Back of the Pack

Well dear readers, the weekend of the Chicago Marathon has finally descended upon us. For those not in the know, no I am not running it. I will be a spectator, out in the city streets early on Sunday morning (my spectator vantage point has changed from my original thoughts). The real champ is RJB. I will post on Sunday with photos (hopefully) and an update. Currently the weather is predicted to be perfect - 40s and 50s, no rain.

So, the hubs has been dedicated to his training since June. Running 5 days a week, including a long run on Saturdays starting at 6:30am. He has even run on our vacations. Not a complaint out of him. In fact, he is doing his last taper run right now. In the cold. In the rain. And what am I doing? Me the person who joined a running group this summer and then halted all running to be a slave to the dreaded IRS statute due dates? Me who said I would start straight away after 9/15 with the running? Oh. I'm sitting on the couch. In my pj pants and a sweatshirt, in front of the TV and computer.

I have reached a rut with running. Unfortunately it is a rut of NOT running. RJB challenged me on whether or not I even like running. And I do enjoy it. It is a challenge to me - I am not a natural athlete - so I know I will never be a bad ass with running. But man, the two times I ran at the end of September were torture. How quickly I fell out of shape. I am so disappointed. Something is wrong with my annual training. Likely that it is not consistent throughout the year. Sigh.

I did sign us up for the Turkey Trot. I have to get my act together. If 2.5 miles is hurting me, then an 8K will be a disaster. Must. Devise. A. Plan.

YAY RTP + HAS; JMP + HAS = SIL!

I am pleased to announce that I am a sister-in-law! Whipee! RTP and HAS tied the knot in FLA over the weekend. I could not be luckier to have these two in my life and I seriously have lucked out in all in-law avenues. It was a wonderful weekend (sans travel to FLA. I was about to crack, seriously. Then today I saw an article on msnbc about what NOT to do as a traveller and I almost was the poster child for the article. Thank goodness RJB and I get riled up at different moments). Nonetheless, rehearsal dinner was super tasty and good times! Food Glorious Food, indeed! You know its a good meal when there are potatoes, goat cheese, blue cheese, wine, AND cobbler! Plus I got to sit with my brojo and get some good laughs in.

Weather on the wedding day was perfect; sunny and about 90. Everything went wonderfully and the reception was delightful. I am so happy for RTP and HAS!!! No pictures yet. Brilliant as I am, I forgot my camera and hankie. So I must just wait....or must I?!? Below are some wonderful pictures I have downloaded from Facebook.

HAS receiving her ring

Kiss the bride!

Let them eat cake!

Otherwise, things are fairly calm, but here's the laundry list:

• RJB and I will be married 5 months on 10/16.
• I have yet to change my name, but will go through all the red tape on Pearl Harbor Day (fitting since we saw Pearl Harbor on our honeymoon. However, the date is just where the PTO and other travel allowed me to do so).
• RJB runs the Chicago marathon on Sunday. Run RJB run!
• Found a super funny blog - http://myhusbandisannoying.com/. Even RJB logs in and gives it a hearty laugh.
• RJB and I head back to ND this month for another game. I hope it isn't too cold.
• Holy cow is it already cool here! 40s at night, upper 50s during the day. BOOOOOO!

Ok, will post more later. Totally time for some grub!

Rally Sons of Notre Dame

RJB and I headed back to campus this past weekend. For me, it was the first warm weather game I've attended in several (6 maybe?) years. What a difference it makes! We had a good time and the team won, so goodness all around. However. Yes, there is a however. Campus is a-changing my Irish loving friends. Two more dorms (one named Ryan Hall - funny because of Ryan and funny because Ryan Hall happens to be one of the best US marathon runners around these days), new performance hall, new law school (in the same place as the old one?), new faculty hall, new athletic facilities, roads that once existed are no longer there..... It is amazing, how eight years after graduating (for RJB, 7 since he is a Double Domer) campus can change so quickly. Is it for the better? Who knows. Nothing I am ready to discuss at this point.

