If anyone is around for Thanksgiving and hankering for a traditional meal, let me know. My parents are in town, and we'll be cooking turkey, etc. And watching football. Just let me know soon if you do want to come, so that I can get enough food/wine.

An email I just received from my good friend, Barack Obama. :)






Dear Friend,

Congratulations. You did it.

At this hour, because of your voices and your votes, the Democratic Party has taken back the House and the Senate for the first time in more than a decade. Across the country, a new generation of leaders is coming to Washington – leaders who are ready to listen to the American people and solve America’s problems.

This should make us happy Democrats, but more importantly, it should make us hopeful Americans.

Hopeful that the years of gridlock and partisanship; of blame and bickering will finally give way to civility and solutions.

Hopeful that this overwhelming victory will finally force the President to realize that governing is not a war of ideologies, but a contest of ideas.

Hopeful that when we’re finally able to bring the issues you care about to the halls of Congress, we will finally have enough leaders – Democrat and Republican – who say “yes” to a higher minimum wage, “yes” to more affordable health care and college tuition, “yes” to an energy independent America, and “yes” to a new plan in Iraq that starts to bring our troops home.

Elections come and elections go. Some make little difference in the life of our country – and some change the course of history forever. I am so proud of those of you who have donated your time, your energy, and your resources to get us where we are today. But in order to change history, we now have to work even harder to turn last night’s results into tomorrow’s progress. I’ll be asking you to help me do this in the days and months to come, and I can’t wait to get to work.

Sincerely,




U.S. Senator Barack Obama

I don't want to be a Democrat. I want to be proudly independent, but the Republicans are leaving me no choice. I'm not as eloquent as the New York Times editorial staff, so I'll let them speak for me-- Editorial: The Difference Two Years Made.

VOTE!*

*Unless you're a Republican. If so, please stay home. Or vote for Democrats. :)

Lance Armstrong on the New York Marathon: "Considering all my Tours, even the worst days, nothing was as difficult or left me with such a sense of fatigue and so much soreness as the marathon today."

So, according to that logic, I should be able to do the Tour de France. Right?? :)

Since most of you are bigger film freaks than I am, I expect you to do very well on this game: http://us.mms.com/us/dark/. It's completely addictive and frustrating if you're stuck on one or two. It kept my office entertained for quite a while. I'm *finally* done, so if you need clues, let me know. :)

You will all be happy to know that I am now pain-free and looking forward to the next marathon. Wait. No, I'm pain-free and not thinking about the next one. Really.

A spectator around mile 24 or 25 was holding a sign that said: "You're all crazy." She was right. But I still preferred the sign I saw at mile 17: "You're all Kenyans to me!" :)

Ok, I promise this is the last marathon-related post. Of course, that might also make it the last post for a while, but I will try my best to think of something to talk about other than running. Or work. Or the cats. There must be something else to my life. Maybe.

Does anyone have a cane or a walker I could borrow?

I'm back at work, but I can't sit at my desk for longer stretches than about 30 minutes before I start cramping up. Oy.

i'm done running forever! :) final time:4:51:05. considering how ill-prepared i was, i'll take it!

I am FREAKING OUT about the marathon.

That is all.

This morning as I was leaving for work, I realized that I had left my phone on silent all night. Since I very rarely receive any phone calls, I figured it likely wasn't a problem. But sure enough, I checked my phone and had a missed call... from Bill Clinton! If only I had remembered to turn on the ringer after work yesterday, I could have spoken with Bill Clinton about my responsibility to vote as a good citizen. Alas, I will have to settle for waiting in line for several hours next week to try to get Barack's autograph.

Parlez-vous français?

I've been on a real French kick lately. I've studied French at various points in my past, but I've never stuck with it to fluency. I can read basic French, but my speaking and listening skills are very poor. In fact, the only way I can watch movies in French is with French subtitles, so that I can read it.

But now I am determined to really learn French. I ordered a comprehensive French dictionary to go with my beloved 501 French Verbs. I also ordered additional French books to translate, of which I already own quite a few. Granted, none of this will help my listening/speaking skills, but I now have Matthew's whole DVD collection in my living room, and at least some of those movies must have French language tracks. I'm still upset that the Region 1 release of Amelie doesn't have French subtitles. If anyone has the region 2 release, let me know!

I survived a half marathon yesterday! And it was in Hyde Park. :) Now I just need to run twice that three weeks from now. I'm starting to get more than a little freaked out.

Things I did this summer (in no particular order):
-Went to Portland (Oregon) with mom and dad to visit my brother. We had so much fun visiting breweries, watching minor league baseball, and eating great food. I really wish Brian lived closer, but he seems to be pretty happy in Portland. :)

-Went to DC on my first-ever business trip (or at least the first one that work paid for). This was for a conference of people who do what I do. It was an intersting experience, even though it was 100 degree in DC. I made one good contact and brainstormed idea to help my students.

-Totally redesigned our departmental website. I won't link to it here, but if you know where I work, this should be easy to find. This was a massive project, and I am quite pleased with the result. Best of all, the new FAQ means I get far fewer stupid emails!

