Playing the hand I was dealt Today I found myself in a waiting room with my family. It’s becoming kinda normal. Finding new things to do can be a little challenging and maybe a bit stress inducing at a time that’s already unpredictable. My kid and my father have been passing time by playing cards, today I grabbed that deck and searched for a new game to learn. As I searched through google I found a few youtube videos describing a game called Egyptian Rat Screw. The name intri

Pop It's the 29th of December in southeast Wisconsin. That means construction has stopped and winter is here. It's pretty damn cold and today I thought I'd try freezing a bubble. The idea isn't terribly complicated. It's just soapy solution and a bubble wand, but the execution had a few bumps. First thing, have you ever tried to find a bottle of bubbles in the middle of a midwestern winter? Not a lot to be found. I mixed up a batch using Dawn dish soap and water. Here's the f

This might be a tissue day. I know it was for me. When I woke up this morning I was exhausted as I’ve been for the last 9 days. I had no plan for an adventure and I will confess it’s a struggle to continue this experience but something happened at the end of the day. My mother, and biggest fan was also my adventure today. The idea came from my youngest kid and once he made the suggestion I loved it. I asked mom if she wanted to be part of day 100 and her reply was,”why not.”

Flying balls It’s the 99th day and officially the last double digit one of my 365 day adventure. It has been a super huge challenge to keep vigil in the hospital and come up with an idea that I can complete without getting kicked out of this place. Today was pretty good as far as things go. I decided to take a try at juggling. I’ll confess that I made a feeble attempt as this was taking place in an ICU hospital room filled with extended family members who managed to cross pat

Motion sickness If you are one of those people who can ride a roller coaster, I envy you. On day 98 I took a spin in the world of VR and it spiraled out of control. I was pretty sure when this experience was discussed that I was going to get sick. I have a difficult time riding in a bumpy car. I've ridden one roller coaster in my life and I ended up with my face in the garbage can. It ruined the entire day. So when I hopped in my virtual spaceship and flew I could tell this w

I’ve celebrated the holidays in a lot of places and with many different people but I’ve never had Christmas in an Intensive care unit. Today’s celebration was hardly what we had planned. This day is usually filled with food, stories, games and maybe a few quarrels. Christmas 2017 did have moments of joy. The medical equipment, supplied blinking lights and beeping noises. Our carols came from a tiny CD player propped on the corner of the bed. We didn’t celebrate with many of o

My experience today was meant to be about feminism. I’ve got this book that I’ve been trying to read for over a year. I’ve carried it with me from Scotland to Colorado and back to Wisconsin. The original purchase receipt is still tucked in the middle of the book where I placed it after I paid for it. It’s not that I don’t understand feminism it’s just that I want to hear perspectives from other people. Then I got sidetracked. I witnessed something very special and also someth

Pincushion Today’s adventure involved a ton of needle pokes and a moose. I’ve wanted to try felting for a while. I watched a woman create a felt dragon when I was at the renaissance festival a few years ago. I bought this kit with the idea it would have teaching instructions. It did not. In fact, this particular experience was a medium skill level purchase and I'd never picked up a felting needle in my life. I didn't realize that I should also get a surface to felt my projec

I didn’t get it. It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. Thousands of movies have been made to celebrate the holiday season. I’ve seen a few and today I watched one that I’ve never seen before. I’ve mentioned a few times that I’d never watched “A Christmas Story.” I’m discovering through these adventures that there are reasons I haven’t done so many of these firsts. As movies go, this one did not impress me. A friend told me that this is a quintessential Chri

Life and monitors As of 2017 we all arrive on this planet in the same way, through the womb of a woman. For many of us that woman becomes our mother, our mentor and teacher. I've spent the last day and a half watching and waiting. If you've been following this 365 day experience from the beginning you'll remember that patience is not my strongest attribute. So it seems appropriate that my mom would be the one to exercise this weakness in me. I'm not too proud to admit that th