Getting Stronger!

I have a new trainer and we met for the first time yesterday morning. So far the results are that I'm limping around, groaning everytime I stand up, and I can't decide if my boobs hurt because of PMS or because of the "Superman" sets.

He gave me my story of the day yesterday. I'm doing the Arnold shoulder presses while lunging down the center of the gym when he squats down to my eye-level, gets uncomfortably close to my face and says, "Are you a sheep or a wolf?"

"Ummm....what?"

"Are you a sheep or a WOLF?!"

"Oh, you're serious. Uh...umm. I guess it depends on the day?"

"In order to protect the sheep, you have to kill the wolf. In order to kill the wolf, YOU HAVE TO BE THE WOLF!"

Yes, a huge 260 pound, 6-foot 4-inch, college football-playing man with biceps the size of my head is my new trainer. I'm scared.

Every Man's Dream

Here's a picture Alicia sent of Liam titled "Every Man's Dream." Mom and I laughed so hard.

Final Four

The Final Four haven't even played yet and I'm the guaranteed loser in my office pool. Fine with me! The person with the lowest points gets their $5 back. I'm going to take my winnings and buy me a three-pack of Orbit gum. I'm thinking cinnamon flavor.

Seriously, my points add up to 61. The next lowest has 83. That's bad. I have no one team in the final four. I'm wondering if I even had any in the elite eight. I don't care about college basketball. Arkansas hasn't been good since the mid-90's. Maybe now that Andrew will be there in the fall, I'll care a bit more.

Random factoid for you today: Sunday night a friend of mine made homemade ice cream. It was coconut lime with a jalapeno infusion. IT WAS SO GOOD! Sweet at first and then it burned you good.

America's Team 2-0

CLASSIC! This is why we don't like the Eagles. Cowboys 41, Eagles 37. What an insane and fun game to watch. Go America's Team!

Cowboys vs. Eagles

Oh, Jessica. Please don't. Just don't. Please. PLEASE. PLEASE!!!!

Take off that jersey before you curse them.

Heatstroke 100

Sunday morning, I woke up at 4:45 am to head up to Wisconsin for the Heatstroke 100 with Alyson and Keenan. We did a 43 mile ride through the hills, farms and manure fields of southern Wisconsin. It was fun to be on the open roads and among other cycling enthusiasts (do I count as an "enthusiast" considering I have only done a couple of longer rides? I didn't think so). The whole ride took us a little over three hours. The first nine miles were the hardest. I rarely notice hills when I'm driving a car, but my eyes were opened on a bike. Hills are hard y'all. But remember this little nugget of wisdom, "what goes up, must come down." It was fun speeding down the road on the back side of the hills. Once I figured out my gears, we were flying.

I'm surprised that I'm not sore at all from the ride. My butt bones are a little bruised and raw. Thank God for whoever invented padded shorts. And for those of you concerned about my skin, I did indeed wear 30 spf.

Can't wait for our next ride!

Teton Village & Mountain Biking

The day started with us taking the gondola to the top of Teton Village ski area. We took pictures, threw snow balls at each other, it was great. Then Andrew and I decided that we wanted to go mountain biking. The second we walk into the rental place, the guy said, "Well, you are aware that a biker was just charged by a grizzly?" "YOU'RE KIDDING?!" "Why would I kid?" "It's an expression! GEESH!" "Just say 'hey bear' and talk a lot. You'll be fine." "Where was the bear last seen?" "Bears move." "Yes, fully aware, thank you. Just tell me!"

We went for it any way and mostly tried to stay out of the trees. We chatted nervously as I lead Andrew onto a black diamond run accidentally and spent a few sickeningly nervous minutes in the trees. "HEEEEEY BEEEEEAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!" Right away I feLl and scraped my leg. I only cussed once, though Andrew says differently.

We lived to tell the tale. Fear did not stop us! That or stupidity kept us going.

Fly-Fishing Day 2

Dad and I took to the river together on our second day of fly-fishing. Last time we fished together he stole all my fish because he was in the front of the boat. He was much better at sharing this time around. I think I caught around 20 fish! That's a record for me. Again I caught another 17 inch trout. Dad caught a 19 inch brown trout. We were very impressed!

Excitement of the day: Chris and Andrew were stripping in a fish when they heard loud flapping noises. The look up and a bald eagle can swooping down three feet from them. Apparently he wanted the fish too. They claim that there was a seven foot wingspan. I'll choose to believe it.

