Only the Dedicated

Okay.
So if you woke up at 7 am on a Sunday morning and looked out your window and saw this:

Would YOU be motivated to go out and run a 5 mile race?
What if from the warm and snuggly confines of your bed....your handy iPhone informs you that it is 32 degrees, snowing, raining (which you can see) and that there are 35 mile an hour winds, (which you can hear)?
Would YOU leave your bed then?
What if a ton of your friends were texting you, one by one, saying, "Hell no!" " I'm going back to sleep!"
Then?

I battled all the odds this Sunday and I KNOW I am crazy for running if I am willing to go out in THAT weather, with a nasty cold, and a bum leg to race in that ill weather. Either that or dumb as rocks. A little of both I think!

I was actually marking a special occasion. My cousin Meghan gave me the special honor to accompany her on her first race! And SHE didn't back down from the weather. Oh no! Not only did she TOTALLY go for it. She did it with good spirit, a smile on her face and she kicked butt! I am very proud of her and look forward to racing together again soon. HOPEFULLY when the weather is nicer. The start of the race was just BRUTAL. Our shoes and socks were completely soaked through just walking to the corrals. And then we had to stand for like 20 minutes just freezing...waiting to get started. It was NUTS.
Stopped for a quick photo. Meghan is LOVING it!

Here we are Splish Splashing our way to the finish line!

Nick, Finn, Mic and Kathy and Erin and Emily all came to cheer us on. It was lucky that we could park, and they could spectate from the beautiful and cozy warm lobby of Mic's building. And then it was Uncle Bob's birthday, and he also raced that day along with Aunt Kathy, and cousin's Kristen and Colleen! Nick's best friend Brendan also made this his first race. While it was a COLD, WET, ICY and SNOWY race. It was fun. You just gotta do it.

Next up!
St. Louis Half Marathon - April 19th!
If I can keep my body together that is.
It is so depressing looking at my mileage tracker on here. I might have to take it down.
I am super super behind. Madison Full is looking ominous.
But I can't stress! Because apparently stress has gotten me to where I am now and it ain't pretty so I need to get this body put BACK TOGETHER so I can get back on the road.

BONUS!
Who says you can't get anything free in life? Heh! I just got a FREE sweet T-shirt from Nike Plus for running over 500 miles last year. HELL YEAH! Sweet.

And let's just end this with a great Finnegan picture.
Why not. This is my blog. I can do whatever the hell I want. Yeah. Take that stupid oral surgeon, makers of yogurt, drivers on cell phones, and crazy college graduates that apply for my internship program that misspell the word EDUCATION on their resume. Jesus.

Pfft.

Baby Bombs Away!

Last weekend we were in Viroqua for a visit.
Finn and I took a trip without Nick.
And Mom was in Aruba so it was kind of weird to not have either of them around.
We got into the March Madness and and indulged with foods and hilarious bracket choices.

Oh you know you are salivating right now Dad! :)

I made cupcakes.

Finn had fun trying on Grandpa's slippers.

(Sidenote: You'll notice that my child has become "the kid with the wet shirt" It's kind of gross...he always hands his hands in his mouth, and drools everywhere.)

And we also spent some great time at the park. A new favorite game! Baby Bombs Away!
Using Finn as a Baby Cannonball he was swung through the air at the desired target (Nate or Greta) who would then pretend to dramatically fly through the air. Hysterical. Trust me.
Check the pics!

The WIND UP!

BABY BOMBS AWAY!!!

I am looking forward to having even MORE time with Greta when she flies in for a visit next weekend! Hooray!

Click Define

Came upon this neat site today. Speaks to my new love and passion for photography.
Looking forward to have some more time to look through it entirely.

A description written by someone far less tired than I am right now, thank you VSL:

The Photographic Dictionary sounds like a reference tool, but it’s really a cool, expansive art project: A photographer submits a picture, and it’s matched to the word that best “defines” it. Many of the illustrations are straightforward (search for cloud, and you’ll see a photo of cloud). Some are quite lovely (see, for instance, the entry for white). But our favorite definitions seem to draw on the photographer’s own store of personal experiences (the visual definitions for abandon, finger, and knife are especially good). The site has a way to go before it catches up with other online dictionaries; as of this writing, there are just 600 entries. But so far, we like what we’re seeing.

The link:
The Photographic Dictionary

Think I shall strive to submit one some day.

Out

The weather has been really nice here lately.
THUS promoting getting OUT.

Out with Finny!
I took a break from working last weekend and got a glorious day all to myself with Finn.
We walked to Z&H - had a morning breakfast of coffee and cookies. No coffee for Finny.
Z&H is my new favorite place in our neighborhood. Thank you for coming to Hyde Park, purveyors of fine meats, cheese, coffee and all other things fresh, expensive and delicious.

