Extra Credit

Making sure I get the attempted item count right!

#71 - Ride one of the CTA lines from one end to another (except brown, orange, purple, or yellow)

Thank you, Ashley Russell, for number 52!

Yesterday, 12/30, we rode the red line from end to end! Ashley rode from 95th to Belmont, met me, we went up to Howard, back to 95th, and then he left me to do the rest on my own. Thank you for the good company to get this last one cross off the list!

Soooo happy!

I forgot a couple fails....

Chris Krone taught me the rules of cricket and Lindsay Kulla tried so very hard to get me in on a game :)

Rachel Felson tried to get me rolfed.

I went to 2 UM away games but didn't make a 3rd. Laura Masters & Theresa Chen for basketball at NU. Laura Masters, Nicki Proulx, Chris Zann, Holly Munk, Nicole Green, Chris Krone, and Casey Jordan for football at NU.

Laura Masters & I registered for the Bucktown 5k. She went. I didn't.

Brent Belt & I were going to go on the Weird Chicago (ghost / gangster) tour this week but I put it off until the new year.

Thanks, homies!

#8 - continued again

I'm sure there are a few more but I'm out of bracelets for now :)

#8 - continued

I wanted to make sure I at least tagged everyone who made the list!

#8 - Tell everyone I love I love them

This one was really important to me. I don't think you can ever really tell people you care about that you care about them enough. And sometimes they're gone before you can fix it. Plus, they just deserve to know.

I wanted to do this personal to each person I really wanted to tell. So some people got a visit. Some people got a letter. Some people got a conversation. Some were spur of the moment.

I wanted to add something to it though, so I ordered 50 silicone bands (thanks for the idea, Casey Jordan) as little love-you tokens. I had them printed with "Enjoy the Struggle." 

 

I used that for 3 reasons.

1. Printing bands with "I Love You," while appropriate seemed a little weird for people to wear around.

2 & 3 are both because of Rachel Townsend. I first met Rachel when she was the student teacher for my aerobics class when I was a senior in high school. When I graduated, she took a full-time position at my high school and coached cross country and soccer. The girls loved her. She coined the phrase "Enjoy the Struggle" for the cross country team to remind them that the challenge and the hurt made them stronger and they should enjoy that growth. I find it such an inspirational saying. Especially after the last couple years where I have had lots of frustrations. It reminds me to keep in mind that I'm becoming a better me by surviving these things. Rachel entered my life again when I started working for Kidsport, a summer camp put on by the Michigan PE department. She was the Assistant Director. The kids loved her. And then again, when I started student teaching at Pioneer High School and her husband, a former UM football player, was one of the PE teachers there. I was weirdly connected to her in so many ways even though she & I were never close. She was always such an inspiration though. Smiling and strong and loving and pretty and fit. Things girls want to be.


In the fall of 2003, my grandma died. It was really tough. I never felt like I told her I loved her enough nor spent enough time with her near the end because it was so hard to see her sick.

When my family was on our way the funeral, which was just a graveside visit, I had to stop at work at Saline Community Education. I was out of it but I noticed people were talking about something that had happened. I didn't comprehend it until I checked my voicemail and there was a voicemail saying that Rachel Townsend had died suddenly.

Rachel and a friend had the goal of running marathons and qualifying for Boston. They came to Chicago for the 2003 race. Rachel ran her heart out and qualified for Boston. But then dropped dead in the chute. She didn't even make it to the hospital. She had a freak heart defect that no one knew about. And it never would have mattered if she hadn't pushed herself to such a tough goal.

Her service was the opposite of my grandmother's. My grandma's was small, just our small family.

Rachel was in my high school gym with people I knew from high school, college, UM athletics, my PE classes, and Kidsport. It was surreal. I knew each speaker personally except her sister: my cross country coach, my track coach, my favorite PE teacher, a former cross country teammate, and finally her husband showed a slide show of the weekend.

Since then, I write Enjoy the Struggle on my running shoes and sometimes other things. And I keep her in mind, especially when I run. That when things get tough, we get tougher.