Quote of the day: "Katy, can I take your sunscreen with me on my boat." "Um, no, I need it." "But I have more to preserve." "What do you need to preserve?" "I need to preserve my sexiness!" "Of course you do."

South Fork River

Today was our first day on the river. Ten of us floated the South Fork river in Idaho. I thought Idaho was all fields of potatoes. Turns out I was wrong. It was beautiful. My mom and I fished together today and we each caught around a dozen or so. It was a very lucrative day on the river! We were proud of ourselves for not losing too many flies or catching each other too many times. I can't wait to get back on the river tomorrow morning!

White Sox

Yesterday was a perfect day for a baseball game! It was even more perfect because I took the day off so I could have a dentist's hands in my mouth for the first three hours of the morning. Numb-faced with a persistent ringing in my ears, thanks to the drill, I met up with James to go see the White Sox take on the Twins.

The air was cool, the sun was warm, and the hotdogs were plentiful. I'll cut to the chase: the Sox won. I also learned a new phrase from the 50 year-old southside lawyers sitting behind us: Quiche-eaters. That was their phrase for northside Cub fans. I guess it symbolizes their opinion that northsiders are prissy and high-maintenance - men and women alike. Hilarious if you're from Chicago.


I had some winning moments and some losing moments during the game:


Winning moment = sitting on the sunny side on a 60 degree day.


Losing moment = the last bite of my Brat falling out of the bun and onto the cement ground. I'm pretty sure the whole stadium heard me shriek.


Winning moment = knowing that "Danger Zone" is by Kenny Loggins.


Losing moment = forgetting to wear sunscreen, yet again. I look like Rudolph today.


Winning moment = drinking a beer at the ballpark. I'm not a huge fan of beer but I did it because baseball games call for it.


Losing moment = trying to drink a beer out of a bottle while the whole left side of your face is numb.

DWTS Season 6

Most of you are familiar with the short-lived Dancing with the Stars addiction I had a couple of years ago. I realized after months of professional psychiatric evaluation that my addiction was mostly founded upon my love for all things Texas, aka. Emmitt Smith. Love him! (spoken with a sing-songy voice)

Well now there's a new pack of "Stars" ready to dance their way back into the spotlight. You can read the new list here. I'll just point out a couple of my favorites:

1. Kristi Yamaguchi: I wanted to be her! Did I ever mention I used to be an ice skater? Probably. I saw her once at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA. We were at the women's volleyball championship and she was sitting a few rows in front of me. She was gorgeous! And so tiny! Hated her. Kidding! I love you Kristi. Come over here and let me give you a hug!

2. Steve Guttenberg: What little girl didn't fall in love with the movie Three Men and a Baby? Police Academy defined "comedy" back in the 80's. He was the man. How come in the 80's, leading men looked like Steve Guttenberg and Michael Keaton? Now they have to look like Brad Pitt or Eric Bana. I mean, I'm not complaining. Somehow we all loved the geeky, funny guy. I still do. Sorry Brad Pitt. You're good to look at but can you make me laugh? You can? Well....whatever, you ruined my point.

and....I don't think I really am excited about any of the other dancers. Plus I refuse to get into the show. I have enough to think about with LOST (seriously, how amazing was Thursday's show?) and Project Runway.

Underdogs

The game pretty much made me yawn until the fourth quarter when Eli Manning scrambled out of the Patriot's defensive net and hit Tyree with a long pass THAT HE CAUGHT ON HIS HELMET! Our party errupted. It doesn't get much better for an underdog quarterback. Congrats to the Giants. If it wasn't the Cowboys, it might as well be the Giants. Three letters: N-F-C!

The night also brought another emotional moment from me. I couldn't help but get teary-eyed and goosebumpy watching the dalmation train the clydesdale. Again, it's the story of the underdog. Gets me every time.

Go Cubs Go!

I just spent five hours people watching while working a booth at the Cubs Convention. This is the Olympics of people watching. It is also the place where all weirdness from across the world comes together and embraces one another. To be diplomatic, there are some really nice and normal people there too. Let's shed a tear for dad's and sons bonding together in the name of the Cubs.

