Blogging A to Z — Cass Lake

Posted on April 4, 2016 by renbog

CMany years ago when I was in high school, my family took its first trip to a fishing resort in Cass Lake, Minnesota. Since then, I’ve traveled there numerous times; visiting Cass Lake brings back and continues to create memories for me that will last my entire life. They are also generational. M

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A view of Cass Lake from Wishbone Resort. The land at the other side of the lake is actually Star Island. Wishbone is on the “small” side of the lake.

y grandparents are the ones who started going there and now I am going there with my own daughter. Cass Lake is in northern Minnesota. The closest big city is Bemdiji. The resort I stay at is Wishbone Resort. They have pretty grounds, nice, comfy cabins, a pool, and boats and motors to rent. Cass Lake itself is a pretty big lake. The fish we catch there include lake perch, walleye, crappie, pan fish, bass, and Northern pike. You can also fish for muskie, but in all the years I’ve gone there, I’ve never seen one — fish of a thousand casts. Sometimes we fish on our own. We’ve gone for so many years, we know some good places to fish. Sometimes we go out with a guide. If I go with a guide, I like to fish for Northern pike. They are my favorite fish to catch — they put up a terrific fight!

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The view from the porch of the cabin I stay in.

While we are there, sometimes we drive south to Walker and go shopping. Walker is on Leech Lake, which is a really big lake! Sometimes we go into Bemidji, and there are some fun things to do there. Of course, there are all sorts of souvenir shops. We also have to stop and take pictures with Paul Bunyan and Babe his blue ox; they are on the shore of Lake Bemidji. There is also a deer park there where you can feed deer. They are pretty pushy! About an hour or so away is Itasca State Park, which is where the headwaters of the Mississippi River are located. It’s really pretty, and it’s fun to go wading in the shallows of the Mississippi where it starts! The resort is smack dab in the middle of Leech Lake Indian Reservation, so that means there is also a casino you can visit if you’re the gambling type! I have countless wonderful memories of visiting Cass Lake. I was actually inspired many years ago to write a poem about Cass Lake:

Diamonds made of moonlight
Dance on the ripples
In the dusk.
The gray of the lake in the evening
Reminds me of the times you and I sat on the pier
And dreamed of growing old together:
Gray as the lake,
Rich as diamonds!

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My husband and daughter preparing to go fishing. We rent the boat and motor.

If you enjoy fishing and living a simple life, relaxing, and getting off the grid for a little while, find yourself a fishing resort. And if you’re looking for a fishing resort, I suggest checking out what you can find in Cass Lake, MN. It’s a great place to start some great memories of your own!

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My daughter feeding deer at the deer park.

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My cousin and his partner posing with Paul and Babe.

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My daughter with the 12 pound Northern (and all the other Northern!) she caught after going out with a guide.

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Blogging A to Z — Biloxi

Posted on April 2, 2016 by renbog

BAlmost 2 years ago, my daughter was dating a young man who was doing tech training at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. She wanted to visit him so we took a road trip to Biloxi. What a great trip! We went in August, probably the hottest time of year to visit Biloxi, but since I love hot, humid weather, I didn’t mind it one bit! I loved the feel of Biloxi — such a great beach town! You can get terrific seafood there and enjoy that food and drinks with umbrellas in them at all sorts of fun waterfront bars and restaurants. Even the hotels face the beach. I’ll be honest, I was a little iffy about visiting Biloxi — beach towns tend to be really crowded and super expensive. But I had a really pleasant surprise in Biloxi! The hotel I stayed at faced the water and it was super duper affordable! And nice and clean! The seafood was affordable and fresh and yummy! And the beaches were not the least bit crowded — so wide open that I was wondering what the problem was. The beaches were clean and so was the water. It was warm, too. I am left wondering if the tourism industry there has had trouble rebounding because of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill in the Gulf. So I can’t encourage you enough to consider a trip to Biloxi if you are looking for an affordable beach getaway! There are some neat tourist things to see and do. There is a memorial for the people who died in Hurricane Katrina. Also, an artist turned all the broken trees from Katrina into beautiful sculptures as way to memorialize the sea life that perished in the hurricane. You can also take a tour on a shrimp boat to learn about the shrimping industry there. If you enjoy gambling, there are casinos to hit up, too.For the history buffs, definitely plan to visit Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis’s home! Absolutely fascinating! I simply can’t say enough positive things about Biloxi. I can’t wait to make a return trip there with my husband!

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Looking down the beach in Biloxi on a Saturday afternoon.

