Hello, everyone!

I've not been posting much...in the third week of a very exhausting pain phase...it doesn't usually last this long and it is trying but i am managing. My sleep cycle is totally screwed up because of it.

I find it difficult to focus on getting my artwork done but, step by step, I am working thru it.

This past weekend, we had a family BBQ for grand-daughter Kaylee's 11th birthday...she is such a girly-girl so I ordered an ice cream cake , airbrushed purple with pink trim and red high heels, lipsticks and mini-Minnie Mouse purses in top...she squealed and pronounced "It's so ME!"

Great news, Danny got a huge raise and Derek is doing very well in his new job. JB's eye popped another leak so two more injections, poor guy.

My weight is still fluctuating up and down five or so pounds..fluids and digestive issues.I am staying home for the rest of the week to try and rest and get some energy back.

One of my closest friends had a birthday and we are meeting net week  for her birthday lunch. I bought her gift months ago....can you believe that I cannot FIND it now??? OMG, I am losing it!!

Breakfast: protein drink

Lunch: jalapeneo cheddar cheese stick

Dinner:  shrimp, pasta and veggies

Bedtime snack: protein drink

I always knew I was a pioneer in the sports writing world. In most places I worked, I was the only female sports writer. When I was in college, I was assigned the women's teams (not always, but sometimes) as my beat. Title XI was passed in 1972; I graduated from high school in 1973. Women still weren't given equal opportunities in college sports just yet, though.
Back then, girls had to audition to get invited to get on a college team. And it wasn't just about the scholarships, either. It was also the attitude, the way the coaches perceived the game.
I remember covering a women's basketball game at Northern Illinois University in the mid-1970s (I went to school 1973-77). After the game, players from both teams dressed in their Sunday best and had a tea party in the gym. I'm sure you wouldn't see that after a men's game.
When Phil Kadner hired me as a sports writer my freshman year at the Northern Star, he gave me an easy enough beat: intramural sports. But he gave me a chance and a start. And I'll always be grateful.
Through the years, I had to butt my head against that glass ceiling so many times. It wasn't just male editors who didn't think I could do the job; it was also the coaches. But then there were also the men who didn't care that I was a woman and looked instead at my abilities, guys like Ken Dunwoody and Ken Veloskey, who gave me my first chance at the Cardunal Free Press and Elgin Herald; Wally Mundstock, who hired me in Montana; Ron Feickert, who hired me in South Dakota; and Andy Angelo, who took me on at the Grand Rapids Press (but as a copy editor).
And there were the coaches who didn't care I was a woman, either. I'll always remember Dundee basketball coach Paul Judson. Paul, along with his twin brother Phil, led tiny Hebron High School to the Illinois state basketball championship in 1952, when Illinois had just one class. The twins went on to play for Illinois, and Phil was the head boys' basketball coach at Zion-Benton High school.
I was a bit shy about going into the boys' locker rooms after the games. I felt it was like interviewing a person while they were sitting on the toilet. I wouldn't like it, so I didn't want to do it to somebody else. So I would wait for the coaches to come out. Usually, that meant waiting for the other reporters to get done with their interviews and then the coach would come out.
Elgin coach Bill Chesbrough was the first to break that tradition, on my first night on the job. Paul Judson would be another to come out and do the interviews outside the locker room. He was not playing favorites with anyone.
Most of the girls' sports coaches who were men would come out anyway, and those who were women also came out, so it was fair play. But Judson, he was something else.
A lot of the time, I stayed late talking to him. He was fascinating. He would demonstrate his plays to me, physically moving me as he showed me a box-and-one or a zone defense or whatever. Or he'd grab my notebook and diagram the play for me. I knew enough about basketball to write a story, but he never felt any of my questions were dumb questions from a woman. To him, every question was important. Sometimes, the other reporters would roll their eyes at my questions, but never Judson.
In Montana and South Dakota, I also was a novelty. Only once did I have to go into a boys' locker room. That was because a coach was angry with me and didn't want to talk with me. So I walked into the boys' locker room, the boys, who were not wearing towels when I walked in, didn't seem to care. I averted my eyes (because I really didn't want to see their junk) and went to find the coach.
Another time I had to go into a girls' locker room to a female coach out. The girls all grabbed their towels (what a switch!), and again, I didn't look. Hey, I had the same equipment, just older. I found the coach and asked her to come out soon. I asked a couple of players if I could talk to them when they were done dressing, hopefully soon. And I left.
This always worked for me. But women cover major college sports or professional teams didn't have this leeway. They had to go into the locker rooms; this was where the action was after the games. And eventually, there was a problem.
On Sept. 17, 1990, Boston Globe writer Lisa Olson was in the New England Patriots' locker room when players made vulgar comments. She said several players taunted her while walking naked in her presence. She complained the incident was like "mind rape." Although an NFL investigation said she was humiliated and degraded, Patriots fans harassed Olson. She eventually left the Globe and went to Australia. She did return in 1998.
You do notice now that most major sports teams conduct interviews in interview rooms. Olson's ordeal is the reason for that. I believe she is a brave person. She had to deal with much more than I ever had to.
When that was happening, I, of course, was dealing with my coaches in my normal way. I was waiting for them to come out of their locker rooms. It was football season in South Dakota, so I had to catch them before they got on the bus to leave Swisher Field.
Venerable Yankton football coach Max Hawk told me I'd be invited into his team's locker room anytime. I said, "Thanks, Max, but I don't want to interview naked high school boys." He laughed.
The high school and small college coaches with whom I dealt were decent people. They were teachers as well as coaches; they tried to set an example for their student-athletes every day. So most would never disrespect a woman, regardless of the fact that she was a sports writer.
Now, there was always a coach or two that treated me like a dumb broad. I could see the eye roll at a question. I knew what they were thinking. Those were the ones I had to wait to come out of the locker room if the other reporters didn't drag him out first.
And a word on the other sports writers: Most of the guys were great. They were my competition, but they also knew we were a fraternity of journalists. We had to stand together, so they were more than willing to get the coach out and let us do the interviews outside the locker room.
When Title XI passed, it opened opportunities for women in sports, and for women covering sports. And that made me a valuable commodity.

