Bubble Run Chicago Style!

Well, this old dog has learned something new!  Bubble Run is a 5k race held all over the country (and probably in other countries, as well) with incredibly happy results!  It's not your typical 5k with professional looking runners decked out in expensive active wear, but more of a "Let's have a party here" event.  Please click here to watch a YouTube video about the event that is for the whole family and supports charities everywhere! 

The only requirements to participate are the following:

Rule 1:  All levels of runners, walkers, twirlers, dancers and strollers are welcome.

Rule 2: Wear white. That way, your appearance at the finish will be even more pronounced.

Rule 3: Enjoy being a kid again. 

At the end of each kilometer, stands a colorful foam bog (a little like the foam bog that washes cars) that showers the runners with colored foam.  Hence, the requirement to wear white... Each foam bog is a difference color, and by the end of the race, voila!  You are a rainbow!  What if you should accidentally “taste" the foam? It doesn't taste as great as it is fun, but not to worry. The foam is 100% safe.

The awesome thing about Bubble Run is that it is not a typical 5k race!  There is nothing competitive about Bubble Run other than seeing who has the most color on them after the race! There’s no timing, no timing clock and no placement awards. Just a great excuse to come out and have fun with your friends, family and kids while doing something healthy! And the event doesn't end at the finish line of the race.  There is more dancing, jamming and free stuff while you get ready for ANOTHER dose of extra foam! You then can strut, or just observe as everyone celebrates.  It's a very happy place to be so why don't you try it?

Yesterday in Joliet, Illinois, Bubble Run was experienced by old and new faces alike.  A good friend of mine, along with many of her friends, kids and friends of kids, took part in this run because it was a great thing to do on a rainy, Saturday morning.  United Way was the charity the Run paired up with, and the rest was pure fun and frivolity!  

Please check out the Bubble Run website and see when your city will be hosting their own day of frenzy-ness and fun!  

Thanks for stopping by today.  Please visit Unknown Mami at Sundays in My City for fun things going on with her global following!  

I'm originally from California and St. Louis, MO, but now I am from Chicago!  Welcome to my city! 

Saturday Centus - Was It Just Last Week.....

I know, it's Sunday!  But I am just now getting a few moments to myself, so I thought I would jump in with my two cents and contribute to Jenny Matlock's Saturday Centus.  This lovely lady of the written word (yes, Jenny, that's you!) challenges us each week to write a few words on a topic that I sometimes think she picks out of magazines that are meant to be thrown away!  Just kidding...I love a good challenge.  This week, our challenge is to write on the topic of "was it just last week", which for me, can go so many ways.  So, here is my contribution of 105 words or less, with a family-friendly photo of happy times last week!  My prompt is in bold.

Was it just last week that you went to first grade? I thought I could never love you more, but this week its crazy love!

Was it just last week that you played your first game? This week your love for others makes me love you more!

Was it just last week that you had your first recital? Here you are this week, in college and on your own. I’m so full of love I could burst!

Was it just last week that you learned to drive? And this week your hopes and dreams are closer than ever! Loving you has always been easy!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me gush all over about my babies...who are grown and on their own!  Please stop by Jenny Matlock's Saturday Centus and read some great stories by the other kids in the class!  Just click on the logo below and enjoy!

At Least the Laundry Gets Done!

Welcome to Saturday Centus, a weekly writing challenge hosted by Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent.  Each week, we are given a prompt to write about using a set number of words (100 plus the prompt-this week) which can be prose, poetry, fiction or fluff.  Personally, my favorite is fluff!  This week's prompt is "I finally understood the phrase ‘a deer in the headlights’” and is in bold below.  Glad you're here!


I recently moved 300 miles away from my kids. It’s okay; they are all consenting adults.

To feel closer to them, I visit their Facebook pages. This is not always the most cuddly, huggly way to stay in touch! Since they are consenting adults, they post consenting adult statements, etc., on their pages. I have no control, say-so or editorial discretion privileges concerning their posts. I no longer go there. Some days I want to cancel my account when I see or read their latest adventures.

