Pictures From The Michigan/Northwestern Game

Here are some pictures from the Mich/N.W. game two weeks ago. My brother was a good sport for the game. He did manage to wear the scarlet and gray under his coat and signal the "O" (see pict below) but he also managed to put up with my goofy windshield wiper & my frequent running into gift shops.

Happy Tuesday

It has been over a month since I last updated my blog. Time sure does fly when you are having fun! You would think that after this much time, I would have something quite witty to say. Sorry, nothing really new to report. Enjoying my day of laundry, grading and cleaning on this chilly Tuesday afternoon. I had my morning class at B & S but my afternoon and evening classes are cancelled due to Veterans' Day. I feel like a big olde cheat since I am enjoying my day of leisure while others sacrificed both their time and bodies to truly deserve this day. Thanks veterans!

Another Thing That Scares The Poo Out Of Me Besides Halloween During This Month Of October...

Sit Back & Just Enjoy The Melody On This Sunday...

Da 1/2

So I learned from my brief journey to Erie, Pa that I am not so handy with the roads of my neighboring state. However, neither were the folks at the hotel who gave us wrong, half ass directions to the course. Nothing like slowly (and the speedily) driving through the streets of Erie while occasionally stopping at local establishments to get some help with my bearings at 5:30 in the a.m.

All I have to say is that thank goodness Brian has a lot of patience and was able to guide me to the start of the race with the help of a borrowed map at McDonalds. Running a marathon is tough enough but throw in having waste precious time to calm down my spazish self and you have one antsy situation. I have no idea where he gets his calmness from or directional skills, but I need some of those traits!

When we all finally made it to the course, with just moments to spare, I soon found out at around mile 3 that this was going to be a hot one. My sweat band had already reached its capacity. Figuring a 1/2 PR like I had hoped was not in the cards, I proceeded to chat with runners around me and yell "Go Browns" to every a-hole sporting Stealers (not a typo, I call them that because they always steal Cleveland's hopes) garb. My actions did not make the heat situation any better but it did pass the time in a mildly entertaining way.

I finished in 1.49.01/ 8.19 per mile pace. When I think that in 2005 I ran a 3:36:56 it makes me more than a little sad but after considering the heat and my under prep work I am content. I think it would be a great flat and fast course if the weather was... Per say.... 40 degrees cooler. Oh well, to wish and to hope! I have no idea how Brian and the rest of the marathoners got it done that day. Just thinking about doubling the distance inspires me to perspire even more.

The Full That Would Become a Half

Looking back, this subject line resembles a bad divorce topic line. However, the gist of this post is to discuss the Erie Half Marathon. Sorry it has been a while since my last post. The new gig and moving has kept me quite busy. However, all good things so I got no complaints.

I had all the intentions of running the full marathon but I decided at the expo (if you can call it that - a pavilion in a state park with two small half tented vending areas pimpin shirts and gels) to back off and do the half. My first concern was the weather. It poured kittens and puppies on the way down making driving a bear (like all the animal references in one sentence?) Plus, the weather was warm and humid. In addition, I really cannot deny that I had been pretty lazy with the training. Yes, the fall on my knee set me back a little, but before and after the injury I still could have put in more speed and distance. Well, got to jet to class. More to come where I discuss the casino stealing my dough, yelling at Steelers fans and Brian saving my ass with stellar directions.

3 Reasons to Cheer This Week....

~ New job

~ Closed on my condo

~ My b-day

Cute Puppy On The Prowl

Alicia and John recently adopted a lab pup named Dorsey. She is little cutie pie. Here are some picts.

Guess Who Is Excited to See The Great Neil In Concert On Sunday??

I AM! I AM!!!!

Because It's All Fun & Games...

Until your girl gets the boot on Shear Genius
It was a good run Gail! Now who am I going to be pulling for?
Perhaps some day I will make the trek out to Columbus and shell out the big bucks for a cut and style at your skillful hands.

Dem A Classy Bunch Of Stick Ball Players In Wisconsin...

Something tells me that very apologetic letter from the teammates was handed to the wife and/or baby mama a few days after....

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words...

Really I can only think of 3:
Dominate Athletic Prowess

Backyard BBQ Run Down List:

THINGS TO DO TONIGHT


~ Get hammered

~ Have fun

~ Attempt to drunkenly jam my guitar

~ Text message Steve that I am drunk at backyard bbq.