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One of the trees damaged in Hurricane Katrina turned into beautiful sculpture honoring the marine life that died in the hurricane.

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On a shrimp boat tour.

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Looking toward the heart of Biloxi in the evening.

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Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis’s home.

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Part of the memorial to those who died in Hurricane Katrina.

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Blogging A to Z — Avignon

Posted on April 1, 2016 by renbog

AI was fortunate enough that during my senior year of high school, I got to take a 10 day trip to France with some f my classmates. It was one of the most memorable trips in my life. One of the places I visited while on that trip was Avignon, which is in the south of France. I’m sure that I learned about the history of Avignon while there. But being a high school kid, I paid only a little attention to what the tour guide told us so I don’t remember much. But I do remember a couple of things, like I really liked the south of France and the small towns there much, much more than I liked Paris. I remember touring a church in Avignon that had a leaning bell tower and a fireplace so huge I could stand in it. I remember the cobblestone streets and drinking coffee at a sidewalk cafe with my teacher and her husband and daughter who were our chaperones. I didn’t like coffee back then, but I drank it anyway because that was what i was supposed to do while sitting at a sidewalk cafe in the south of France on a chilly spring afternoon, right? Not far from Avignon is Nimes, another small town I adored. I visited the Pont du Gard there — even walked across the top of it despite being terrified of heights. I loved the Pont du Gard so much that I bought a sketch of it from a sidewalk sketch artist. My friends and I ate pizza there after crossing the Pont du Gard — I remember it wasn’t like pizza at home (go figure). I ordered mine with jambon on it — which is ham. I recall thinking that was so weird — after all, I was an 18 year old kid who had been brought up thinking Pizza Hut pizza ruled the world. What I loved about Avignon was feeling the history all around me. I loved the look and feel of the old buildings surrounding me — something I simply didn’t experience at home in the far southern suburbs of Chicago. Avignon reminded me of what I imagined France, especially Paris, would be like. It was funny to discover that Paris was nothing like what I imagined but Avignon was everything I imagined! I have pictures from this trip, but way back in 1985, I was using a camera that required a flip flash, so all the pictures are in a photo album and I’m afraid that if I try to take them out they will be ruined, so you’ll just have to accept the links I offered above! If you are considering a trip to France, I highly recommend finding the time to visit the south of France and spending some time in Avignon and Nimes.

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Blogging A to Z Challenge — Theme Reveal!

Posted on March 21, 2016 by renbog

This is my third year participating in the Blogging A to Z Challenge. I’ve never had a theme before — this is the first year I’m having a theme! I have decided that all my posts will be about some place I have visited or traveled. I’ve been to some pretty amazing places, and I’ve been to some places that might not be amazing to anyone but me. But regardless, that is my theme! I hope you enjoy it, if you read any of my posts. They start April 1!

A2Z-BADGE [2016]

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A Foolish Need

Posted on February 23, 2016 by renbog

I like to think that I am pretty self-aware. That being said, one of the things I know about myself is that I am a people-pleaser and I want people to like me and be happy with me. When they are not, it really bothers me.

I don’t know where this came from. When I was in high school, I didn’t care at all what others thought of me. I had a wide circle of people I could call friends from all sorts of different social groups. I got along easily with most people. But somewhere along the way as I have aged, I’ve become much more concerned about what people think of me.

I don’t like to rock the boat or make waves because it might cause conflict with people I like and care about. I am like this in my family relationships, my friendships, and my working relationships. I don’t think I am a bad person. I’m HUMAN, which means I’m flawed, but I am not a mean person at heart. I can’t say I actually know any people who are like that. Because I tend to think of myself as a decent sort, it becomes of great concern to me when someone doesn’t like me or is mad at me, or if I even PERCEIVE that someone doesn’t like me or is mad at me. It will occupy my thoughts, both consciously and subconsciously. If this happens, I will go out of my way to try to make everything right. And the more I try and the less it helps, the more upset I become.

I hate being like this. I know so many people who are not this insecure. They are themselves, and they can be assertive and self-assured and don’t get a fraction as ruffled as I do when they have a conflict with someone else. Part of me says it is a bad thing to be so concerned with what others think of me. But a part of me sometimes thinks it’s not such a bad thing after all if it drives me to work hard at creating positive relationships.

Is anyone else like me, maybe more concerned than they ought to be with what other people think of them? Or who is not this way at all? I need ideas about how to handle this, either how to accept the way I am or change my way of thinking.