When I saw this, “I finally understood the phrase ‘a deer in the headlights’”.  It’s not the worst I’ve seen, but one of the cutest!

Thanks for stopping by Jenny Matlock's Saturday Centus!  Please visit Jenny by clicking the logo below and you will enjoy some really great short reads!



Fraggin' It in Fall

Welcome to Friday Fragments, a weekly self-check and update on the comings, goings, drama and triumphs of the week, and, the fact that we are soooooooooooo glad that it's Friday!  Mrs.4444 is the CEO of this meme and my hands are held high in her honor for creating this space for many of us to exhale from the week!

I didn't get the Party Leader job I had hoped for, but it just means that the Big Guy has something better planned for me. Onward!

I miss my little ones (19 through 27) who are five hours away, but I am getting so much better about letting go.  They continue to thrive (or so they say) and we are beginning to plan our first holiday meal working around all of the new living arrangements.  This is going to be very interesting!  I'm voting for Thai food...at a sit down restaurant!

Getting out of town for a few days - yearly Girls' Weekend with the my fave cousin and Grandma.  It will be no work and all play this year!  Appropriate pictures (if there are any) will be posted next week!

A triumph for me this week was to get outside of myself and take a look around.  It's amazing how beautiful life can be when you leave your stuff behind for awhile!  Try it sometime! 

Hope it's a great weekend!  Helloooooooooo Fall! 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Please click on Mrs.444'4's Friday Fragments logo,below, and catch up with many of her friends!

Mommy Stress...Good or Bad?

It always amazes me how stress can turn one's world upside down and inside out! We think we have it all figured out, and then Vertigo sets in. I recently took a course on Stress Management. It made me realize how I have stuffed the emotional junk down my throat for so very long. First the feelings get stuffed, and then the sugar fills up any leftover space.

I could never figure out "good" stress or "bad" stress...it was all bad to me! I now know that the good stress can motivate me to take care of my "To Do" list in a positive light. The bad stress is something I still fight, still stuff and sometimes block from my mind entirely.

Bad stress is why I haven't posted in a long time. I have some life changing challenges ahead of me. The mom in me tells me to make sure the kids are okay and settled before I can work on what I need to do. But I think I'm using that as an excuse to avoid what really needs to be done.

I'm moving to another state (five hours from where I now live) and my children are staying here. They are old enough to be on their own, and are excited at the thought of doing so. It's killing me because I don't want to let go. I think if they left one at a time, it might be easier for me. But, it's happening all at once, and it scares the heck out of me. The thought of just being two again feels so foreign. I know it happens every day, and parents get through it, but it's not something I had planned for or ever imagined would happen to me.

On the flip side, I won't be involved in the daily drama of the "sisters." I won't get the phone calls late at night...telling me that they are going to be late! I also won't have to tip-toe around the house until noon because SOMEONE is sleeping...because SOMEONE was up until 3:00 or 4:00 or some other hour! I'm still going to miss even this!

I enjoy making "To Do" lists. I even list things I've already done so that I can have the satisfaction of crossing it off! My ADD is really kicking in so I leave lists in every room, just in case I think of something else that needs to be done!

I guess that's just what we (moms) do! We laugh, we cry, we carry out hearts on our sleeves and we make lists. I can't imagine my life any other way. Wish me luck with my lists!

What If?

What if I had followed my dreams of becoming a dancer? Would I have made a living doing something that I loved? Did it matter that I was not a "great" dancer, but my heart told me I was? It may have mattered that one leg was 1/4" longer than the other one; it may have mattered that I would have been one of thousands at every audition; it may have mattered that most of the guys who danced back then were not interested in women. Or, maybe not?


I wonder how different things would be if I had made the cheerleading squad in high school. It was my dream to be a Pioneer cheerleader! Would I have been a slutty cheerleader? Would it have mattered that I slept around and started a family at 18? Would it have mattered that I didn't earn the silly secretarial degree from college and found that working for attorneys paid a lot more than insurance brokers? It may have mattered if I hadn't gone to college...I would not have met my hubs. It may have mattered that by not meeting my hubs, my four cherubims would belong to someone else or not belong to anyone at all. That matters to me. I'm sort of sweet on my cherubims.

