Sky Mall

During our recent travels* I spent a good deal of time reading through the Sky Mall magazine.  Confession:  it's my favorite part of traveling.  I'm not a good flier.  And reading each and every description of each and every product offered not only takes my mind off the fact that we are millions of feet above the safety of Earth, but it also entertains the heck out of me.  Here are ten things I think we all need from the Sky Mall.

1.  Human Sling Shot.  Price: $99.99

This doesn't seem like a terrible idea at all.

2.  Magic Shower Head.  Price: $49.99

Now I can have a rave in the shower.  Finally.

3.  Hoodie Pillow.  Price: $24.99

Yes!  The thing I'm missing in my sleep routine is a hood.  Brilliant!

4.  One of a Kind Shirt (for men).  Price: $129.99 - $199.99

I know what Drew's getting for Christmas!!!

5.  Cat Toilet.  Price: $49.99

Now if only I had a cat.

6.  Bigfoot Tree Yeti Sculpture.  Price: $69.95

OMG.  Mya would love this!

7.  Mademoiselle Floor Lamp.  Price: $549

We're all pretty sure this is modeled after me, right?

8.  Skel-e-gnome.  Price: $29.95 - $59.95

Because regular gnomes are so 2008.

9.  Beer Pouch Hoodie.  Price: $39.95


No longer will our hands be prisoners of cold beer!

 

10.  VaccUFlex.  Price: $29.99

Okay, I actually think this is genius.  Buy it for me.  Right meow.

Now get out your credit card and get your holiday shopping done in a flash.  You're welcome.


*I LOVE Chicago!!!

Sugo's Spaghetteria

We're doing a "restaurant review" writing series in class where my eighth graders are learning how to be food critics.  I was searching for examples of actual restaurant reviews and found a KC Star write-up of Sugo's Spaghetteria.  After reading the review several times, I was in agreement with my students; it sounds awesome.

So I was happy to choose Sugo's as our October Wednesday Night Dinner destination.  It's casual Italian dining.  And it was everything I expected, and more.

Dinner was scheduled during one of my peak training weeks before the Chicago marathon, so I was literally starving when I arrived.  I walked in and was greeted by a warm loaf of bread and olive oil for dipping.  Way to start our rendezvous off right, Sugo. 

This was also during my term of sobriety, so I skipped the wine.  It was not easy.  But I stuck with water.  I ordered a salad and one of the Neopolitan pizzas; the funghi.  It was crazy huge.  And crazy delish.

Holy mushrooms, Batman!

Kate offered to pay for my dinner this month AND next month if I could finish the thing.  I was able to down 2 slices.  And then I had lunch for the next day week.  Although my wallet was sad to miss out on free meals, my tummy thanked me for avoiding disaster.  And my thighs are still thanking me for avoiding the extra pounds.

All of the meals were huge.  But extremely tasty!  Don't order anything labeled "funghi" unless you are a serious mushroom fan.  Lucky for me, mushrooms are my jam.  So I was a happy lady.  They also have a funghi pasta dish.  Huge.



I cannot make this picture smaller.  Probably because the dish was so huge.

 

We all agreed that Sugo's was a definite plus.  The food was good and the price was right.  It isn't a fancy gourmet restaurant, but it isn't supposed to be.  It is a nice, well-priced Italian eatery.  I will absolutely go back... on a Monday night because the pizza and salad is on special for $10.  That will feed me for a week!  Holla!

 

Happy Ladies.  Big Plates.

Running the Risks

I was searching the internets for some dangers associated with running and there are plenty of lists.  Running comes with lots of risks!  Let's take a look at some.

1.  Inflammation.  Oh yeah, inflammation is a given.

2.  Cardiac Events.  I haven't experienced this, but I've heard scary stories.

3.  Osteoarthritis.  I call bullshit.  Everyone loves to tell you that running is bad for your knees.  You know what else is hard on your knees?  Obesity.

4.  Weight Changes.  Yes.  Depending on how much I'm running, my weight fluctuates like crazy.  As does my appetite.

5.  Immune System.  I've found that long runs followed by heavy drinking = bronchitis. 

These things all seem like risks, but not anything that's really too scary.  And definitely not anything you can prevent.  So, I searched "dangers" of running and found a blog entry titled "The Real Dangers of Running".  Here's what they said.

6.  Deplete your Bank Account.  Everyone says running is cheap, but shoes, races, and travel add up!

7.  Kiss your old habits good-bye.  I think she means all the pizza and beer on Friday nights.  I just attribute that to being old, but I guess the Saturday long runs do contribute to this Friday night lameness.

8.  Think feeling sore is normal.  Yep.  I think the sore, tight muscles are pretty much a given.

9.  Doing things that may not be socially acceptable.  Post run brunch covered in sweat happens all the time.  But I try to keep the talk of chafing and anything close to gross to the running circle.  Boob sweat happens. 

Unfortunately, all the lists I read through were blatantly missing one key risk of running.  So I'll add it myself.

10.  Evil bird attacks.

On Friday I went out for a 5 mile run at about 5:00 in the morning.  I really like to get my runs done before school, even though it means running in the dark.  At least I used to...

I had only run about a half mile and was starting to get into my groove.  My head was full of whatever it is that goes on during a run when all of a sudden I was assaulted from the back.  Something struck my head with some serious force and I FREAKED out! 

I literally thought I was being attacked.  I thought someone had thrown a rock at my head.  I was screaming my face off and whipped around prepared to defend myself. 

But no one was there. 

All of a sudden I saw a huge owl flying above me.  I quickly realized that the bird had swooped down on my and tried to grab my ponytail.  His claws dug into my scalp and he yanked my hair, but flew away when he failed to lift me off the ground. 

WTF?

I was so freaked out I turned around and ran home, all the while holding my hand on my head where he had struck me.  I was absolutely sure my head was gushing blood.

When I got home... no blood.  Some scrapes and scratches, but no blood.  Over-react much?

I'm fine.  But, seriously.  That was the dumbest thing I've ever experienced.  And the scariest!  So, if you are considering taking up running, please be aware of the horrors of nature.  That's way more dangerous than inflammation.  Although, it did almost cause a cardiac event.