Since RJB and I weren't freezing during our football venture, we did take the time to walk campus and reminisce about "the good ole days". And let me tell ya, the college days really were some of the best years of my life. It is scary how quickly some memories fade (e.g., names of bars or haute eateries) or the years begin to fade into one another. At the same time, some memories are so clear it is as though the event just occurred.

It is also so odd going down memory lane with RJB. See, we did know of each other in school but didn't really know each other (undergrad class is actually quite small at ND). Our dorms were so close - his was the closest men's dorm to mine - and I knew of some of his Keenan boys, yet our circles never crossed hard enough to allow us to take pause of each other. Maybe for the best? Clearly hindsight is 20-20, but man, knowing that I was sitting in class, attending SYRs, and eating in North Dining Hall not knowing that my future husband was there too is just plain craziness!!! How lucky am I?

Enjoy the photos. WE! ARE! N! D!

Tee hee hee....we think Ryan Hall

is a women's dorm.

Hesburgh Library

(aka Touchdown Jesus)

Inside the Main Building looking

up under the Golden Dome

Back door of Keenan

Pregame show

Irish Guard

Basilica of the Sacred Heart

Oh no Number Ten!

While in NYC, RJB and I were very excited to visit the MOMA. So excited we (I) even studied the website before the trip. The MOMA boasts several famous works, including the well-known Starry Night. However, we were excited for the nice collection of Rothkos and Pollocks. When we descended upon the MOMA gift shop at the end of our visit, we dug around the print section. We got a nice copy of Starry Night for the bedroom (colors work well the our bedding and lets face it, what a better room for Starry Night?), and a fancy French-printed Rothko No. 10.

The prints sat for a few weeks. Based upon the measurements given on the wrappers, finding premade frames proved to be fruitless. So we finally took them to Michaels for professional framing. This presented to us shocking moments number 1 and number 2. We unrolled the prints from the fancy MOMA tube. And the Rothko took the ENTIRE tabletop in the framing section. Frame-guy looked slightly taken aback. We looked slightly embarrassed, not having realized the magnitude of this size (well, good thing we have super high loft ceilings, right? Good thing we really like the colors in the No. 10. See, aren't you glad we didn't get the Pollock that we thought was really big?).

Due to the sheer size of No. 10, a glass front was not an option because it would be much too heavy and too expensive. Additionally, we had to get a simplified frame in order to fray costs. And there comes shock number 2. The cost. Poster - $50. Frame - well, about what I paid for 1 month of rent as a new associate (at this point, RJB looked like he was about vomit, while I was saying, well, what else are we going to do? remember those high ceilings? And look, we are getting 50% off, right?). We decided to move forward with the frame and vowed to be more respectful to print size before making a future print purchase.

Fastforward two weeks. Ring Ring! Your frames are ready sir! Yay! We happily go first to the hardware store to get more picture hangers (you don't really think this thing will weigh 100lbs? well, maybe? Ok, let's go with the 50lb picture hanging kit, but that is still a bit much). Then off to Michaels.

Starry Night comes out. Beautiful! Wow, it is slightly larger than I remembered it! It looks great in this frame! Yay Starry Night!

The beast comes out. Holy crap. Frame-guy looks at us. Not offering any help or comment. We look blankly at No. 10. Then at each other, laughing nervously. Well, guess we will take it out to the car.

Shock number 3. No. 10 appears to be larger than the Accountant's Special, our Accord sedan. Hmm. We hem and haw. And haw and hem. This is one of the few high stress, emotions running high situations RJB and I have faced together that revolved around a mere object rather than a situation. We team. There are events that occur between the parking garage and our home that we have mutually decided to never speak of outside our marriage. RJB had a case of post-traumatic stress syndrome for about 24 hours (just don't think about it! put it out of your mind!). We both had sore limbs the following day. (dead serious - no creative license here)

No. 10 now adorns our wall. For the first two or three days, one of us would stop and study it in silence. Reliving the experience? Admiring the sheer size? Sylvester checked it out the first day and now, in his own cat way, ignores its existence.

Starry Night

somehow, when you take picture of a wall in a bedroom,

it always looks like there is nothing around...when in

reality, this is a small room.

Shock number 3

This thing is as tall as I am. And we are still pondering if

the waves are due to our transport or just the sheer size

and weight of the print in the frame.