Posted in Emotional Outlet, Rants | 1 Comment

To Train or Not to Train

Posted on January 31, 2016 by renbog

I spent this  morning looking at some half marathon training plans. I am already signed up to run the Chicago Half Marathon in September, but I have been kicking around the idea of running the Chicago Mich Ultra Half in May as well. In my mind, I’d rather train for two half marathons than one full marathon. I know the havoc wreaked upon my body just training for a half; I’m afraid training for a full would hurt me physically and mentally more than it would help me. I am also over the idea that to reach a running pinnacle of sorts, I have to run a full.

So here I sit, pondering if I should train for this half in May.

Reasons why I think I should:

Reasons why I am hesitating:

  • Long runs — even the moderately long runs — during the week are exhausting. I have to get up really early to get the miles in.
  • I have been achy lately. I am doing all sorts of different exercise to keep myself motivated and moving. I find myself creaky a lot of the time. I’ll only get more creaky if I train for a half.
  • I live in constantly mortal dread of injury, even with doing the things my physical therapists have taught me.
  • I have to work some runs — long runs — in while I am on a cruise over my spring break — AND a long run for sure the weekend my daughter graduates from college.
  • For instance, one plan I am looking at has me doing a 7 mile run on my cruise and an 11 mile run the weekend my daughter graduates. Another plan has me doing a 6 mile run on my cruise and a 9 mile run on graduation weekend. The last plan has me doing an 8 mile run on the cruise and a 10 mile run on graduation weekend.

So, running friends, got any advice?

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Books Worth Reading

Posted on January 3, 2016 by renbog

As of the end of December 2015, I am no longer a freelance writer for Curriculet. I had the chance to be an independent contractor with them for a year and a half, but now that they can slow down on their Curriculet development, they cut back on writers. I loved writing for them. The best perk of the job is getting paid to read really great books! So here is a list of books I read for that job with links to the books on Amazon in case you want to read any of them yourself.

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Snow Running — My Observations

Posted on December 30, 2015 by renbog

And hold on to your hats, folks. I’m gonna say something nice about snow.

I did my first real run in the snow this morning. Yes, my very first 5K was in the snow, but to be honest, I hardly call what I did in that race “running”. I was going to go to the gym and run on the running track, but I saw how much snow was on the ground ( maybe a couple inches and still coming down) so I decided it would be a good time to try out the Yak Trax my husband bought me for my birthday. My observations:

  • Running with the Yak Trax was definitely more secure than running in just my shoes. But I also had to be cautious because I couldn’t see any icy patches under the snow, but I knew when I hit them!
  • Yak Trax are a little challenging to put on and a little challenging to take off. I’m hoping with practice, it will get easier.
  • Running in the snow will cure you of heel striking if you’re prone to that (like I am when I get tired). You will run as flat on your mid-foot as possible in that snow  because if you heel strike, you will slide. Even with the Yak Trax on.
  • Not gonna break any speed records running in the snow. I ran 2.25 miles in half an hour. Going that slow guaranteed I would make it home without falling.

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    After my snowy run this morning, with all sorts of snow frozen in my hair. It was kinda fun 🙂

  • And I spent a lot of time looking down at my feet, watching for any icy patches or bumps or dips in the snow, road, or sidewalk. They are hidden well in the snow and make for some dicey moments.
  • I took the corners at a walk because if I ran when turning a corner, I was sliding.
  • This makes it sound like I was still sliding around a lot, but I wasn’t. It only took a few slides to learn how to run without sliding.
  • Different muscles are used, or muscles are used differently, when running in the snow. My legs and ankles and shins and feet felt very different running in the snow than they usually do when running. I feel like I had to use those muscles not just to run but to really balance as well.
  • Here it comes. The nice thing I’m going to say about snow. Running while the snow is falling is kind of fun. It’s nice. It’s quiet and ethereal. It is NOT enough to keep me in Illinois, though, because as nice as it was running with the snowflakes swirling all around me, it doesn’t even compare to what it’s like to run along the beach in Key West. So humph.
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Year in Review — 2015: Ride the Coaster

Posted on December 27, 2015 by renbog

I am ready to have 2015 in the rear view mirror. While there were so many great things that happened this year, the few lousy things just cast dark shadows over everything. So, in no particular order, I present my 2015.

