- Lifeguarding (Earn your certification)
- Boot Camp Combo (Land & Water)
- Les Mills Body Flow
- DREAM Basketball (for youth)
- Superhero Training (age 3-6)
- Preschool Arts & Play
- Adult Swim Lessons
- Family Zumba
- Les Mills CX Worx
- Silver Sneakers (Seniors Range of Motion)
- Aqua Combo (Shallow and Deep Water Ex)
- Deep Water Ex – 4 pm Tues & Thurs (the one I teach!)
Monday Morning Mysteries
Mystery series I have read
- Nancy Drew
- Hardy Boys
- Margo series
- Sherlock Holmes (many of them)
- Encyclopedia Brown
- Agatha Christie (a few)
Songs That Have Been Going Through My Head at One Time or Another Over the Last Few Days
- Amazing Grace… My chains are gone, I’ve been set free, my God, my Savior ransomed me…
- Catch a Falling Star…and put it in your pocket…
- Moon River… Two drifters off to see the world, there’s such a lot of world to see…
- Lay Me Down… Hand on my heart this much is true, There’s no life apart from You…
- Fish Heads, Fish Heads… roley-poley fish heads…
Great Things About the Tug-Fest in LeClaire, Iowa
- It’s the nation’s only Tug-of-War across the Mississippi River, held every August for more than 25 years
- The vendors— Cotton Candy FTW!!
- Carnival rides on the levee
- Small town street festivals are awesome
- Kid-friendly with lots of reasons for adults to have fun too
- LeClaire’s parade… get a spot early!
- Live music on the levee
- The MOST AWESOME fireworks show ever… fireworks over the river!
- People who come home for the weekend from across the country… I get to see my friend Wendi tonight!
Results of Two Rivers YMCA’s Lifeguard Olympics
Team Competition
- 10 pound Brick Relay
First Place: Team USA - Lifeguard Tow
Tie for First Place: Team USA, Water Weasels - Dive Retrieval
First Place: Team USA - Backboard Spinal Rescue
First Place (by only 4 points): Team USAGold Medal: Team USA
Individual Competition
- Brick Retrieval with Feet Only
Gold Medal: Tom N
Second Place: Bill P - Treading Water Highest
Gold Medal: Trent F
Second Place: Brandon R - Treading Water in Streamline
Gold Medal: Kristi Z
Second Place: Sasha P - Underwater Swim
Gold Medal: Bill P
Tie for Second Place: Jeff H, Tom N - Best Splash
Gold Medal: Tom N
Second Place: Trent F - Individual All-Around Points
Gold Medal: Tom N
Celebrities Who Have Endorsed Pepsi In My Lifetime
- Michael Jackson
- David Bowie
- Tina Turner
- Aretha Franklin
- Janet Jackson
- Madonna
- Ray Charles
- Britney Spears
- Pink
- Beyonce
- Enrique Iglasias
- Ludacris
- The Osbournes
- Christina Aguilera
- Kanye West
- Mariah Carey
- Nicki Minaj
- Jeff Gordon
Monday’s Mentionables
- Monday’s child is “fair of face”.
- Past medical studies found a 20% increase in heart attacks on Mondays.
- The 80’s-era Bangles’ hit song “Manic Monday” was written by Prince.
- There are 53 Mondays on the calendar this year.
- There were only 52 Mondays last year.
- The name “Monday” comes from Greek and/or Latin phrases, both meaning “Day of the Moon” or “Moon’s Day”.
- Jimmy Buffet’s song “Come Monday” was written for his wife, because he missed her while playing weekend shows.
- One study claims that 50% of employees are late to work on Monday mornings.
- Worker productivity studies showed that an average of only 3.5 hours of actual work are conducted on Mondays.
- The first Monday after Thanksgiving, deemed “Cyber Monday”, is not the busiest online shopping day of the year, despite claims otherwise.
- “I Don’t Like Mondays”, the title of a 1979 hit song, comes from a phrase quoted by Brenda Spencer, the perpetrator of a school shooting which killed 2 adults and wounded 8 children.
- The Carpenters recorded their hit song “Rainy Days and Mondays” in 1971 and then saw it climb to #2 on the charts.
- Monday Night Football is one of the longest running prime-time commercial network television series, starting in 1970 and currently contracted to go through 2021.
Famous People Whose Names Start with X, Y, or Z
- Yoko Ono
- Zooey Deschanel
- Chuck Yeager
- Yogi Bera
- Yanni
- Zane Gray
- Yesica Toscanini
- Weird Al Yankovich
- Carlos Zambrano
- Yao Ming
- Zachery Ty Bryan
- Yasmine Bleeth
- Yoshi Tatsu
- Malcom X
- Cy Young
- James Zahara
- Sgt. York
- Renee Zellweger
- Catherine Zeta-Jones
- Rob Zombie
- Daphne Zuniga
- Tina Yothers
- Fuzzy Zoeller
- Ma Ying-jeou
- Yul Brynner
- Vern Troyer
Adventurous Travel in the USA (amongst the places I have been)
- Kenai Peninsula, Alaska – Road trip, get a rustic cabin, visit the tip of the Homer Spit, see moose, avoid bear, stop at the Ranger Stations to chat with locals (http://www.kenaipeninsula.org/)
- Maui, Hawaii – Visit the top of the Haleakala Crater, take the Road to Hana and make all the stops, swim under waterfalls, take a surfing lesson, kayak with whales, rent a condo on the beach from my friend
- Phoenix, Arizona – Only go in the winter, hike the desert, float down the river, golf, search for the Lost Dutchman’s gold, drive north of Mesa at night and view the glittering city
- Boston, Massachusetts – Follow the Freedom Trail’s red line through town to tour history on your own, order seafood, wander Boston Commons (with a friend), take in a museum
- New York City, New York – Choose your top 3 must sees and count everything else a bonus. You could explore this city for weeks, maybe months, and never see it all. Museums, skyscrapers, sports, exhibits… Take in a Broadway show, skate at Rockefeller Center, rub the Wall Street Bull’s unmentionables for good luck, pose for a pic with the Naked Cowboy in Times Square, eat authentic cuisine from another culture, see the Statue of Liberty, relax in Central Park or any of the smaller ones scattered through the city, ride the subway, wear your walking shoes
- Los Angeles, California – Hit the beaches… Huntington for ocean swimming, Venice for weirdo-watching. Visit Hollywood, drive into Hollywood Hills to see the city, take in a professional sporting event, wander a pier at dusk
- Boundary Waters, northern Minnesota – Plan with an outfitter, rent a canoe, and tour your way through the beauty of the North Woods. Be sure you know what you’re doing or hire a guide. Portage trails, paddle lakes, camp in remote wilderness, watch out for bears
- Chicago, Illinois – Museums, sporting events, tall buildings, shows, shopping, visit the sand dunes and beaches surrounding Lake Michigan
- Juneau, Alaska – Fly or ferry in since there are no roads into this capital city. Visit glaciers, hike trails, view wildlife, cough up the funds for a helicopter tour that will land you on top of a glacier
- Grand Canyon, Arizona – Hike or trail ride into the canyon but only with thorough preparation. Incredible views, challenging trips, white water rafting, desert camping
Reasons I Am Looking Forwards to Autumn, Even Though I Usually Love Summer
- An end to this infernal heat.
- Cool nights
- Open windows
- Pumpkins
- Bonfires
- Crisp air
- Crunchy leaves
- Wrapping up in cozy blankets
- Holiday preparations
- Hot chocolate with marshmallows
- Fleece-lined hoodies
- Tall boots
