22.4 miles or Bust!

It's all because of Liz.

If she had not posted about the excellent time that she was having at Disney World at Princess Weekend, I never would have become hooked on races at Disney.  Thanks a lot :).

My first princess weekend was in February 2013, so our trip tomorrow marks the 5th year of this annual pilgrimage.  In 2013, Fay and I started small with a 1/2 marathon.  We were unprepared, overwhelmed and totally lost.  The expo was huge, we had no costumes for the race and the 2:00 am wake-up call was a shock to the system.  We were spot on with bringing Kimberley to hang out with us, taking a Canopy Cycle Tour, enjoying Pasta in the Park and being able to see Liz.

In 2014, Kimberley joined the 1/2 marathon fun and Fay was busy being National President.  It was awesome, we had our first "family vacation" in years, played like kids at Magic Kingdom and had matching t-shirts.  Progress was made!

We got Mom to join the fun in 2015 and we stepped up our game and did the 5K and 10K races.  Fay, Kimberly and I dragged Mom ahead of the balloon ladies laughing all the way.

In an effort to reduce the stress of trying to get registered within the 30 seconds of the race being open, I decided to raise funds through Children's Miracle Network.  I also had a temporary lapse in sanity and signed up for the Glass Slipper Challenge and the 5K.  I pulled Jamie into this madness and she did the 5K with Mom and I as well as the 10K.  We were family of the day at Old Key West, crafted the hell out of the family center, rode a bike for 3 with me driving.  What a hoot!

My sanity returned and I decided 2017 I would return back to only the 5K and 10K so I could actually "enjoy" my vacation.  Jamie cajoled, persuaded and twisted my arm (😄) and we are committed (or will be shortly) to to the Glass Slipper + 5K again (22.4 miles over 3 days)!  Training has been spotty, so T-30 hours to the final showdown!

A Look Back on 2012

Well another busy year has come and gone!  Sophia is an incredibly active and smart little 2 year old who amazes us everyday.  We have been blessed with good health, great family and friends, fulfilling jobs and many fun adventures.  Here are the highlights from 2012:

• Tom served as 78th President of the Ann Arbor Jaycees this year. 
• Many of our friends welcomed new little ones this year - Greyson, Jack and Sadie.
• We visited with many far away friends - Amanda, Emilio, Ray, Mike, and Bob.
• Sophia took swimming and gymnastics classes.
• We went to a variety of plays/shows such as Cirque du Soleil: Quidam, Cirque du Soleil: Nouba, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Shrek.
• My new hobby of walking turned into an obsession with a 1/2 marathon in Detroit in October in addition to 2 - 1 mile, 1 - 2 mile, 13 - 5Ks , 1 - 8K, 5 - 10Ks and 1 - 15 K races.
• We tried some new adventures: Sushi making, dog sledding, hang gliding, paint ball, pottery class and zip lining.
• We spent winter break in Florida, Easter in New Orleans, took a weekend trip to Ohio, and spent Christmas in Florida.
• I served as the Ten Outstanding Young Americans Chair for the US Jaycees.
• Our good friends, Scott and Sheri were married.
• We spent lots of time at the zoo, cooling off at the water park, going to baseball games and searching for fairies in Ann Arbor and Northville.
• We spent our 5th Anniversary in New York and Montreal and we got to see a lot of my family while there.
• I got to go to Chicago, Des Moines, Traverse City and Arizona this year and Tom spent some time in Kansas.

Can't wait to see what 2013 brings!

My Baby Just Turned 2!

A lot has happened in the past year with Sophia.  She is walking, running, jumping and talking up a storm!  She has made such strides - she counts to 10, she can sing her ABC's, she is recognizing letters and she wants to do everything by herself!

Sophia has been quite the traveler.  She visited Chicago for the first time with the whole family (Nana and Papa, Auntie Kiki and family).  She went to Florida with Mommy and Auntie Wendy for a nice December break.  We spent Christmas in Kansas with both of her aunties and her grandparents.

We went to Frankenmuth for the weekend with the Fernandes, Murphy-Stillwell's and Auntie Fay in February.  We spent 10 days in Florida in March and visited with Nana and Papa, Auntie Amanda and Uncle Jamie, Uncle Emilio and met some of Mommy's cousins.  We spent Easter in NOLA with the Murphy-Stillwell's.

Nana and Papa came to visit in June and we went on a mini-vacation to Ohio to the African Safari and water park in July.  We went to NY to Nana and Papa's in October and Sophia got to meet my extended family.

