Sharing a column from Feb. 13, 2016

http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/lifestyles/article_e16b0130-13ed-5fec-939e-f754be4e2e4e.html

Broomball swept me off my feet

I ventured north last week to my alma mater, Michigan Technological University, to visit my son – now a student there– and to join friends in celebrating Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival.

The event dates back to the 1930s and continues to grow, organized by the Blue Key National Honor Society. A theme is chosen and student and community groups compete in a month-long or overnight snow statue-building contest. Other activities include skits, crowning a Winter Carnival queen, a beard growing competition, hockey and more.

While there, I tried something I never did while a student at Tech.

I played broomball.

For those unfamiliar with the game, it is played on ice, but rather than using skates and sticks as in hockey, players wear shoes and wield brooms to hit a ball about the size of a softball.

The sport originated in Canada, although Sweden contests that claim. The rules are similar to hockey, and broomball also features teams of six. Broomball’s popularity on Michigan Tech’s campus blossomed after I graduated, and it now takes three rinks constructed on campus to meet the schedule demands of six leagues and more than 200 teams.

Michigan Tech set up webcams on the rinks, and installed a trailer as a warming shelter and place to serve free hot cocoa.

Michigan Tech sticks to tradition and only allows players to use corn brooms. Players get creative with duct tape to customize their brooms, cutting the bristles in different ways that make them better for offense or defense. While I was a student at Michigan Tech, broomball players usually only sported winter hats as head protection. Now, the university requires a helmet with a face mask.

I brought my own elbow and knee pads, and borrowed a hockey helmet and broom from my son, who plays on two teams.

During Winter Carnival, Michigan Tech offers an alumni-student invitational tournament that plays games on Friday and Saturday. On the second day of the tournament, players get a traditional “Yooper” lunch: a pasty and a pickled egg.

My team, dubbed “Team 52” in honor of our captain’s birthday, played on Friday. The team included a few recent graduates and alumni from the 1980s and 1990s. One teammate now works as a professor on campus, and many of his students showed up as a cheering section. The first team we played won last year’s tournament, and was composed of all young men. Team 52 had six men and four women.

Alumni teams were guaranteed to play at least two games. Team 52 lost both.

We went down in a blaze of glory.

The scores?

15-1 and 9-1.

We did earn one trophy — the Copper Broom — awarded to the team with the highest average age.*

I played defense and took several turns as goalie. I confess my time as goalie revealed me as a sieve. My eye-hand coordination leaves a lot to be desired, but I did make one nice save.

With my throat.

While I temporarily found breathing difficult, the nods and “Good saves” from opposing team members made it worth it.

Hurting my left knee in the second game made it slightly less fun. And my skin sports several bruises from places where I either stopped the ball or hit the ice.

But I found playing broomball so much fun that I would play again. I’ll just invest in better knee, shin and neck protection.

And work on my slap shot.

*The Copper Broom is a spirit award. But I believe we earned it with our combined average age. 

Check out this story about the alumni broomball tournament.
http://www.mininggazette.com/page/content.detail/id/550848/No-skates--no-problem--Tech-alumni-return-to-broomball-rink.html?nav=5006

Love is just love

Valentine’s Day is Sunday.

In elementary school, I loved the holiday – from making the boxes for classmates to deliver valentines to filling out cards to hand out. My first grade teacher took pictures of all her students holding a giant red heart to create valentines to send home, and more than 20 years later, my parents scanned the photo and used it in a valentine card they gave me.

In the sixth grade, instead of getting a list of classmates’ names to help make sure you made a valentine for everyone (because the elementary school rule was give a card to everyone, or give out none), I had to wing it. I handed out valentines and to my horror, learned I had forgotten a girl in the other homeroom. She and I have reconnected now on Facebook, and I will not name her. I hope she has forgotten the unintended slight. I still feel bad about it.

In the seventh grade, a student group had a Valentine’s Day-related fundraiser. You could send messages to those you liked. The group came around handing out the messages. I did not get one and was devastated. My best friend made me a valentine out of ruled school paper. I still treasure it.

