Operation Giveback! (aka the Wounded Warriors Run/Walk/Roll)

Good morning all! Sorry for the missed post yesterday; I had a doctor’s appointment before work and when there’s not time for typing AND baby-examining . . . well.

I’m proud to say that Mike and I along with his parents attended the Second Annual Operation Giveback race in Orlando. We attended last year too – Mike ran the 10K and I (with my injured feet) cheered from the sideline. This year (due in part to Mike’s calf injury) we all four of us walked the 5K.

As always, we started at 0-dark-30. I’d really been hoping to run this year – damn I’ve been injured for a long time – but it feels a lot better when 1) I’m at least participating, even if it’s a walk rather than a jog; 2) I have a much happier reason than misbehaving feet to sit out a 5K.

I will admit to puffing a bit – my heart wasn’t working hard but pregnancy-breathlessness does hit me sometimes – but I finished the 3.1 miles in just under an hour. No matter how airless your lungs feel, the sight of a Bionic Hero chugging along always makes you realize you should just stop freakin’ whining and get on with it, already.

And speaking of Bionic Heroes . . . I admit this next part is silly, and a bit vain, but whatever.

I’ve been told pretty frequently that I have a nice smile. That’s a very nice compliment, and an amusing one, insofar as my teeth are crooked and I’m no Cover Girl. But it’s always fun to hear. And I was really grateful for my nice smile when I walked past a Wounded Warrior hiking along with one leg and two sticks. He was flanked by two soldiers in fatigues – I imagine to make sure none of the psycho/stumbling runners ran into him – and when I smiled my prettiest at them and thanked them for their service, all three of their faces LIT UP. It was wonderful and humbling and makes me tear up just a little.

Anyway. Vanity aside over. It’s a great cause; I hope anyone in the area will come do it next year. At that point, I’m aiming to have a jogging stroller!!!

This is not pole dancing, this is Cirque du Freaking Soleil!!

Yes, I admit to a bit of headline-baiting. No one commented on my Rajah Pirate post nor my awesome sharpshooting skills and wah-boo-snivel-wahhhh etc.

This is amazing. Flat-out amazing. If I ever become one-tenth as fit as this woman I would be happy. Oh, and y’all with daughters and sisters – fear not. It’s not remotely sexual and she wears more than your average swimsuit for the whole performance. It’s just insanely graceful and gymnastic-fantastic and she has muscles in places we can’t find in Grey’s Anatomy. (If you’re in a hurry, the insanity starts at 1:20.)

Happy Friday!!

Jacked up!!!!

Seen in the college parking lot:

Yes, there is an actual stepladder welded to the side to get in and out. That’s how amazing it is.

For proper scale (and more random awesome – check the bungee cord!!):

I love this state.

Redneck, or Genius? You decide!

Snapped at a red light on my commute home:

I’m speechless.  I can’t decide if that’s the most brilliant MacGuyver solution EVAH, or the most white-trash slapdash creation in the state of Florida.

What do you think?

Weather forecast: 100% chance of snark

Saw this outside an Irish pub:

If you see me wandering around in New Hampshire . . .

. . . I’ll be canvassing for this guy.

GO BRUCE GO!!!

Good thing I got that NH non-resident permit . . .

Jay — wanna carpool?  A shaved head biker and a spunky little brunette make a good door-to-door team, right?

A commercial that made me cry

I was preparing dinner a few days ago when this came on:

Yes, I cried.  Way to go, American Airlines 🙂

Happy Friday!

John Williams and the Pops!

This is how I spent Friday night:

Oh, it was fabulous! For the Close Encounters and the Superman pieces, they lowered a movie screen and played a montage during the music.  It was like being in a movie studio; it was absolutely awesome.

Even if they DID include all the Batmans in the Superman mash-up.

All of them.  Including the one that never happened.

Oh well, we forgive you, John Williams.

P.S. It rained so hard on the way to the T station that we gave up on walking and swam home.

IN WHICH I EMBRACE “ALOT”

I’m not a grammar Nazi by any stretch of the word, but I have been known to pitch hissy-fits over this word.  I’ve frequently opined that if ever, god forbid, I became a teacher, I would have a big flashy sign over my desk:

“A LOT IS TWO WORDS.  GET IT RIGHT, OR GET OUT.”

But no longer!  I embrace — I cherish, even — “alot”!

The Alot is an imaginary creature that I made up to help me deal with my compulsive need to correct other people’s grammar.  It kind of looks like a cross between a bear, a yak and a pug, and it has provided hours of entertainment for me in a situation where I’d normally be left feeling angry and disillusioned with the world.  

For example, when I read the sentence “I care about this alot,” this is what I imagine: 

Similarly, when someone says “alot of _______”, I picture an Alot made out of whatever they are talking about.  

BLESS ALLIE AND HER ALOT.

Oh, those crazy MIT kids!

Pure distilled awesome:

See the rest here.