I put it on my bracelets to remind me to Enjoy the Struggle and to remind me that I have some wonderful people who will always support me through my struggles and I will support them and help them get stronger. I also chose that because Rachel went so suddenly and I would never want any of the people I love to not know that I love them. And how much.

So all of you out there, I love you. Thank you for
your support.











Enjoy the Struggle.

#67 - Learn to hockey stop on my new skates

Yes, I can hockey stop. I grew up with a pond behind our house. And my neighbor / bestie Evelyn's dad used to build us a rink in the front or back yard sometimes. We played all the time. But I was a girl, so I had figure skates. But after a few years, I didn't want figure skates. I wanted hockey skates. So I stole my brother's. Naturally. He's a jerk. He didn't deserve them. So I learned to hockey stop on skates that were like 3 times too big for me.

When I was in college, I started playing intramural women's ice hockey. And I loved it. I only had my own skates, stick, helmet, and gloves, so I had to borrow the rest. Eventually I realized I wasn't skating very fast because I was still using my brother's skates and they were 3 times too big for me. Clunky.

So for my birthday or Christmas I asked my parents for skates. They got me a gift certificate and I got a nice pair of hockey skates that actually fit me. I could skate sooooooo fast. It was awesome.

But oh no, I couldn't stop. I don't know if it's because I learned to stop on the wrong part of my foot or I was just scared or what. But I couldn't stop quickly anymore. I could on skis. I could on the old skates. But not the new ones.

On Christmas Eve this year, I stopped over at the Warner's to see Evelyn and Brian Sommariva, and Brian, serendipitously is the assistant coach for the Plymouth Whalers. He offered to work with me. So the next day, we went to the rink, with little one-year-old Leo.

Leo got his first taste of walking / running / flying around in his dad's arms on ice, Evelyn was back on skates for the first time in a long time, and Brian assigned me a couple drills until I got it. It didn't take that long. I think pushing the goal around just got rid of my fear and then I was fine. I just need to get my skates sharpened and a little more practice and I'll be back to my original form :)

#32 - Start a calligraphy business

I've been doing calligraphy since my freshman year of high school. I used to do it mostly as gifts with watercolor backgrounds. I've also done the mailing envelopes for several weddings, mostly as my gift to the new couple. I have done one for pay. I also did a Valentine's picture frame for pay once, with the couple's song written on the mat.

My brother tried to help me out by starting a website: www.megankrone.com. However, there's nothing on it.

So then Cara Lamerato mentioned how she sells wine cork place holders on etsy.com, so I did some research and got myself an etsy account. I haven't sold any yet, but I just put it up in the last week and invested a good $.20 for the listing, so I'm counting it for my starting a business. I just hope I get some hits :) Check me out at mkcalligraphy at etsy.com!

#28 - Win an award or scholarship

I had counted this item as undoable at this point in the year, but then... magic. Victors Valiant (a.k.a. Carl Jr. a.k.a. One Man Army a.k.a. Kitten Mittons a.k.a. Spooning Leads to Forking a.k.a. Francisco) won yet another trivia tournament at Waterhouse and qualified for the Whaddayaknow Team Trivia Tournament of Champions II - The Sequel at Joe's on Weed on Dec 3, 2011.

Side note: Our first Tournament of Champions showing was less than great. In fact, we sucked. It was miserable.

Because of that, we weren't expecting much of take 2.

We kinda tanked the first round, only getting 2 questions right out of 6.

We did well in the picture round; thankfully we have some music experts.

We then did pretty well in the 3rd round but bet some big bucks on some questions we got wrong.

We did really well in the ID round, where we listed things that were a color + a living thing.

Zann knew the escalating clues question right away but we waited for the 2nd clue instead of submitting our answer right away, so we only got 15 of 20 points.

Then Trivia Dan read the standings before going into the final 2 questions. I was pretty sure he just forgot about us, and I was slightly offended after all of the lovely years and times we've spent with Dan. But, no, he didn't forget us. We were tied for first.

Huh.

The first final question was about geography. We argued a bit. The trivia people argued a bit. Teams were not happy with the question. There was a lot of discussion about whether or not you could drive to Mexico and Canada from a couple states, especially Michigan, which has a water border, so it doesn't really border Canada but you can drive to Canada from Michigan.

