Frolic and play, the Eskimo way?

So, as a starter, yes it occurred to me that my blog background is Halloween themed. Please look beyond those little pieces of candy and focus on the cuteness and wiseness (likely not a word, right) of those owls.  While I've seen many-a-cute winter holiday blogs, I have quite the winter wonderland scene right out my window thank you very much. And whoever penned that "walking in a winter wonderland" is in any way fanciful had to be from the south or is one of those odd winter lovin' Cheeseheads. I actually work with people that claim winter is their favorite time of year. Right.

As many of you know (or may not know) each year I'm in Chicago, I make a valiant attempt to force myself to embrace the winter. Sorta like a northerner tempting the deep south in August with no A/C in their car - you know, the real miserable experience. Anywho:

Year 1 - shuffling through the Shamrock Shuffle in a wet wintery mix (I discovered this weekend that people 'in the know' still talk about the race that year...and yes, I smile with pride).

Year 2 - attended a ND game after a huge snow storm. We sat in snow packed stadium seats for a solid two quarters. This was also the year I walked about six blocks round trip to a client in sub-zero air temps. Kind that makes your teeth hurt.

Year 3 - I decided unintentionally to jump start my winter embrace experience. I volunteered to work the pre-registration tent at the Rudolph Ramble 8K on Sunday morning (this was really a double challenge - I had to check in at 6:45 am. Why do I do this to myself?). This was Sunday:

The caption for this one is "not that bad". Oh these hilarious Midwesterners. See the scrunched shoulders, death grip on the bag, unflattering outerwear, and the look of misery on the face...yes, it IS a winter wonderland!

 This one is just for Mom - the puppy looks like her Belle! And a flying nun.

Sunday brought sleet, snow, wind (gusts up to 50 mph...are you kidding me), and a sad little Texan sitting in a tent handing out bibs to crazy runners.  But I did it and as my Dad would say, it put a little hair on my chest. Character building? Misery inducing? Whatever you call it, seeing this beautiful skyline immediately makes it worth it to me. Can you have a love affair with a skyline?

Pictures courtesy of Chicago Tribune