Convention = FREE CRAP! (and mullets) Experienced conventioners waddle through the crowds weighed down by plastic bags filled to the top with flyers, pens, shirts, koozies, power bars, etc. It's no wonder that they walk by our not-for-profit booth looking for free things. Ummm...it's not-for-profit. Nothing's free. We're in the business of curing diseases people.

Some people feel the need to stop and look at what you're selling or information on research because their guilt is just a little too much. Then they mumble something with a weak smile as they walk away like, "that's great what you're doing there. I'll come back later." How do I know they do this? I SAW it! And I happen to have done it myself a few times. GUILTY.

All high and mighty and with a twinge of the "you shoulds," I asked one woman if she had ever participated in our Walk before. She responded, "Well, I had thought about it but then I had just finished chemo...." Oh...nevermind.

And then the revelation of the night came as I watched a dozen men dressed in pin-covered bucket-hats with fuzzy "cub" ears sewn on to the sides. The Cubs are to grown men as the Care-Bears are to little girls. CARE-BEAR STARE!

RIP Cowboys

One Word: Penalties

Two Words: Jessica Simpson

Three Words: Cabo San Lucas

Four Words: Rest In Peace Cowboys

I know it's not Jessica Simpson's fault. But it sure is easy to point the finger that direction. Well, maybe it's more towards Tony Romo's direction. I'm not going to go there, it was a team effort. blah. It's a sad day for Cowboys fans.

On the brighter side - they had a great season and made football fun again for me. America's Team. I don't care what you say, it's true.

Sigh

Jessica Simpson, WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE COWBOYS?!! Take off that #9 jersey right now before you curse it.

Rah Rah Rass, Kick Them in the Other Knee

Cheerleading is a sport y'all! And it looks like I wasn't the only one sporting a short skirt, pom pons and a mega phone. Check out this article I saw on Yahoo's main page. I had no idea Aaron Spelling went to SMU.

Vote McFadden for Heisman

Do it! Vote here! Go Hogs!

Sweet Victory!

You can't get much better than the Cowboys/Packers game last night. It's just a shame most people didn't get to see it (NFL Network). It's great to see Romo living up to his new contract. And is it just me or does T.O. seem to be a whole new person - on the field and off the field? He did get a little of his show-boating in with the popcorn stunt, but it made me laugh...and really crave popcorn.

Poor Brett Favre. I had hoped he could play the rest of the game for two reasons. One - I like him. It's almost as if Troy Aikman was still playing. And two - AaronRodgers came in the game and almost scared me.

Speaking of Rodgers - the big talk of the game was that he looked almost exactly like the lead singer of Creed, Scott Stapp.

Am I right or am I right? (Note: this is a picture of Scott Stapp. I couldn't find the look-a-like picture to post). Then I found out why after reading Jaime Aron's article on the game:

Look for the shaggy-haired Rodgers to get a haircut soon. He vowed not to trim it until he threw a touchdown.

Go Cowboys! 11-1. Playoffs guaranteed!

Pole Position

Saturday I went to the Nascar Busche series race at the Texas Motor Speedway. I'm a fan. I loved it! Patrick answered all 1,425 of my questions with incredible patience and now I can speak the lingo.

I was looking at the huge pole by the track and noticing the positions of the drivers - their position on the pole - their pole position. I looked at Patrick and said "POLE POSITION! Oh my gosh! I'm 31 years old and have just realized for the first time that the arcade game pole position referred to 'POLE POSITION!' Seriously, my world was just rocked." I shock myself sometimes.

Happy Anniversary to Me

Today is my four year anniversary in Chicago. I still cannot believe I've been here this long. Sometimes it seems like minutes ago that my dad and I drove away with a uhaul attached to my car. Other days it feels like a lifetime ago. I've been blessed beyond my wildest dreams since I've been here.

This is a picture of me and my dear friend, Kathie, just a month or two after I moved. She let me sleep on her couch for four and a half months. Now that's a friend!

Four years. So much can happen in four years. High school lasts four years. College lasts four years (or five for some). I wonder what will happen in the next four years?

Four years ago the Cubs were so close to going to the world series. My friend, Chris Montgomery, and I wandered the streets next to Wrigley Field and saw the Cubs implode. Same thing happened this year. I need to find those pictures! I think they are on my other computer. I'll post them soon.


Tony Romo just threw an interception. DANGIT!

Update: Cowboys won in the last second! I was a complete wreck watching it. It took me a while to settle down afterwards. I think I'm still giddy.