#328 She Works Hard For The Money

I stopped at Meijer on my way home from my parent’s Wednesday night and got in one of the self checkout lanes with no item limit.  The woman in front of me needed assistance so I switched to another lane.  The woman in that lane was paying with cash.  She had a stack of some 5’s and mostly one’s and proceeded to insert each bill one at-a-time into the slot.  She made sure the corners were not bent and had to put them in facing the correct way.  Sigh.  I appreciate people paying with cash and it’s her right to do that and take five minutes to pay for her items, but holy cow.  I started reading the magazine covers and found out Drew Barrymore had a baby in September.  Huh! 

When it was my turn to check out, I needed assistance with a rain check.  The guy that came over to help me was my height (albeit around 19) and after he helped me he asked how tall I was.  I told him and he smiled and said he was also 6'6" and then said, "Cool!"  Yes, it is cool. 

#327 I Can See Clearly Now

I had dinner at my parent’s house Wednesday night.  My mom woke up from a nap when I arrived so she was a little groggy at first.  Partway through dinner I noticed she wasn’t wearing her glasses but didn’t say anything.  We sat and chatted after the meal and I was about to ask about her glasses when she said that her eyesight had been really good the past couple of days (she has macular degeneration) but that everything was blurry.  I laughed and mentioned that she wasn’t wearing her glasses.  Dad got them for her and she said, “Oh!  That’s much better!”  She did laugh about it but was also a little embarrassed that she didn’t notice she wasn’t wearing them.  It happens to the best of us! 

#326 Loving Louisville

Last weekend I attended the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship in Louisville, Kentucky. I have driven by Louisville probably 100 times and have always thought it looked like a nice place to visit. I was right!

Here are just some of the daily highlights from my trip:

Thursday

• Walking down 4th Street listening to Christmas music on large speakers on every street corner. I walked and sang out loud and enjoyed the sights. Which included…
• Seeing Karch Kiraly walk past me. He is a commentator for ESPN and worked the NCAA matches. I met him at a beach tournament in my 20s and he’s still got it.
• Seeing all the other tall men and women walking around. I was amazed at how many tall women I saw around town. That were my age and probably have daughters playing volleyball now. I even had an usher at the Yum! Center ask me if my daughter was playing in the tournament.
• Watching great volleyball matches that night – the semifinals pairing Michigan vs. Texas and Penn St. vs. Oregon. Although the Big 10 did not fare well…

Friday

• Touring Churchill Downs on a beautiful, sunny day.
• Having a funny elevator meeting with a cute guy: I was headed to Churchill Downs and a tall, cute guy got on the hotel elevator while I was on my way downstairs. We chatted about the previous day’s matches and the doors opened so I followed him out. I took about four steps and realized it was not the floor I wanted. I laughed and said, “This isn’t my floor!” and got back on the elevator. Whoops!
• Meeting Phil and Michelle at Yafa Café (a Mediterranean restaurant on 4th Street) for a late lunch. There’s nothing like enjoying a great meal al fresco with great friends (and on a beautiful, sunny day). They also enjoyed some hookah. I did not partake.
• Meeting Phil and Michelle’s friends (Terry and Kelly, David and Sarah) and having another great meal at El Mundo.

Saturday

• Seeing Diana: A Celebration at the Frazier History Museum. Very cool! I was mostly struck by seeing her childhood memorabilia. She had things that I had growing up – a diary, ceramic animals, scrapbooks. Looking at all of those things and reading about her early life really humanized her (although she always came across as very down to earth anyway) and made me conscious of the fact that deep down we’re all pretty much the same despite her fame and fortune.
• Driving to the Zappos/6PM outlet!! Michelle called me after I was done with the Diana exhibit and said they were driving to the outlet in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. At first I said no (I certainly don’t need any more shoes). A minute later I called her back and they picked me up across from the statue of David. (Yowza!) I walked out with four pairs of shoes for $90. Everything was an additional 70 percent off!! My shoes ranged from $6 to $38 (and that pair was originally $158).
• Dinner at Troll Pub Under The Bridge. There is a very cool pub on Washington Street across from the Yum! Center. Local, great food (I had the shepherd’s pie) and you can’t beat the location. Michelle and Phil’s Indy friends Alicia and Matt joined us for dinner and the championship match.
• Seeing the women’s volleyball championship match. It was a quick one (Texas won in three straight sets) but was still fun. The sweepers were a sight to see and I got to see Karch again. And Kerri Walsh-Jennings was there too. I missed her autograph session (busy eating at the Troll) but got to see her at a halftime presentation. Another tall woman out there at 6’3”!