We went dog sledding for Daddy's 40th Birthday and spent the weekend in Petoskey.  Sophia participated in her first races - a 2 Mile walk with Mommy and Nana in Florida, a 1-mile walk with Mommy and Daddy at Comerica Park and a 5K at the Detroit Zoo with Mommy, Auntie Fay and Auntie Wendy.

We spent some time at the water park this summer to beat the heat.  We hunted fairies in Ann Arbor and Northville and went to a fairy tea.  Sophia took a dance class and a swim class, which she liked and is getting ready to start gymnastics this December.  Sophia has become quite a fan of Jump City and the Chelsea Tree House, as she loves slides!  Sophia attended her first Roller Derby, which kept her quite intrigued.

Sophia had her 2nd Birthday party at Goldfish Swim School, which was awesome!  Halloween has become Sophia's favorite and we watch Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin at least every other day.  Lucy is her favorite character.  She went trick-or-treating for the first time with Greyson and Jack.  She attended her first play with Mommy, "The Frog and the Toad."

Sophia also loves the Toledo Zoo and the carousel, we have a membership, and we have visited at least 5 times this year.  She loves to ride the Tiger up and down!

Some of her cute sayings are: "Going to play a little bit," "Ridiculous," "Oh, my Gosh!", "Oh, my Goodness!," "Okay" and "Uh huh!"

She is still attached at the hip to her Cabbage Patch Kid, Mimi, who goes everywhere with her.

I can still remember the minute she was born.  I can't believe it has already been 2 years!  I can't imagine or remember my life without her in it!

It's Out of the World!

Now, that I had done one 10K race, no need to wait too long to do another one.  So, I waited one week and Fay and I were off to the Martian Invasion in Dearborn.  This race had no alcohol, which was a bummer, but it did have creepy blow-up martians lining the race course that were oddly reminiscent of the old Region F Jaycees days.

The piece de resistance of this race - chocolate milk at the finish line!

Oddly underestimating how tired I would be from this, I signed up for the 1 mile Big Heart, Big House race with Tom and Sophia.  Thunderstorms and a sleepy baby forced an early morning call to Fay to come with me!  We had our best mile time thus far, under 14:30.  We both think it was due to the fact that we just wanted to get the hell out of there and pass out!  Finishing on the 50-yard line of the Big House was cool however!

Lessons learned from this weekend of races:  1) One race per weekend is probably enough; 2) We are suckers for any races that give us finisher medals and 3) races with alcohol really improve our  mood, but not our time!

Laissez les Bons temps Rouler

Tom, Sophia and I decided to join Christa, Sean and Jessie in NOLA for Easter this year.  What a great idea, until Murph and I decided, heck why don't we do a 10K while we are there also?  No matter, that I had never done a 10K, or that I was getting in about midnight the night before.  Why let details stand in our way?

So we were up early on Saturday to go race through the city with 26,000 other nuts ready to run around in 85 degree heat.  The bellhop at our hotel cautioned us to bring a sweatshirt as it was "chilly out", but we rebelled and went out in our race clothes above.

Once we got started, we determined that this was not your "average" race.  Instead of water stops, there were beer tables.  There were Jaeger trucks and margarita stops and we became best friends with the "Jello Shot Brigade."  When Murph asked me are we going for time or fun, I just smiled and had another jello shot!

We finished the course in a very respectable time, despite the heat and the drinking.  We decided to stop at Jester's for a frozen slushy drink to cap off the morning as we chuckled over our "funny" of the day - "We have no knuckles!"

You Have to Eat Twinkies at the Race?

Seems hard to believe that this is true.  But it was, and Fay and I found this race and it was in Ann Arbor to boot!

The rules were simple:

• Eat a twinkie before crossing the start line
• Walk/Run 1.65 miles
• Eat twinkie
• Walk/Run 1.65 miles
• Collapse at the finish line with a stomach ache

We persevered and posted our best 5K time today - who says we can't overcome adversity?

Shamrocking and Rolling

Next up a 5K in Plymouth, called Shamrock and Roll.  Finally, a place to wear our hats from our friends from JCI Ireland and not look like complete goobers!

As we were walking to the race area, a man stopped up.  Due to our matchy-matchy shirts, our hats, and our shamrock face tattoos, he wanted us in the race video.

We had 1 line, "How do you like us so far?" and of course I got excited to be in a video, I said it before the guy, said "3,2,1!"  Some much for following simple directions!  Take 2 was perfection though!

Our Cool Video (check out our 15 minutes of fame at minute 3:36).

Shamrock and Walk - Another Florida Event!

To be a glutton for punishment, I decided to register for a 2-mile walk on my birthday!  Sophia, Mom and I decided we would do this together.