Anyways, we got it right. 12 points.

The next question was trickier. Naming 5 movies. Exactly. No extra guesses. We decided to let the other teams get both questions right to beat us. It was very scary.

It was worse when Dan read the answers and we would have gotten it right.

He then read the top 12. We knew we were at least top 8. He also mentioned there was a tie in the top 12.

At that point, I assumed we tied the other 1st place team for 2nd or 3rd.

Nope.

We tied for 1st.

The tie breaker was the team that got the year closest to the year of Marlon Brando's birth.

Zann & Ditmar both guessed the same year.

We wrote it down.

Dan then announced that one team had gotten the answer right on with a guess of 1926.

We started to celebrate.

Then Dan said, "No, wait, he was born in 1924."

Then he said, "But the same team was still closest."

That was us!

We won!

$1000 cash!

And we had a lovely time playing drinking games at Sully's.

#17 - Apply to a PhD program

I did it.

Not just one, but I applied to 3. And I plan to apply to 2 more next month.

I applied to the University of San Diego, University of Michigan, and Loyola University of Chicago. Next month I plan to apply to University of Texas - Austin, Vanderbilt University (Nashville), and Oakland University (Detroit).

If I get into any of the schools, I'll visit them and then decide. Well, I've visiting UM. That one was easy. Loyola would be a quick visit too. But the rest... if you live there, expect a weekend housing request!

Thanks to Rebecca Low and Nader Elmasri for this one. Rebecca has actually gone through all of this... including the whole dissertation and all of the stuff I can't even imagine right now! Impressive, girl! Nader is applying to his own program, so we did some chatting and I didn't write his essay.

#81 Go to 3 Museums I Have Not Yet Been to

Museum #1: MOMA

The Museum of Modern Art, New York City, NY

Al, Aaron, Melissa, & I spent only an hour and a half or so of a Saturday afternoon at MOMA as Al & I had to get to the Meadowlands. I spent most of my time in with the impressionists, mostly Picasso, my favorite.

Here I am admiring one of his more famous works: Three Musicians. Good thing Al was there to catch me pondering on film. What a great list assistant.

And here we have one of

Picasso's bronze goat statues. He sure loved sculpting goats.

Here we have an early depiction of a Lyger. Obviously. Gosh.

And here, in the architecture room, Al said,

"Let's be serious."

Here is some really cool photography. It goes frame by frame, some guy catching stuff.

There was a lot of pretty cool photography.

All & all, I loved MoMA. Delightful. I can't wait to go back and not be rushed to get to Jersey.

Museum #2: New Orleans Voodoo Museum, New Orleans, LA

It was a small and creepy museum, but very New Orleans. It was amusing to see all of the gifts people have left the spirits, gifts that consisted of whatever people carry with them in New Orleans. I left a pen and Beth Spitelli left an Australian coin.

Here I am with a Ju-Ju, who sticks out his tongue at evil spirits. Seemed appropriate.

Our stay in the 3 rooms and a hallway was short and sweet. Museum #2, so that's pretty much all I have to say.

Museum #3: National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL

This was the most unexpected of my museum trips. I thought I was going to be at the NASPA regional conference in Evanston all day, but apparently it only went through

noon. I got a last-minute message from Nader Elmasri saying he was heading down to the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen - always keeping his head up looking to keep that lead

.

This was actually a cool little museum in a neighborhood that I've been to but only for an occasional softball game. They had a Dia de Muertos exhibit that reminded me a lot of the Voodoo Museum except the colors were much brighter and all of the religious imagery was pretty Catholic instead of a weird mix. There were still lots of candles and pictures of people I didn't know. And skulls. But happy skulls.

Then we had some tacos.

I'm pretty happy I hit at least 1 Chicago museum I hadn't been to yet because that was my original goal with this list item. But gotta jump at an interesting museum every chance I get!

#18 - Go Camping

Okay, I have to admit this one was a little weak. We just camped on campus.

I just had to do it though. For years and years, especially this year, folks have told me they will take me camping. It's always the same conversation:

"I've never been camping."

"You? YOU've never been camping?"

"Nope."

"You'd love camping!"

"I probably would."