My cynicism about Valentine’s Day began around that time, and grew over the years. I longed for a crush to reach out to me on the holiday.

Instead, my valentines came from friends or family. My parents gave me Valentine’s Day gifts: usually a card, flowers, candy or jewelry. Today I am wearing a pair of heart-shaped gold earrings they gave me while in high school.

My Valentine’s Day grudge continued through college and adulthood, although I tamped it down while helping my son prepare his holiday treats for school. I began celebrating QuirkyAlone Day instead.

And now, in my 40s, I’m over it.

I choose to celebrate love in all its forms. I no longer get bent out of shape longing for romantic love for Valentine’s Day. I celebrate my love for my son, my family and my friends. I handed out valentines to co-workers – including cards leftover from handing out valentines in elementary school that I squirreled away in my stash of stationery.

I’m outing myself as a romantic after years of hiding it behind a very cynical shell.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Will you be my valentine?

I resolve...

to not set traditional New Year's resolutions.
Instead, I plan to pursue fitness goals - including breaking the 30-minute mark on a 5K run, trimming down my half-marathon and 10K times and training with friends to meet the RKC challenge of 100 snatches in 5 minutes with a 16KG kettlebell. I signed up for at least one new race this year, and may try the CrazyLegs in Madison.
2016 will bring an end to my civic duty. I find it fascinating but also sometimes soul-crushing, and the commute forced me to adapt a bit to city driving.
Looking forward to time spent with friends and family, from a baby shower, wedding and hitting the all-nighter during Winter Carnival at Michigan Tech.
Hoping to scrimp and save and indulge in a trip to Florida, and perhaps Colorado.
Perhaps this will be the year I finally get the Magic Mike-themed birthday party I wanted when I turned 40.
Looking forward to 2016 and the adventures that await.

2015 - My Year in Reading

I went through several reading droughts this year, periods where a week or more went by without me finishing a book. Then I would spend a weekend diving into one book after another (housework is overrated) and caught up. My total for the year according to Goodreads is 219, but I opted not to count several re-reads.

My list of books to read on Goodreads now approaches 800 titles. If I keep my re-reading to a minimum, I hope to put a dent in that number by the time 2017 arrives.

By the Numbers:

Total Books Read: 219 (The total is probably around 225, or more)

Books I read again for the second (or third or more time):  9 (per Goodreads, closer to 16 in reality)
Young Adult/Juvenile Fiction:  16
Romance:  103
Mystery: 46
Nonfiction:  8

Paranormal, Horror, Sci/Fi, Fantasy:   22
Series books: 156
Novellas/Short stories:  7

The authors I read the most in 2014:

John Sandford: 11

Great mysteries set mostly in Minnesota, written by a former journalist. Some plotlines get pretty dark. But once the story hooks you, the book becomes practically impossible to put down.

Richelle Mead: 8

Mostly books written for the teen market, mostly in the paranormal/fantasy genre. Quick, fun reads.

Jenn McKinlay: 4

Essentially what is none as a “cozy” mystery, set in New England and featuring a librarian and her book club friends.

Julie Anne Long: 10

I fell in love with her Pennyroyal Green romance series and anxiously await the final title in the series. It came out last year, and I am still on the waitlist for it through my library. She writes amazing romances. Utterly fabulous.

Lorraine Heath: 11

After reading a romance recommended by a book club I take part in through Facebook, I tore through Heath’s back catalogue. Some are better than others, I did not care for the books set in Texas.

Molly Harper: 4

Paranormal romances with witches, werewolves, shapeshifters and vampires with a great sense of humor.

Elly Griffiths: 5

She writes contemporary mysteries set in the UK featuring a female protagonist, Ruth Galloway.

Amelia Grey: 5

Meredith Duran: 4

Grace Burrowes: 5

Romance novelists I discovered by following my favorite romance authors on Facebook and Twitter.

The final book of the year? “The Rogue Not Taken” by Sarah MacLean. I cannot recommend her books enough. Fabulous romances with richly drawn characters, fast-moving plots and fantastic dialogue. I pre-ordered it from her favorite neighborhood bookstore and scored an autographed copy. 

