Chasing that darned White Rabbit again!

So it's been awhile. But frankly, I've been a little tired, my dear readers. Rather than sacrificing quality for quantity, I have not written much. 

The big wedding is almost upon me. Today, I dropped off new eyeglasses frames to get lenses and was told they would be ready next week. Then I realized, all of a sudden, that I am getting married next week. Next. Week. Holy cow.

Things have been set at the normal level of mania.  Busy season publicly ended on April 15 (though insiders of public accounting know that the lull no longer happens), I had my BFF ADF in town that weekend (bridal shower), the following weekend I took off for Dallas (bachelorette party), and the weekend that just passed was wedding prep mania. Sigh. It is all very exciting but time is flying. FLYING. Perhaps this is what people mean then they say they don't remember anything from their wedding day.

Let's reflect on that - how sad to think that people don't remember such an important day of their lives. Especially one that people generally plan months in advance. I sincerely hope that does not happen for us. I hope that having the wedding ceremony is in the morning and the reception in the early evening helps slow the pace a bit. I suppose time will tell!

I have also been rather surprised by the number of people who are surprised that I am dropping P and picking up B for my name. I've gotten so many surprised looks that I am almost considering doing the JPB rather than JMB. But I truly love the middle name. Hmmm...I read on another blog that a woman said she wished "nee" was used more often. Perhaps I can bring that back in my own archaic way. JMB nee P. hmmm...has a ring to it! I will have to try that on my work email signature; see what response I get from that!

Hope you enjoy all the photos!

Bridal Shower - Arlington Heights

Dallas Bachelorette Weekend

Oh How I Shuffled

For about a year, I have been excited to run my first Shamrock Shuffle, one of the largest 8Ks in the country.  In Chicago, it is the official kickoff to the outdoor running season (contrary to its name, the race is not on St. Patty's Day, rather is it the last Sunday of March. However, it has become quite apparent that Chicago loves it some St. Patty's Day and so it is still a festive race). 

I have been kickin my training indoor style on the TM. Not a bad way to train in the cold weather, but TM training doesn't really prepare your body for the shock of running a road race. Nonetheless, I am Texan so running in snow, ice, or colder than 40 is not really of interest to me. 

The week or two leading up to the race, Chicago was treated to glorious 50 degree weather. Mother Nature finally bestowed her love on the Windy City. I was so excited to run through downtown Chicago in such nice weather! Alas, I was punked.  The big weekend was approaching and the weather report was moving around. Day before race day, it rained, then snowed. And was windy (25 to 30 mph gusts, in the 30s).  This continued through the night.  Race day, some accumulation, wind and rain (temp around mid-30s). Oh no! What to do! What a quandary this southern soul was in!

See, when you consider the weather, it not just for the racing time. You need to consider that you arrive about an hour before the race. And because I am slow, I would also be near the end of the pack, so it will take time for me to even cross the start line after the race begins (FYI, the field cap for the race was 32,500, though due to the weather, about 14,000 actually finished). 

Needless to say, I ran it. Shoes soaked through before crossing the start line, clothes damp, wind, chilly. The streets were not salted or plowed, so there were puddles of melted snow from all the runners trampling through the streets. This was not my best run. But it wasn't the worst either. While I was ridiculously slow, I arrived at that start line rather than staying warm in bed. I suppose I proved to myself that running is important to me, even though I am at a much lower level of intensity than other runners I know.  But I'll get there. 

Me on race day, looking tired and worried. (hey, its busy season)

RJB looking calm and collected

Photo from the race - holy slush!

 (courtesy of Chicagotribune.com)

Oh, and RJB rocked out the race. He got a corral A start this year. 

A foggy day in Chicagoland

Well, I am smack dab in the middle of tax busy season. First major IRS deadline is March 16. Almost halfway through the spring season.  Typical to my client base, I don't really get swingin' until right...about....now. I am also entering the upswing of "wedding busy season".  I am taken aback by all the details, appointments, and timelines that must be considered for this event. For the most part, my limited remaining weekends as a P are booked between work obligations and wedding planning. Not that I am complaining, mind you. 

I have just started reading Atlas Shrugged this past week. I am only 2 chapters in to the 2 inch thick novel, but it has already made me think. Chapter two just scratches the surface of a man who runs his own steel mill and has created a new, better steel. He just had his first major order and the mill is running. Excited about the development and milestone, he walks home full of quiet energy.  Upon arriving home, wife, mom, and brother - all of whom he supports - attack him for not being home earlier, not giving them enough attention, focusing too much on work and the 'simple' new 'tin'.   It is commented that, in their opinion, he feels he is fulfilling his family obligation by providing money. And that just isn't good enough.

I find this concept interesting because it is not an archaic notion.  How many times have you listened to friends, family, or colleagues expressing frustration about each side of this argument? It does beg the question, what is more important, providing much for the family in exchange of availability, or providing less for the family with perhaps more availability?  At what point does the scale tip towards unacceptable? 

It also begs the question of, do we, as family and friends, understand and appreciate what it is our loved ones do at work day to day?

A Wondering Soul

Oh dear readers. I have been neglectful. Woefully so. Has Facebook become my mistress? Away from you?! Never! Has working for The Man tired me out? Not enough to keep me from you. So, why have I abandoned you for almost the entire month of February?  I want to think it is because I have been pondering an interesting concept. Home.

So often easily defined, but I have found myself surprised by what I have considered Home. All my years in Dallas, I never felt Home. I always thought Home was somewhere else. At times, anywhere else. Milwaukee? No. South Bend...only when my ND family is there. Dickinson? Perhaps. FdL? Yes and no. 

It's a odd thing. It took moving to Chicago for me to realize I had made a home in Dallas. I had wonderful friends, I absolutely loved the area I lived...I was settled. And the entire time I never felt settled. I never thought Dallas would be permanent.  I suppose that is true considering I did indeed move.  Was I not living in the present moment? Not accepting of my current circumstances? Always looking for something more, something better? 

All these feelings and thoughts came about recently when I was running. I was trying to get through another TM run and had in my mind's eye my little Dallas neighborhood where I first started running.  Oh, the success I felt when I ran my first mile without walking! And White Rock Lake where I had taken up running every Sunday morning last spring (defined my own personal religious meditation). I realized I missed Dallas. I missed Home. 

Do I fear Chicago, my love-city, won't be home? Not necessarily. The love of my life is here and surely I will meet the intellectual, humorous women whose company I seek. And I will raise a family here and will have a strong, challenging career. What I do fear, or rather, what I am saddened by, is that from '04 until this past October I yearned for Home but didn't realize I had been home all along. 

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum

I did it. And now I have a problem. Severe, no, problem, yes. On the computer more than usual. Dreaming segmented ADD-type dreams. Thinking about it at work. Excited to get home later to check what people are up to. Yes. I did it. I joined Facebook.

If you recall, I started the blog with a post about not wanting to be involved in such site, online voyeurism, if you will (though minus the creepy sexual part). It all started with my buddy Georgie noted I was not going the extra degree by joining the cool kids on Facebook. Then when I requested a home email from another friend, she said, 'personal email?! you crazy. you can contact me on Facebook!'. Then a follow up with RJB and Georgie...this isn't for school kiddos? Apparently not. So I took the plunge. Only after discussing with RJB that surely I can just cancel my membership if I get no virtual friends or get creeped out. But alas, day 3 has passed and I'm hooked. Beware, gentle reader, of the lure of Facebook.