-Trained a lot for the marathon and ran in a half marathon. This was going really, really well until the half marathon, where I developed a massive blister that set me back a bit. In any case, I've still logged lots and lots of miles, and I should be on track to at least finish the marathon, which is all I really care about. :)

-Went to the Florida Keys with Matthew and his parents. I got to snorkel for the first time, which was really fantastic, even if it does make me feel a bit claustrophobic.

-Avoided my 10-year high school reunion... At this rate, I might not make it back to Ohio at all this year.

-Attended lots of training sessions at work, most of which seemed like they would be great but were actually boring.

-Went to about ten White Sox games, which is far fewer than last year. Must be my fault that they've been slumping!

-Saw a few free concerts in Millennium Park, including one that accompanied a silent Russian film. This is such a great city. :)

-Helped Matthew move in to my place. The moving part wasn't fun, especially since UHaul apparently doesn't answer their phones, but the other part is very good.

I'm sure that's not everything, but that's everything I can remember off the top of my head. And now it's quite certainly not summer any more, and I must do real work!

Coming soon: What I did on my summer vacation*

*well, really what I did during my summer of working, but close enough

I changed the look! and the title! Now all I have to do is post...

This has been major late-summer cleaning time. First, my computers at work and home, then my bedroom closet, and now my office. I want to get the clutter OUT of my life! It's going well so far.

Ok, that wasn't much of a post. But I'll work on it.

Ok, I have entered this century, and I will have internet at home starting next Wednesday. So I may post occasionally. But don't hold your breath.

And yay for football being back! The Colts rock for doing an onside kick to start yesterday's game. That meant I got to see Peyton's one drive that much more quickly. :)

I'm getting a raise! And a healthy one, at that. Apparently, hard work *does* pay off.

The official kickoff to Marathon Training was yesterday. I've always been amused that according to my training schedule, the first day of Marathon Training is a rest day. It's a little difficult to get in the swing of things by just sitting, so I did a little yoga. Still, I think I'll feel a little less apprehensive about the whole thing when I'm training by actually running. Last week I had a dream that the day of the marathon came, and I hadn't run once this summer. I would prefer that didn't happen.

As my loyal readers know (anyone still out there?), I am running to fundraise for the American Liver Foundation. So I decided that maybe I should purchase some Liver Foundation gear to advertise my cause. The "Love Your Liver" beer stein may be the funniest, or saddest, thing I've ever seen!

I'm off to San Diego for a Jeppeson reunion, complete with boyfriends/husbands. So, uh, I won't be posting for a few days. :)

It's a bad sign when you wake up at 6:30, can't fall back to sleep because you're thinking about work, and decide it's easier to just go into work an hour early than to try to force yourself to go back to sleep.

I am DROWNING in paperwork lately. I feel like the mountains of papers on my desk may crush me at any time...

On an entirely different note, I sat down and made my training schedule for the marathon from now until October. It's pretty light until early July, but then it starts to get a little crazy. There's something comforting, though, about looking at my palm pilot schedule for months from now and knowing exactly what workout I *should* be doing then. I promise I'll try not to get hurt this time. :)

One of the profs just wished me a "great (and much deserved) break." Ha! It may be spring break for the students, but next week could be one of the busiest of my career. (Side note: I can finally say that I have a career, instead of just a job!)

I need to start taking lunch breaks. Or leaving work on time. Or something.

Took the day off yesterday to relieve stress. That backfired on me, as I am now more stressed than ever, trying to catch up. :)

I got out of debt. (Other than that pesky mortgage which has 29 years and 10 months left on it.) I just have nothing to report. Life is very, very good right now, but that means it's also very, very boring to the outside world. And so, if you'll indulge me, one more super-cute cat picture.

Due to moving expenses and pet expenses, I am in debt up to my eyeballs and will not emerge from my home until further notice.

I don't have internet at home anymore, and I'm too busy at work to think about posting content. So, look at a picture of the kittens instead. :)

I am once again running the Chicago Marathon to raise money for the American Liver Foundation.

And yes, I realize that this means I will be running a marathon at 28. But hey, Deena Kastor won broze in Athens at 31. So I've still got time. :)

Help! I need more books!

I'm starting to think that even after I get the rest of my books from my parents' basement, my books will still not fill the shelves of my library, much less the freestanding bookshelves I have in the living room and dining room. How did this happen? I pride myself on being such a bibiophile and yet I can't fill floor-to-ceiling shelves in one lousy room. :(

They slept last night! So, Smokey is a girl, and The Bandit is a boy(and aptly named). They're eight months old and super cuddly. I'm a little terrified of the responsibility of having pets and of not having my house to myself, but I also love the way they snuggle up against me and purrrrr.

I have kitties now. On the left is Smokey, and on the right is Bandit. More to come when I'm not so tired from being kept up by kitties all night!

Moving tomorrow!

BTW, I no longer have internet at home, and I'm not at work today, so if anyone needs me, call me!

Can't move around in apartment.... too many boxes... help!

Actually I'm at work, but I'm dreading being back in my apartment tonight. :)