And then we walked to the park....where I practiced taking some shots with my new toy.
Here are my favorites:

Out running!
I have also upped my running game. Finishing a 13 mile in just a little over 2 hours last Sunday. I did a 5 miler on Tuesday morning by the lake. It was GLORIOUS. Saw the sun rise up over the water. Heaven. In the last two days however I have a very sharp pain in my left knee! Huh? Apparently it doesn't want to let the right leg be the only one to give me issues. So I might have to take the other middle runs off this week and settle for doing my 10 in Viroqua. We'll see :)

Out a working jaw!
ISSUES WITH MY JAW INCLUDE:
Soreness, tightness, locking and in general making it impossible for me to eat more than one "solid food" meal a day. The sore jaw triggers terrible headaches, or vice versa! Excessive talking makes it worse. You that know me know I love to talk. Talking is pretty essential at work....to communicate in life in general. Makes life interesting...makes me tired...and crabby....I am hungry ALL of the time. Bummer. I've got a date with an oral surgeon in two weeks. Will be interesting to see what they plan to do.

I have visions of a jaw breaking surgery and a wire mask - preventing me from talking or eating anything. Not good visions.

Out of clothes that fit properly.
I am losing weight by the day....people comment on it when they see me. I am the smallest I've been in many many years. Plus side! I am lighter for running and I get to buy all new clothes for spring/summer. Downside. I am HUNGRY. :) Hungry Hungry Hungry. And clothes are expensive. And I'm a talker. Hrumpf. We shall see!
NEVER AGAIN will I be OUT of the loop.
Nick and I got a monster tax return. So we are doing lots of responsible things with it...saving...paying off debt....etc. But we thought we would also do our part to stimulate the economy so we both got new iPhones! I am connected to the world....it's incredible. I'm loving this piece of technology.

Tending Bar

Another life first!

This past Thursday night I had the exciting opportunity to be a bartender.
Thank you Mad River for hosting Party with a Purpose to help Open Books raise money!

I like bars.
I have spent some time in them through the years..... and was excited to try my hand out at pouring drinks.

I had all the tools and a quick lesson.






I realized quickly that my beer pouring skills were lacking, but did a little bit better on the next ones.
I also enjoyed my first "Shot on the house!" ritual where you pour one for yourself and others and cheers!



I REALLY needed to have some friend time, and was so thankful for my pals that stopped out to support us.



It didn't take me long to realize that I think I just kind of like the actual drinking and socializing part that comes with the gig. But it was really fun, makes me wonder if I should have tried it in college. Lord knows I have the gift of gab....wonder who I get THAT from (DAD).
Maybe I'll have to follow in his footsteps, bite the bullet and get my $15 online lesson. Pick up some hours at a local watering hole in my spare time ;)

Cool As Hell

I love the Internet.
I am loving it more and more.
I love how it connects me to my friends and family.
And I love the artistic expression that you have access to.

Nick asked his Grandpa today if he had a computer, just assuming that out of the 12 kids, someone had gotten Papa a computer and basic lessons, email, surfing, right?

Papa said, "A what?" Nick thinking Papa hadn't HEARD him...says, A computer!

Not only does he not have one, he didn't really even know what one was.

So Nick sat him down, showed him this blog and I guess he was just BLOWN AWAY. Was asking all of these questions, like, "So this computer is talking to another computer to bring up all of these words and photos Becca put on here?" Totally didn't get. He doesn't NEED to get it, the man is 80! But it was just so surreal to me that he hasn't really ever seen or used one.

I can't WAIT until I'm 80, and see where technology has come and gone.
For now, I share with you this AMAZING web site that mixes various YouTube videos. DJ style.
GENIUS!
COOL AS HELL.
A little obsessed with this right now.
Check it.

THRU YOU

****So for those of you that might not get how this done - thus not maybe understanding how ENTIRELY RAD this is. This dude went online and pulled all of these music videos from You Tube...and mixed them together both the audio and visual components to make this NEW video.

Slump

I'm in a blogging slump. I am in a slump. Period.
I don't have any fun tropical vacations to blog about.
I am working ALL the fucking time. ALL I feel like I have been doing lately is working.
(Sorry for the F-bomb)
But I want to keep my promise to blog more.
(This is sounding whiny, I apologize)
So, when all else fails I will post the sure thing I have to share in life!

PHOTOS OF FINN.
I know these will make Greta happy at the very least.
Some random/variant shots with my new toy. Hoping to have time to take some more this weekend. Since I WON'T BE WORKING for a change! Novel!

Papa Mic's Birthday!

Maybe insomnia and extreme anxiety will increase my blogging.
We shall see! More posts soon!

Two weekends ago we had the pleasure of celebrating Mic's birthday with him.
We got Palermo's pizza (my South Side favorite) AND we had an amazing Tollhouse cookie cake. Old school style. Still as tasty as I remember.
Here is the happy Papa on his special day with his grandson.




Helping blow out the candles!

Great Grand Papa was also there to celebrate!


Nick's fathers name IS Mic, not Franz - but Franz is what Erin calls him :)


Everyone got their chance to get their hands on Finnegan.




Or in Mike's case - Finnegan got his hands on HIM. GOT YOUR NOSE!


A Grand Time Was Had By All! - Happy Birthday Mic!