Today was another great day with Cody's folks. I ran 15 miles this morning while they hung around the house (see other blog for more on the running). It was a very hard 15 miles but I'm glad it's over with. Then we went out to Ozzie's and watched UF beat up on Alabama in the Swamp. Great game.
Tomorrow we've got outdoor soccer in Creve Coeur and hopefully the wineries. :)
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
They're here!
They made it! They made it! Cody's parents finally made it here. We were like little kids waiting for the Easter Bunny all day waiting for them to call and let us know they were close. They got here this afternoon, we hung around the house - which the last time they saw was a wreck with boxes everywhere, with our bed still in the living room and the fish tanks on the Boy Room floor - and caught up on everything and then went out to eat for Cody's mom's birthday at Blueberry Hill. As those not from STL might not know, Blueberry Hill is a St. Louis institution. The restraunt/bar takes up an entire city block in the U City Loop (a very hip alternative area of town). Quite good food. They purport to have the best hamburgers in town but for others of us they also have great trout, red beans and rice, and pancakes at all hours!
While we love living here, living our fiercely independent lives, doing our own thing, whatever that may be, whenever we might want to, we regret not being able to see family more. It's so wonderful to have people visit because then we get them all to ourselves, and vice versa - whereas when we're in Tally we get to spend two hours with one family, two hours with the next, sleep a few hours and then hope to catch the rest of the family in the remaining 30 minutes. We don't have time to really talk about live, etc. because we're just busy saying hello, good-bye and catching up on the obvious. Anyway, it's great to have family here - I'm looking forward to next weekend in Wisconsin to catch up with the Wisconsin crowd and Sara, Larry and the kids - apparently Brandon is walking now - I can't wait to see it!
Life is good.
While we love living here, living our fiercely independent lives, doing our own thing, whatever that may be, whenever we might want to, we regret not being able to see family more. It's so wonderful to have people visit because then we get them all to ourselves, and vice versa - whereas when we're in Tally we get to spend two hours with one family, two hours with the next, sleep a few hours and then hope to catch the rest of the family in the remaining 30 minutes. We don't have time to really talk about live, etc. because we're just busy saying hello, good-bye and catching up on the obvious. Anyway, it's great to have family here - I'm looking forward to next weekend in Wisconsin to catch up with the Wisconsin crowd and Sara, Larry and the kids - apparently Brandon is walking now - I can't wait to see it!
Life is good.
A First.
The thing is the older you get the less "firsts" you have. You can only have one First Pet. One First Plane Flight. One first whatever. Unless you starting counting retarded things like "First Slice of Strawberry Pie on a Tuesday After Turning 25 When it's Raining." And then you must just really be bored. Anyway, today I had a first. As some of you know, I've been playing soccer on Cody's indoor team (certainly a first). Well, today I got my first ball impression on my body. Yup, someone kicked the ball so hard at me it left the soccer ball shape on my leg. My knee actually. There's a fat bruise and you can make out the shapes of the soccer ball - in my SKIN! That's insane. I am never again going to stand between a big guy and the goal. Ow! I swear it took my 30 minutes to regain feeling in my knee/upper leg as the entire area went numb it hit so darn hard. Oh well, the price we pay. :)
Cody's parents get here tomorrow! They get to watch us play soccer next week - my first spectators. :)
Cody's parents get here tomorrow! They get to watch us play soccer next week - my first spectators. :)
Thursday, September 28, 2006
The Truth About Driving in St. Louis
This came to me via a forward, but it was too funny not to post:
If you live in St Louis, you'll understand this. If you've ever visited St.
Louis you'll understand this. If you've never been to St. Louis, consider
this your Visitor's guide To Driving in St. Louis.
1. There are 75 "official neighborhoods" in the City of St. Louis. St.
Louisans commonly give directions (especially for restaurants) to strangers
based on these neighborhoods which aren't marked on any maps that are
handed out by the tourist board, the AAA or Mapquest.
2. There are 54 school districts -- on the Missouri side alone - each of
which has their own school bus system and scheduled times to block traffic.
3. There are 91 official municipalities in St. Louis County. Each
Municipality has its own rules, regulations, and often their own police
departments.
4. More importantly, most have their own snow removal contracts so it's not
uncommon to drive down a road in winter and have one block plowed, the next
salted, the next piled with snow and the last partially cleared by
residents wanting to get out of their driveways.
5. Snow plowing is never a problem in the City of St. Louis. They plow
nothing, and if the forecast calls for snow, they close everything. Except
on "The Hill" (refer to ..1 above) where each homeowner goes out to the
street and shovels out one car-sized rectangle and then stands watch over
it.
6. Any car parked longer than 4 hours in the city is considered a parts
store.
7. The City of Ballwin actually proposed that drivers use connecting strip
mall parking lots to get from place to place rather than drive on
Manchester road to cut the traffic on Manchester.
8. Laclede Station Road mysteriously changes names as you cross
intersections. As do McCausland, Lindbergh, Watson, Reavis Barracks, Fee
Fee, McKnight, Airport Road, Midland, Olive and Clarkson. Gravois Road can
only be pronounced by a native. Ditto for Spoede and Chouteau.
9. A St. Louisan from South County has never been to North County and vise
versa.. West County has everything delivered.
10. No native St. Louisan knows that Lindbergh runs from South County to
North County! And, if you tell them, they will not believe you.
