Does Everything Really Work Out The Way That It Is Suppose To?

This past weekend, two of my friends brought this subject line up to me. They did it as a playful interjecting onto my own life since so often I had chimed in with the infamous, "Everything happens for a reason" or "It will all work out in the end" when they were going through various trying times in their lives. As true with so many situations in life, having to walk in someone else's shoes and really examining your own advice does make you take a good hard look at yourself. After contemplating on the advice that I had so freely and dime a dozen given out over the years, I wonder if I was actually doing something more than giving poor cliche' advice. I wonder if I was, in fact, simply lying.

Lets put under the microscope the first, "Everything happens for a reason." Yes, but that is so (as my grad. School advisor Dr. Karem would say) broad of an assumption. It does not begin to take into account that so many people have selfish motives and that those desires can affect them and so many people in the surrounding areas. Sometimes those "reasons" the quote names can be obvious when it turns out to be a happy ending. Case in point, a person who was running late because they could not find their keys which caused them to miss the train. While aggravated and waiting for the next train, she encounters a handsome man that later becomes her husband. A valid argument can be made by romantics or anyone that looks for the silver lining, that misplacing her keys caused her to find the love of her life. However, on the flip side, it is tough to see that everything happens for a reason when it involves tragically sudden death or financial hardships. Those are the times that a strict clear cut answer is demanded but can few times be issued.

The second one, ah, my old stand by (how did my friends ever not punch me in the eye for this one?), "It will all work out in the end." Well, in my defense, I always was a person that would skip to the last few pages of the book to read the ending before starting and I would prefer to hear the ending of a film before viewing. Despite the fact that I know how thrilling surprises are and how few there are in this world, I always like to rush ahead. I love giving surprises but very few times getting them. As I have become older, I think this state or shall I say, choice of mind, has become more frequent and until I find a way to go back and bottle that "instant awe" that I had when I was 5, I think I will continue to be fast forwarding to the conclusions. Well, in my defense, I guess I can say that it at least better prepares me. But if so much of life is dependent on our personal decisions than how do we know for sure that everything will "work out" in the end. And what exactly does "work out" even translate to?

I am a big believer in God and faith. I have been for as long as I can remember. Catholic schooling planted the seeds and personal experiences helped to grow and strengthen it. Despite my sometime nihilistic attitude, I do believe that God cares and is watching. The struggle that I have is that if we are given free-will how can we make sure that those free-will decisions are making things "work out" in the end for each person?

Lets face it, very few of us actually have the courage to say what we really want to in situations for fear of rejection, looking arrogant or just looking stupid. It is safer to harbor those feelings and just hope that you will get what you so deeply want. Example, how many of us have struggled with confessing to someone that they are in love with them but for fear of so many real and even imaginary consequences, they decide it better to not release their truth. What if saying something could've made things "work out" for the better in future? Guess many will never know. However, there is also the reality that confessing would lead to disaster and conflict with both parties having things "work out" in the end. What about those that take new jobs because they desire change or stay at the old ones because the comfort factors are priority to them. How do we know for sure that things really will work out in the end based on our decisions whether grand or small?

I brought a lot up here and I know that many points I touched on are rhetorical. I guess the main thesis that I have come to through my self exploration of sayings I repeat is to examine them more closely before speaking. Or, as my many English teachers would warn me to do, "make sure you research and back it up with evidence before you present!"

Just When I Needed Another Reason To Dislike Ken Blackwell..

Okay, I know I have been giving the play by play of Boston recently and I intend to wrap it up this week but I was just too fired up to let this one pass by.

Not sure how close many of you are following the republican candidate race for governor, but here is what Ken Blackwell freely told reporters when asked why he supported Ohio's constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and opposed civil unions:

"I don't know how many of you have a farming background, but I can tell you right now that notion even defies barnyard logic... the barnyard knows better."
Comparing people to animals. Have we reached a new low? Please, when election time rolls around, DO NOT vote for Ken Blackwell.

Easter, The Day Before The Boston Marathon Style....

I think we all slept pretty well Saturday night. The combination of an abundance of tasty Italian cuisine and being exhausted from traveling sealed the deal on getting the zzzzzs.

Jen and I decided the night before not to do the warm up road race that Elizabeth was going to jog with her sister. Sorry about that girl! We got up around 8:30ish and headed out to do 15-20 mins. When we started we noticed alot of runners carrying the post race goodie bags with bananas, yogurt drinks and bagels. We knew we had to get one of those bags! We followed the groups and were able to easily sneak in the tent at the finish line to get our healthy race loot. Normally, I hate those that indulge in the snacks without doing the race. But, since this one was free anyway and Boston had already taken enough of my dough, I felt pretty guilt free! The funniest thing was the guy pushing the peeps. He kept jokingly telling the runners they had to at least take one package of peeps before exiting the tent. I hate the peeps but I took one anyway. Ended up bringing it home for my dad who was thrilled. : )

Mike, Becky, Jen and me went to mass at Our Lady of Victories. Yes, much to my mom's delight, I packed and wore a skirt. The week prior to leaving my mom kept reminding me to not forget a skirt to wear on Easter for mass. Never once did she remind me to bring my running shoes, bib picket card, asthma medication etc. Yeap, as long as I packed the skirt, she thought I would be good to go!

