Me in Place

As the Book Ambassador to the Midwest, I have some books you can have. Put the titles in the comment section or if you think that makes you look greedy (It doesn’t!!), email me at skcwick at yahoo.com (fix the address, obviously) and let me know if you want any of them. (If you don’t live in the Chicagoland area, I can ship them, if you pay the actual cost.)

The Heart of the Atlantic by Ernest Shackleton
Class 11: My Story Inside the CIA’s First Post-9/11 Spy Class
No Picnic on Mount Kenya by Benuzzi (Loved this book! “In 1943, Felice Benuzzi and two Italian compatriots escaped from a British POW camp in equatorial East Africa with only one goal in mind - to climb the dangerous seventeen-thousand-foot Mount Kenya.”)
Men O’ War: Stories from the Glory Days of Sail a collection of stories by various authors, including Patrick O’Brien
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (Great travel writer. This one is about Australia.)
The Summer Book by Susan Branch (recipes and ideas for summer entertaining. I’ve given up summer entertaining. It’s too hot.)

Tonight, folks, you are going to have to watch the Olympics sans me. Sans me anything is hard, but sans me Olympics? Wipe that tear away.

But, fear not, here’s a little treat for you. Photos of the Guinea Pig Olympics.

Already tired of work this week? Or, as in my case, already tired of doing laundry this week (no, I haven’t even started)? Start planning your weekend now! Come hear Mr MIP (a.k.a. Steve) and his band this Saturday at the Naperville Riverwalk Ampitheatre (if you read this before 1 pm Monday, please note the change in location!), 12 noon. If you’re reading this, you’re invited and you must come and you must sit with me (because many hands make light work of watching SuperBoy). (You can read my post where I share our propensity for coming up with band names HERE. ) Here’s a general map of the Riverwalk.

My Olympics were taken away from me tonight. And this is what happens when you do that to me. I went to the site Yearbook Yourself and created away (and of course send me an email of you! send it to skcwick at yahoo.com).

Here are some faves of Mr MIP and I:

Me Circa 1952:

Mr MIP circa ‘60:

Mr MIP Circa 1970:

Mr MIP Circa 1974

Me, Circa 1982:

1984:

1994:

Mr MIP ‘96:

Being a big fan of, well, WORDS, I find the names of the athletes to be an interesting distraction. Here are some things to listen for tonight:

1. Deena Kastor, Ryan Hall and Brian Sell are names to listen for in the Marathon. I think tonight they’re airing the women’s marathon. My mom will want to know that Brian Sell was born in Altoona, PA. Maybe someday Ryan and I will run a marathon together. (I use the word “together” very loosely. He’d be about two four hours ahead of me.) To read a good article on Ryan Hall, click here. (I have a few theological quibbles with the author, but a good article, nonetheless!) Update: Deena is out of the race! Cheer for Paula Radcliffe.

2. Whenever I watch sports, I play the game of matching my name with the player’s to come up with the best combo. (Yes, just like fourth grade!) Mr MIP used to laugh at me for playing this goofy game, until I came up with my all-time favorite pairing ever: Kiko & Kelli Calero. Now he plays along too. I’m still searching for an Olympic winner. So far Kelli van den Hoogenband is winning. I’m thinking signing checks is a chore with that name! Got any winners that match your name well? **

3. If you’re tired of Olympics…

You’re tired of Olympics??? As if! We haven’t even begun yet! Trampoline is coming up next week! w00t w00t

I had no idea Trampoline was an Olympic Sport. Mr MIP and I think poker should be an Olympic Event. The winner takes the pot and then pays off their national debt with it.

Huh? What’s that? Oh, yes! Of course I’ll be sure to mention that: Cubs are 5 and a half games in the lead! What a banner night it was last night with that awesome Michael Phelps win, a bottom of the ninth 3 run homer for the Cubs and me and my bro playing online Scramble and crushing the competition (sort of).

I take a multi-vitamin everyday because I believe it will help me get the vitamins I need to keep me healthy.

I take two pills a day because I am fighting the  high blood pressure that runs in the family and I need help to correct that.

When I feel sick I start overdosing on Vitamin C to get rid of the illness.

I had to ask myself this morning - how am I treating the Bible? Like a vitamin (keep me healthy!), a correcting medication (fix the problem!), or as an emergency vitamin C pill that I only turn to when I face something hard (get me out of this, Lord!)

It’s so much cooler when you can talk in abbreviations. As in, “That was a great p bar routine.” Ooh. You’re so cool. It shows you’re too important and have too much to do to say the whole word.

Here are your distractions provided for you by me because I know the stress of watching the Women’s Gymnastic All-Around Finals.

Visit Photo Funia and  waste some time (PG-13 rating for the site): (click on them to enlarge)

If I think too much about the records every site keeps on what we browse and read and look up on the internet, it can be a little creepy.

I was browsing a news article when this popped up in the corner:

Based on your past browsing, we recommend the following articles:

Dump the Friend - but not THIS way
Aargh! — buried facts about pirates
‘Mummy’ star likes to dress correctly

Pirates?

Amazon recommends these books to me based on past purchases:

World War II Coloring Book
Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview
Cut & Assemble An Early New England Village

Apparently I like to color and assemble my history. And what’s with the scholarly middle book there. Where’s Mary Higgins Clark?

And the last site I visited? The Pulse - Mark DeRosa’s blog. Now that we’re almost Best Friends Forever, I have to check in every once in a while. Go Cubs! (I was in sports heaven yesterday, what with the Olympics AND a Cubs doubleheader!)

Just as a reminder:
TEAM           W      L       %       GB
Chicago         73     47     .608      -
Milwaukee     70     51     .579      3.5
St. Louis        67     56     .545      7.5
Houston        61     55     .508     12.0
Pittsburgh     55     65     .458     18.0
Cincinnati     53      68     .438      20.5

GO CUBS!

Just in case you get nervous watching Olympics tonight, here are some distractions:

1. Waste your time doing this:
87 words

Speedtest

2. 8yo practically brought tears to my eyes after I asked her to put some rolls of toilet paper in the bathroom. She didn’t just stick it in the sink (well, you know, there was the possibility she’d do that!), she put it on the holder without being asked!! Gold Medal Winner, Dear!

3. SuperBoy learned a lesson we all need to remember: Never hit a bee with a bat. (I guess I can’t help but acknowledge some other issues in this photo: He’s modeling the silver medal his sister made for him. He’s also modeling the latest in SpiderMan fashions. Hm? What? The dishes behind his head? Of course they’re clean. Um. Sort of.)

We have a Burley d’lite cart we’re selling and I thought I’d offer it here first (Next step: eBay!).

It converts to a jogging stroller (as seen here):

Or can be used connected to a bike (as seen here):

It’s in great condition! It can be used to seat 1 or 2 children:

I.e. Two of these:

If you are interested, email me at skcwick at yahoo.com. We are asking $220 for it and would accept PayPal or cash. (retails for $550 + extra for the jogging conversion which we’ve included!) If you do not live in the area, we’ll just charge the actual shipping costs! It comes with the safety flag, but we do not have the original directions for putting it together (but I’ll look!!).

Thanks,

Us