Good morning  ladies, 

I'm having a better day than I was yesterday.  I have to go to the doctor's appointment today to have my blood pressure checked since I've been off my medicine.  It's supposed to be hot and humid today, so far it's okay with just the fan.

B egg whites ham and cheese omelet and string cheese 

L crack slaw

D spinach and feta chicken sausage 

S pumpkin pie Greek yogurt and popcorn

Everyone have a good day 

Greetings All,

I have been so confused on what day it is and so today I decided that yes, the calendar says it's Tuesday, but my body says, nope, it's Monday.

Today I am canning peaches, again.  Geeze, will they ever end?  I did dry a couple a pounds of celery and it turned out pretty good after the first attempt burned to a crisp...don't ask.  My friends keep asking me if I am turning into a survivalists and I keep saying no, I just have all this time so why not? 

Okay, today, peaches and I have a date to fill up jars....I should be done by noon and then I am going to get back to going through our junk so I can toss half of this crap before we move. 

B: Loaded oatmeal (walnuts and fresh peaches) I toasted the oatmeal and the walnuts, cooked the oatmeal, sliced the peaches and sautéed them in a little butter.  

Lunch: Beans and Okra...not mixed together but served together. 

Dinner: I have some tomatoes on the verge of going bad, so I am going to make some tomato soup--cream of tomato soup.  

Snack: we picked up another watermelon....I cannot wait until they stop putting them out...

Ladies, what's up? 

I to am getting ready to hit the road!!! Going to Chicago again for three weeks! Carl is going with me.

I hope the weather stays at bay!!

nothing else going in!!

carla