11. Lindbergh belongs to every neighborhood except Kirkwood, who had the
nerve to creatively change the name to "Kirkwood Road."
12. There are 2 interchanges to exit from Highway 40 onto Clayton Road and
2 for Big Bend. Stay alert,people!
13. If you need directions to O'Fallon, make sure to specify Illinois or
Missouri. This is also true for Troy, Maryville, St. Charles,
Springfield,Columbia....
14. The Page Avenue extension and Airport expansion projects took over 20
years to get approved and St. Louisans lost track of how many political
figures claimed them as their own ideas.
15. St. Louisans were aghast when the federal government required them to
redo the highway signs
to indicate that the federal highways went to cities in other states
instead of local municipalities.
16. Drivers are starting to cut their OWN plates rather than go through the
Missouri Department of Motor Vehicles to get new tags. You can also
purchase tags from dealers behind QuiK Shops in the city. They are cheaper,
the clerks are nicer, and the service is faster.
17. Lambert Field and St. Louis International Airport really are the same
place. The East Terminal, however, is a different place.
18. Highway 270 is our daily version of the NASCAR circuit. (Same goes for
Highway 70.) You can go all four directions on Highway 270: North and South
in West County, East and West in South County, and East and West in North
County. Confused? So are the St. Louis drivers.
19. The outer belt is Highway 270 which turns into Highway 255 in South
County. The inner belt is Highway 170. Highway 370 is an outer-outer belt.
Highway 40 is the same as Interstate 64 (but only through the middle part
of St. Louis).
20. The morning rush hour is from 6:00 to 10:00 AM. The evening rush hour
is from 3:00 to 7:00 PM. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning. Never
ever try to cross a bridge in St. Louis during rush hour unless you have a
sack lunch and a port-a-potty in the car.
21. YIELD signs are for decoration only. No native St. Louisan will ever
grasp the concept.
22. If someone actually has their turn signal on, it is probably a factory
defect, or has been on for the last 17 miles.
23. Construction on Highways 40, 64, 70, 255, 270, 44, 55 and 170 is a way
of life, and a permanent form of entertainment.
24. All blue haired old ladies in Cadillacs (driving on Olive west of 270)
have the right of way.
25. If it snows or rains? Stay home!!
26. It is called a rolling stop at any stop sign intersection. Only native
St. Louisans can do it just right...
If you live in St Louis, you'll understand this. If you've ever visited St.
Louis you'll understand this. If you've never been to St. Louis, consider
this your Visitor's guide To Driving in St. Louis.
1. There are 75 "official neighborhoods" in the City of St. Louis. St.
Louisans commonly give directions (especially for restaurants) to strangers
based on these neighborhoods which aren't marked on any maps that are
handed out by the tourist board, the AAA or Mapquest.
2. There are 54 school districts -- on the Missouri side alone - each of
which has their own school bus system and scheduled times to block traffic.
3. There are 91 official municipalities in St. Louis County. Each
Municipality has its own rules, regulations, and often their own police
departments.
4. More importantly, most have their own snow removal contracts so it's not
uncommon to drive down a road in winter and have one block plowed, the next
salted, the next piled with snow and the last partially cleared by
residents wanting to get out of their driveways.
5. Snow plowing is never a problem in the City of St. Louis. They plow
nothing, and if the forecast calls for snow, they close everything. Except
on "The Hill" (refer to ..1 above) where each homeowner goes out to the
street and shovels out one car-sized rectangle and then stands watch over
it.
6. Any car parked longer than 4 hours in the city is considered a parts
store.
7. The City of Ballwin actually proposed that drivers use connecting strip
mall parking lots to get from place to place rather than drive on
Manchester road to cut the traffic on Manchester.
8. Laclede Station Road mysteriously changes names as you cross
intersections. As do McCausland, Lindbergh, Watson, Reavis Barracks, Fee
Fee, McKnight, Airport Road, Midland, Olive and Clarkson. Gravois Road can
only be pronounced by a native. Ditto for Spoede and Chouteau.
9. A St. Louisan from South County has never been to North County and vise
versa.. West County has everything delivered.
10. No native St. Louisan knows that Lindbergh runs from South County to
North County! And, if you tell them, they will not believe you.
11. Lindbergh belongs to every neighborhood except Kirkwood, who had the
nerve to creatively change the name to "Kirkwood Road."
12. There are 2 interchanges to exit from Highway 40 onto Clayton Road and
2 for Big Bend. Stay alert,people!
13. If you need directions to O'Fallon, make sure to specify Illinois or
Missouri. This is also true for Troy, Maryville, St. Charles,
Springfield,Columbia....
14. The Page Avenue extension and Airport expansion projects took over 20
years to get approved and St. Louisans lost track of how many political
figures claimed them as their own ideas.
15. St. Louisans were aghast when the federal government required them to
redo the highway signs
to indicate that the federal highways went to cities in other states
instead of local municipalities.
16. Drivers are starting to cut their OWN plates rather than go through the
Missouri Department of Motor Vehicles to get new tags. You can also
purchase tags from dealers behind QuiK Shops in the city. They are cheaper,
the clerks are nicer, and the service is faster.
17. Lambert Field and St. Louis International Airport really are the same
place. The East Terminal, however, is a different place.
