The Oz Museum

Outside of the Oz Museum. Next door there was a restaurant called Toto's Tacoz Mexican Restaurant. Unfortunately, they were closed.

(Warning: Picture Heavy Post)

During the holiday break, I took the family to Manhattan to see my beloved and #12 ranked K-State basketball team play a home game. They won the game easily before a sell out crowd, and we had an absolute blast.

We had heard about a place called the Oz Museum nearby, so of course we had to visit. We drove about 15 minutes to Wamego, Kansas, in order to visit the Oz Museum, a tribute to the Wizard of Oz. Evidently, the museum is pretty well known, and we got to see some cool stuff.

After paying our admission, they told us to take all the pictures we wanted while inside. So, we did.

They had an area dedicated to each of the main characters: Dorothy, the Tinman, Scarecrow, and Lion, as well as for the Wicked Witch, Good Witch, and Wizard. I didn't see a Toto exhibit.

The Dorothy exhibit

The boys imitating the Scarecrow

Oiling the Tin Man

"Roar" said the Cowardly Lion, or my son...one of the two...

Oz items in other languages

I was amazed at the number of beers that are "Oz" themed:

Scarecrow, Flying Monkey, Emerald City, and Pete's Wicked Ale

This little theater room had the Wizard of Oz playing non-stop..

Here are some of the funny signs/shirts that I saw in the gift shop:

Why some organizations succeed and others...

You want to maximize response? You have to minimize options. Will a picture help? Lucky for you, I just happen to have one here:

Running Update

I have been to a physical therapist twice in the last week for ultrasound and cold fusion treatment of my foot..btw, has anyone ever had ultrasound treatments? are they legit? they are supposed to promote blood flow and speed healing....I thought originally it was my plantars fasciitis acting up again, but now I think it's just a strained foot muscle, so I'm taking a few weeks off...Frosty 5K on New Years day won't happen for me this year....I'm trying to be smarter so I can keep from being injured all the time....hoping to begin training in Feb for a spring half marathon...

Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!

Flat Ariston

My son, Ariston, read a book in his 3rd grade class called Flat Stanley. In the book, Stanley is flattened by a billboard. But, he soon finds out that being flat isn't so bad after all, because he can be mailed all over to visit many places.

His project was to make his own Flat Ariston and send it to someone living in another community, have them write about the place they live, and take a few pictures too. My son sent his to his grandma that lives in Lincoln, IL, and here are a few pics of the adventures of Flat Ariston while there:

the town is named for Abraham Lincoln

where Ariston's mom went to grade school

the largest covered wagon, apparently

abraham lincoln christened the town by spitting a watermelon seed

the courthouse where lincoln practiced law

the place where lincoln spit the watermelon seed

Move Your Boogie Body

You're welcome....

Merry CHRISTmas!

Hope everyone has a great CHRISTmas! Much love from the land of OZ....

How Running is Like Golf

In Golf, you will not get better overnight. It takes lots of hours and years for people to learn to hit it long and straight. Same with Running. Getting faster and improving endurance takes time.

In Golf, having a good set of clubs is important, but even more important is having a good swing. Same with Running. A good pair of shoes are important, but equally or more important is having good form while running.

In Golf, when you swing too hard, usually you end up shanking the ball into the trees or over-hooking it into the water. In Running, when you try to run too fast or too far, too soon, you generally end up getting injured.

In golf, when you slow down and think about the shots and use strategy, the score is better. In Running, when you slow down and use your runs wisely and think about strategy for getting the most out of your body, your times will improve.

One of the great things about Golf is that when you are having a crappy round and you can't hit the ball straight to save your life, and you are on the verge of dumping your clubs into the lake, you hit that one sweet shot that keeps you coming back again and again. In running, too, despite all the pain and frustration and "bad runs," all it takes is having that one great run to get you back out the door running again.

Running Update

I had planned to run 6 miles Saturday but at mile 3 I felt a twinge of pain in my plantar fascia tendon, so I slowed to a walk the rest of the way....very frustrating

I have a call in to a local physical therapist to see if I can get some advice on this nagging injury....

Here is a link to a video my mom told me about, Dr Oz talking about "how to find the perfect shoe" --- http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/how-find-best-shoe-you

Somebody's Getting Fired...

Oops...