Gotta put the diamonds on that brownie

This is a completely random post that will add absolutely no value to your life....you have been warned.

Ode to the brownie

Oh! Luscious brownie!

You taunt me with your gooey goodness!

I try to diet and I run to melt away those fatty pounds.

Yet you sit on the counter, so innocent, longing to be eaten.

Yay! I am a slave to the sugary goodness you promise.

And you are eaten.

Ok, back to planet Earth...

I am generally not a sweets person (not sure how this came about since I am the offspring of chocola-holics), rather I love the salt and crunch. Give me the chips, pretzels, nuts - I can go to town. In fact my body embraces the salty crunch so much that my mouth is apparently a crunch amplifier, per my husband ("...there she goes crunching again...."). However. Yes, however, I am a brownie fiend. I made brownies yesterday and I, for the first time, am giving RJB a run for his money in the sweets race. I can't control myself. The brownies are sweet, soft, and gooey.

Like I said, a no value-add post. But if you see me soon and I look like I have a few more lbs of sass, you know why.

Also, as an FYI, it is finally getting into the 90s the weekend. Big news in the Windy City. Turns out we haven't hit the 90s in over a month. Global warming? Does this indicate another subzero winter? What does it mean?!

Well, it's almost 10:30, which means brownie time.

Our boy Sylvester

Sylvester stalking under the bed

Who's there?

Sylvester hiding out

Two of my parent's dogs - Emma and Nicky (in the foreground)

Back in the saddle

Oh dear readers, I have left you hanging for the better part of a month with the promise of a proper soapbox ranting. Time has quickly marched by as I sat contemplating the soapbox and frankly the few times I thought of stepping up, some hot air blew me off....yes, I have continued to bear witness to people blowing hard. I wonder, if I survive this hurricane of blow hardiness, can I tout a tacky shirt that reads "I survived the blow hard of 2009 and all I got was this lousy shirt". Ok, total throw back to the 1990s and I am sure the vast majority of you have no idea what all this means. Let's just say the Windy City not only translates to the sketchy politics, but also to people who think they know all and like to share it with you.

A part of me hopes I have distracted you from the soapbox-ery, but I know my readers are sharper than that! So until I am type-ready to rant, I'll share with you the splendors of visiting God's Country (aka Wisconsin for those of who who are not familiar with The Great White North). This is the birthday weekend for my dad, so the hubs and I ventured north for the weekend. I'll tell you, visiting WI is a lot more fun when it is not frigid and covered in snow. RJB and I were able to take in a half round of golf and sit outside quite a bit. Of course we also got to see my parents and their new puppy, Belle, who is a little lover! Apart from the fact that both IL and WI are trying to keep residents from going across the state line with the elaborate construction on 94, it was good times.

A few random updates for those wanting to be in the know:

• RJB and I are 2.5 months in to marriage. Feels much longer than that (in a good way), and things are going well.
• RJB's marathon training is going well. He is running Chicago on October 11. He is keeping up with his training schedule and is faithfully going to his 6am Saturday group runs.
• My running group is going well. I think it is helping me learn to pace properly and stay consistent. While I have not met a gaggle of women to chill with, it is getting me out of the house at night independently.
• Work is going well. Partners are pleased to have me as part of their team and I think people like working with me. No tears yet (from my team, not me... my rule is that there is no crying in public accounting) but a frantic and daunting busy season is approaching. 9/15 will not be pleasant.
• Lots of travel is in our future - October = Tallahassee for a wedding, November = Beantown, December = Beaumont for a wedding. Good times.
• Sylvester is doing well. Hides under the bed a bit more than he did in Dallas. He hides and pounces on our feet when we walk by. I guess not having mockingbirds to stalk through windows, he has to do something!
• Name change update - I WILL change my name professionally, socially, and legally. However, with said busy season coming and the aforementioned trips, I will not be able to do so until after the December wedding (FYI, not only do I need to do the name change, but I have to apply for IL plates and driver's license so the change will involve at least a day of red tape. Plus I got the Beantown ticket under P instead of B so I am stuck. Boo.)

Peace