent clouds
They follow me around

 As I wander through the dark
Through the midnight mist

Remembering our last kiss
Do you know how much
You're missed

 Tonight I stand in this lonely place

 I search the heavens for a saving grace

And I cry
Dying without you

 I know you're somewhere
Looking up there too

 Right now that's all
Two distant hearts can do

At least we're underneath

Underneath the same moon

Ohhhh

 Picturing your face

Flowers in your hair
Like you always wear

 Oh I can see you there

Longing to be touched

 But you're out of reach
Oh hold on please

 Won't you wait for me

 Tonight I stand in this lonely place

I search the heavens for some saving grace

And I cry
Dying without you

 I know you're somewhere

Looking up there too

Right now that's all

 Two distant hearts can do

 At least we're underneath

Underneath the same moon

la la la la la da da

At least we're underneath the same moon

Shadows of the night
Moving on the ground

Like silent clouds
They follow me around

Lesson 126: Underneath the Same Moon

Happy weekend, Readers.  I was inspired by this week's blog post by a beautiful moon on Friday morning.  I love the moon in all of its forms.  The full moon on a clear night is my favorite, but I also like the crescent moon.  There was a beautiful crescent moon at twilight hanging low in a sky south west from the Lamp Post.

To clarify, it was morning twilight, the time between dawn and sunrise.  Twilight happens at two times of the day.  Lots of my students thought twilight was only at night.  Night twilight is defined as the time between dusk and nightfall.  According to wikipedia, artists and photographers call this time of day the blue hour because of the distinctive quality of light.  Eloise is an early riser so I catch twilight most every day, and I do agree it is beautiful, but oh so fleeting.  You only have a few minutes to experience the beauty of it.

I caught the crescent moon in the morning twilight on Friday and watched my breath fog in puffs as I snapped away with my camera.  It was cold out--33 degrees, and I was standing at the end of my driveway in my running shorts and oddly didn't feel the cold.  I was happy for the experience and knew I'd have a photograph to remember the sky.  "Now I got to find me a good moon song..." I thought to myself.  And surely I did.

There are lots of songs written about the moon.  Right away I thought of my old college favorite, Moondance by Van Morrison.  Then I thought perhaps something more current would be better for my younger followers and all I could think of was Lady Gaga's Marry the Night.  Both seemed OK, but neither seemed right.

I rushed to get ready for work--and in-service day for teachers, and let my kids sleep in under the watchful eyes of their grandparents for the day.  I later came home to find a stash of candy wrappers behind the couch pillow, Wal-Mart bags, and dead kid technology in need of charging.  That's what days with Grandma and Grandpa are like.  Oh, if my kids only knew the truth how strict they were with my sister and I when we were growing up.  They'd never believe me if I told them the truth.

 Regardless, I jumped into my van and was preparing to hear the Adele song that I've been stuck on, but it didn't play.  Sometimes my van CD player skips to songs in the middle of the CD until the car warms up.  The CD skipped to song 13 and it was this Blake Shelton song, Underneath the Same Moon.  It was an older song I was unfamiliar with.  I put it on my new CD because I wanted to find more of Blake's older stuff since I just went to his concert here in Erie last week.  The song was perfect for all the moon pictures I've taken in the last few months.  My new camera with the big lens is really good.  You can really see the detail of the frost I captured the other morning as well.   They are all my pictures except for the eclipse.

I also threw in some landscapes from Erie in February.  It is so cold and desolate here right now, even without the record snows we usually get, that the seagulls look miserable.  It is a good compilation of life on the shores of my northern, manufacturing town in the winter.  The locals will recognize some of the scenery.

Enjoy your song and photos.  I'll leave you with a really pretty quote I found on pinterest.  They aren't my words and I don't know who wrote them, but I sure wish it was me.  They are beautiful, just like those moon shots.
Meet me where the sky touches the sea.  Wait for me where the world begins.  


I Love You to the Moon and Back,
Eloise

Lesson 125: Faded Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day, Readers.  Here is a lovely musical piece for you in honor of the day Cupid takes aim at the unsuspecting.  Sharing that honor on Post 125 is Adele as well.  She's a fave in our house.  In case you've been living in a box this last year, let me shed a little light on exactly who Adele is:
This is Adele, holding her six, count 'em, six Grammy Awards.  The little gramophone replicas look so nice nestled in the crook of her arms.

Adele is a twenty-three year old English beauty who has captivated us all with her raspy, soulful voice singing my favorites Rolling in the Deep, and Set Fire to the Rain.  Ellen, my pianist, is playing Someone Like You, her current favorite song on the video posted above.

Adele is interesting.  It is rumored that all songs on her album were written about the same person--an obvious broken relationship of some sort.  I found this pinterest pin about that and posted it on facebook the other night. 'Atta girl, Adele.  Don't sit there and snivel.  Get mad and go make some money.  Adele is well deserving of all her accolades and everyone here at the Lamp Post was glad to see her win on Sunday night.