My favorite books of the year include MacLean’s, plus “The Suffragette Scandal” by Courtney Milan; “Ruffian: Burning From the Start” by Jane Schwartz about the ill-fated filly who rocked the horse racing world; “Mortal Heart” by Robin LaFevers, the last in a fabulous series about female assassins in medieval France, with a fantasy twist, “The Likeness” by Tana French, the second in her Dublin Murder Squad series; “A Dangerous Place” by Jacqueline Winspear, the next in her Maisie Dobbs series. “Brush Back” by Sara Paretsky, the latest in her V.I. Wachowski series set in Chicago, “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr, “The Walls Around Us” by Nova Ren Suma, which still haunts me; “How to Start a Fire” by Lisa Lutz, “Revolution” by Russell Brand, “The Martian” by Andy Weir and the books in John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers series.

My highest rated romances for the year are by Julie Anne Long. "I Kissed an Earl" and "What I Did For a Duke" and "How the Marquess Was Won."  Utterly brilliant and the books made me laugh, smile, cry and require a fan for the hot flashes. 

Here’s most of what I read in 2015:  https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/1804860

I look forward to reading great books in 2016 (including finishing several I started in 2015). What are you reading? 

Journey to Niagara Falls

Originally published on July 12, 2008

Journey to Niagara Falls

My parents as we wait our turn to ride the Maid of the Mist.

My family celebrated Independence Day by leaving the country. My son and I visited my parents at their new house east of Cleveland last week, and on July 4 we were on the road before 6 a.m. on a family road trip to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We crossed the border in Buffalo, N.Y. Travelers are still able to cross without a passport, so long as they have a photo ID and birth certificate. 
My mom bought four Niagara Falls and Great Gorge adventure passes on-line the night before we left. The pass included tickets to four Niagara Falls attractions. After parking, we took a People Mover bus to the top of Horseshoe Falls. Use of the bus came with our adventure passes but paying for parking at select lots also gives you a day pass for the bus. 
The falls were incredible. 
Experiencing Niagara Falls in person uses almost all your senses. The river water looked like liquid jade that turns white as it pours over the edge. You feel the mist on your skin and hear the roar of the water. 
Following the advice of the girl at the welcome center, our first destination after staring in awe at Niagara Falls and snapping some photos was the Maid of the Mist boat ride. Each person is given a disposable blue rain slicker, and the boat travels past the American Falls and brings visitors to the river in the middle of Horseshoe Falls. Its the best way to feel the power of the falls as the boat struggles to stay in place for a few minutes. My son asked if we could take the boat ride again. My mom and I are not big fans of boats, but I think we would have both been willing. 
After disembarking, we decided to use the tickets to the Butterfly Conservatory. Another bus ride brought us to the botanical gardens for a light lunch and then a walk among over 2,000 butterflies. There were an amazing variety of butterflies in a rainbow of colors. The walk through the butterfly garden ended in the gift shop (as did nearly all Niagara Falls' attractions) and we scooted through there to find a mob scene in the entry way. 
The cause of the furor was a celebrity. Jay Leno was there, looking exhausted, but graciously having his picture taken with fans. He's not as tall as I thought he'd be. No one in my family wanted to trouble him for a photo, so we left. 
Our next stop was the White Water Walk along the rapids. While the rapids on the river are incredible, walking the boardwalk along the river isn't worth the wait and a cramped elevator ride. If I had to do it again, I would try the whirlpool aero car. 
Wanting to indulge in some souvenir shopping, I talked my family into a short walk up the road to a shop. Along the way we stopped in a store specializing in Native American crafts, and I found a good deal on postcards and couldn't resist an owl carved out of sumac. At the next store, my mom bought maple and chocolate fudge. After an early dinner at the restaurant closest to the falls, we took the Journey Behind the Falls, an elevator ride to tunnels that bring you behind the falls and to a viewing platform near the base of the falls. 
My mother wanted to stay for the fireworks show and nightly illumination of Niagara Falls, but she was vetoed. It had already been a long day, and there was a three and a half hour car ride back to my parents' house. We took a brief detour to head toward Lake Ontario. We got far enough to see the Toronto skyline and the Welland Canal before heading back to the border. 
We got back to my parents house pretty late, and the only fireworks we saw were the occasional burst of sparks from communities along the highway. Since most American tourists stay home to celebrate the holiday, the crowds at Niagara Falls weren't too bad. It is such an international destination that I am sure we saw (and heard) people from six continents. I've now been to 21 of the 50 states and can finally say that I've traveled outside the continental USA. This trip also means I've been to all five of the Great Lakes. My son still needs to visit Lake Huron. The only thing that could have made the trip better was if we'd talked my sister into driving up from Indianapolis to join us.