18. Highway 270 is our daily version of the NASCAR circuit. (Same goes for
Highway 70.) You can go all four directions on Highway 270: North and South
in West County, East and West in South County, and East and West in North
County. Confused? So are the St. Louis drivers.
19. The outer belt is Highway 270 which turns into Highway 255 in South
County. The inner belt is Highway 170. Highway 370 is an outer-outer belt.
Highway 40 is the same as Interstate 64 (but only through the middle part
of St. Louis).
20. The morning rush hour is from 6:00 to 10:00 AM. The evening rush hour
is from 3:00 to 7:00 PM. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning. Never
ever try to cross a bridge in St. Louis during rush hour unless you have a
sack lunch and a port-a-potty in the car.
21. YIELD signs are for decoration only. No native St. Louisan will ever
grasp the concept.
22. If someone actually has their turn signal on, it is probably a factory
defect, or has been on for the last 17 miles.
23. Construction on Highways 40, 64, 70, 255, 270, 44, 55 and 170 is a way
of life, and a permanent form of entertainment.
24. All blue haired old ladies in Cadillacs (driving on Olive west of 270)
have the right of way.
25. If it snows or rains? Stay home!!
26. It is called a rolling stop at any stop sign intersection. Only native
St. Louisans can do it just right...
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Drive Safe!!
Cody's parents are leaving tomorrow from Florida to come visit us in St. Louis (See? I still don't say I live in "Missouri.")!!! I am so excited! They haven't seen the house since we first moved in when our bed was still downstairs, there were boxes everywhere and the fish tanks were all set up on the floor in the Boy Room. So, for weeks now I've been telling people that my in-laws are coming. The overwhelming response is "I'm sorry." Every time I hear that I think to myself, "Man, I have it good." I seriously, no joke, have the best set of to-be in-laws in the WORLD. To begin with they are just wonderful, good people. And good people are hard to come by these days. That would be enough in itself, but they have this way of making me feel like I was born into the family (in a non-incestual way since I'm marrying their son) and just treating me like one of them. They always listen if you have a problem and give advise in a way that is caring, understanding and wise, yet not lecturing or belittling. Anyway, they're just great people and I'm really looking forward to their visit. What's even more special is it's Cody's mom's birthday on Friday (the day they get here) and their anniversary on Saturday! How cool is that!
As for plans while they're here, we, of course, are taking them to the Gator game at Ozzie's on Saturday (v. Alabama), Cody's soccer game on Sunday and our indoor game on Thursday. The next weekend we're taking a road trip to Wisconsin to see the family, but most importantly Great-Grandma Raffensperger (yes, Cody still has a GREAT-Grandma, leaving Baylee and Brandon with a GREAT-GREAT-Grandma). She'll be visiting from California and since she's crazy old and lives in Cali we hardly ever see her, so that will be a nice visit. We're also hoping to take them to the wineries because the weather should be beautiful for it and the leaves are just starting to change their colours.
Well guys, have a safe trip! At least Missouri has the lowest gas prices in the country right now - Cody filled up for $1.99 a gallon today! Wow!
As for plans while they're here, we, of course, are taking them to the Gator game at Ozzie's on Saturday (v. Alabama), Cody's soccer game on Sunday and our indoor game on Thursday. The next weekend we're taking a road trip to Wisconsin to see the family, but most importantly Great-Grandma Raffensperger (yes, Cody still has a GREAT-Grandma, leaving Baylee and Brandon with a GREAT-GREAT-Grandma). She'll be visiting from California and since she's crazy old and lives in Cali we hardly ever see her, so that will be a nice visit. We're also hoping to take them to the wineries because the weather should be beautiful for it and the leaves are just starting to change their colours.
Well guys, have a safe trip! At least Missouri has the lowest gas prices in the country right now - Cody filled up for $1.99 a gallon today! Wow!
Monday, September 25, 2006
Juice.
This goes in the category of funny, off the wall things Cody says that just make me crack up.
When we finally awoke at 2pm Saturday afternoon (not too bad for us), neither of us felt much like doing anything except watching football. So we dragged the laptop downstairs to keep track of ESPN Scoreboard and watched some network TV football. Since we live in the Midwest we were cursed with having to watch Illinois. They suck. Ron Zook is now their coach. He sucks (he was the coach at UF after Spurier in case you don't keep track of those things and lost about a zillion games). Anyway, at least they were playing a ranked Iowa team who didn't suck so bad - but I guess you really couldn't tell because they were playing such a bad team. Anyway, Illinois had a player named Juice Williams. No kidding. Want proof? Who in their right mind would name their child "Juice"? Are you just sick in the head? Anyway, lest I digress from the story. So, at some point the announcer asked something to the tune of "When is Juice most efficient/effective?" He was, of course, refering to his offensive ability (he's a QB), but Cody just answered "When you're sick." Just as plain and matter-of-fact and straight-faced as you can get. But of course, Juice is most effective when you're sick. Thanks Cody. You crack me the hell up sometimes.