~ Smile lots

~ Eat yummy food delights

~ Listen to my mom yell at us to use the sparklers that she, for some reason, insists on purchasing every year for our 5 year old mentality delights.

~ Pass out, while still smiling. : )

HAVE A GOOD ONE!! BE SAFE!!

The Favorite Place That I WANT To Be This Week - Track Town USA

Because I want to be in Eugene, OR this week watching the best of the best so their thang....
Because watching some of the close events makes me smile, yell and even turn on the water works a little. Because even though I was pullin for the local gal and Michigan grad Katie McGregor to get her ticket to Bejing (4th place twice = hard to swallow squared) I still had to give credit where credit is due... Hell of a race Amy Begley...

Favorite Television Drama. "Every Day Above Ground Is A Good One."

Jen recently started indulging in season one and hearing about her love at first view made me reminiscent of a show that I hold so dear. So lovingly,in fact, that I made the theme song my ring tone. Well, that is until I tore my phone in half and have been trying, without much luck, to get it downloaded once again on to my new phone. Oh well.... I still got nothing but heart for "Six Feet Under"& here are just a few snack pack reasons why...




Eliminating The Notion That A TV Drama Has To Have One or Two Truly Unique Characters While The Rest Of The Cast Is A Mix Matched Assembly Of Poorly Construed Archetypes: For its 5 year run, the show always had between 10-12 characters that were strongly developed. Yes, having Alan Ball (American Beauty) call the shots was the glue for the show, but the slue of talented writers and actors helped to create, and even more amazingly, keep the stamina up for as long as they did.

Facing The Taboo Head On: As everyone can guess from the title and even just knowing a bit about the show, it dealt with death. The only thing besides, well, you know, taxes, that you can't hide from. Some times the expiration's were natural and clean but most times they were heart wrenching and just over the line bizzaro. As much as you "eeeked" to view it, you just kept coming back.

The Best Series Finale Ever: The way that show ended was a masterpiece. I can count on both hands how unfulfilled I have been with many of the series finales of my likable shows and that scared me going into the "Six Feet Under" last call. From plot, symbolism, point of view, characters, music to irony, the show delivered without disappointment. I have seen the final episode probably 4 times and during and after every time, I cry. Yes, cries of sadness for it ending but most of all I am quietly sobbing because I pretty much have come to terms with the notion that no other show is going to come close to this one. And you know what, that is a-okay.

"These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things..."

I am rounding third and headed for home with My Life On The Run. Which, by the way, is a terrific read. Even if you are not a running enthusiast, I still think you would dig it. Anyway, the last chapters deal with Bart's (you know, since I got the chance to briefly shoot the shit with him I feel like we are best buds. In reality, I bet I faded quickly in his mind with all of the other crazy question asking fans)favorite runs. I decided to focus on some of my favorites. Well, since it is summer, I thought that favorite ice cream flavor would be a great starting point.

So, here is it.... Superman. So many flavors, so much goodness.... Yum, go get ya some!

HAPPY B-DAY ALICIA!!!!!

This a picture of Alicia & some nerdy girl last year on her b-day. We went skating. Alicia digs the skating and she is very stellar at it. In fact, a little girl was quite infatuated with her and was making autograph requests. On the other side of the rink, I was trying very hard for my bum not to hit the ice.
Today Alicia is 29. Hooray for the birthday girl! I hope you have a great day! If you see Alicia today, give her a b-day high five.

Fun With Hats at Katie B's Bachelorette Party!

Get Off Your Duff & Turn On Your Tele to....

"Swingtown" - CBS (yes, they now do have another show worthy of watching besides "How I Met Your Mother")
Thursday, 10:00 pm - Come on, Friday is the next damn day so don't pull that "I get up early to make a living" crap with me. DVR or old school VHS this bad boy if you just can't keep your eyes open or if your at the bar.

Hot cast, good story line, and the threat that basic cable is going to drop it in about 2 weeks because of the whole "too controversial" jazz. Better watch it before it defunks in a few months to premium!

A Fun Kind of Crazy

This weekend was a whirlwind of corn roasting at the rib burn off, a wedding, running, grading essays, more corn and more corn. It was a fun and exhausting weekend. More on that later. Got class stuff to prepare. I hope you are all beating the heat!