2014 - My Year in Reading

I read 214 books in 2014. Some of those were written for children or teens, or are novellas or short stories, and there was one graphic novel.
At the start of 214, I had 426 books on my Goodreads.com “To Read” list. Now that number is 579. If a vampire offers to “turn” me, I might consider an immortal life if only to have enough time for all the books I want to read. I kept my re-read book numbers down again, and most of the re-reads were in preparation for new books (or a TV show) coming out in 2014.  

I already have three books in progress that I did not finish in 2014. 

By the Numbers:

Total Books Read: 214 (Eight of those are short stories/novellas and two are anthologies)
Books I read again for the second (or third or more time):  12
Young Adult/Juvenile Fiction: 28
Romance:   96 (+7 YA)
Mystery:   26 (+4 YA)
Nonfiction:   10

Memoirs: 8 (technically, this falls under NF, but this is more than normal.)

Paranormal, Horror, Sci/Fi, Fantasy: 18 (+8 YA)
Series books:  142
Novellas/Short stories: 10

The authors I read the most in 2014 include Anne Gracie (10), Loretta Chase (9), Diana Gabaldon, (7, but five were re-reads), Tessa Dare (7), Kate Noble (6), John Sandford (5).

Here are my favorite books from 2014, by category.

 Young Adult

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
A young woman with a strict and distant mother falls in love with the boy next door and his family and has to make a touch choice when tragedy strikes.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

The first book is written from the point of view of a young woman after a car accident, as her spirit lingers in the hospital as doctors and nurses try to save her life. It is now a movie too. As soon as my son heads back to college, I plan a movie marathon with this and “The Fault in Our Stars.”

Non-fiction/Memoirs

Letters by Kurt Vonnegut
An intimate look at the life of Kurt Vonnegut through his correspondence.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
Funny. I love her TV show, “The Mindy Project,” and this book just solidifies my desire to have Mindy in my circle of friends.

How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

I want to be besties with Caitlin. LOVED this book.

Mystery

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths, the first in her Ruth Galloway mystery series. Ruth is an archaeologist called in when old bones are discovered. Set in Great Britain, and Ruth has a unique voice.

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley, the latest in his Flavia de Luce series.

Flavia is a young British girl with a passion for solving mysteries and a genius in chemistry. Find the first book in the series, and catch up with this story that brings Flavia a mystery very close to home. 

Romance

Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean
The conclusion of a four part series set a gambling den in London. The main character first appeared in MacLean’s “Love by Numbers” trilogy. I don’t want to say too much about it, as it would give away the amazing secret MacLean kept from readers about the character’s identity.

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

I read this on the recommendation of Sarah MacLean in the FB group she created paying homage to old school romance novels. It’s a great reading group. I loved this book. Then I began tearing through the back catalog of Chase books.

With This Ring by Celeste Bradley, book three in her Worthington Family series
Bradley does such an amazing job of building characters you wish you could meet and turning them loose in stories with great pacing and dialogue that make them nearly impossible to put down.

Other

 Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch, the first in his Peter Grant series. 

I read it on the recommendation of one of my favorite romance authors, Celeste Bradley. If you like an author, follow them on Facebook, Twitter or their web page and keep your eye out for book recommendations. If you like what they write, you will like what they read.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 

I really like Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series. This book is quite different. The best description I can come up with for it is that it reminds me of a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, where the main character keeps dying and being reborn, with small changes or choices taking her life in a new direction.

Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon
The latest in her Outlander series, which is now a TV show that makes me miss having cable. Most of my re-reads this year were to prep to watch the first episode (Starz let viewers watch it for free.)