  • Running. I ran my very first half marathon this year in September. My goal was to do it in less than three hours, and I did it in 2:56.17. I even celebrated with a tattoo — all I had to do was believe. And train hard. I remember very clearly one morning after a 5 mile run, telling Jim I didn’t think I could do it. I was hurting all the time. He told me that he knew I could do it. I didn’t want to let him down, nor did I want to let myself down. So I just kept on pushing and it was well worth it in the end! I also continually improved my PR times with every 5K I ran — including beating Jim across the finish line at the last one we ran earlier this month! I even got my daughter to run her first 5K, and I was so proud to be with her every step of the way.
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    My half marathon tattoo!

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    Me, Jim, and Becky after she ran her first 5K.

    Wearing my half marathon finisher’s medal.

  • 25 years. Jim and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. I can say that I have gained quite an understanding of my marriage after looking back on the past quarter century. I’m sure I loved Jim when I married him, but I also know that I was desperate to get married — I was the last one of my friends to do so and dammit, I wanted my white dress and big party! That made for a rocky start. And we definitely hit a lot of big bumps along the way. When our daughter left for college, I was terrified to be alone with Jim. I knew we were at a tipping point. Either we would break up or grow together. I was pretty convinced it would be the former, but I was wrong. We turned to each other and grew exponentially. You know how people say they married their best friends? Well, Jim and I were most definitely not best friends 25 years ago, but we very much are now. I am the luckiest girl in the world.

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    Jim and me on our wedding day, 25 years ago!

  • Back to the classroom. After 2 years in my tech position, I returned to teaching language arts half my day and doing the tech job half the day. Big mistake. I thought I could balance it. Wrong. I feel the need to apologize to all the teachers I work with because for the past 2 years, I really felt like they could count on me to be a help to them, but this year, I am overwhelmed, less accessible than I have been in the past, slow to respond, and generally not the person I want to be for my colleagues. I promise to continue to manage my time better for all of you and be the help you need!
  • Travel. I am so fortunate to be able to have the travel opportunities I get. This past year, I got to go back to India, and I loved it even more the second time around! I love the buzz, the life, the activity that is always there. There is always something interesting to see there, whether it is beautiful or heartbreaking. I loved settling into a routine while I was there — I especially enjoyed going to the park with my dad and Brenda; they walked and I ran. Then we would have coffee on the balcony. Those moments are the best memories from my trip! I also got to travel with my dad and Brenda to Dubai, which was dazzling to say the least. I loved the opulence and the modernity. Again, there was always so much to see. Domestically, I got to take 2 trips to Key West! The first was in June to celebrate my daughter’s 21st birthday. I was surrounded by family and friends on that trip and every moment was pure joy. The second trip was in November with friends and it was heavenly to just be in the warmth and relax. (BTW, while there in November, I got to do a running bucket list item — I ran Duval Street! It was so cool to be there before all the hustle and bustle started. I love looking at my little GPS map and seeing my straight line covering the length of Duval Street!) I also went with our friends Larry and Cathy to the Indy 500 in May. That was one of the most wonderful trips I’ve taken! I always have so much fun with Larry and Cathy, but this was exceptional! They showed us the ropes of how to make the most of the Indy experience, and I felt like a little kid all day, I was so excited! I can’t WAIT to go back next year!
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    I decided to have pink hair when I went to Key West in June!

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    On the balcony of my hotel room in Dubai.

  • Family. I gained a deeper appreciation of family this year. I found myself growing closer to my brother and his family, which makes me so happy. I look at my cousin Robyn and her brother Peter, and I envy their relationship. I love that I feel like I can just call my brother just to talk. I love that we have fun when our families get together. We seemed to just kind of co-exist for the past few years, but this year has been different. My brother and his family are a lot of fun. I’m glad I got to re-discover that! I’ve also learned that when it comes to family, I can spend a lifetime loving people but have that love thrown back in my face. I alternate between being hurt deeply by that and not giving a single fuck (sorry for the language). I’m being purposely cryptic here, BTW. I don’t want to stir up drama; I just want to note that this year, family was in the forefront of my mind and heart, both positively and negatively. It is interesting how in some instances, family relationships changed just in an evolutionary way and how some changed because situations were thrust upon us and we had a common experience bonding us together.
  • My daddy. The day after I came home from my November trip to Key West, I was back on a plane headed to Houston because my father had suffered an sudden cardiac arrest. By all accounts, he should have been dead. But by whatever means — great medicine, angels, power of prayer, divine intervention, sheer luck, being at the right place at the right time — he is alive today. He walked out of the hospital one week after he should have been dead. I still get to have my daddy in my life. That’s the best gift I could ever ask for. Check out the story about what happened to him here.