So, Ellen has yet another strong woman role model to admire.  She begged me to buy her the song and has been chipping away at it for weeks.  Ever clever my girl is, she took two songs that she loves, and blended them together.  She's trying things like this more and more and it is making me proud.  I always tell her to find something she admires, whether it is art or music, and take the ideas and make them her own.  I feel like an American Idol judge.  She actually took my advice tonight, so I insisted on video taping her and putting it on this blog.

The song Faded Valentine is one she is working on with her piano teacher.  It is really pretty.  I searched all over the internet to see if the song had lyrics.  The following are the only lyrics I can find and I am not sure if the source is reliable--I never heard of it before.  They aren't Adele's words, but they sound very Adelish (I made a new word--very catchy I might add).  Here they are:

 Faded Valentine

All her life she dreamed romance. She waited for her prince. She kept souvenirs of love and affection. She kept waiting. Opportunities arose that didn't fit the dreams she had so she squandered them and kept waiting. And she continues to wait. And wait.

I hope Adele doesn't wait around.  That girl is going places.  So is My Girl, too.  And just think, you heard her here first, right on this very blog.

Please read the next blog post for some new girls I just LOVE.  Don't miss it.  Scroll down for Blog post 124.

Be Mine,
Eloise

Lesson 124: I LOVE THIS!!!

If you have not seen these two little girls yet, have a seat.  They are undoubtedly the most precious things I've seen lately.  My friend Keri showed me this clip, as well as several other related ones.  If you find them as captivating and hilarious as I did, you can find more by going to youtube and typing in Sophia Grace and Rosie into the search box.  I highly recommend the Shopping Spree and The Red Carpet Interviews.

It is good to show love and romance on Valentine's Day, but there is always room for laughter.  Laughter makes the heart sing, so they say.  Sophia Graces enthusiasm is infectious.  I would be little Rosie--the cute one who really can't sing, but bee bops around next to her cousin for moral support.  My favorite part is when Rosie does the drum thing.  Even my Sam has watched this clip about five times.  "Can I watch those little, pink girls again, Mommy?"  I think he's got his eye on the five year old.

Enjoy the clip as well as this little ditty I found in my potato bag this week.  A heart shaped potato for Valentine's Day.  How about that?  I think I should enter it in that contest where cornflakes look like states and toast turns out looking like the crying Virgin Mary.  I'm bound and determined to be famous for something someday.  Maybe it will be for finding a heart shaped potato.

Enjoy your day of LOVE.  I've got a long day ahead.  I teach in an elementary school and this day spells
H-E-A-D-A-C-H-E.

Love and Laughs,
Eloise

Lesson 123: God Gave Me Her

The handsome man above is country singer Blake Shelton.  To the right is my sister and I at his concert in Erie on February 9th.  You are always curious about the identity of Eloise, so don't ever say that I never post my picture.  I'm the one minus the hat on the right.  I'm too tall for hats.  This is part one of a two part blog lesson for today.  Read the post below this one for a bonus Blake Shelton performance.

Valentine's Day is coming and it's time to post a couple of blogs about some things I love.  If you are a regular reader you have learned that I love children, my own and the ones I teach.  I love music and going to concerts.  I love to read.  I love the great outdoors. Therefore I've learned that you can love lots of things and lots of people because loving something or someone is never bad.

I think about love more often than I used to.  I am now making some room in my life for an occasional romance novel or girly movie.  My sister was telling me that I was no fun.  Life is too short not to have any fun,  so I took her advice. Karen is the one who got me hooked on country music. It's been a slow growing love, but if you ask me, that's a love of the best kind.  One that takes awhile.  It's like putting a sauce on simmer.  If you cook things low and slow they are tender and full of taste.  I prefer that kind of love way more than the pushy fast kind.  That kind of love can be a hot, fun ride, but it usually doesn't last because it burns you in the end.

In Blake's God Gave Me You video above,  you will see love between a mother and a child (the best kind, if you ask me), and love for a total stranger.   No matter how love finds you, or what kind of love it is, enjoy the feeling.  It is special.

My sister loves me in her sisterly way. She has to because we only have each other. One of the girls we went to the concert with said that she was envious of us because her sisters lived far away and Karen and I lived only a couple of miles apart.  Everyone would be surprised how little we actually see one another.  We are busy moms and have little time for fun for ourselves, so when we get the chance to do something together, we always make it lots of fun.  In fact, my sister loves me so much she bought me this t-shirt.

I won't be wearing this one to school though.  I think the slogan is a bit suggestive, which would be in violation of our dress code.

But the best part about my sister is not that she introduced me to country music and always lugs me along to country concerts.  It's not that she always comes through in the jewelry department when me and my daughters are in need of some bling.  It's that she is one heck of an excellent source of blog fodder.  She's fun to pick on and takes things in stride.

 Let's see how she does with this one.  It's a pinterest pin I picked out just for Karen.  Don't think I'm a big #*%&$.  I'm just getting her back for taking my picture and putting it on facebook wrecking the mystery behind Eloise.  It's not just that---it's the fact that the picture posted is ALWAYS better of her.  Now we're back to even.

Don't forget to read the other blog post below this one for a bonus Blake Shelton song.  It's the Super Bowl pre-game performance of America the Beautiful.

L-O-V-E from the Lamp Post,
Eloise