Lets go go go White Sox!

Hey... a quick Tuesday night blog... So the last week for the White Sox playoff race has been an emotional roller-coaster. First they went on a horrible losing streak and it was heartbreaking. And then on Sunday and Monday they had two must win games... if they lost they would not win the division and wouldn't make it to the playoffs. And they won both games, which was suoer exciting. But if they won on Sunday and Monday, that would force a tie with the Twins and a one-game tiebreaker playoff on Tuesday. So on Sunday Seth mentioned if the Sox won on Monday would I want to go to the game on Tuesday (we knew it was an evening game). Of course I said yes. So on Monday as soon as the Sox won, we got on the phone and computer trying to get tickets.... finally we were able to get through to the Ticketmaster web site and get two seats! And pretty good seats too... upper deck, first base line, 5th row. It was incredibly exciting.

So I was all antsy at work today and couldn't wait to get home and go to the game. (Seth got home early because he had a seminar downtown.) So we drove, which ended up being quite the mistake. We were stuck in a line for parking, and I thought the line to pick up tickets might be really long, so I got out of the car to go get the tickets. Well, it ended up Seth had a horrible time with parking... they were directing people all over the place and lots that are normally cash lots weren;t and it supposedly was just a mess (after I left the car it took him almost 50 minutes to get to a parking lot that would let him in, when it should have taken maybe 10). So we ended up missing the first inning but nothing that exciting ended up happening anyway. One of the coolest things about the game was that the Sox had wanted a "blackout" and for all the fans to wear black... it looked so cool with pretty much the entire crowd in black.

So we got to our seats and not much happened offensively in the game for a long time, but there were some really great defensive moves (like the play at the plate). Finally, finally Jim Thome hit a home run, which ended up being the only run of the game, and really the only run needed. It was amazing, really amazing when they won. The players all jumping around and spraying champagne, everyone cheering and screaming.... I'm so grateful that I got to be at a game like that. One never to forget.

Blog:)

Sunday night again... Seth is watching football and I'm, clearly, blogging.

This week at work continued to be busy but, like last week, a good busy. Other than that nothing much interesting happened this week or weekend. On Saturday Elisa and I went walking in the afternoon because it was a gorgeous day. And then Seth and I went out for dinner on Saturday night and sat outside and then after dinner took a little walk. Then today I went out to lunch with my cousin Rachel who's at DePaul now and it really made me miss college. I just missed that idea of literally being surrounded with friends and spending all my time with friends. It was so relaxing and fun.

One thing I've been paying close attention to (with mostly sad results) is the White Sox push for the playoffs. It's be really heart-breaking as a fan. They were set up to do so well and they have just imploded the past week. But there still is a chance so I still have hope... nothing like down to the wire:)

And I'm so super excited for a really dorky reason... this weekend Maria, Julie and I (and possibly Shawna and another friend) are going to the New Kids on the Block concert!!! I am such a big nerd... when I was, like, 11-13 I was IN LOVE with NKOTB and especially Joe McIntyre. And when I heard earlier this year that they were reuniting and going on tour of COURSE I had to go. I am so, so super excited. It's going to be so fun and silly.

So that's about it for this week, more to come!

The Emmys

I love awards shows. I really do. It's a well known fact about me that I adore celeb gossip. I used to call it a guilty pleasure but I decided that's not true... I'm not guilty about it. I love the red carpet, looking at the dresses, I love seeing who wins, seeing what people say, the glamour, etc. So I'm having a lovely Sunday evening sitting here watching the Emmys and I will be having a glass of wine while doing a mini spa-night -- giving myself a mani- and pedi- and doing a face mask in a bit.

And overall I've had a good day - this morning I had to go out to the burbs to get fitted for Maria's bridesmaid dress and then we had brunch. So I came home and took a lovely nap and then went for a swim. This weekend we went out on Friday night for a few drinks with Val and Julie and Jonny to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day. Then Saturday I did chores and some errands and we laid low Saturday night, which was nice and restful.

This week was pretty good. Work has still been crazy busy but I also am doing a lot of counseling with the kids which I really enjoy (as opposed to paper work, planning stuff or registrar work). It's rewarding knowing that I'm helping them get to college and get more of an education to make their lives better. So many of my students are first generation college students and/or come from a low income background. I truly believe education is the key to getting out of the poverty cycle so I'm glad I can play a role in that.

