No Turning Back

The Yin and the Yang

This morning I received great news and some sad news. On the shallow, selfish side, I was jumping for joy to see my Economic Stimulus tax rebate thingy deposited into my bank account. I didn't expect it for a few more weeks. Wheee!

Then within the hour, I learned of the untimely death of someone close to my cousin. Although I didn't know this man, my heart is still just weighed down with sadness for this situation.

I was going to recap the weekend for you, but I really just feel shallow trying to detail my night at Mulletude, my long Saturday full of volleyball (congrats PSU!) and friends and drinks, another Sunday sucked into ANTM, and then my joy over receiving my economic stimulus money.

It's one of those things that just puts things in perspective. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the fallen officer.

Sweet Dreams Are Made of Them

I was this close to falling asleep last night when I got a late phone call. Though I was upset that it woke me up, my friend needed to chat, so I didn't mind that much. But as you might guess, I was unable to fall asleep for quite a while after that.

But all was not lost. I got to watch David Beckham on Leno discussing this photo. And then Ryan Phillipe was on Kimmel.

In case you missed it, I said Becks was discussing this photo.

I had very sweet dreams the rest of the night.

Congratulations Khawks!

Big congratulations to the Rochester Knighthawks for winning the National Lacrosse League championship on Saturday. Although they had a season record of 14-2 and earned home field advantage, the game had to be played at their opponent's field (Arizona). It was like a circus. Ha ha.

Anyways, I was able to watch the game at home on Versus network, which I didn't even know that I had (but thanks DirecTV). I felt a little silly cheering all by myself in my living room, but whatever. They earned their second title since the league's incarnation. But the real stat is that they had made the playoffs for every season (finals in the last 3-4?) but came up short every time since 1997, their last championship.

Even bigger props to the Khawk fans that went to Arizona for the game and to support our team. 

Catching up on a Tuesday

First, mad props go out to the following folks for pushing their own personal limits and participating in the Rochester Marathon this weekend:

Amy Z
Shannon R
Laura F
Ron C
Hanna N

I helped at one of the water stops on Sunday. Race day was awesome. Perfect weather. My friend Mary came with me so it was fun to have a friend to hang out with too.

Little tip though - if you ever are handing out Gatorade, be prepared for stickiness! I took one for the volunteer team and did the sticky Gatorade duty. My fingertips still showing some remnants of the yellow stains.  But it's a small price to pay. At least it wasn't rainy or cold. Cold sticky Gatorade - ew.

We were at mile stop 23, so we saw all the half-marathoners, the last relay leg, plus the full marathoners, so I got to see all my friends who were running, plus everyone else. Essentially about 1700 people. You are all amazing.

I strongly encourage everyone to volunteer at these kinds events, particularly the smaller races. Aside from all the work done on the scenes, they are always in need of extra people on race day.  If you have ever participated in a race,  you know what I mean.  Take 2 hours out of your day and help out. Seriously - you can make such a difference. And sometimes you get a free shirt too.

PS - extra mad props to kirsten for above-the-call-of-duty volunteering over the past few weeks. Though our paths didn't cross this weekend, I know you were instrumental in the success of the marathon!

OK, enough of the PSA schtuff.

On my own racing front, I will be participating in the Black Diamond off-road duathlon in late October (2 mile trail run, 10 mile off-road bike, 2 mile trail run).  I really need to get running every day. Gosh if I didn't have to work, I'd have lots of time for that =) as well as my other favorite pastime right now (see next).

Second - I cannot convey how excited I am about tonight. I am going to a sock knitting class at Wild Wools. Although I have already knitted one sock all by myself (with a little help from Juli and Knittinghelp.com, the best online resource for new knitters), I can't wait to see what we're going to do tonight. I hope I get to make a pair that's from a pattern and not just one color all around.  I would definitely need some guidance if working with a pattern.   

But I am still SO excited about tonight! The day cannot go by fast enough! I think I'm also pretty psyched because this means I will HAVE to knit for the next two weeks until the next class - yay!!

I did already start the matching sock to my purple rag wool sock. And folks let me tell you, it is already way better than the first one. I am getting better at making the stitches tighter, as well as not accidentally increasing or decreasing.  I'm tempted to undo the first sock and re-do it so it will be even better! 

Stay tuned to tomorrow's post for the exciting details of my sock knitting class.

Whose picture is cooler?

Comment with your vote!  And this isn't American Idol people; only one vote counts!

Me (Boston, 2004)

 

John (Down & Dirty Triathlon this past weekend)

Oh, It Was Ugly

The photos from Ten Ugly Men are now posted.  From some of the first pictures, it may look like there was only one court of volleyball.  Fear not. There were almost 30 courts (multiply that by each court had an average of 5 teams, each made up of 4 people..... you do the math).  It just so happened that the boys were playing on one of the outer courts, and I was taking pictures facing away from all the other courts.

It was a full day of sun, fun, bocci, music, kickball, festivities, and libations.  The pictures definitely don't tell the whole story.

Except for the whole story of John's hat!  It's a keeper.

Oh... and I'm still getting used to this digital camera thing, so my timing on the action shots isn't as good as it used to be with the 35 mm.  Bear with me.