For the 19th annual Shamrock and Walk, we were dealing with amateurs.  First of all, it started at 3 pm.  Who starts a race at 3 pm?  In 85 and humid heat? We got there and we did not even get running bibs cause we were doing the walk?  What is that?  Just because we are walking, it does not mean we do not care about our time!!!

This made me mad and with 45 minutes until race time, we decided since no one really cared about us walkers, we would start our 2 miles now and avoid the wait!  Using the race map, we went on our merry way and completed the 2 miles.  We were done before the race started and off to McDonald's for a Shamrock Shake.

They should have asked me to plan this event, it would not have been a goat rodeo!

Winterlaufe 8K - ROAD TRIP!

Our next race was Winterlaufe on February 4 in Frankenmuth, MI and we invited Mindy and Murph to join the madness!


We headed up on Friday night and we all met at 8 am for a group breakfast with everyone.  There were kids, kids, every where!  Then the chaos started - there was movies, games and oatmeal all over the place!  There were unhappy people who got Stollen french toast and did not know what Stollen was. (Just in case, Stollen is a fruit cake containing dried fruit and covered with sugar, powdered sugar or icing sugar).


After the boys and kids went off to swim, it was time for  our 1st 8K race.  4.97 miles - agh!  What possessed us!


Things started out well until we got to the hills.  I am not talking a gentle grade, I am talking hills that require huffing and puffing, which is hard to do dressed like Nanook of the North replete with ear muffs, puffy coats and gloves!


Then, we got about 1/2 way through the course to find out it was a mud race.  We had to walk through a muddy corn field and back.  We were shuffling along like we were in a blue hair walker race, trying not to fall into the mud and save our expensive sneakers from being ruined!


We finished, Murph jogging ahead, while the rest of us dragging up the rear.  It wasn't pretty but we did it!

Freeze Your A** Off 5K!

Another brilliant idea had by Fay and I - in our quest to do at least 1 5K every month, we decide to trek 1 hour and 15 minutes to Shelby Township, early in the morning, on the day of the Yearender.  Really, should have slept on this idea before signing up!

First of all, we drive to the ends of the earth to find out we do not even get a t-shirt for this race.  You have a choice of gloves or a head band.  WTF?  Really?  I am sure a medallion is definitely out of the picture now as well!

Second, I thought the race was called Freeze Your Fanny (apropos for January 28th in Michigan), but it was called Freeze Your Franny ( a mythical Maxine like funny looking lady), where people dressed up as her for a costume contest.  It should have been named "Freeze Your A** 5K" as we were being beat down by the sleet and the winds from the lake.

Lesson learned:  Take a break from 5Ks in January or find a tropical location to participate in them!

Come On Sea World - Reindeer Run 5K

Well now that I am a racing pro (with 2 races under my belt), I decided to get tricky and do the Reindeer Run at Sea World in Orlando, FL while Wendy, Sophia and I were visiting Mom and Dad.

Up at the crack of dawn again, we arrived at Sea World as giddy as two kids on Christmas morning.  We sprung from our car "to see what was the matter" (reference to Up on the Rooftop there).  Armed with coffee (provided by the race event company - smart, smart, company!), we spent our "warm-up" time taking pictures and checking out the Reindeer's, Santa's, and  Elves (aka runners dressed in nutty costumes).  That's when we realized we needed to get with the program and accessorize better at future races!

After a fun race, where we saw dolphins, sting rays and no Shamu (he was still in hair and makeup), we headed to the parking lot, where the fun began.  We could not remember where we parked!  In our excitement to be at Sea World, neither of us looked at the parking sign.  Faced with 5,000 racers and their autos and people arriving to the amusement park, we started to panic slightly.  That was until we saw the Sea World employee with the golf cart!  He could drive us around and help us find our car (aka Mom's car)!  As we approached, a woman was having a very animated conversation with him regarding the traffic jam in the parking lot.  Sea World had not done a great job directing racers out the lot, and there was gridlock!  After a lot of back and forth, she screamed "COME ON SEA WORLD!!!!" and stormed away.  That's when Wendy and I fell over laughing and decided the golf cart man had bigger fish to fry then helping us find our car.

After some deductive reasoning, we parked straight, not crooked, against a chain, we found our car and we were off to Starbuck's all the while yelling "COME ON SEA WORLD!"

The Turkey Trot or Why the Hell Am I Up So Early on Thanksgiving?

The next race that we thought was a good idea was the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  Why the hell did we think getting up and exercising on Thanksgiving would be fun?  We should be at home, nice and cozy, watching the parade, lazing around, preparing to stuff ourselves.

