Vecchio Venerdì...who's yer granny?

Giving Queen Elizabeth II a run for her money...

c. 1975

Not really sure why I had an affinity for dressing up like a little old lady during my preteen years. Thankfully, this was a brief phase. Sure wish I had a picture of me in my lime green bouclé Chanel suit...it was stunning. Well, it was bright anyway.

In other breaking news...

I climbed a 5.10d and a 5.11a last night. That's progress.

My weekend holds a little running, family time, additional cardio, some more climbing and a visit to the real Granny...the one who gave me the gadgets :)

Wishing a wonderful weekend to you all!

Stream of Consciousness and the DAR...

I'm finding myself mired in the debilitating doldrums of despair...ignited by the insidious inhibitions of inertia. It is neither a good place nor a good look for anyone.

source

Just imagine a toddler jumping on that person and the sounds of "Jay Joe Jeans and his jelly beans, hey! Let's sing a song about JAYYYY!" playing in the background and you have created my life.

I plan to bust a move as soon as I finish cleaning the bathrooms, washing my hair, balancing my checkbook, folding and putting away the laundry, going through the toy piles in the living room... HA! Who am I kidding? None of that is going to happen. So I need to just bust a move. Slap myself out of this funk... NOW. Inertia, be GONE!

Whew.

So I had a gadget for you, but it broke. I think I can fix it, but in the meantime I'm showing you another old family photo...are you sick of those yet?

This lovely young woman was married to the guy who ran the tight ship. They had six children...part of my big family legacy. She is one of my great-grandmothers...the mother of my paternal grandfather. She hails from distinguished lineage...founders of towns, an American Revolutionary War hero, judges, some lords in the middle ages (for real)... so yeah...I come from good stock :)

I'm thinking of applying for DAR membership, but something in the back of my mind is saying something bad about the DAR but I can't quite make out the message. And it is kind of incongruous...a Berkeley-raised, free-thinking person who loves traveling abroad deciding to join a staunchly patriotic group of historical zealots (or maybe that's a bit extreme)... but I suppose it is these contradictions that make me who I am :)

Boy, I really need to start working out again. My mind is gone...

Anyone know anything about the DAR?  How about the Mayflower Society?

Vecchio Venerdì... The Gibson Girl c. 1900

In the late 19th century on into the early 20th century, the Gibson Girl was considered the ideal woman. In essence, she was the Barbie of her time.

She like Barbie, portrayed women as strong individuals who could play sports while maintaining perfectly coiffed hair and dress. She was criticized by many, much like Barbie, for creating an unrealistic ideal of what women should look like: perfect proportions and long flowing hair. Despite the criticism she was a trend setter, a model for women in both dress and action, just like Barbie. 
(excerpted from this website)


My maternal great-grandmother did her best to be hip and happening – to be a Gibson Girl. Here she is in a portrait taken in 1902...

This photo was taken before she married this man and had those babies. I wonder if she gave this to him as a Christmas present, given the inscription on the back. In all, she had 6 children...four girls and two boys. Sadly, she lost both of her boys...I believe one was struck by an automobile in childhood and the other was a fighter pilot who went down during World War II in the Pacific Theater and was never found. I know she and my great-grandfather were devastated by the loss of their remaining son and worked quite hard to find his whereabouts and recover his remains... but to no avail.

Vecchio Venerdì... a big family legacy

Going with the tired musings of a semi-depressed, quasi-injured, tired mom of a less kids than this woman in the picture has... I'm heading back to my roots and resurrecting the good ol' Vecchio Venerdì, which means 'old Friday' in Italian. I thought it was a classier alliteration than 'Foto Friday' when I started doing it a year ago. You know I go for classy every time...and you know how much I loovvvvve alliteration ;-)

Anyway...

These are my ancestors. You've seen a couple of them before...if you've been reading my blog for the past year...or poring over pages from the past in an effort to glean as much info about me as possible.

In this photo circa 1914, the family patriarch (AKA GCL)...the very same one with the college snack-bar named after him...is the one wearing the hat. He was also the son of that murdered, itinerant butcher mentioned in the linked post.

