Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Lesson 339: Take One for the Team


Happy New Year, Everyone!

Eloise is here to take one for the team---
well lots of them, actually.


Take pictures, that is.

I have a whole bunch of shots from the past calendar year,
and I wanted to share the highlights with you,
my teammates from:

Team Adrenaline


58 Day Challenge


Doc's Detox


Challenge Erie


Krauza's Krazies




and the runners from Will Run For...
who will run for just about anything,
from wine
to beer
to coffee
to pancakes
to ice cream
and for charity.


Before the sand runs out on 2014


I need to first extend a big THANK YOU to Team Krauza,
Dr. Krauza and his wife Stephanie,


for allowing my lens into your Wellness world.


Who would have thought a camera at a workout could be so much fun?



Enter the Selfie Stick in 2015---
we can experience wellness from a whole new angle.
I am looking forward to the infinite possibilities.






for making your Wellness movement so much fun.

A clear mission,
splashed with a little creativity,
makes for one heck of a good time getting healthy.


Together, let's start a Revolution!


Come to the Hanging Tree and get rid of what limits you.

Lay to rest:

I can't,
I won't,
It's too hard,
It's too early,
It's too cold out,
It's raining,
I'm too old,
I'm too fat,
I'm too busy,
and 
I have a bum knee.

Gather up, Teammates,


and let's revolutionize our thinking on health and wellness.

Enjoy the highlights from the year.  There are two songs worth.
Join the movement in 2015.
The alarm just rang.
It's time to get healthy.

ELOISE

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Lesson 338: Jolly Good


Happy Last Weekend of the Year, Readers.
Eloise is here to remind you to:


'Tis the season, you know.


'Tis the Season to be Jolly! (printable)

The key to a happy holiday
is to make some jolly good fun.


We've had a jolly good time here at the Lamp Post this Christmas.

Big foot slippers can jostle a laugh loose.


So can the roaming gnome.


This little fella found his way onto my deck.


Grandma later discovered Gnomey was a peeping Tom.


The roaming gnome told Grandma that he heard Kenyan was putting on a Christmas Eve spread,
so she brought him up there.
Maybe Gnomey would find a new homey in Kenyan's garden...


or not.
She never claimed to be much of a gardener.


Watch for the roaming gnome. 
 Maybe he will show up on YOUR doorstep next.

Auntie Kenyan and Uncle Genius 
thought this would be a jolly good gift for their nephew.


Until I sent him out to roam the streets of her neighborhood with it, 
that is.



Matching pj's are a must.


Pigskin footballs and throwback helmets make for jolly good fun, too.


The regifted Pez dispenser set
(for the 8th straight year)


and a Christmas Day pillow fight,
make for some jolly good memories.


Burning off those holiday calories can be 
jolly good fun when you find a candy cane along your running route.


Selfie Sticks are a jolly good time.


Viewing the world from a new angle is always a good thing.




Waffle irons shaped like Minnie Mouse make a jolly good breakfast.



Erie had a jolly green Christmas this year.



How better to ring it in than with an ice cold, jolly GREEN Coca Cola!


I'm not sure how life extending drinking this product will be
with its pure cane sugar and stevia,


but the cans, caps, and bottles will look GREAT on my Coke Collector's shelf in the Lamp Post!


This is a short post tonight for two reasons:
#1--The Lamp Post Year In Review will be published this Wednesday.
A bonus read for you this week!
#2--I have to continue on with this great new book that I got for Christmas 
(and so did Uncle Genius).
I'm racing Uncle Genius to the finish and I must win.


It's time for my bedtime story,
albeit a bit creepy and TRUE.
Erieites, don't miss this one by Jeff Pinski.
It's a page turner, especially if you lived in Erie in 1983.

Look for the Lamp Post light to be turned on again on New Year's Eve
for the Year in Review Bonus Blog Post.

Thanks for the perfect song for the video this week, Lady Antebellum.
The video appears at the bottom of this blog post.
The photos from Christmas are set to their version of Holly Jolly Christmas.

ELOISE



Friday, December 19, 2014

Lesson 327: All is Well


Holiday preparation is in full swing here at the Lamp Post.

Me and my little elves have been
shopping,
and wrapping,
and baking,
and mailing,
and ho-ho-ho-ing it to the max.

The month of December brings Eloise great joy.