Overall I loved Louisville and plan to go back soon! 

#325 Manic Monday

This morning I had a chiropractor appointment at 8 a.m. so I got up extra early (5:30 a.m.) to go to the gym beforehand. As I unpacked my work clothes, I realized I had forgotten to pack my bra and underwear. Sigh.  I do have an extra pair of undies in my bag now (yes, this has happened before) but I didn’t have an extra bra. A couple of older women suggested I wear my sports bra to work. Not an option. Not only would that just look bad, but everyone would wonder where my boobs went. I look like a teenage boy when I wear a sports bra.


I drove back home (seven miles east), showered, and then drove back toward downtown to my chiropractor, who is on the west side of downtown. Why the west side? It’s easy for me to pop in at lunch or go right before work (or so I thought). I did manage to get there early like I wanted and was first to sign in. (Yes!! One small victory this morning.) 

Freshly cracked and energized, my day was back on the upswing until I walked from the parking garage to the office and noticed that some people were wearing jeans. Hmmmm. I got upstairs and everyone was wearing jeans in my group. What the…????  I took a vacation day last Friday and therefore missed the email about wearing jeans all this week. For free (we usually have $5 jeans days that go toward a charity). Fabulous.

For the record, I now have extra underwear and a bra in my gym bag.

#324 Billie Jean

Yesterday I attended The Power of Women’s Philanthropy, an event put on by Women’s Fund of Central Indiana held at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. Women’s Fund invests in the lives of women and girls, and teaches philanthropy to children from birth to age 18 through various programs.


The featured speaker was Billie Jean King. Being an avid tennis fan, I jumped at the chance to go to this event when I found out my work had some open seats.

She gave a good talk and below are things that stuck with me.

• At age five she told her mother she was going to do something great with her life.
• She quit playing softball and at age 12 she bought her first tennis racquet for $8.29.
• She was playing in a tournament as a young girl and noticed that everything was white. Her shoes, her tennis outfit; even the balls were white. She looked around and asked herself, "Where is everybody else?"  She decided right then that tennis would be her platform to promote equal rights for girls and boys.
• She gets annoyed when people come up to her and thank her for what she’s done for women’s tennis. She said no one would ever think of going up to John McEnroe and thanking him for what he’s done for men’s tennis. People would just thank him for what he’s done for tennis. Her goal was to make things better for everyone, not just women.
• Basketball was her first love.

At the end of her talk she hit signed tennis balls into the crowd with a racquet while “Philadelphia Freedom” played on the sound system. (Elton John wrote that song for her when she was playing on the Philadelphia Freedoms tennis team.)  I caught one!  (Are you surprised, with my long arms?)  I also helped a co-worker get one. 

It was a very nice event and I went away feeling a little more inspired to do more in my community to make it a better place for everyone, girls and boys alike. 

#323 World's Tallest Woman Dies

The world's tallest woman died yesterday in China.  She was 7 feet, 7 inches tall.  It is reported she suffered from gigantism, with a tumor on her pituitary gland disrupting her levels of growth hormone. 

My blog tends to focus on the humorous aspects of life, but there is a serious and not-so-fun side to excessive height.  It is sad to hear that people have these serious issues and that their height has had a negative impact on their lives.  I pray that anyone else with this medical condition can get help so they can live as normal as life as possible.  And let's remind ourselves when we see someone who has some type of physical issue to not make a spectacle of them.  Make a point to treat them like you would like to be treated.