Lap Top Dog

Hallo, my name is Tika. I'm a shihtzu currently staying at the Hotel Decent. I bet you're surprised I am so good at using an IPad. Well it's easy when you can use your nose to press the keys snuggled up on a fluffy throw next to a woman who is balancing it on her lap for you. I guess you could say I'm a lap top dog!
It only seems like yesterday that I moved in. In fact it was yesterday. My real mom has gone to visit her family in Tai Wan and my dad is busy at work all day, so they found this poor schmuck who couldn't say no to take me in for a week.
Actually it's going pretty well, in fact the food tastes exactly the same as I get at home and my feeding bowls seem strangely familiar. I'd swear my bed is the same too.
Last night I slept well, apart from being disturbed by snoring. I do wish they would let me sleep downstairs. I've enjoyed dragging my new hosts around in the ice and snow, even though I guess they'd rather be inside in the warm tee hee.
Of course my very favourite thing is to sit on a cozy lap, which is how I discovered this IPad thing. I heard I'm only here til Friday, but no idea what that means.

Inspiration Frustration

This week I had the good fortune to meet a truly inspirational American woman - Martha Hawkins. She was the guest speaker at an Interfaith breakfast I was covering. Martha is pretty much the stereotypical Black Southern momma - she greeted me with a hug not a handshake and was as round and jolly as Santa Claus.
During her talk, Martha only hinted at her life struggles, so when I got home I downloaded her book, Finding Martha's Place. It was powerful stuff about how she rose from a life of mental illness and poverty in the Montgomery projects in Alabama to running her own restaurant. Martha grew up at the time of the Civil Rights movement, and having met her, it was amazing to see how she could have ever amounted to anything from such humble beginnings.
I couldn't put the book down. You couldn't help but feel proud for the way Black Americans have overcome their struggles to reach the point they have. At the end she referenced Barak Obama and you could feel the pride of an entire race behind him.
On an iPad you can go from one thing to another in one click. As soon as I finished reading, I looked at my e mails. Someone had sent me one of those silly things that go the rounds that I don't much care for.
I'm still shaking with anger as I write this. This time it was a selection of photos showing Michele Obama's fashion faux pas. The first picture showed a group of people at with her saying it was like the Jeffersons' had visited the White House.
In a democracy everyone is entitled to their own opinions of course. But throwing together a load of photos which include captions like saying Michele looks like a maid or will never have the class of Laura Bush is not clever or entertaining, it's puerile. Guess at the end of it all, what's important is not how people overcome adversity, it's what kind of shoes they choose to wear.

Choc Full Of Fun

Warning: If you're trying to lose those Holiday pounds look away now. Here's a few up close and personal shots from yesterday's NCO Youth and Family Services Eighth Annual Chocolate Festival in Naperville.

This is what happens when you open your browser to allow cookies....
I believe if you take fruit with your chocolate cake it cancels out any calorie intake...
Goodness gracious, great balls of chocolate!
"Dad when I asked you to help me with my school project, this isn't quite what I meant."
CBS 2 investigative reporter Dave Savini with his daughter Desiree.
Local Press photographers begging for chocolate.....
That stuff just gets everywhere!

Knee Jerk

I'd like to point out I didn't end up being X rayed today because of the Zumba class, although if I decide to carry on with it it might be worth taking a brain scan to see where my sanity has gone. I've had an achy knee on and off ever since I slipped on Geordy Sue's deck more than a year ago. Not that I'm still blaming her of course. Everytime I think I really must go to the doctor it gets better, but after another night of tossing and turning I thought I'd check it out.
I went along to our local Convenient Care Center which gave excellent service. In under an hour I had registered, seen a nurse, a nice looking doctor (wish I'd remembered to shave my legs), a radiologist and another nurse whose job was just to wave and say "good bye".
You know being examined and having an X ray is much more pleasant when you don't have to expose any orifices?
Good news was nothing much to worry about, just a bit of wear and tear, which is a bit of shame because I was hoping for a doctor's note about why I couldn't go to Zumba anymore.
However, as the final nurse was signing me off, she smiled.
"Have I seen you here before?" she asked.
"No," I replied. And hopefully never again.
"Oh, it's just you look familiar. And I know your name."
After I explained what I do, she realized she'd read me in the Naperville Sun and Glancer Magazine.
"Oo, I'll make sure I look out for you now," she said.
Which is all very nice, but I'm pleased I was only there for my knee and nothing more personal.....