Sometimes life throws a curve ball a you in the middle of all of the fun.
We lost our beloved dog Sadie this week.
She was a loyal pet and the void is felt by all of us.
Thank you to everyone who sent condolences.
Your thoughtfulness helped us heal.


It's been fun going to the mailbox this week.


Holiday mail has been arriving daily.


If you know Eloise, you know that I LOVE mail!
Even my own parents 
who live in the red house 44 steps east of the Lamp Post,
mail me my Christmas cards.
We like to support the US Postal Service around here!


I couldn't wait to open this one.
It was addressed to me.
I accidentally cut off the full envelope in the photo,
but it was addressed to:
Favorite Daughter


The inside of the card didn't disappoint either.
A woodsy Santa Claus carrying a lamp post!
Thanks, Mom and Dad.
I hope Kenyan got that post card you sent her.


Don't feel sorry for Kenyan.
She was born a week before Christmas and gets a ton of presents.


So what do you give your only sibling,
and the person who has everything?

A retro soccer jacket from 1986!
Erieites, look for her running around town in it.
It's stylish!


My friends and I ran around town last Saturday.
We pooled our charitable contributions this year for SafeNet,
a shelter for women and children in Erie.


I made a new discovery while running this week.
If you wear your flip top gloves upside down,


It makes a handy protective pocket for your iPhone!


You can run with your tunes playing sans the ear buds,
while still protecting your communication device from the elements.


A truly unusual gift arrived at the Lamp Post this week,
directly from Switzerland.
Thank you Angie from Philly for the books!


I think this could very well be the design for my Christmas card for next year,
or perhaps a theme for a future December Run series.
Natalie People have morphed into Ran Deer.
I think these would look great on a long sleeved shirt!


 I hope a large crowd gathers for the future Ran Deer Run.
I'll be all prepared with my new Selfie Stick.


I plan on breaking it out this weekend at our family holiday party.
I'll try to put it into use BEFORE all the drinks take effect.


I would have loved to use it tonight at the Junior High Winter Formal,
but Ellen wouldn't allow it. 


She rolled her eyes at the mere thought of me,
in front of all her friends,
with my iPhone and an extendable arm.

I had to use my regular lens tonight.
Ellen sure looked pretty!


Lover Boy has still been on his best behavior.
He wants the new Skylanders game very badly.


He's been a great holiday helper,
and full of hugs and kisses.


I got the best teacher gift today at school,
and I couldn't wait to share it with all of my Lamp Post readers!

This beautiful bracelet is part of the 100 Good Deeds Movement.


I absolutely love what it promotes,


as well as the mission behind it all.


Eloise loves the 100 Good Deeds logo just as much.
Tracy Southern, my college roommate,
was a communication graphics major 
and I learned lots about logos from watching her work.


Put this on your List of Things to Purchase for 2015.


Thank you Abby and Haley D!
Your one act of kindness will promote 100 more.

Last week I put out an All Call for plates for an idea I have in mind.
I would like you to send me one of your dinner plates.
It could be an extra one from your own set,
or an old chipped one that doesn't match the others.

I have a plan for your plates for 2015 and I'd like a huge stack.
Get them to Eloise at the Lamp Post this holiday,
and stay tuned for your plate to appear on this blog
and in a future project.

I got the first ones for my collection today.
I got a holiday set of paper plates from our dear departed friend Edna.
She's smiling down on me, knowing they will be put to good use.


This one appeared on my desk at school.


Uh, oh.
Someone is on to me!


Enclosed was a beautiful plate with a handwritten note
(my favorite of all things--sentiments in a person's own script)!


The plate came to the Lamp Post with a really great story.


I am adding it to the book I am working on.
It is a cookbook titled
The Cookwizardy of  Peculiar People.

How perfect because the person who have it to me
was once my music teacher,
and 33 years later I am her colleague!


If you send me a plate with a story attached,
it will be featured in my book,
hopefully out this spring.

Send to 
Eloise @ the Lamp Post
5768 Firman Road
Erie, PA 16510

It is six days until Christmas and all is well.


Eloise was just too busy to make my own video this week,
so I am sharing Carrie Underwood's performance of her duet with Michael W Smith
on the CMA Country Christmas.

Watch it.  If it doesn't give you chills, you've had too much eggnog.
Go to bed and watch it again in the morning.

Be well, My Readers.
Eloise