All six of his children are pictured with him. They are the same kids who played indian in 1912. My grandpa Hugo is the cute one who looks sort of like Q-man...smiley, squinting into the sun...second from the left. GCL holds Isabel, the only girl and the second youngest of the bunch (she would be 100 this year but passed away in 2009). Apparently, they were inseparable. 

Mutter (they were German) holds the youngest, who grew up to become the father of a cousin with whom I am very, very close. This wee boy became a prison reformer and voluntarily served time in a penitentiary as part of his work (who remembers Brubaker with Robert Redford? yeah...like that). Sadly, he died while still a young man in an auto accident.

The little guy beside my grandpa was killed by an automobile as well. He was still a child.

I sure wish I knew more about what life was like for them.

Rumor has it GCL ran a might tight ship...and judging from the grip he has on the oldest child's arm, I'd say that rumor holds some validity.

Do you wish you knew more about your ancestors' family life? Or do you already know enough to satisfy your curiosity? Any good stories?

Vecchio Venerdì... young and happy at the beach!

Before I had kids, back when I was young... like, 35... I took a whole lot of classes at a local community college. I already had a degree and a half, but I love school. And I had a huge pile of student loans and a crappy job...which meant paying those bad boys off was a real challenge. I found out that by being a full-time student, I could defer my loan payments...until I stopped being a full-time student. Enroll me, please!

I took things that were fun and interesting to me. French, Italian, Spanish, German, Drama, and Photography... all in the same semester. It was such a blast. I was even in the school play. Really.

But this post isn't about the play or the languages. This post showcases my photographic skills... such as they were. This was pre-digital...darkroom work required.

The assignment: a set of self-portraits...

1. what the world sees, 
2. what you see, and 
3. I forget.

Today, I am sharing with you... which one? Let's make it fun... you guess :)

I set up a tripod on the beach. This really is a self-portrait. Cool, right?

The weird thing at the base of the rock is Nereocystis.

I promise to show the other one where I am actually in the freezing cold water in late October of 1998. But you'll have to wait until next Friday.

As far as my workouts... yesterday's run sucked wad. Leaden legs, hip injected with sulfuric acid, husband ran with me for the last 2 loops... we have 'issues' when we workout together :P And tonight's bike ride was just there. Nothing different from the other night except no video. I am hoping that this weekend's hilly extravaganza run is incredible and that my body is just knowingly saving itself ;-)

Tomorrow I will announce the winner of the Moving Comfort Giveaway! and I will show you some awesome stuff I did and saw with my kids over the past couple of days. Yeah, I'm a tease. 

Happy weekend!

I wish I had a cox...

Days like today, I wish I had a coxswain... the little person who sits in the stern of a boat and tells you what you need to do to make it all work. I was a really good coxswain...

That's me in the dark blue. Look at how hard I am making those guys work. We won that race. I wish I had me telling me what to do.

o...

right...

I do.

Vecchio Venerdì 
Head of the Schyulkill in 1990 or 1991... I can't remember.

****************************

A huge favor... I know I ask a lot of these... but this one would be so awesome if you would do it :)

My friend Catey who writes Random Thoughts from the Zoo is a swimwear contest finalist! Please go to the Hapari Swimwear Facebook page and "LIKE" Catey's photos... she is in the zebra top in one photo and a white short-sleeved t-shirt in the other.

Thanks :)

All the things this blog's been missing...

...are back.

Up until about six weeks ago, we had a couple of regulars going on here at Taking It On. They gave things a little structure... or something. In any event, once my husband left me, they kind of went by the wayside. And after that... well... then I had the big thing that I am trying not to mention for the rest of the week because I have been told I need to let go. (what I want to know is... how do you "let go" of one of the coolest, funnest, most amazing things of your life? anyone?)

So today we are returning to routine... we are grabbing those three regulars and wallowing in the 80's... Doing it up BIG time... you can tell by the beer and the big hair...

...shrouded in mystery...

Granny's Gadget #29 (it's been so long, I had to research which number we were on and it wasn't easy!)

I used one of these a LOT in the 80's.

I don't think twist-tops existed back then.