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
This book weighs down your soul, the story of two little girls who disappear and what happens to their families as a frantic search for them ensues.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
Set in NYC around the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Brilliant and weird and riveting.

 
Other suggested reading

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway,  a debut author with a story about a time traveler.

Five Days Left by Julia Timmer Lawson

If you like romance, try Tessa Dare or Kate Noble. Also, if you like an author, try following them on Facebook, Twitter or bookmark their website and be on the lookout for reading recommendations. If you like what they like, you'll love what they read. 

To take a look at all the books I read in 2014, click here:

True love stories never end

In loving memory of

Ethel J. Vizanko

May 28, 1923 - August 12, 2014

As delivered September 20, 2014, at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Ironwood, Mich. 

True love stories never end.

And the love story of Ethel and Tom may never have happened if Grandma stuck to her career ambitions. She once told me she planned to be a spinster language teacher.

With cats.

“But then I met Tom,” she said.

And this church would be fairly empty if she had not.

Sarah and I were blessed to live so close to The Farm, living an hour or two away until I was nine, and then moving back and living just over the Front Hill in the new house. We graduated from the same high school and attended the same community college as Grandma and Grandpa did. I got to serve as a library aide at the desk where they met. And I treasure that connection.

One of my earliest memories of the farm is holding Grandma’s hand as she led Sarah and me down the stairs into the basement of the barn, looking for Grandpa.

In her last few years, she liked to point out her crooked finger, but I marvel at all those hands accomplished.
The letters written, the pie and pasty crusts rolled out, the babies held and changed and rocked, the raspberries gathered, the weeds pulled, holding something to read and the hugs offered.

Grandma was remarkable in so many ways, but I think the most remarkable thing about her was not going back to school, earning college degrees and pursuing a career after having so many children.

The most magical thing about Grandma was her unconditional love. I don’t know if she had favorites, but if you were with her, she made you feel like it was you.

Though if you brought her the first newspaper of the day or a sweet treat, it may have been you for that moment.

The way she loved serves as an example to us all.

The love she and Grandpa shared, and her devotion in taking care of him until the end, her love for her children and the generations that followed, the way she made her home so welcoming to family and friends.

I admire how much she loved words, how much she enjoyed reading and writing. She voraciously inhaled books, magazines and newspapers, and valued staying informed. She wrote the best letters or notes, and shared so many stories of her life.

I used to wonder why the females in our family have a tendency to overshare, but after Grandma shared some of the stories about her “firsts” with Grandpa…. I no longer wonder where we get it from.

And we can trace the family lead foot to her. I often wish I had asked her to teach me Finnish, if only so I could know what she was saying when she expressed her driving frustrations with a few choice phrases.

She will be so very missed, but we can carry on her legacy by following her example of how to live and love.

Take the time to write a letter or note to family or friends.

Wear a hat. Maybe even a red tam.

Read more. Pick up a newspaper from time to time.

Stay active. Grandma rarely missed her aerobics class, and I believe it helped keep her with us for 91 years.

Volunteer. Grandma showed her loving heart and generous spirit by volunteering her time at the hospital and more.

Indulge in a Cappuccino Heath Blizzard or a turtle sundae. Grandma and Kathy did not believe in passing a Dairy Queen.

Drink more coffee.

Travel. Drive across the country, or to Alaska. Go overseas. Take the train.

Make an apple pie or cook a meal for those you love.

Pass on her stories. Share your own.

Love unconditionally.

Helen Keller said, “All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” Grandma may be “Gone to Glory” but she will never really leave us.

We mourn the loss of such a loving and amazing woman, but I take comfort in the belief that true love stories never end.

I like to believe that for Ethel and Tom, the next chapter in their love story started on a Tuesday afternoon in August with Grandma striding up the front sidewalk of The Farm.

Her flowers are blooming.

The raspberries are ripe.

The house gleams in a fresh coat of white paint with yellow trim, and the red roof shines in the sun.

And Grandpa appears in the front porch door to ask, “Ethel, where have you been?”

God bless you, Grandma. We love you.