When we finally awoke at 2pm Saturday afternoon (not too bad for us), neither of us felt much like doing anything except watching football. So we dragged the laptop downstairs to keep track of ESPN Scoreboard and watched some network TV football. Since we live in the Midwest we were cursed with having to watch Illinois. They suck. Ron Zook is now their coach. He sucks (he was the coach at UF after Spurier in case you don't keep track of those things and lost about a zillion games). Anyway, at least they were playing a ranked Iowa team who didn't suck so bad - but I guess you really couldn't tell because they were playing such a bad team. Anyway, Illinois had a player named Juice Williams. No kidding. Want proof? Who in their right mind would name their child "Juice"? Are you just sick in the head? Anyway, lest I digress from the story. So, at some point the announcer asked something to the tune of "When is Juice most efficient/effective?" He was, of course, refering to his offensive ability (he's a QB), but Cody just answered "When you're sick." Just as plain and matter-of-fact and straight-faced as you can get. But of course, Juice is most effective when you're sick. Thanks Cody. You crack me the hell up sometimes.
Happy First Day of Fall - Late, as Usual
Happy Autumnal Equinox! Well, it was actually on Saturday (the 23rd) but I was too lazy to actually post on it that day because of the party so I'm posting on it now. :) I guess it's officially fall now. I am officially in cranky mode - the days are now shorter then the nights. I make no bones about it - I love the warm sunny days. I love the long days. I love sunshine and the outdoors. The winter? Not so much. I can tolerate it for about a week and then I'm done. I get cranky and pouty and just want to sit inside in my warm pjs with some warm food and then more warm food and more warm food - you get the drift. I am not a winter person. People say winters aren't bad here - I guess those people never grew up in Florida.
Well, it's fall and it's certainly showing around here. The leaves are changing and twice already I've had to wear a scarf to work - I've worn a jacket quite a few times and actually have busted out the coat a few times as well. It's not just been cool or chilly, but downright cold already a few days. I guess it had to come sooner or later.
Well, it's fall and it's certainly showing around here. The leaves are changing and twice already I've had to wear a scarf to work - I've worn a jacket quite a few times and actually have busted out the coat a few times as well. It's not just been cool or chilly, but downright cold already a few days. I guess it had to come sooner or later.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
I touched an NBA player!
At the Gator Club gathering yesterday to watch the Kentucky v. UF game, David Lee was there!! And I got to meet him! And shake his hand!! For those of you who don't know, David played basketball for UF and now plays for the New York Knicks. He's the son of one of our great Gator Club members in St. Louis, Susan, and was in town visiting his mom (he's from St. Louis). Anyway, I was giddy like a moron meeting a celebrity - shameless, really.
Party pictures are up.
In case you've been sitting in utter anticipation of the party pictures - they're up now on the website - www.cody-missy.com. It was a great party - at least in our humble opinion. Our first guests arrived around 6 pm and the final ones left around 4am (not counting the ones who stayed the night). We finished the keg around 10:45 but then finished off another 120 or so beers after that, so if that's any indication that it went well, then it did. :) It was a "Birthdays Party" for several of our friends who had birthdays either the past week or so on in the next week or so - apparently we have a lot of "blizzard baby" friends. Thanks everyone for coming out and we can't wait to have the next one. Oh - check out the pictures of the newly renovated/refinished dining room! The chandelier is down because I broke it about 20 minutes before the party started but you can at least see the paint job! :)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Caulk.
I love this stuff. I really think it's what is holding our house up. The damn thing would be falling down if it weren't for this wonderful material. I can't stand the gaps and cracks that are EVERYWHERE in our house due to it's age (my mom thinks her house is old because it was built 60 years ago - ours is easily pushing 100) so before I paint anything I fill every gap, hole, etc. with tons of caulk. Pretty much every place in our house where two things meet has caulk it in. The corner where the walls meet? Caulk. Where the baseboards meet the wall? Caulk. Ceiling hits wall? Caulk. Window sill meets wall or other part of window? More caulk. I'm telling you, before I paint any surface in this house it has to be caulked. Plus I just love the stuff - it's fun to play with. I AM the home improvement goddess after all. I can't wait until we get this house finished!!!
Cody's folks are coming soon and I CAN'T WAIT to show them all the work we've done since they were here last! Until recently most of the painting done in the house was done by them when they visited last July - but I think we jumped ahead of them when we finished the dining room (yes, a year later, but we at least got it done). :) I am seriously so excited to show them the house and around STL!!
Cody's folks are coming soon and I CAN'T WAIT to show them all the work we've done since they were here last! Until recently most of the painting done in the house was done by them when they visited last July - but I think we jumped ahead of them when we finished the dining room (yes, a year later, but we at least got it done). :) I am seriously so excited to show them the house and around STL!!
Foreman Pickles.
Tonight Cody and I worked on painting our hallway/entryway for the party we're having on Friday. Party? Didn't we just have a party not too long ago? Yup - it seems like just yesterday but our last party was for Cody's birthday. In the past few weeks and coming week we have a ton of friends with birthdays so decided to throw them all a party - Dude's big 30 was yesterday, Marissa's birthday was last Thursday, Cassidy's is next Monday and Dave's was Saturday - lots to celebrate! So as people who will take just about any excuse to party, we're throwing another one!!! Yipee! But so much to do to prepare. Starting with working on the painting yet to be done downstairs (no one goes upstairs except us so it's not a huge priority).
