Chicago!

I have arrived in Chicago....two-ish hours ago.  

Already, I've seen my glorious friend, Nate.

And I had my favorite turkey sandwich, ever.

It's going to be a good trip.

The (2nd) Greatest Day of David's Life

On Saturday, David and I traveled to Columbia for Mizzou's homecoming....

I've never seen that man so happy.  He kept saying it was the second greatest day of his life, which is very sweet...but I'm doubting that a little bit.

Thrilled.  He was thrilled.

Anyway, I'll just show a smattering of photographs.

Enjoy!

Bad Owner.

Maggie Roo has a Puppy Date this weekend, and she insisted on not stinking to high heaven before the date.

I can't figure out why... don't dogs like stank?

Anyway, I took her to U-Do-It Dog Wash and scrubbed her clean. She even got oatmeal shampoo and blueberry facial scrub.  Towards the end, I decided that her nails were too long but that I didn't want to pay the extra $8 to have someone else do it.

My dad's a veterinarian, I reasoned...surely I should be able to clip my own dog's nails.

Of course I should be able to clip them myself.  Unfortunately, I am terrible at it.  

Maggie bled.  It was horrible.

She was still bleeding when we got home.  

I tied her up in the front yard and waited for a bit.

Still bleeding...only now there was blood all over our porch.

I tried tamping the flow with flour (advise from Poppa-Bear last time I injured my baby).

Still bleeding...now with flour everywhere.

After I while, I decided that only time could heal this...

so I wrapped her paws (just 2) in paper towels and then in two plastic bags, securing with tape.

She hates her life.

Poor baby

Needless to say, she survived, but I felt terrible.  She was miserable for the few hours I made her stay tied up.  At least she got a rockin' bandanna out of the deal.

No more nail clipping for me.

Yard Signs

Before Mom and I took off for Seattle, she dropped off a yard sign.

See, my uncle's running for Governor... last time he was up for election I was in the Peace Corps, so it's been about 12 year since I've been "around" for an election.

So, despite the fact that we live in (and vote in) Missouri (not Kansas) and it's confusing to all the neighbors, we're displaying our yard sign proudly.

Family pride, people.

Favorite Dinner

Happy Day!!!

At work today, I helped present a 3.5 hour presentation on how we use data.  Seven of us spent more than 38 hours just meeting to plan this and that doesn't include individual time working interdependently.

Crazy.

But.... it's over!  I even managed to incorporate some nerdy, self-promoting cartoons.

Yep, that's right.  I threw a picture of me ziplining into my uber-stressful presentation.

Class.

LOST!

I spotted this while running in Seattle and laughed out loud.

They were posted every few feet for a couple of miles. 

Someone REALLY wanted their jacket back.

Seattle!!!

Over the weekend, Mom and I traveled out to Seattle to help Lindy find her wedding dress.

It was a blast, but more so after we found a school bus that became our motto for the trip.

That's right.  Stop whining.  I said it out loud when I saw it and Mom gave me the stink eye because she thought I was saying it to Lori (Jon's mom).  I wasn't, but it was interesting that Mom can still put the fear of God in me.

Our first stop was J.Crew, where Lindy made me try on some bridesmaid's dresses.

This one was a little skimpy for me..... probably a no.

Not deterred at J. Crew, Lindy and I bought matching skirts.  

For Lindy's sake, I won't post any pictures of her in wedding dresses on here....except for this one.  

We were at a shop where they didn't "allow" photographs, so I had to sneak this one....that arm you see is actually our helper trying to block my camera with her hand.  Seriously.  Weird.

This one....not a winner.  We called it Lasagna.  It looked like she was wearing massive amounts of lasagna noodles.  No so much her dream dress.

After dress shopping all day, I headed out for my long run.  Lindy & Jon live right next to an awesome trail that runs by a lake and a canal.  Since the weather was cool (for once!!!), I had a great, scenic run.  My 16-miler flew by :)

On the way to dinner, Mom and I were a little cold, so we ended up buying matching puffy vests.  Apparently, I only like clothing that other people in my family also own.

Upon returning home, I learned that Wilson loves lettuce.

The next morning, we headed down to the Market where Lindy and I posed in front of flowers wearing our new skirts.

Dork City, USA.

 The market was awesome... like Soulard times a million with WAAAY more flowers. 

 And fish.

 Amazing.

On the way out, we passed a wall of gum by a theater.  

Apparently, this tradition started when people were forced to spit out gum before entering a theater.

Yuck.

 I rebelled by blowing a bubble and keeping my gum.

Such a dare-devil.

Next, we took the ferry to a cute little island.

I saw a pony.... also bought a knitting pattern and ate some good chowder.  

Happy island day.

We were running a little behind on our return, so the family forced me to sprint ahead and buy ferry tickets.

It was a little different to run in boots, a skirt, hose, and a vest.

