Blocked Memory

Sorry loyal readers for the long silence....I haven't had internet at home for >2 weeks. I'm actually blogging at work now, which I feel funny doing but I guess it's okay because it's after 5 and I'm done working (for now). Anyway, regarding certain sporting events of August 22, 2007 ...too many of my so-called friends have mentioned said sporting events to me, causing great trauma, so I have been forced to block my memory. Now I have no idea what you're talking about. My memory of that day now ends after this point:

To Adam...it is NOT a "fanny pack"!

...it is a hydration system. Cool people don't wear fanny packs :)

@#$%*&!!!

The Cubs just beat the Phillies 5-4 (the score of the night.) Brett Myers wild pitched in the winning run. *&^%$#@!!!

26.2 #3

Last Saturday I ran the Grand Island Trail Marathon, along with Don, Tony, Ellen, and Andrew. It was my 3rd marathon, 1st on a trail. It was kinda tough, but I did okay (4:31). One thing I liked about it was it was small and most of the runners were pretty laid back and not overly concerned about their time. In fact, this one nice couple running the race saw me taking pictures at an overlook around mile 19 and suggested we take each others' pictures. Here's the one they took of me:



Of course another thing I liked about the race was the beautiful scenery. It helped me forget about my knee pain!





The rest of the pictures I took during the race can be found here (I carried a disposable camera, so they're not that great).

God dammit, the Orioles just lost to the Red Sox! So close, too (5-4) :(

Some Stuff By My Ponds

Blooming American Lotus




Turtles (see it?)



Cute Little Green Frogs



Cute Big Green Frogs



Big Ugly Beetles



Dead Carp :(

From The Onion...

15 strikeouts!!

It's not everyday you hear about an Oriole pitcher pitching a "masterpiece"! Yay for Eric Bedard and the Orioles' 2 hit shutout vs. the Rangers:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070707&content_id=2074389&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Baseball on July 4th!

There's nothing like a good baseball game on the Fourth of July, especially when your team wins! Andrew (AKA Cable Guy) and I went to Chicago to see the Orioles at the White Sox. Andrew's also an O's fan (although not as much as me :), so it was fun cheering them on at an away game. Some of the fans around us were a little annoyed - especially some dude 2 rows back - but whatever. U.S. Cellular Field is the 16th major league ballpark that I've been to. It's a pretty nice stadium, but not as nice as Camden Yards.






Before the game some sailors rolled out this big flag, which was cool:



Speaking of the White Sox, today's doubler header was pretty crazy. Game 1: Twins 20, Sox 14...Game 2: Twins 12, Sox 0!! Poor Sox fans.

INHS on CNN

Okay, I know that on my sidebar it says "CNN is Crap", and that's still mostly true, but I do give them kudos for doing a video on Asian carp, for which they interviewed people from the Illinois River Biological Station at INHS. Visit http://www.cnn.com/video/ and search the video for "When fish attack" (yes, my job is so dangerous!). Carp do hurt when they klonk you, but David Mattingly over-acts a bit. It's still cool that CNN thought Asian carp were newsworthy!

High School Reunion!

This past weekend I went to my 10 year high school reunion. I had such a good time! It was totally worth the plane ticket. Here's a picture of Kate, me, and Erin at my mom's house where we had dinner before the reunion:




And here's Mike, me, and Chat. I actually know these guys from elementary school!



The rest of my pictures, plus some from Erin, are here. I should've taken more, but oh well.

Fun weekend!

This weekend I went to Amanda and Matt's wedding, my friends from grad school. It was a beautiful little ceremony by Lake Michigan:



Barley the ringbearer suppressed his urges to frolic in the lake (with a little help from the bride's brother) and successfully carried out his ring-bearing duties:



Before the wedding I wrangled this poisonous snake that I came across in the wilds of Chicago:



Okay, maybe it's not really poisonous (it's a Mexican milksnake). And maybe the wilds of Chicago are actually the Notebaert Nature Museum in Lincoln Park. Besides reptiles, this museum had a very cool butterfly garden where I took many pictures. Below is one of my favorites; view the rest here.



Then on Sunday I went to my first Cubs game at Wrigley Field! I went with my friend Kyle, who I hadn't seen in ages. The Cubs beat the braves 10-1. It was exciting - several home runs, including DeRosa's grand slam.

Moonathon

I can't believe I only had to run 15 miles to win this cherished trophy! I am honored. I know I am supposed to pass this on to the next MoonMaster, but I'm afraid Madeline won't let me. See gallery:

Madeline Snuggles with Buffalo


Madeline Whispers Sweet Nothings In Buffalo's Ear


Madeline Softly Kisses Buffalo


Madeline Imitates Buffalo

Baseball update

The Orioles are still below 0.500, but at least they're in 2nd place in the AL East, while the Yankees are next to last!



I'm excited about going to my first Cubs game this weekend. However, I'm bummed that I can't go to the Phillies game this Sunday instead. The reason is not just because they're my NL team - it's because I'm gonna miss this sweet giveaway:



Yes, it's a Shane Victorino Hula Doll!! If you're going to this game and your kid doesn't want it, please let me know and I'll buy it from you!

Changing subjects, here are some pretty pink roses in front of my apartment:

The best for last

It's the first time I've ever finished dead last in a race:
http://www.twincitiestwosome.com/results/2007_twosomeRunFemale.PDF
But interestingly, 1:08:01 is not my slowest 5K time. I've done the Race for the Cure in D.C. in ~2 hours! Of course, we were having so much fun at the expo we started the race 45 minutes late.

Anyway, nothing else interesting to blog about except I'm getting excited about going to Chicago for a wedding and a Cubs game in 2 weeks, and my 10 year high school reunion is in 25 days! I'm of course looking forward to seeing old friends, but I'm also excited about meeting new people. Montgomery Blair High Class of '97 had >500 grads, so I haven't even met most of my graduating class!

Ankle Update

My ankle is much better:



I think I'm gonna try running on it (very gently) tomorrow.

My foot isn't the only thing that's gotten thinner; Greg says he can tell Madeline has lost some weight. So her diet is working! Here is Madeline showing off her sexy bod:



Okay, maybe she's not that sexy, but she sure is cute.

Sorry I don't have something more exciting to blog about...

My ankle really does feel better! But with the healing process has come interesting colors (which have faded a lot since yesterday):





It's kinda weird how the swelling and coloration keeps shifting!

My fat foot!

My foot yesterday:



My foot today:



Despite the blue hue on my arch, I think it's getting better!

Poor me!

1. The Orioles are losing 8-3 in the 7th right now. Also, the Yankees won. Also I still owe a certain Tigers fan some $ b/c the Tigers swept the Orioles.

2. One of these ankles is not like the other:



I was ~1.5 miles into the 7 mile Lake Mingo loop when I turned my ankle this morning. At least I only had to hobble 1.5 miles back to the car instead of 3.5 or something! So instead of running 14 miles as planned I've been vegging on the couch, eating and watching baseball. And I'm really bummed, because icing it hasn't reduced the swelling and it really hurts, which means I probably won't be running for a while. Poor me!

More Europe pictures!

I finally started putting some of my pictures on the web, including my recent trip to Bratislava and Budapest. Here are a couple to whet your appetite:





For more click here.

Beautiful...

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