Well, when Cody and I are working together (we use the same strategy with disagreements) we have a third party we can blame stupid stuff on so we don't blame each other. Who might that be since we live alone? Mr. Pickles of course! So tonight while painting when I gave Cody the crappy job of putting the ceiling light back up (I took it down so I figured he could have the joy of putting it back up) and the smoke detector. He of course blamed Mr. Pickles, the foreman on the job, for giving him the "crappy" jobs. Then when I was using the big roller and he got stuck with the baby roller, he again blamed foreman Pickles for the lack of proper supplies. See? Having a blame cat sure does help keep the peace around here. Plus, when I asked for a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (the BEST home cleaning tool EVER), and it was delivered dry, instead of wet, I could blame Mr. Pickles.
p.s. For those of you who aren't blog regulars, Mr. Pickles is our cat, formerly known as Nala. LONG STORY!
Well, when Cody and I are working together (we use the same strategy with disagreements) we have a third party we can blame stupid stuff on so we don't blame each other. Who might that be since we live alone? Mr. Pickles of course! So tonight while painting when I gave Cody the crappy job of putting the ceiling light back up (I took it down so I figured he could have the joy of putting it back up) and the smoke detector. He of course blamed Mr. Pickles, the foreman on the job, for giving him the "crappy" jobs. Then when I was using the big roller and he got stuck with the baby roller, he again blamed foreman Pickles for the lack of proper supplies. See? Having a blame cat sure does help keep the peace around here. Plus, when I asked for a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (the BEST home cleaning tool EVER), and it was delivered dry, instead of wet, I could blame Mr. Pickles.
p.s. For those of you who aren't blog regulars, Mr. Pickles is our cat, formerly known as Nala. LONG STORY!
We're a mess today.
(Opps. This was yesterday's blog but I guess I didn't hit "Publish" on the computer before I went to bed).
My whole body feels like I was hit by a bus. Cody's got a cold/mini flu. We're just a whole bunch of mess today. :)
Mine at least is explainable. I ran - a good darn bit. I still can't get over that I ran it in under 2 hours. Running is such a deeply personal thing and all your goals are tied to personal accomplishment rather then competition. I couldn't have cared less what anyone else in that race did yesterday - I'm happy for all those that finished, proud of those who at least tried, and hope everyone got a personal best - but in the end it was just me versus me. And I think I won that one. It just makes me so happy to see the improvement in my running.
Cody is another story. After a "rough" night Friday, a football filled Saturday and a VERY early Sunday (our alarm went off at 5am to make it to the race), he's got himself a nice little cold/flu. He's hilarious when he's sick.
My whole body feels like I was hit by a bus. Cody's got a cold/mini flu. We're just a whole bunch of mess today. :)
Mine at least is explainable. I ran - a good darn bit. I still can't get over that I ran it in under 2 hours. Running is such a deeply personal thing and all your goals are tied to personal accomplishment rather then competition. I couldn't have cared less what anyone else in that race did yesterday - I'm happy for all those that finished, proud of those who at least tried, and hope everyone got a personal best - but in the end it was just me versus me. And I think I won that one. It just makes me so happy to see the improvement in my running.
Cody is another story. After a "rough" night Friday, a football filled Saturday and a VERY early Sunday (our alarm went off at 5am to make it to the race), he's got himself a nice little cold/flu. He's hilarious when he's sick.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
A quick week update.
Wow. Another week gone so fast! I sometimes sit and wonder where they go so darn fast and then after 30 minutes of thinking about it realize that I just passed another 1/2 hour that I'll sit at the end of the week and wonder where it went. :)
Anyway, this week was mild in comparison to some of our weeks, but fun nonetheless. Cody worked a ton of overtime this week (still!) so I got some time to work on some projects around the house. Some good "me time." :) Thursday was the first indoor soccer game of this "season" and the first game where I'm actually a real player. Yup - that's right - I'm playing soccer this season! I still have no real clue how to play soccer but I figured I'm not getting any younger, so might as well give it a shot and hope I don't blow out a knee. :) I figured I'd start with indoor because it's more moving around, and might lend itself to better practice for me. Anyway, I didn't play a lot because my shins were killing me and I didn't want to get hurt before the 1/2 marathon. We won 6-3 so it was great! There's a great group of people on the team so I think it will be a lot of fun. Marissa's birthday was also on Thursday so we took her out to lunch for her birthday at work and then all went to Barcelona (a tappa's restraunt in Clayton - very spify) for dinner and Tejas for drinks afterwards. Barcelona was good - I think the boys were all still starving after dinner but the sangria was great. Tejas was Tejas. :)
Friday we went to a happy hour at Syberg's out in West County and then to the Funny Bone to see Kevin Nealon. He was, of course, HILLARIOUS! We ended up at some blues bar where Cody thought it would be a good idea to have three double Jack and Cokes in the matter of an hour after only having a cucumber for dinner (yes, he had a cucumber because he had it leftover from him lunch - I put a cucumber in his lunches because he'll eat them like apples). Needless to say that didn't end greatly. So in addition to dealing with him another friend of his (who will remain nameless) had a few too many and I ended up attempting to carry him out - didn't work too well. :) Anyway, we all had fun.
Saturday was, of course, more football. The Gators played Tennessee - in Knoxville. Every year the St. Louis Gator Club gets together beforehand for a fun little tailgate in the Ozzie's parking lot. As usual, it was a ton of fun. The game was a nail biter, but they pulled it off - by a whole one point. For those of you who care, FSU didn't fare as well and managed to lose to Baby Bowden at Clemson all because their "top rated" defense couldn't stop Clemson from driving 80 yards in the final minute of the game! Insane! Anyway, it was fun. One funny note from the night that I have to credit Tina for: Our great AB friends offered to pick up everyone's tab for the game for AB products - free beer! Only problem was I wasn't drinking becuase of the half marathon. I explained this deliema to Tina who easily responded, "Missy, there are always 1/2 marathons to run - but how many nights do you get free beer?" So that ended that debate.
So we got a few hours of sleep Saturday, woke up for the 1/2 marathon, ran and came home and crashed. Luckily it rained so Cody's outdoor soccer game was cancelled because I can barely walk. We watched a movie tonight while I laid on the futon with bags of frozen veggies on my hips where my tendons hurt so bad I can't hardly walk. :) The joys of running.
Tomorrow - Monday. Boo!
Anyway, this week was mild in comparison to some of our weeks, but fun nonetheless. Cody worked a ton of overtime this week (still!) so I got some time to work on some projects around the house. Some good "me time." :) Thursday was the first indoor soccer game of this "season" and the first game where I'm actually a real player. Yup - that's right - I'm playing soccer this season! I still have no real clue how to play soccer but I figured I'm not getting any younger, so might as well give it a shot and hope I don't blow out a knee. :) I figured I'd start with indoor because it's more moving around, and might lend itself to better practice for me. Anyway, I didn't play a lot because my shins were killing me and I didn't want to get hurt before the 1/2 marathon. We won 6-3 so it was great! There's a great group of people on the team so I think it will be a lot of fun. Marissa's birthday was also on Thursday so we took her out to lunch for her birthday at work and then all went to Barcelona (a tappa's restraunt in Clayton - very spify) for dinner and Tejas for drinks afterwards. Barcelona was good - I think the boys were all still starving after dinner but the sangria was great. Tejas was Tejas. :)
Friday we went to a happy hour at Syberg's out in West County and then to the Funny Bone to see Kevin Nealon. He was, of course, HILLARIOUS! We ended up at some blues bar where Cody thought it would be a good idea to have three double Jack and Cokes in the matter of an hour after only having a cucumber for dinner (yes, he had a cucumber because he had it leftover from him lunch - I put a cucumber in his lunches because he'll eat them like apples). Needless to say that didn't end greatly. So in addition to dealing with him another friend of his (who will remain nameless) had a few too many and I ended up attempting to carry him out - didn't work too well. :) Anyway, we all had fun.
Saturday was, of course, more football. The Gators played Tennessee - in Knoxville. Every year the St. Louis Gator Club gets together beforehand for a fun little tailgate in the Ozzie's parking lot. As usual, it was a ton of fun. The game was a nail biter, but they pulled it off - by a whole one point. For those of you who care, FSU didn't fare as well and managed to lose to Baby Bowden at Clemson all because their "top rated" defense couldn't stop Clemson from driving 80 yards in the final minute of the game! Insane! Anyway, it was fun. One funny note from the night that I have to credit Tina for: Our great AB friends offered to pick up everyone's tab for the game for AB products - free beer! Only problem was I wasn't drinking becuase of the half marathon. I explained this deliema to Tina who easily responded, "Missy, there are always 1/2 marathons to run - but how many nights do you get free beer?" So that ended that debate.
So we got a few hours of sleep Saturday, woke up for the 1/2 marathon, ran and came home and crashed. Luckily it rained so Cody's outdoor soccer game was cancelled because I can barely walk. We watched a movie tonight while I laid on the futon with bags of frozen veggies on my hips where my tendons hurt so bad I can't hardly walk. :) The joys of running.
Tomorrow - Monday. Boo!
Okay, here I actually look happy.
This is about mile 1ish. I'm still happy here. At least I don't look like I'm dying. :)
Gorgeous.
Great, huh? Don't I look happy and wonderful? Yeah, that's me after 13.1 miles this morning. A very very hard 13.1 miles. The entire saga is on the other blog, but I'll briefly summarize here.
So, as most of my blog readers know by now, today was the Louis and Clark 1/2 Marathon out in St. Charles. A while ago a friend decided she wanted to do a 1/3 marathon so we've been training together over the past few months. I think we started running back in May for it, but then with Germany and a bad bout with shin splints that turned into stress fractures in my shin, we didn't get to run most of June and part of July. In any event, in a cruel twist of fate, she sprained/strained her knee last week playing soccer so couldn't run today. Unfortunately I hadn't really trained to run the race fast, I just wanted to run it to finish with her. I really wasn't concerned about my time or anything, I just wanted to be with her for encouragement, etc. throughout the race. Then when I found out this week she couldn't run it all got turned upside down. I didn't want to do worse then I did back in April (I ran it in 2:09 in April), but I wasn't prepared to run faster.
Long story short: We woke up at 5am, got out to the race a bit after 6am. The race started at 7am and I finished 1 hour, 58 minutes and 40 seconds later!!! YES!! I actually beat my last time and made it under 2 hours!!! I can't even express how excited/stunned/proud I am. I NEVER thought I would beat 2 hours, much less after not training for it. Granted, I feel like I was run over by a very very very large bus and at the end of the race I had to have Cody come into the Finisher's Area because I thought I was having an asthma attack - but I DID IT! I can't really move right now and I can hardly make it up the stairs (Cody had to help me put on my jeans this afternoon) because my hips hurt so bad (all that moving back and forth much faster then I'm used to), but I MADE IT! As you can tell I'm quite excited! Of course, right now I never wnat to run again, much less a marathon, but we'll see how I feel in a few days. :)
Friday, September 15, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
A nice weekend.
Gators won. Seminoles won. Notre Dame kicked the hell out of Penn State and Ohio State beat Texas. I'd say that was a good weekend. Okay, I guess some will say there is more to life then football - but don't tell Cody that.
Friday we went to dinner with friends at my favorite Greek restaraunt - they have an amazing spinach pita! Saturday Cody fixed my car and I ran. Yes, that's right! Cody fixed the clutch so now I can drive again! I was quite impressed - in less then 1.5 hours and for less then $50 he fixed the entire problem! The dealer would have charged a few hundred dollars and likely taken days! It's so great to have someone handy around! Not only can he replace parts, but he can diagnose a problem, figure out what needs to be done, and then can fix it!! Yipee! Go Cody! Then of course, it was football time. And then more football. And then some more. The Gators looke good - against a sub-par team. The Seminoles looked awful against and even more sub-par team. I was simply happy Notre Dame and Ohio State won.
Today was soccer for Cody, biking for me and then Cody went into work the rest of the day. I cleaned the house and ran errands. Actually a quite productive weekend - especially the car part!!
Friday we went to dinner with friends at my favorite Greek restaraunt - they have an amazing spinach pita! Saturday Cody fixed my car and I ran. Yes, that's right! Cody fixed the clutch so now I can drive again! I was quite impressed - in less then 1.5 hours and for less then $50 he fixed the entire problem! The dealer would have charged a few hundred dollars and likely taken days! It's so great to have someone handy around! Not only can he replace parts, but he can diagnose a problem, figure out what needs to be done, and then can fix it!! Yipee! Go Cody! Then of course, it was football time. And then more football. And then some more. The Gators looke good - against a sub-par team. The Seminoles looked awful against and even more sub-par team. I was simply happy Notre Dame and Ohio State won.
Today was soccer for Cody, biking for me and then Cody went into work the rest of the day. I cleaned the house and ran errands. Actually a quite productive weekend - especially the car part!!
Friday, September 08, 2006
Job seach.
Okay, along with considering going back to school, I'm also looking at changing jobs/fields. So tonight I was looking on Boeing's website for job openings in STL, mostly in law, but was looking in other areas too. One area was "Unmanned Air Vehicle Pilot." If it's unmanned, then why do they need a pilot?
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Same old.
Same old, same old here. Cody's been working ridiculous overtime. I think he's got over 36 hours in just the three days of this week - yikes! Yesterday, I rode my bike to the parts store to get a part to bleed my clutch this weekend when we get around to fixing my car. I had a really nice bike ride around the park and then hung around the house doing chores. Today I had to go to Columbia all day for court. Some good cases, some bad. Not a bad drive, but not great either - a pretty boring mid-Missouri 2 hours. Good talking on the phone time. :) Since I had the only available vehicle, I got to run a few errands - Michaels, Target, Old Navy, etc. Then a quick run, the grocery store and pick Cody up from work. Not too terribly interesting.
I did get some great news today though! I have a new niece! Well, not really, but sort of. She was already my niece but now the government agrees with what we all already knew. My brother officially adopted his daugther and it cleared our legal system! While we already considered her 110% family, the law now agrees! I'm so excited for my bro and his fam! They are such a cute family and Kim and David are AMAZING parents! I'm sure when we decide to have kids - at least ones without four legs and a lot of fur - we'll be calling asking for advice. :) Congrats guys!
I did get some great news today though! I have a new niece! Well, not really, but sort of. She was already my niece but now the government agrees with what we all already knew. My brother officially adopted his daugther and it cleared our legal system! While we already considered her 110% family, the law now agrees! I'm so excited for my bro and his fam! They are such a cute family and Kim and David are AMAZING parents! I'm sure when we decide to have kids - at least ones without four legs and a lot of fur - we'll be calling asking for advice. :) Congrats guys!
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Car-less
Boy do I feel "American." For two weeks in Europe this summer and then an entire summer a few years ago, I survived with no car. I managed to travel all sorts of places, big and small with no vehicle. Tons of people over there have no car and they live perfectly good lives. But here I go now with a few days without my car and it's as if the world is falling apart around me. :) This morning Cody gave me a ride to work since he woke up early (usually he wakes up as I leave the house) and I got a ride home from Mike. But just the thought of not being able to leave whenever is weird (even though I could go home at anytime and take the train). Plus, I've got shopping to do - grocery store, Target, etc. - and that's really hard with only one car in the family - not to mention Cody didn't get home from work until 9.30pm. Oh well. Just a few more days and I'll have my "freedom" again. By the way, I hate the hyjacking of the word "freedom." Just a note.
On another note, ran 10 miles tonight and feel just dandy about it. I'm super excited about the 1/2 marathon on the 17th and even more excited about the marathon in a few months. The person who actually inspired me to run the marathon, my lawschool friend Kari, actually just had her first baby this past weekend. She emailed pictures and the baby is just precious! Really really really adorable! She and her husband will make awesome parents. She is one of those people you really admire in the world - really down to earth and real and just really has their head on straight. There's a girl at work who is like that too - super smart and well spoken, yet funny and interesting all at the same time. Where I tend ("tend" may not be a strong enough word here) to babble and just spit out the first thing to come to my head, these people really have insightful thoughts and are so very intelligent and interesting. I'm lucky to have met a lot of the people I have in my life.
On another note, ran 10 miles tonight and feel just dandy about it. I'm super excited about the 1/2 marathon on the 17th and even more excited about the marathon in a few months. The person who actually inspired me to run the marathon, my lawschool friend Kari, actually just had her first baby this past weekend. She emailed pictures and the baby is just precious! Really really really adorable! She and her husband will make awesome parents. She is one of those people you really admire in the world - really down to earth and real and just really has their head on straight. There's a girl at work who is like that too - super smart and well spoken, yet funny and interesting all at the same time. Where I tend ("tend" may not be a strong enough word here) to babble and just spit out the first thing to come to my head, these people really have insightful thoughts and are so very intelligent and interesting. I'm lucky to have met a lot of the people I have in my life.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Busy Weekend.
We had a good time this weekend - fun, but busy as always. Friday we headed off to Wisconsin for Cody's cousin, Chad's, wedding in Appleton. We got in pretty late (1 am) so pretty much just crashed. Saturday we hung out with his Aunt Jackie and Uncle Fred (they're awesome folks) and then went to the wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and all - very nice. The reception was at a Performing Arts Center so that was great too. We got to see a ton of his family which was really great. They are all such wonderful people. We had a great time visiting with everyone and a great time at the wedding. Sunday we drove back after the present opening, Cody mowed the lawn and I ran. Since we were exhausted after the drive we just hung out and watched a movie.
Then there was today. It seemed as if nothing could go right. First, the clutch on my car went out last night. All of a sudden the stupid thing just wouldn't go into gear and the clutch petal had no tension behind it - it just went out. So instead of Cody working today to get ahead on hours (they are super busy so instead of working all 12 hour days he was going to work some today so he would only have to work 10 hour days this week) we needed to fix the car. BUT we couldn't find anyone that was open that had the part. One place could order it but it would be $50 more expensive then we found it online. And the dealerships weren't even open so we couldn't even ask them if they had the part. Doh! So we decided to sit outside and ponder what to do with our day - well, Bumpis, aka Dumb Cat, was looking at us from inside so we let her out on the porch to sit. She was just being lazy sitting on the porch so we weren't really paying much attention to her. We decided to pull some weeds in the garden and then when we went to go inside we couldn't find her. So we spent the next hour looking around the neighborhood for the stupid cat. Sure enough she was two houses down in their back yard and just thought it was great when we found her because then she wanted to play hide and go seek and run from us. Dumb cat.
After that mini-adventure we decided to bike downtown to my office to see how bad it would be for me to bike to work. Yes, I could easily take the train, but I thought it would be nice to have a built in 30 minute work-out each morning and afternoon. The problem is to get to work is super easy by car - get on the interstate, go and then I'm there - but on bike there are a lot of turns, hills, etc. in order to avoid the interstate. It took about 32 minutes to get there and 36 to get back (more uphill, we took a longer route and goofed around). Not bad but I really don't want to show up to work sweaty and smelly, especially if I have to be in court. So I might try it one cool day to see how bad it is, otherwise this week I'll be taking the train into work without a car.
This evening we headed to our friends, Meghan and Danny to hang out with them and their adorable baby and watch the FSU game. This was pretty much my highlight of the day as we (1) got to see Elizabeth who is just too cute for words and (2) got to see FSU win a game - albeit, it wasn't pretty. So that's it for now. Off to try to clean up before heading to bed to go to work. fun fun
Then there was today. It seemed as if nothing could go right. First, the clutch on my car went out last night. All of a sudden the stupid thing just wouldn't go into gear and the clutch petal had no tension behind it - it just went out. So instead of Cody working today to get ahead on hours (they are super busy so instead of working all 12 hour days he was going to work some today so he would only have to work 10 hour days this week) we needed to fix the car. BUT we couldn't find anyone that was open that had the part. One place could order it but it would be $50 more expensive then we found it online. And the dealerships weren't even open so we couldn't even ask them if they had the part. Doh! So we decided to sit outside and ponder what to do with our day - well, Bumpis, aka Dumb Cat, was looking at us from inside so we let her out on the porch to sit. She was just being lazy sitting on the porch so we weren't really paying much attention to her. We decided to pull some weeds in the garden and then when we went to go inside we couldn't find her. So we spent the next hour looking around the neighborhood for the stupid cat. Sure enough she was two houses down in their back yard and just thought it was great when we found her because then she wanted to play hide and go seek and run from us. Dumb cat.
After that mini-adventure we decided to bike downtown to my office to see how bad it would be for me to bike to work. Yes, I could easily take the train, but I thought it would be nice to have a built in 30 minute work-out each morning and afternoon. The problem is to get to work is super easy by car - get on the interstate, go and then I'm there - but on bike there are a lot of turns, hills, etc. in order to avoid the interstate. It took about 32 minutes to get there and 36 to get back (more uphill, we took a longer route and goofed around). Not bad but I really don't want to show up to work sweaty and smelly, especially if I have to be in court. So I might try it one cool day to see how bad it is, otherwise this week I'll be taking the train into work without a car.
This evening we headed to our friends, Meghan and Danny to hang out with them and their adorable baby and watch the FSU game. This was pretty much my highlight of the day as we (1) got to see Elizabeth who is just too cute for words and (2) got to see FSU win a game - albeit, it wasn't pretty. So that's it for now. Off to try to clean up before heading to bed to go to work. fun fun
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