"I'm going to take you camping."

"No, you're not."

"Really, I'm going to take you."

"You won't though."

"Seriously, you'd love it."

"You're not though. You say you will, but you won't. You're only the 8th person to offer this week. No one ever does. I'm just saying."

So once Norris Narsa suggested we just stay for the Eagle Overnight on campus, I jumped on it. And by "jumped on it," I mean, I wavered a bit and then gave in and then freaked out that he wasn't serious.

We had a delightful Peace Fire. I can't really talk about it because the first rule of Peace Fire is that you don't talk about Peace Fire. You just have to be there. I can say I had some delightful bonding time with Davisson Benson, Trysha Solis, Andy Solberg, and Norris. Oh, and Erin Claudio was around somewhere. Probably snoring up a storm in his tent.

While I didn't want to count this one, we didn't even sleep in tents, just on a tarp under another tarp, just shaped like a tent. That's pretty hard core.

Thanks for getting Norris and me through our first camping experience, friends!

#45 - Go to an NFL game

The NFL is the one major (men's) professional sporting event I've never attended. It's weirder because I flippin' love college football.

Maybe it's because the Lions have always sucked, so it never seemed like it'd be fun to go to a game... especially in the Silverdome. (Sidebar: I have been to the

Silverdome for other events, including the Motor City Bowl where I saw Randy Moss roll over Ole Miss and to watch Catholic Central High School play for the state cham

pionship. I've also been to Ford Field for other events, including an Eminem concert that featured Missy Elliot, 50 Cent, and D12 and the 2010 Frozen Four, which should have included the Maize & Blue. That's another story.)

I had high hopes for a Bears game at Soldier Field, but... holy crap are those tickets expensive! Man!

So I turned to the Lions, who were rumored to be good. Then I thought, hey, maybe a Bears fan will go with me to the Bears-Lions game. Then I realized that game would be Monday Night Football! Then I realized no one in Chicago was going to go to a Monday Night game with me in Detroit because most of my friends have jobs or school. Whatever.

I put out a feeler on facebook, just asking if anyone wanted to go to a Lions game in Detroit with me. I got a few vagueresponses.

And then I got a very uncharacteristic, committal answer from Nader Elmasri! He said if I wanted to see Lions-Bears, he'd commit right then!

I was excited for about 30 seconds until I remembered, again, that the game was a Monday Night game and he's a teacher now. (BTW, I told you real life sucks!) I texted him so.

But then! He said he was on break that week! We could go!

And we did.

The drive to Ann Arbor was no drive to San Diego, but to make it reminiscent, we left Chicago at midnight Sunday night / Monday morning and arrived in Ann Arb

or at 5am (with the time change.)

We had a delightful day touring Ann Arbor - thanks Virus & Gerald for the tou

r and love!

We headed to Detroit at 6pm for the 8:30pm game. It was a little chaotic down there since the Tigers were in the playoffs and the Lions were undefeated. There was a weird little tailgate between Ford Field and CoPa.

That's right. The TIGERS in the PLAYOFFS after ridding the post season of the YANKEES and the LIONS UNDEFEATED. 4-0!

Michigan at that time was 5-0. A lot has changed in a week. Tear. I wish it were a week ago when life was beautiful.

So the city, at the time, was pretty pumped up. It was crazy loud in Ford Field. There were a lot of drunks and douchebags and drunk douchebags.

Nader lucked out and was seated next to 2 Bears fans, while I had 2 chummy Lions fans on my side. It was a perfect situation until my Lions fans left. But things perked up once the Lions started kicking ass (love to Stafford, Johnson, and Best!). They just would have been a little better if I had someone to high five and jump around with instead of the silence that was then on both sides of me.

I managed to sneak in a hello to Nick and Kelly SMITH somewhere in there. I love them. They're delightful.

To sum up the rest, I had a great time. The Lions kicked ass. It was awesome.

We even walked to Greektown for some food since Nader wouldn't get out of his seat during the game to feed himself. It was poppin'.

Yay NFL game!

