Go Tech!

At the end of this week, we'll be heading to Chicago to cheer on our Jackets in the GT vs. Notre Dame game, kickoff weekend for college football. I always enjoy this time of the year. Yes, I realize I was just recently bemoaning the end of summer (I'm a woman and entitled to change my mind...often), so I'm now ready to embrace fall. I love having friends over on college football Saturday, trying out new "tailgating" recipes, the crisp air that comes with the season. We have some fun things planned for our weekend escape, sure to include some tasty Chicago pizza and a Sunday Cubs game. We'll be charter busing it to the game in South Bend, about 80 fellow Techers went in to charter two buses so we can all ride to the game together and par-tay. Good stuff!

Today's posted picture is from my new digital camera. Finally. The one I've been using is about 6 years old and it's amazing how far the technology has come over the years. When I put the new and old side by side, you could fit 3 of the new into the size of my old camera. The display screen is so much larger and resolution clearer. So, hopefully, this will be the first of many better pictures to come.

Emma had a great dentist appointment this week. Zero cavities, which made for a very relieved Mommy, especially after what we went through six months ago. She also got her ears pierced this weekend! We didn't have any hard and fast rules about when we were going to let her get earrings, just wanted it to be when she decided she wanted them, as opposed to us deciding for her when she was a baby. She had told me earlier this week that she wanted earrings but I initially figured it was a passing thing since always when I've asked her in the past, she's said "no". She mentioned it again as we were passing an ear-piercing place this weekend, so after asking her several times if she really wanted to do it and her responding "yes" each time, we went for. Both ears pierced and zero tears shed. I was so proud of her, what a brave little girl.

Golfing is going pretty well. We got in 9 holes this afternoon with some neighbor friends of ours. I'm not consistent by any means, but when I do get a good shot off, I can hit a pretty good distance. Haven't really started working on the putting but did hit two balls out of sandpits today and was proud of that. And we are having fun, that's what really matters the most.

On the running front, another challenge committed to this week. I'm all signed up for the ING Georgia Marathon next March with my old running buddy that moved from CO, Jennifer, and my college friend, Amanda. Amanda is having her first baby in November and is using the 1/2 marathon as motivation to get into shape. This will be my second marathon; however, the first was Chicago in 1999. So it's been a few years. I trained with Jeff Galloway's group in Atlanta for that one. Actually, one of the women from that group is the race director for ING Georgia. I'm most looking forward to catching up with my lady friends, meeting Amanda's baby girl and running through all my old stomping grounds.