Anyway, Seth just got home with our sushi for dinner so it's time to eat:)

Rain rain go away

It has finally stopped raining for the first time pretty much all weekend. From Saturday morning until about 5:00 on Sunday it only stopped raining for about 10-15 minutes at a time. We've got something like 8 in. of rain this weekend. It was so dreary... but the perfect weather for a lazy weekend, which I needed. On Saturday I did nothing. It was wonderful... I'm generally so busy and I'm not a big fan of sitting still ot laying on the couch watching TV for long periods of time, but sometimes it's just so great. This week at work was hectic so doing nothing was just what was needed. And Seth is back to studying (ug :( ) so he wasn't around. We did go out on Saturday night... to Potbellys for dinner, and then to see the movie Burn After Reading (which we both really enjoyed) and then to Webster's Wine Bar for a few glasses of wine. Jen, Andy and Charlie were seeing another movie at Webster Place so they met us at the wine bar after there movie.

And today, since I did nothing yesterday. I had to do all my weekend cleaning today. But that's ok... I also went swimming this evening, which was nice.

Other than that, aside from work being hectic, not much is going on. My tap class started up again and I'm really happy about that:) I've been trying to exercise more too and I think it's paying off... I wore a skirt this week that was uncomfortable tight a few weeks ago and this past week it fit fine. So yay for that!:)

Alright, it's time for dinner (Seth made veggie soup and some sandwiches) and I'm hungry. More next week!

Sunday night

I think this Sunday night blogging has officially become a habit:) It's a good time to reflect and gear up for the week ahead.

This week has been good. Some of the things I don't like don't at work (mostly the registrar-type work) have lessened and I've been able to more of the things I enjoy (the actual counseling and talking with kids). So that's good and makes me feel more positive.

The weekend was nice. On Saturday I slept in and did some cleaning and then we went out with Glenn and his friend Keith who was in town and also Rich and Jason. We grilled over at Glenn's and then went to Second City... the etc. show which we've seen before but was again hilarious:) Then we went out for a few drinks afterwards and then headed home. Today we went out for brunch with my mom and Gary (her birthday is Tuesday) and that was yum. Then I lazed around while Seth watched football and this evening I had a facial. I've been so impressed with the regiment Daniela (my facial person) and I have come up with for my skin. It has been so clear lately ... hardly any breakouts and when I have breakouts, they're small and short-lived. I am so happy about this because acne has been something that I've been dealing with -- to varying levels of severity -- since I've been about 11 years old. Then this evening we had the yummy soup and salad from Pompei and took a walk with Toby. All in all a relaxing, good weekend.

Bloggin'

Hello. Monday night, but like a Sunday night since it's Labor Day and a long weekend... it was really nice to have a relaxing weekend because work has been kinda crazy the first week. Just a lot with transfer students and new students and schedules and all that. Plus entering this historic transcript data and everything. And it doesn't show any sign of letting up, either, because as soon as this lets up, the college application craziness starts. It just gets frustrating sometimes since I have to be director of counseling and registrar so it feels like a lot of time I get lost in all the paperwork of schedules and transcripts, etc. and I just feel like sometimes I can't be as effective of a counselor because I have to spend so much time with administrative tasks instead of connecting with students.

Anyway, this weekend was good since it was relaxing. Beautiful weather too.. we've been so incredibly lucky this summer weather-wise. Anyway, we didn't do too much this weekend --- on Saturday night we went out to Coast for sushi (yum!:) and then came home and sat on our deck and played Rummy and had some wine (we're dorks like that:) Then on Sunday, we had people over for our Labor Day BBQ and that was lots of fun... good people, good food, etc. I was so proud of myself cuz I made a fruit salad bowl in a watermelon half and I've always wanted to do that... it's the little things:) Plus we had yummy sangria and mojitos and played bags and just had a general fabulous time! Plus it was nice that we did it on Sunday because no one had to work today and Seth and I didn't have to worry about cleaning last night, or think about having to clean after work or something... we just left all the cleaning to this afternoon, after we slept in. Today was a VERY lazy day which was great and restorative for another week:)