Does anyone remember?

Vecchio Venerdi

I didn't spend a ton of time this slack-jawed, but I did frequently have a beer in my hand.

Note the Farrah hair... classic early 1980's.

Musique

And I might need to apologize... but I had to put this on here.
Such a classic 1980's music video... the tight jeans and the butt shaking...
and what the heck is that weird pearl necklace, one-sided epaulet thing?

Who remembers the 80's? Anyone else old enough? 

What is your favorite memory from way back then?

***********************

Additionally, I need to give a huge shout out to The Blonde Ponytail and Tall Mom on the Run... two of my Team Nuun mates... Jess and I both served in Nuun Platuun and Mel and I were roomies the night before the main event... that I am on hiatus from mentioning. Jess isn't going for a specific time as this is her first 10K, but she has sworn to achieve swagina.

These two awesome women are running in the Athleta IronGirl 5K/10K this weekend in Seattle! Go, friends! Go! I am so envious... I'll bet they'll even get a chance to meet up with some of the awesome Nuun people.

Anyone else racing this weekend? I am not... I will be running a memorial 11 on 9/11/11 with some other friends... Cupcake and Co.

I hope this weekend is beautifully memorable for everyone :)

Playing Catch-Up Big Time

Oh, boy!

I have been Slackerama Mama this week... I think it was all those questions that I still haven't answered ;-)

You might think that since I haven't been able to run, I would have tons of time on my hands... but then you might remember that I don't really spend all that much time running and wondered what the heck is going on. Or maybe you just don't really think about it :P Or care.

Anyway...

Starting with the first forgotten thing...

Granny's Gadget #27! which was supposed to happen on Monday.

My husband accused this one of being kind of weak. But as far as most of us are concerned, if it has to do with ice cream... it's pretty awesome. Am I right?

The second forgotten thing...

Musique pour Mercredi!   which was supposed to happen on Wednesday.

This is the world's worst music video... every time I watch it I just crack up and want to make an imitation of it. I find myself acting out the moves and singing the totally lame song. It is like a really contagious disease or something. Or lice.

These guys caught the disease. They did what I want to do. I am so impressed by the fact that so many of them participated! I think I would be lucky to get anyone other than my kids and my husband to do it with me. I want to party with them!

This couple did a more intimate rendition. Just the two of them were able to effectively do the ensemble dancing and solo parts... incredible! Someone needs to sign them up! I wonder if they already have an agent? hmmmmmm....

And if you made it through the above madness... what with the ice cream scooper (ooooooo) and the triplicate music video (aaahhhhhh) and you are ready for more...

I bring you the third forgotten thing...

Vecchio Venerdì!  which was supposed to happen yesterday.

This week's photo of the past is not a scary-looking guy with scary sideburns... nor is it of the same guy after the beard filled in the spaces between the sideburns... nor is it of that same guy clean-shaven to look like Mr. Clean.

No.

It is a photo of Coach XL and her National Championship-winning crew...

1989 USRowing Senior Nationals

Senior Women's Four with Coxswain

Bachelors Barge Club

Philadelphia

This was, incidentally, the very same regatta at which my own personal "most embarrassing moment" occurred. But that's a story for a different day. And thankfully, there are no pictures of the incident... though they wouldn't be appropriate for this family-friendly blog anyway :P

BlogHer 2011 Voices of the Year Honoree... thanks to the armpit vagina!

Remember the Pit Vag?

If you go here to see who has been chosen as the 2011 BlogHer Voices of the Year and you scroll waaaaayyyyyyyy down to the "niche" category then under the subheading "honorees," and if you scroll all the way to the bottom of that group you will find me... XLMIC!

I was truly stunned when I received an email from BlogHer informing me of this... honor. My post containing photos of my Einstein hair and my armpit vagina was among the 90 posts chosen out of 1,000 submissions to receive this recognition. I am not really sure what it means, but I am stoked. It just goes to show that the more you humiliate yourself in public, the more people will flock to you. And throwing the word "vagina" into a post does wonders as far as drawing attention to your blog. (note: using 'boob' and/or 'bitch' in your title brings then running, too)

Now on to my hip... not sure if you remember that I was rear-ended on Tuesday night. I didn't play that up because I was really annoyed at the dork who hit us and was trying to let it go. Just went for my Moonlit Ride and run and tried to call it a day. I now think (and my PT agrees) that this rear-ending had something to do with this recurrence of the hip pain :(  Just great. Today, my PT did her magic and said I can run tomorrow... but to take it easy. I can do that :)  She did this taping thing...

to stabilize the SI joint. I am contemplating wearing a backless dress to my 30th high school reunion tomorrow night to show it off. Just kidding....  I already have a dress. I bought it today for $25 at the used clothing store. It looks like someone pulled it out of the bottom of the laundry hamper... or off the floor of the closet. I am going to iron it... don't worry. Now I need to pick out shoes and find my cherry chapstick, and I am good to go ;-)  

Remember that guy from last week? The one with the killer sideburns? Well... he eventually grew them out...

my great great grandpa... again.. this time with a killer beard.

Now get on over and play a little Q & A (click on it)... where there really are no boundaries. Ask anything...

• why do I run mostly at night? how is that safe?
• what were my favorite running shoes ever?
• do I use cloth diapers or disposables for my babies?
• did I breastfeed my children? for how long? why?
• how on earth did I, at the age of 45, have a baby? and more importantly, why?

You can even win yourself some Nuun!

Happy weekend :)

Vecchio Venerdì... really nice sideburns

I shouldn't make fun of my relatives...

but all I know about this guy is that he was my paternal grandmother's maternal grandfather... and he has a bitchin' set of sideburns!

 Please don't say you see a resemblance... I might have to hurt you.

Vecchio Venerdì... I am a Liar

Back in 1997, I ran my second marathon. (The first was in 1996). That is not a lie.

It was pouring down rain the whole night before and the morning of the race. Also not a lie.

I wore a Hefty bag to protect myself from the rain... lightweight, waterproof, and tossable when it's no longer needed. Pretty smart, right? Right. Another truth.

Here is where things get murky in my memory bank...

I could have sworn that I wore that trash bag for the whole race. I have since told people that I wore it for the whole, entire race. "Yeah... one year I ran in a race and it was sooooo rainy, I wore a Hefty bag for the entire race. And it was a marathon!" Unknowingly, I have been spreading this lie around for almost 14 years.

Here is a picture to show you how the family was outfitted for the weather...

my mom and 3 of my stepkids...clearly a rainy day. 

They were such amazing troopers :)

But there is photographic evidence that I was not, in fact, wearing the Hefty bag somewhere after the 20-mile mark...

you can barely see me... just left of center...

white hat, dark shirt, pinkish shorts...

no garbage bag.

And while I am no longer attired in black plastic, I am obviously having the time of my life... HUGE smile plastered on my face (good pacing that day!)... and those are socks on my hands... it was not just wet but also cold...

I met up with these 2 guys somewhere right before the 20...

I know that... it is not a lie.

We ran together until about the 24, at which point I was so excited and had so much energy that I just had to go faster. They were bummed because I had been entertaining them for about a half an hour. I never saw them again, so I'm not sure if they made it with out me :P

So I am a liar.

But now I have made a full confession.

I did NOT run a whole marathon in a Hefty bag.

Vecchio Venerdì... WonderBaby!

Ready to take on the world...

This girl is my inspiration...

And she even participates eagerly in my ridiculous video creations :)



Another Wonder Woman is doing superhuman things today... Emz from If I can't convince you - - I'll at least confuse you is spending my entire birthday running on a treadmill for the Sojourner Center. An incredible feat by an amazing woman for a most worthy cause... check it out and support!

Vecchio Venerdì... a future plumber?

Back when he was three years old, Big G wanted to be just like daddy when he grew up. Daddy is a contractor, and Big G knows how a tool belt works...

"I got it, mom!"

as he stuffs tool-shaped puzzle-pieces into his waistband...

"See? I'm a worker..."

you know what's coming, right?