However, we made the ferry with 45 seconds to spare...which was good, except for I bought tickets that we didn't need.

No whining says the bus.

On the return trip, we had some photo ops.

Note the progression of the outfit....Mom and I in matching vests and Lindy and I in matching skirts.

Such nerds.

And it goes a step further.... notice that Lori and Lindy both have on white puffy vests while Mom and Lori both have on jeans.

It goes full circle.

Jon refused to participate, but I can't figure out why.

I have a ton more pictures....but most are of Lindy in various dresses.  In the end she bought one and it was perfect.  We also got to go to the flagship REI store, where Mom found her outfit to walk the half marathon on November 7th.   Exciting!

Great weekend.

Out of Town!

I'll be visiting my sister here until Sunday evening...

...and I'm not taking my computer.  

A full recap will come next week.  

If you miss me, I'm sure that David's bored at home and would welcome any and all company

My Saturday Shame

So on Saturday morning, I spent a couple hours collapsed on the couch trying to motivate myself to go run.  I ended up on the couch because Maggie Roo was nosing for love and forced me out of bed earlier than I wanted.... Boo, Roo!   To get some peace, just let her outside...without much consideration for my appearance.

There I am, in a pile on the couch wearing a sloppy t-shirt and underpants.  I didn't have the energy to put on pants, even though the front door was wide open (David left it that way on his way to Columbia).

All of the sudden, my neighbor came and pounded on the front door, yelling my name.  I ran to the office to grab a dress, but not before he got a show.  Since he seemed urgent, I headed his way before the dress properly covered all of my exposed portions, tugging as I went.

Oh the shame.

Turns out, David left the side gate a smidgen open as he left and Maggie had gone exploring the neighborhood in search of affection and food.  Mostly food, I'm guessing.

After I rescued Maggie Roo, I called David.  We've decided that two things need to change.  He needs to shut the gate and I need to wear pants around the house.

I'm slightly embarrassed to see my neighbor now...not only did I prove myself as an owner who doesn't pay attention to the whereabouts of my pet, I also don't follow social norms of being fully clothed in front of open doors/windows.

I have to keep reminding myself that this is the same guy who spends most of the summer sunbathing shirtless in his driveway.

Shame!

David's Birthday!!

If you read this blog, I'm sure you realize that Friday was David's 30th birthday.

Yay!!!

Since I was "forbidden" to throw him a party (he claims he doesn't like attention, but I don't buy that), we met a bunch of his friends in Soulard for Oktoberfest.  It was a good time, but I forgot to take pictures after the first, oh, seven minutes.

That might explain why I only have two pictures from the whole night... but at least those are good :)

Once the event shut down, David and a bunch of law school people headed to the newer casino in the area....where David lived his dream to be a high roller, if only for one night.  He actually did pretty well (and even taught me how to play craps), but it was 4am before we got home.  But it was David's birthday!  I couldn't complain, no matter how late it got, right?

Needless to say, I was a tired monkey.  

Saturday morning, David headed off to Columbia pretty darn early and I tried to motivate myself to go on my run.  I didn't drink at all the night before, but the lack of sleep and heat (hovering around 90 for most of my run) made it the most difficult run of my training season.  

I've decided that, while preparing for a race, at least one run just has to suck.  It's going to be terrible, awful, and make you question whether you're insane for thinking you can run at all.

Saturday was that run for me.  

I actually spent about 10 minutes flat on the ground at about mile 12 trying to convince myself that I could do the last 8 miles.  Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your perception) I was 8 miles from my car.... so I had no choice.  I finished, but it was pretty darn awful.  

At least I know that there's no way the actual race can be this bad.  It's just not possible.

When I got home, I gave myself an ice bath, a nap, a bottle of wine, and a heaping helping of Chinese food.

Life was good again.

 Sunday, we ended the birthday weekend with a trip to go ZipLining!  There's a place pretty close to Hermann, MO that has tours. I bought some discounted passes a while ago and it was so fun!

 The harnesses were less than flattering on everyone, but they were still fun...

I won't subject you with commentary for every photo.  Just know we did a 10-line tour over some awesome ravines.  I really want to go back!

Since we were so close to Hermann, we decided to top off the day with a trip to the wineries.

 It happened to be Oktoberfest there too!

And you know we both enjoyed that :) 

On the way home, I somehow convinced David to stop at a place called Pumpkins Galore.

I love Halloween.  Have I mentioned that??

David tried his hand at the Pumpkin Cannon, winning a t-shirt for his amazing aim.

Isn't that impressive?  He was so proud!

  I got to play around with some livestock...I think David was impressed when I had a conversation with one of the employees about bucket feeding cows.

Or maybe he wasn't. I could be projecting... I was impressed with myself :)

David just demonstrated his lack of comfort with farm animals...

Obviously, these bales were the highlight of the trip for David.

 On the other hand, my highlight were the fancy pumpkins we bought.... I'm so excited for pumpkin seeds!