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    Brenda with Miguel, the absolute best ICU nurse in the history of ever. We will all be forever indebted to Miguel for the wonderful care he gave my father and really all of us.

  • Suicide. My grandfather killed himself a few weeks ago. I am a tangled mess of guilt, anger, love, hate, and confusion. And I don’t want to talk about it much. But there it is. One of the most significant events of my whole life.

I’m ready for 2015 to be gone. I’m excited and apprehensive about 2016. One thing I learned this year — life is one helluva roller coaster.

Posted in Emotional Outlet | Leave a comment

We Fear Change

Posted on December 16, 2015 by renbog

Normally, I’m not afraid of change, but there’s a change happening in my life right now that I’m a little nervous about. And I know that many of you will roll your eyes at this, but if you know me, then you’ll understand why it’s causing me angst.

It’s the new Weight Watchers SmartPoints plan.

I’ve been following Weight Watchers for almost a year and a half, and I’ve lost more than 50 pounds. I really liked their PointsPlus plan and had great success with it, obviously. I liked that I was really able to eat what I wanted within reason. I have never really felt deprived following WW. But this new SmartPoints thing has me feeling like a failure only 2 weeks into it.

My weakness is sweets. Everybody has a food that is hard to resist; mine is chocolate and cakes and cookies and candy. My inability to resist sweets is partially responsible for forcing me to WW; eating that stuff has helped me get fat. But on the old WW plan, I was able to eat a reasonable amount of sweets. Usually, I’d have something after lunch and something after dinner. I’m talking like a container of chocolate pudding after lunch and a couple cookies after dinner. If one day I splurged and had a cupcake, it was a recoverable “error”. I really could eat pretty much whatever I wanted within reason and not feel deprived.

The new SmartPoints plan really ups the Point count on sugary things and starchy things. For instance, in my Weekly yesterday, they had  a sample menu that showed a brownie as 15 Points. Our leader said that would be like a 2″ X 2″ brownie. Now, maybe that number means nothing to you, so I’ll try to give it some perspective. I get 32 Points every day plus 42 “extra” Points each week to “spend” on whatever I choose. This sounds like a lot, but go back to that brownie. The size of that brownie isn’t unreasonable, but if I decide to eat one of those because someone brought them in for someone’s birthday, then I have eaten almost half my Points for that day just on that brownie. It’s like my whole day just got completely derailed because I decided to eat a brownie.

Which is how I got to this point today. A teacher I work with made me a plate of Christmas cookies today — and I love her gesture! I don’t want her to read this and think I’m ungrateful because I’m not at all! But I ate 3 cookies — two peanut butter blossoms and one frosted sugar cookie. None of these cookies were huge; they were just average-sized cookies. I’m estimating that each of those cookies was at least 6 Points each, which means by eating 3 cookies I blew more than half my Points for the day. I had already had 2 Points for breakfast — a glass of almond milk, unsweetened. Anything else would be too many Points — a protein bar, a breakfast bar, toast with a little peanut butter. So I am now eating a piece of fruit and having a glass of mike for breakfast to save Points. My lunch (catered lunch today at a meeting) was a little bit of Italian beef, 2 cheese raviolis, a half a piece of garlic bread, and a salad. I’m estimating my lunch at 12 Points. So add up my breakfast (2), lunch (12), and cookies (18) — that’s 32 Points. I guess I don’t get to eat dinner tonight.  All because I had three cookies. When things like this happen, it becomes all too easy to say, “Well, I screwed myself for the day. May as well keep on eating.” I feel weak and defeated and guilty. Because I ate three cookies. Not a whole package of cookies. Not a whole plate of cookies. Three cookies.

Some foods that I loved, I avoided because I knew they were bad, but if presented as a special treat, I might partake. For instance, I love French Silk pie. On the old WW plan, one slice of that pie was 19 Points — eek! I rarely had it — like only at Thanksgiving or at Christmas. But on the SmartPoints plan, that same slice of pie is 30 Points! My God, the whole WEEK is practically shot if I eat one slice of that pie! How could I live with myself after eating that???

So here I sit, feeling guilty that I’m going to eat dinner tonight even though I’m out of Points because I was hungry and ate 3 cookies. Tomorrow, I have my work Christmas party to face. Friday, I have a catered holiday lunch at work to face, plus I’m going to a very nice restaurant with friends to celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary. I feel like my whole week was going to be hard to manage anyway, but now I feel like throwing in the towel because I already jacked it up by eating 3 cookies.

If the new WW is all about making me feel like a failure for eating a cookie, then it’s a rousing success.

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