Zumba De Doo Dah

Ok, so I wasn't the oldest person in the class (but a close second) and thankfully not the largest either (again close second) but the point was me and my new sparkly shoes were there, on time and ready to spring into action.
I was at my first ever Zumba class, in a desperate attempt to at least try out all my New Year's Resolutions before the end of the month. (Not sure if enough time to lose 50lbs but we'll see). I carefully matched the shoes with black leggings which make me look like Max Wall (if you don't know who he is, then Google him alongside eccentric British music hall acts of the 20th century). My top half was covered in a black t shirt with "I am a PC" on the front, which I believe stands for Phat Cow.
It goes without saying that Elizabeth, our instructor, was young, super fit and lovely. I expect she Zumbered her way all the way to the studio.
Having had some experience of excerise classes, I know my place. Right at the back of the room. The problem with this is it's tricky to keep an eye on the instructor. If you think about it, she's the one to watch, because by the time half a dozen people line up vertically behind her, her moves are so plagiarized I'm copying a monkey with St Vitas Dance. Or I could be looking the mirror, not sure which.
I did actually make it to the end of the class, although it's amazing how slow bouncing about to Latin rhythms can be when you have a huge clock in front of you. By the end I was so good that not only was I almost following at least half of the steps, but I was doing some even before Elizabeth did, although that could just be because I was still trying to catch up from the previous routine....

If The Shoe Fits....

It's January, so here we go again with my usual "how much weight can I lose, how fit can I get before I give up on February 1st"?
This time I'm taking it very seriously. On Wednesday I'm trying a new kind of exercise class - Zumba. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it involves Latin American rhythms which I'm hoping will help me to block out the fact that I'm trying to exercise.
Today I took the first steps in the 2011 regime. At the outlet mall I chose salad for lunch, and didn't have even one of those little bits of chicken on cocktail sticks they wave at you on your way to the ladies room.
Better than that I bought this really cool pair of exercise shoes. They're so so sparkly I can imagine I'm not exercising at all, but ballroom dancing. Clever eh? Not sure what I'm going to wear with them yet. Don't think a sequined dress will be quite suitable, but I've still got a day to go to sort that one out.

Happy, Happy, Happy New Year!

1,000th post on 1.1.11

Grumpy and I have never quite managed the perfect New Year's celebrations since we arrived in Naperville. Folks around here often prefer a quiet nice in. The only time I would ever opt for that was if George Clooney popped round for a cuppa, so the idea of doing so on the big party night of the year is a big "no no" for us.
We've tried everything. Going to friends, eating in a restaurant then coming home before midnight, a huge hotel party where everyone was half our age - nothing really worked.
Up until yesterday morning it looked like this year would be our worst yet. We had absolutely nothing to do at all. Then, hero that he is, Grumpy managed to squeeze us in at a local hotel. Trouble was that didn't start until 10 p.m. so we had some time to kill first. This is how it panned out, and how I was able to actually celebrate 2011 three times in one day.
9 a.m. Off to the DuPage Children's Museum for their ninth annual Bubble Bash. This is a way for families to celebrate with a fun event with a countdown to the New Year at midday. (I was actually covering this for my magazine so not quite as odd as it sounds for me to be there). I had a chance to wish our Mayor "Happy New Year" before he started the countdown. Technically it was only 11.50 a.m. but since he was 12 hours early anyway, no one seemed to mind.
4 p.m. Arrived at Quigley's, our Irish pub. They have a countdown at 6 p.m. but the place got so busy we had a quick drink and left.
5 p.m. Riverwalk. With the weather a balmy 55 degrees, we came across several people we knew. We sipped free hot chocolates and clinked little bells handed out by the Downtown Naperville Alliance.
6 p.m. Countdown no. 2 at the Carillon. This seemed slightly less odd because after all it did coincide with the English New Year and at least by now it was dark. Stumbled across Geordie Sue and her family and some other British friends. Very nice of the city to do this just for us I thought, although the idea is to make a family friendly event. Not sure the good folks of Naperville ever stay up beyond 10 p.m. even on New Years.
7 p.m. Had less than celebratory burger for dinner because all the good restaurants booked.
10 p.m. Quick change at the Lisle Hilton. At first it seemed there was only us and one other couple ready to dance the night away, but that changed when we realized all the partying was going on in another room.
12 p.m. Celebrated the New Year yet again with a few hundred of our newest 'friends'.
12 noon Enjoyed famed New Year's hotel brunch to make up for lack of dinner the night before.