Had a few things happened differently, I would not have a lot of what I have today. I would not be humbled by my imperfections or the perfection of nature; I might not have found God through a 12 step program; I would not be in awe of the fact that I managed to produce not one child, but four; and I would not be amazed that a man would stick it out with a neurotic witch like me for 33 years...next week.

I'm glad that life happened to me as it has. No "what ifs" here!

Procrastinator Queen

So, I'm sitting here with the best of intentions to write about: my day; my kids; my job; my lack of living a healthy lifestyle; the return to another school year, yadda, yadda, yadda!! What I really want to do is read about five billion blogs and comment on at least half of them! For a great chuckle, check out "My Husband is Annoying." I'm sure you've seen it advertised on your local news. It will either either make you laugh 'til your gut hurts, or, make you think the author is annoying!

My Kids: Hero doesn't want to come home and have free room and board. He likes his little college town. That's okay; his room was invaded five years ago by Ed within minutes of his leaving for college.

Rock is leaving for school tomorrow. He will be a college senior who dreams of the "college after-life." Should he throw himself into the band? Should he try to get an internship where he can use his art talent (and not just sit around answering phones)? Decisions, decisions! I'm so lucky that his college is only 30 minutes away...close enough to do laundry on the weekends, but far enough that I don't think about what he does during the week!

Ed, has carried on the tradition of having the most obscene and disgusting bedroom! It's as bad as any teenage boy's room! Her brother would be so proud! Let the bugfest begin! She has come of age by turning 18 and it changes almost everything! I no longer have control of everything in her life. The free spirit inside her that has wanted to break free, has done just that! She thinks she's ready to fly away! (please stay...just a little bit longer!)

My sweet little Katya is learning what it is to burn the candle at both ends. She is attending two different schools and has just been made a manager at her job. Sheesh! I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Ah, but she still makes the best Blizzards in town!

My job: I'm back at school, and sort of loving it... I was spoiled with sleeping in this summer. I'm paying for it now! But, it is great to be back with my co-workers, and, of course, the kids! I love getting a daily dose of the corny, silly, dramatic and "no clue" of 13 year olds!

Well, since I don't want to address my "lack of healthy lifestyle" right now, I will save it for another time. Suffice it to say that I am still on vacation, and I'm loving it!

Don't Ya Just Love Fridays?

I don't know about you, but Fridays are so much easier to face than almost any other day of the week. Knowing that dress is casual, dinner is pizza and I can stay up as late as I want, really gives me a big smile throughout the whole day!

Fridays, I think, are also a day of reflection. What did I do right this week, and what could I have done right this week? I don't beat myself up anymore, for mistakes, misstates and stupid stuff. I just remind myself that God loves me no matter what, and as long as I keep trying, I will eventually "get it right."

I can remember (yes, sometimes my memory does go back farther than 10 minutes) the days before kids and responsibility...Fridays were meant for going out and (partying)socializing. Yes, I used to do the drinking thing, as well as the cigarette thing, but kids change things. Now Fridays are order out, kick-back, watch TV and fall asleep around 9:00. How sad is that? You know what? That's okay.

It's Homecoming Week for the girls. Edwina played in the Powder Puff game last night. It was Junior women against the Senior women. (The seniors always win no matter what!) Earlier in the day, the school put on a mock drunk driving accident, where students volunteered to be injured victims, as well as, fatalities. It was meant to make a statement about drinking and driving. Kudos to the school administrators! It was very moving for many. One girl watched her twin sibling being zipped up in a body bag. Reality at its best. Did they get the message?

On a lighter note, one amazing thing about my Fridays is that Rock comes home for the weekend. His college is close enough that he can do that. I love this guy! And, if I only see him for 10 minutes, that's okay.

Well, time to pop in another pizza, and feed Tootsie! Have a wonderful Friday!

God Bless