I had to use the restroom before the mass (what a surprise from all the water!) and I had a nice chat with the priest prior to the start about running. The service was awesome! It was centered on running which surprised me for Easter Sunday. They also did a blessing of the runners after mass. I kept teasing Becky and Jen because the organist was playing parts of Chariot's of Fire. The last time the three of us tried to watch it they fell asleep and I was calling it Chariot's of Slumber for them. I was impressed, they managed to stay awake through the blessing! lol! Matt also spied author investment guru/author Peter Lynch at church.

After mass we began the great restraunt hunt. This turned out to be a little trickier than anticipated....

When Slightly Warm Gets Toasty...

The room was warm and then got desert like as the numbers in our room climbed. We called operations twice and they struggled with the air condition system but could not fix it. It got so bad that (Jen and Matt noticed this but I must've been preoccupied)the maintance man was attempting to pry the vent open more to let more air in. More hot air in the room? Bad plan of action.

After and Becky arrived in our room Mike made the hilarious comment that he felt like he was going to pass out! We soon escaped the tropical heat to go walk to dinner. Our maintance man was still attempting to look hard at work. I kept telling Jen that he was going to put on her bra and underwear after we left the room. : )

Dinner at Maggiano's in downtown Boston was spectacular! We had a family style meal with more than enough food to go around twice. We were all so full that we could barley make the walk back to the hotel! On the way back we stopped at the official race finish line and posed for some glamour shots. The best one was us attempting a human pyramid. It must've took Becky back to her old h.s. cheerleading days!

We were taking bets in the hotel elevator as to how hot our room would be. It had to be close to 80 when we walked in. Matt (the man of steel balls) decided that enough was enough, he called the front desk and demanded another room. It would've been a different story if they at least would've left some type of note saying that they could not fix the cooling system but there was no attempt to better our situation by The Sheraton.

After finding out by some miracle that there was an extra room available with 2 beds, Matt, with random clothes in hand from his quick attempt to pack up, went back down to the front desk. However, Jen was a little concerned since the miscellaneous clothes did contain his dirty underwear. However, maybe this just furthered the point that he mean business!

It was off to room #2, our as we liked to call it: the clogged up sink with the ghost room.... Stay tuned!

After The Touch Down In Boston...

All in all, the plane rides were not bad. American seemed to redeem itself after we at last got settled into our seats. With all things considered, it did rank a little higher than the cattle call, run for your seats, Southwest (Southworst) experience.

However, once we got off the plane, there was difficulty attempting to figure out which subways to take. We ended up taking the correct "T" line but got off way to early at Boston Commons. This caused us to have to walk what seemed like forever with our luggage in tow. A major party foul on my part was wearing my wooly old Mount Union warm up jacket. I had to wear it because there was no room in my jam packed bags. At first, it was not too bad but then, as the large beads of sweat began to pour off my chest and back, I began to regret the decision to bring it in the first place, even though I knew it would come in handy while waiting in the village on race day morning.

Still, we journeyed forward down Boylston to find our Sheraton. Everyone at this point was getting a little crabby because we were tired and hungry. Poor Liz had a minor party foul when her backpack decided to malfunction in midstep causing personal items to scatter around the park. Part of this was my fault since she was housing some of my personal items due to my overpacking. Love ya girl! After some strategic smooshing of items into her larger bag, we were ready to resume our hike once again. Jen and Matt were a little ahead of us, paving the way. We made a few quick stops to consult Becky for directions on the cell. God bless her and her Onstar abilities! We also stopped to cheer on a few kids during the kids relay race. That was awesome to see kids getting out there and enjoying racing.

Eventually, we made it to the hotel. When the four of us got up to our room we immediately discovered that something was amidst. The next blog entry will discuss the sauna room that was #534....

The Long First Day Of the Boston Trip...

Okay Liz, you asked for it so I am delivering. We awoke on Saturday morning at 4:15 am. I did not even know that my alarm clock had that time! I set my clock and my cell phone alarm as a back up. That was a good move because Liz's watch alarm did not do the trick. After getting ready and grabbing some food, my parents (God bless em for getting up so early!) took us to Hopkins.

