Beautiful...

The Orioles have lost two in a row, but isn't it lovely seeing the Yankees in last place:

Not too shabby...

My second attempt at 26.2...

...was successful! Well, my first attempt was successful too, but disappointing. This time - at the St. Louis Marathon - I finished in 4:20:12, which I was happy with because my goal was 4:25. I actually think I ran the first half too slow, even though I was on my goal pace, because I had so much energy left at the end. Here's a pilfered copyrighted photo of me shortly before mile 26:



I was feeling pretty strong, so maybe I should set a more ambitious goal for my next marathon. My next road marathon, that is. My next 26.2 is a trail marathon, and I'm totally excited about it. Check out the pics at the Grand Island Trail Marathon site. But after that will be the Baltimore Marathon on Oct. 13, right Kate? Maybe I'll try to do that in 4:00.

I just got a photo CD developed. Check out this cute picture of Madeline trying to stay warm when my heat wasn't working in December:

Baseball!

It's baseball season!! I'm not a White Sox fan, but it was pretty exciting watching Mark Buerle pitch a no-hitter just now - first Sox no-hitter in 16 years. And against the Texas Rangers - they're a pretty good hitting team. My beloved Orioles are doing so-so as usual, but at least they're currently tied with those nasty Yankees in the standings instead of trailing them. So far there are two major disappointments in MLB that I hope will soon change.

Disappointment #1: My Phillies stink:

Even Kansas City is doing better.

Disappointment #2: Brian Roberts' hair:

No Brian! The former Johnny Damon look is NOT for you, my cute, strong, base-stealing future husband.

Note to my loyal readers: You're probably thinking "future husband? Whatever, she's fantasizing about her favorite player." But check out Brian's biography, direct from the Orioles website (click to enlarge):

See how it begins? "Single..."!! I've read plenty of other MLB players biographies, and none of them actually mention when a player is single. This must mean Brian WANTS us 20-something female Orioles fans to know he's single and looking. And Brian and I would make a perfect match. According to a recent Post article, Brian is a soft-spoken and hard-working. He's one of the smallest MLB players, but he's got tremendous power, speed, and intellect about the game. He's very religious - more so than me, I think - but we could make it work! I wish I wasn't so shy - I am kicking myself for not talking to him when my parents and I had 4th row seats between home and the O's on-deck circle at a game last summer. I missed my chance to give him my number, but I am confident there will be other opportunities.

BUT...Brian, sweetie, if you don't cut your hair, I may begin to turn my lustings to your teammate, Corey Patterson. He's pretty hot too, although his biography doesn't specify if he is single. Here's a photo of my two prospective boyfriends:

The Danube is Dobre

Last week my mom and I went to visit Alicia in Slovakia. Normally I like to learn a least a little bit of the language before I travel to a foreign country, but Slovak (and Hungarian) are just too, I don't know, crazy-looking and sounding. The three words I did pick up were "ahoj" (pronounced "ahoy") which means hello, "dobre" which means well or good, and "d'akujem" (pronounced kinda like "Jacque-wee-em") which is thank you. I didn't pick up any Hungarian, and hardly anyone in Budapest spoke English, but we got by. Okay, now I get to show off some of my photos.

Here's a slightly crooked pic from the main square in Bratislava our first night there:



It was kinda hazy, but here is the big castle that you can see from almost anywhere in Bratislava. We visited it on Day 2:



An adorable little blue church:



Alicia served us grasshoppers. She was a lovely hostess:



Mommy and Alicia in Budapest:



Parliment in Budapest:



Alice the Camel has two humps and a nice smile (Budapest Zoo):



The prettiest elephant house we had ever seen: