"Let's Not Get Physical" - A long-lost ONJ Top 40

Note who just ran 26.2 miles,
and who is holding the food. 

You see this guy here? Looks innocent enough, right? 

Wrong. This past weekend, he made me do the unthinkable. Something that makes me so uncomfortable that I am literally getting queasy just thinking about it now. Ok, I will just say it.

He made me go running with him.

If you know me, you know that I hate working out. I get red-faced and sweaty, and it brings on a not-so-attractive personality that no one needs to experience. Yes, I try to exercise every now again so that I can indulge in Sully Sticks, nachos and obscene amounts of booze. But enjoy it? Never. 

Actually….I take that back. Here is a list of exercises I enjoy:

• Walking up 2 flights of stairs to my rooftop, where there is a keg of beer and a great city view waiting for me.
• Jumping in a bounce house…until I get too winded and take on a fear of the house collapsing in on me…at which point I exit rapidly and ungracefully.  
• Dance parties at 2am in my living room to the Backstreet Boys.
• Holding Autumn. She’s a chunker.
• Waist bends to put on a new pair of shoes.
• Briskly walking from my office when I sneak out of work a few minutes before 5pm.
• Waterskiing to the lodge and back.
• Walking to a nearby brunch spot for bottomless mimosas and bloodys.
• Surfing in Australia or Costa Rica.
• Carrying a box of online purchases from my office, down to my car, and up to my apartment. 
• Yoga. This is a real workout I enjoy about 75% of the time.

…But somehow that guy got me to go running with him. He certainly is a charmer. Plus, he promised me pizza rolls at the end.    

You know what makes me stop whining? Wine.

This week there have been a few tough moments: I have been sick, one of my BFs is going through a tough breakup, my power went out this morning while I was getting ready, my friend had her wallet stolen and Super Storm Sandy bitch-slapped the east coast. So today I would like to focus on the top 10 good things happening this week. In no particular order...  

1. I changed my Modern Family calendar from October to November.
2. My friend, Michelle, is scheduled to have her baby ANY DAY NOW.
3. My sister, Kim, opened her first account at work.
4. My friend in NYC, Kate, survived Sandy without losing power, hope, or her mind.
5. I get to spend the weekend in Tinley Park cuddling by a fire with my beau, an Autumn ale, and my new Michael Kors sweater.
6. Halloween is over which means no more pictures of people carving pumpkins on Facebook.
7. I ran 2.5 miles yesterday.
8. I got my keypad to the Rogue fixed so I get to experience the joy of key-less entry again.  
9. Bob Keller is on vacation for the next week, which means I may be able to avoid a phone call on Tuesday asking me if I have voted for Romney yet.
10. I did not do ANY online shopping this week – miracle.

See? What a great week. I already have a good feeling about November! 

"Do Epic Shit" - my fave sign from the race

This weekend was the Chicago Marathon. A few fun facts about the event:

• 45,000 participants from all 50 states and more than 100 countries participated in the 35th annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon. I am a pretty popular gal, so I knew 6 of them.

• Two Ethiopian runners won the marathon. The men’s winner finished in 2 hrs and 4 minutes, and the women’s winner finished in 2 hrs and 22 minutes. As a comparison, they ran 26.2 miles in the time it takes me to watch an episode of SYTYCD.

I went out to cheer on the runners around Mile 7 of the event, and everyone was extremely energetic and excited at that point. High Fives, Whoop Whoops, funny costumes. I held up my signs that said, “Nip Guards Turn Me On” and “Where’s the Floats?” and they got a few laughs. 

When I saw the runners at the end of the race, everyone seemed overwhelmed by what they had accomplished. There was such pride from their friends and families, but more importantly, happiness and joy from the runners. Seeing the excitement on all the faces was really unbelievable and made me want to go accomplish something huge…

But then I remembered that I did the 3-Day walk in August, so I can cross accomplishing something huge off my list. Phew, because I was pretty tired after all that cheering :) 

Congrats to all of the runners!! I truly am so proud of you guys!