We're thinking he'll be a plumber ;-)

What did/do you want to be when you grow up?
– I wanted to be a movie star. And a mommy. Big G no longer entertains visions of plumbing... he now wants to be a mythology professor. 

They sure get big...

You may remember the picture from the most recent Vecchio Venerdì when you see this...

It is amazing what happens in 5 years.


Here he is spinning in the red cup thing...










My kids love spinning things.

I feel like I'm going to throw up just looking at these pictures.

Vecchio Venerdì... the last time we were here...

It's been five years...

Q-Man (in the little cup-spinner thing) was only one year old, Baby X (in the pink coat in the background) celebrated her fourth birthday and we fired our lame-o nanny halfway through the three-week trip.

This picture was taken at the Jardin du Luxembourg where there is the coolest playground EVER. We are going there on Monday. I wonder if it is still as super cool.

Vecchio Venerdì... les Pyramides

à paris...

big g when he was little g.

april 2001

Our first 'April in Paris' trip happened when Big G was 19 months old. He and I were here for 3 weeks total... one week just the two of us, then 10 days with Daddy and the two youngest of my stepkids, and then one week with Grandma (there was a bit of overlapping in there).

Contests...

You might notice some changes going on around here.

The first thing you might notice is the ROCKIN' pic of yours truly and Fidel over on the right >>>>>>>>

When you click on this picture it will link you to a contest... me + celebrity photo contest... "the dorkier the better" is what the creators put in their tag line.  The creators are some pretty hilarious and out-there women... the ladies behind the brain of Lady Brain.  If you want to know about manscaping or 15-minute O's or if women journalists should be placed in dangerous situations, you need to check the ladies out!  Their radio show and website covers EVERYTHING... really.  

The winner of the contest wins....

ONE HUNNNNNNDRED DOLLARS

I want to win this contest.  But I don't want to win it for me... I want to win it for YOU.

And this takes us to the second thing you should notice on the page...
the NEW FACEBOOK BADGE!

If you click on the BADGE with the lovely picture of Baby X silhouetted against the sunset, you will be transported to the NEW FACEBOOK PAGE for Taking It On.  Woooo hooooo!
Low readership on one site isn't enough for me!  I need to experience being ignored on multiple sites ;-)
So what you do is....
click on the BADGE.  Then once you are on the new Taking It On Facebook page, you click the "LIKE" button... the one with the little 'thumbs up'... near the top where it says Taking It On.

Go on... click it.
It won't hurt.
You can do it.
Awesome!  Thanks so much :)

If When I win this photo contest, I am going to share the winnings with my Facebook likers!  My first thought was to split it evenly amongst all of us... we'd each get about two bucks. Then I realized that my popularity might suddenly begin approaching my generosity, and that would significantly diminish what we'd each walk away with monetarily... of course, the good, warm feelings of sharing and friendship and love and being a part of something bigger than oneself are impossible to put a monetary value on, and in that regard we'd all be richer than Bill Gates... or Oprah. Plus, I was reminded that the postage to mail a quarter to 400 people (my husband is the Eternal Optimist in addition to The Penguin) would kind of blow my budget :(

So what I propose to do should I win is to draw 5 names at random from the list of likers on that Facebook page and split the winnings between them. $100 ÷ 5 likers = $20.  I got the math thing down ;-)  Now I want to let you know that it won't be $20 cash... they are doing a gift card to some place as yet unknown, but I am sure I can figure something out so that it works the way I want it to :)

What this means is... 
click on the dang Facebook badge and go "like" my page!
Then...
click on the dang picture and vote for me and Fidel!
And...
don't forget to tell your friends and family to get them in on the action of helping US win!

And get ready....
tomorrow's Vecchio Venerdì is going to be pretty amazing :)

Are you open to change or do you resist it?
– it depends on the change... moving from a nice house to a dump... resist.  The other way around... open :)

What would you do if you won $20?
– if I won $20 million, I would pay of my debts and buy momma a new house. Then I'd go to Costco and buy a 52" widescreen HDTV and a new Escalade with spinning rims. Oh... not million? Okay... then I'd probably go treat myself to a burrito with guacamole and sour cream!  Pullin' out all the stops ;-)