Upon arriving we learned that our American Airlines flight into New York was now delayed by an hour because of weather conditions. This really bummed out Liz and I because we were concerned about missing our connecting flight to Boston. When Jen and Matt arrived, Jen also shared our same concern. In fact, she almost went a little postal on the lady at the check in gate. However, she managed to keep her cool and just walk away as the American Airline lady was in mid sentence. I thought this was a much better move than smacking her with her overstuffed carry on! However, I can't blame her, since the lady was misleading us and going to book us on a much later flight if the delay kept up.

When we got back to our seats in the airport to wait out the delay, we all had to laugh because there was a man shaving his head, beard and mustache in the seats near us. I believe Jens' response was "Oh come on!" Seriously though, who does that in an airport?! It was so disturbingly odd and way too early in the morning to do that sort of intimate personal maintance in a public area.

Luckily, the plane took off earlier than the anticipated delay because the weather cleared on the East coast. The flight was pretty uneventful but when we at last arrived in Boston more crazy antics happened. More to come..

Alive, Sore & Grateful!

Okay, i made it back from the Boston Marathon in one piece! Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers! Trust me, they helped me through every mile. Kind of tired right now and I just got my drink on with some friends. I will write about the journey, the race and all the crazy memories tomm. Going to hit the hay now before I make any more typos!

Packing: I Hate It!

I started packing for my trip to Boston last night. Well, I did not actually start the physical packing process. I just attempting to make a list of some of the odds and ends that I might forget if I don't write down. The little necessities like, toothbrush, travel hair dryer and vitamins. Some of the items that I know I will be kicking myself if I forget.

I have never have been a fan of packing. If I do it too early I tend to have second thoughts and unpack most of my belongings. If I do it at the last minute, I have a constant fear that I have forgotten the vitals like underwear or my asthma medication. Either way, it tends to be a complex issue for me. In many ways, I wish I had the mental state with packing that Jack Nickolson's character had in "As Good As It Gets." Yes, he was overly anal about packing for trips but he was neat, organized and seemed to always have everything that he needed. Ahh, to wish that my OCD extended into this area. Instead I have to settle for the "Did I lock the doors?" of "Did I leave my straight iron on?" phobias.

One would think I should be a seasoned packer or at least have a semi-skill for it. In college I competed on teams where over night trips were common. However, maybe it does not take much thought to throw sweats, running shoes, a cd player and a casual set of clothes into a sport duffel bag. My process of packing continues tonight. Fingers crossed that I get a little further!

5 For Five

Okay, Arbys does it so why not me?

Five Things I Like:

* Getting surprise little gifts from people.

* Giving cards to my friends for no real reason. Just a little something to make
them laugh.

* Having to not worry about setting an alarm to wake up so I can sleep in.

* Going for icecream after a run on a nice warm day.

* Watching a good movie with friends.


Five Things I Dislike:

* People that say "umm" alot. Even though I am guilty of this flaw as well.

* Minivan drivers that attempt to cut me off when I am running.

* People that do not understand that I have no internal sense of direction. Blame
it on the dyslexia!

* Hearing someone always refer to themselves in the couple sense such as "we" and
"us". Are you conjoined twins? It gets annoying!

* Having the price of my crappy basic cable be raised almost every month.

Fun With Numbers

26: The total number of marathons the ladies in Jen's bridal party will have run after next monday. Knock on wood! Jen corrected me on this. Good catch, Jen!

5: The number of years Risko will have been out of college come the first week of May.

3 1/2: The number of times Risko dozed off during Palm Sunday mass this morning.

1: The number of John Cusak movies Risko has enjoyed.

254ish: The number of times Risko has proclaimed that she needs to get Showtime.

8: The number of miles Risko ran today.

Too many: the amount of calories Risko comsumed while eating junk food with friends on saturday night.

The Top Three Sound Offs Of The Moment...

Listed in no specific order of importance. A grab bag! Who has time for that organization crap, eh?

1.) Why are so many people addicted to TIVO? Seriously, I don't have any kids so I don't consider myself to be all that busy but I can't even find the time to let TIVO save the shows and then watch them. I have one really old VHS tape that I have been using for years. The quality really blows by now but it does the trick (somewhat). It is my $2.75 solution. If I miss something really cool on tv by forgetting to consult the TV Guide than so be it. Or, I rely on the smarts & generosity of my friends that maybe taped it. Come on, devoting hours of time to catch up on your TIVO? Are you serious? Go outside---ride a bike, play with a stray dog, do charity work or invest in a new hobby! Seriously, those that are addicted scare me. They scare me alot.

2.) Why do we always seem to want more? Yes, raw ambition is inspiring and sometimes even sexy but when it starts to affect a person from being happy that leads to big problems. Whatever happened to being satisfied, or at least faking happy?

3.)All marathons are 26.2 miles. That is the distance. For those of you that did not know that fact, please feel free to spread the word! Trust me, runners are not amused by hearing such sentences as "And how long is this marathon?" or the infamous "I don't even like to drive that far!" The novelty has long since worn out.