#34 - Volunteer for a race

I've read many a time that one way to inspire oneself to run is to volunteer at a race. I have been inspired watching the Chicago marathon for many years (except the year I ran it, but that's another story), so I figured that volunteering at the Chicago marathon wo
uld be supremely inspirational.

(<--- This girl's sign says, "Go Total Stranger!" Awesome.)

All I had to do was sign up online and I was assigned to be a Course Marshall. Fancy. I didn't have to hand out water or anything.

Getting there was a little tough. Michigan played at Northwestern the night before, so I was with the gang getting my Wolverine on until about midnight in Evanston.

I got up at 5:30am, got ready as quietly as possible so as not wake the beautiful Virus sleeping on my couch. (The story isn't as

good as the nickname, so if you don't know i

t, don't even bother asking. I won't tell you.) And I biked to Boystown to arrive at the Caribou Coffee by 6:30am. There was a little confusion on what I was doing until I found my name on the Course Marshall list. I got my jacket, hat, and assignment and then sat on the curb with some other volunteers until about 8:00am when the lead wheelchair athletes came through. That

was pretty cool.

Around 8:10am, the lead runners came through. I've never quite made it to the marathon in time to see them before - no offense, friends I've gone to watch in the past, ha - and it was pretttty cool.

My job was just to keep the course clear, and there was no real need of that because I wasn't in a crowded area. No one even asked me directions. Or how far until mile 8. Or the water. Nothing.

So I just cheered on runners for about 3 and a half hours. I had a lovely time. The only people I saw whom I knew were Benny, who was just accompanying a friend, and Pablo, a former employee of mine.

I would and probably will do this again. I had a great time. And got some sweet gear. Win-win-win.

Yet Another Fail

I meant to run the Bucktown 5k. I even picked up my packet. And went home early after game watching all day on Saturday. But then... I just didn't want to. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go with Masters because her niece was visiting. I was just nauseous enough not to want to get in the car. Whatever. I didn't go. Fail.

#59 - Go on a Date with Someone Whose Last Name I Don't Know

I know this should be a big deal, but even the thought of going on a date with someone I don't know is sooooo out of my comfort zone. I just don't do it. I don't know why I have that fear. I've probably only gone on 4 "first dates" in my life.

The first one was with my high school boyfriend. I think we were already "dating" by that point. It was Valentine's Day, so high pressure. I think it was President's Day weekend because I remember it being a lunch date on a week day. He brought me flowers and a giant card that had "10 reasons I love you" on it. But he had taken all of the "loves" and scratched them out and wrote in "like." Funny but weird. We went to Zingerman's for lunch. I remember being very nervous even though we already knew each other fairly well.

The second one was in college. Yes, that's correct. I only had one boyfriend in high school. We dated for a month and then broke up and then dated again for over a year. Anyways, I didn't go on another date until my junior year of college. I met this guy when I was working the intramural golf tournament and he worked at the course. I helped him put away carts when it started raining and ruined the tournament. Then a couple weeks later I was working a track meet and one of the girls brought me over to meet her friends who came to watch her throw. One of her friends was that same guy. So she gave him my number. He called me. We talked. He asked if I wanted to get dinner sometime. So we went to Charlie's and ate some chicken sandwiches. It was nice. We hung out some more. My friends began teasing about how he hadn't made a move. They said I was dating a gay guy. But really, we just weren't dating. And now we are exactly what we are meant to be: friends. He's now in my top ten favorite people. Friend love :)

I had my third first date my 5th year of college. I met Matt through my neighbor boys. He was cute. He asked me out like a boy should. We went for a walk in the Arb and then got Stucchi's. It was nice. He was nice. We kinda dated for a bit. Then it fizzled and I dated someone else. Then we reconnected when he was living in Chicago. Then I moved to Chicago. Then we dated for 5 years. He's still a nice guy.

So none of these situations ended badly. And the ones where I had a friendship that just kinda evolved into more have ended very badly. So I shouldn't be afraid of first dates. But I am.

On Saturday I watched Michigan football with Chris Zann and Ed Cruz, my 2 favorite roommates. After the game, they stayed put in the bar while I ran to get my race packet for the Bucktown 5k. I dropped off my car and headed back to the bar to watch Michigan State - Ohio State. A group of guys had been there watching and stayed to watch that game too. There were probably 20 people in the bar. And, oh man, after Michigan won, Ohio State lost. What a day!

