What Brings You to Little Merry Sunshine?

One of my favorite things about my blog is checking out my Site Meter site stats and learning what brings you, my loyal readers, to Little Merry Sunshine.

Quite a few of you find me by doing Google searches for "little merry sunshine," "wheeling township food pantry," "arlington heights," "Marshall Field's" and a variety of searches for information on the current local elections in Arlington Heights and I'm incredibly grateful my blog appears in the results for all of these search terms. I'm also grateful to my blog buddies Monkey Muck, Gourmet Goddess, Boxer Rebellion, She's An American Girl, Living Oprah, Ellen of the Tenth, and Fran I Am for their links and the readers who find me through their sites. I could never write this post without showing proper appreciation to Chicago's Best Blogs for the new readers they've sent me. Truly it's an honor being one of Chicago's Best Blogs.

But many of you visit LMS as the result of some more interesting Google searches . . .

An employee at one of the country's largest banks and recipient of tons of bailout money, spent some valuable work time searching "I get off on you getting off on me" and found my post iPhone, Therefore I Get Off.

Numerous state employees in states such as Nebraska, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana (on state time!) and folks at some very esteemed higher education institutions have visited LMS as the result of searches for "stripper poles" (finding I'm Gonna Install A Stripper Pole!)and "prostitute names" (finding The Name Game).

People from all over the world searching for "AK-47" find my post What Were They Hunting With That AK-47?

More than a few folks are curious about "pregnant women wearing braces," which I find interesting since there are no pregnant women on this site. Really. No woman on this blog is pregnant. I swear.

Many of you are searching for food pantries in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and it's my wish that you're doing these searches because you want to donate, but probably some of you need some extra help these days. So this gives me a good opportunity to say to everyone: Donate to your local food pantry. They desperately need your help. The demand is greater than ever and if you set aside just a couple items each week, in no time you'll have a full bag of groceries that will really help someone. That someone could be your neighbor or your best friend or someday it could be you.

Many of you seem to be interested in recycling and tax credits for greening your home and installing solar attic fans. Visit my brother's website, Crystal Skylights. He'll take great care of you.

However you ended up here, I truly thank you and I hope you come back often. Without you, I'd just be talking to myself.

I'm Gonna Install A Stripper Pole!

My dad will be so proud. His daughter, the pole dancer!

But if CNN says I can lose 50 pounds by pole dancing, I might just do it!

Pole dancing helps strip off pounds

By Judy Fortin CNN Medical Correspondent

August 11, 2008

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The lights were turned down low and the music was pulsing as Kimberly Wright made her way toward a 16-foot tall dance pole to do some tricks.

Wright is not an exotic dancer in a strip club. She's a 38-year-old mother of two from Atlanta, Georgia, looking to get in a decent workout.

"It works the abs, oh my goodness, muscles I didn't even know I had," Wright chuckled.
On this night, Wright is among more than a dozen women of all shapes and sizes -- no men allowed -- attending a beginner class at PoleLaTeaz, an Atlanta dance studio owned by Angela Edwards.

"We get preachers' wives, teachers, nurses, accountants, lawyers, anyone between the age of 18 and 70," Edwards said. "It's not boring...you get to wear fun clothes, listen to good music...and release your inner sexpot."

If online listings across the country are an indication, the popularity of pole dancing is spreading across the country from Southern California to Chicago to the Bible Belt.

A former labor and delivery nurse, Edwards opened her own studio two years ago and now has 400 students. She plans to add another location in the fall.

Edwards demonstrated a few moves during an advanced class later in the evening.

She climbed to the top a pole and, clenching her inner thighs, hung upside down. Watch Edwards demonstrate pole dancing

"The dancing part is where you get the cardiovascular benefits," she said. Then there's "pole-tricking," or doing specific movements balancing your body weight against the pole, such as the "fireman spin."

"That's where you get the weight lifting and weight training," Edwards said.

She mentioned that there is a risk of injury so regardless of their experience, all students start the class with a half-hour warmup using Pilates-like stretches.

Thick mats are placed near the poles as students practice new "tricks," and Edwards encouraged dancers to modify their moves depending on their abilities.

"You see good results," Edwards said. "We have women who come in here 40 to 50 pounds overweight and they drop it in about six to eight months and they get great, nice, hourglass curves."

Cicely Rogers is one of those women who have seen results. "I started last August and I've gone down two dress sizes. I've lost 20 pounds and I feel awesome," she said.

The critical care nurse at an Atlanta hospital admitted that she hurt all over after the first few sessions of pole dancing.

There's another benefit, Rogers said. "This made me feel better about my body. I used to be nervous about my body and try to hide it. Now I'm a lot more open and confident. I stand up straight and feel good about myself."

Rogers is one of the few women wearing shorts and a tank top. Many other students are scantily dressed in lingerie-like outfits.

Almost everyone strapped on stilettos when the dancing got under way. Some of the women said it added to the atmosphere of the class.

"It makes you feel sensual. It makes you feel sexy," said Antigone Locklear, 42, of Atlanta.
Wright said feeling sexy is part of the reason she attended class. Now she's waiting for her husband to install her own dance pole at home.

She smiled. "You know what? I am sexy and yes, pole dancing does put you in the mood."