As we're watching the game, Zann asks if I'm interested in any of the guys at the other table so he can make a move for me.

I said, "Zann, they can hear you."

He said, "Which one?!"

And I whispered, "None... they're not cute."

I then reconsidered. I said, "Maybe the one in the grey shirt with his back to us but I can't tell until I see his face again."

Zann said, "CA-CAWWW! CA-CAWWW!"

The guy turned around. He was, indeed, cute.

I was completely embarrassed.

Zann did nothing to help.

But... as we were deciding where to watch the Tigers game that night, the guy in the grey shirt came over to ask where we were watching the Tigers game. He suggested we go with them to The Crossing. As we had no other plans, we went.

After ordering one round of drinks, Zann left to get Holly from the airport.

Ed decided we then looked like a couple, so he told me that he was now my adopted Asian brother that my parents adopted. From Asia.

I told him we didn't need a cover story. It was fine.

So grey-shirt guy, now known as Steve, came to talk to us for a bit.

Ed said, "Steve, I am Megan's adopted Asian brother. Her parents adopted me. From Asia."

I said, "That's not true."

Steve seemed a bit confused. I would have been too.

Our friend Rebeca then agrees to meet us, so on Steve's next trip to the table, Ed says, "My girlfriend is on her way!" I didn't feel the need to contradict that one. Sorry, Rebeca, but Ed was getting weird.

Rebeca, Holly, and Zann arrived at the same time. I was free to leave Ed's side.

Anyways, Steve asked for my number. He texted me on Sunday and the only day I had free in the next 2 weeks was Tuesday after an art class I signed up for. And then there was a work emergency and I didn't go to class, but I did want a drink, so we went out on Tuesday.

We met at Messner's and watched the Tigers game. We had a nice time. Our waitress was barely wearing clothes. It was a little strange for a Tuesday night when there were only like 5 people in the bar. Otherwise, no big drama. I don't know why I was so worried.

Thanks for all the help and encouragement, friends!

#66 - Build a fire.

Yes, I know building a fire isn't rocket science. But I've never done it. I've helped, but I've never built my own.

I was back in Ann Arbor for the Michigan v. Eastern Michigan football game. (A HUGE family rivalry. We talk about it all year old. It's crazy. You should come next time. Go Blue!) I told my dad that I was hoping to see Evelyn while I was back. I said told him she said that she and/or Brian could help me build a fire. The conversation proceeded like this:

"I can build a fire."

"Okay."

"I used to build them all the time in the backyard."

All the time? Debatable. "Okay, Dad. Well, I was just thinking of what Evelyn could help me do and she and Brian go camping and fishing and stuff, so I thought she could probably build a fire."

"I was an Eagle Scout."

"Dad, would you like to

help me build a fire on Sunday?"

"Yes."

On Sunday, Dad grabbed a hatchet and matches and we went into the yard. He told me to pick up some small sticks from a pile in a flower garden next to the driveway.

"You just keep a pile of small sticks? And this is where you keep them?"

"No."

We gathered dead leaves. Then he ripped some bark off of a log. There has always been a pile of logs in the backyard for indoor, fireplace fires. I have seen my dad build those many times. I still don't recall an outdoor fire. I hope he's too old to figure out how to actually read this blog because I'm sure I'll get a lecture about it later if he finds out. has

He moved some other log things to uncover lots of bugs, including this slug. I did my best to help the slug survive, but he kept crawling towards the spot where we were going to build the fire. I think he lived. F those earwigs though. I hate those things.

So I piled some dead leaves and then made a stick pyramid on top of the leaves. I guess my pyramid was too pyramidy because Dad stepped on it to squash it down. He

also chopped some wood shavings, with a box cutter though, not the hatchet. I guess the hatchet was

just for show.

The fire was a success. I can't wait to build a bigger one, with Chris and Chris' advice, which is just keep piling on bigger and bigger sticks and then logs until either it's as tall as me or until I can't lift anything heavier. Man, I miss the days of having 2 Chrises in the house.

Thanks, Dad! Success!