But no, here we were surrounded by 3,000 other nutters wearing turkey leg hats and pilgrim costumes, waiting to walk/run/crawl 5K as deer bounded by, causing the dogs at the race, that were not allowed, to go absolutely freakin' crazy!

And to top it off, this course was hilly!  I am not talking a gradual incline, I am talking, you need cramp-ons to make it up the hill, while down on all fours.  Fay didn't eat before the race (a common theme) and was starving about 1/3 of the way through.  As we contemplated our after race meal, being a holiday, what would be open? We joked that since Jimmy John's is so freaky fast, maybe they could deliver at kilometer marker 2 so we could finish the race!

As we huffed and puffed up the hill, out comes the smart phone, the McDonald's number researched and a call placed to ensure they would be open when we were done!  Having our priorities straight, we staggered up the final hill and finished the race.  Then, it was time for our Egg McMuffin!

The Start of an Obsession - the Detroit 5K Marathon

Whatever possessed Fay and I to sign up for a 5K walk, I have no idea.  Maybe we were bored?  Did we not have enough to do between a one year old, work, Jaycees and all our other commitments?  I think it boiled down to the fact that work was going to pay for mine, so why not?  Seemed like a good idea at the time.


It was a good idea at the time, until we had to get up at 4 something to get to Detroit for the race.  Then, we had to park in some creepy Cobo parking lot and walk a mile (or so it seemed) to the race area.  From there, after asking about 5 people where to pick up our packets, we finally found the registration table and were excited that we got official looking shirts (see picture above).  That's when we knew we were in over our heads.  We did not have appropriate walking shoes, we did not have a backpack to store our shirts and we most certainly did not want to walk back to the car to dump our stuff!


Of course, during the race, it rained, we were hot, we thought we were going to die several times of exhaustion, but we made it!  And guess what, we received a medallion when we finished!  Sure, it was only a Finisher Medallion, but nonetheless, we were hooked.


Our "runner's high" last all the way until we got home and made some breakfast.  As we did this, we registered for the Ann Arbor Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.


Things were fine until we had to go off to Sophia's 1st Birthday party at Chelsea Teddy Bear Co., at 2 pm.  Then, the exhaustion took over.  We were hopped on sugar to survive 11 kids under 8 for 2 hours!


Things we learned at the race - 1) We need good shoes; 2) Don't plan a kid's birthday party in the afternoon; 3) Bring a back pack and the most important: If it seems like a good idea, sleep on it, and see if it is still a good idea!


My new obsession had begun, stay tuned!

Festive Fun in Florida

Wendy, Sophia and I went to Florida to visit my parents in December. It's weird to be able to go swimming two weeks before Christmas!

First, the flight down was a debacle! In between eating a container full of gold fish, Sophia screamed for 2 hours. That was bad enough, but when the flight attendant told me "you have a very cute kid, but I am glad she is getting off the plane", I went ballistic! Are you f'ing kidding me? Do you think I was having a party during this time? Wendy and I were tag teaming and nothing would calm her down. Thank you Delta for the 7,500 miles because of your dumb ass staff member!

The Reindeer Run 5K at Sea World that Wendy and I participated in was awesome! Of course, our pace was slower than normal as we stopped to watch the dolphins, take pictures and check out the park. Again, the adventure started at the end of the event. In our excitement to be at Sea World, we did not look where we had parked and now we were looking for our car in a lot that contained 5,000 participants and park goers.

We decided to approach the Sea World workers in a golf cart so they could drive us around to look for our car. As we approached, we saw a woman yelling at them because there was a traffic jam in the parking lot as no one was directing all the racers out. After going back and forth, the woman screamed "Come On Sea World!" and marched away. Wendy and I were in hysterics, we found our car without a golf cart ride and headed back to Mom and Dads.

The last event of the week, Shrek the Halls, a Ice Extravagnza. 2,000,000 pounds of ice all carved into the Christmas Shrek story. Who else could find an attraction which required winter clothing when it is 70 degrees outside? Sophia loved the mannequin Santa, until we stood in line for 20 minutes to see the real Santa and she started shrieking. Fun times!

Help the Holidays Have Begun!

"Randy lay there like a slug, it was his only defense." - A Christmas Story

The Holiday Seasons are always fraught with drama, uncontrollable chaos and way too much to do.

For me, the holiday season started off with going to see White Christmas at the Fox Theater with Jaime. Nothing says holidays like the panhandlers in Detroit. But it was cold and I was able to wear my Burberry scarf, so it put me in a festive mood!

Christmas pictures with Santa commenced. Even with Auntie Fay singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and generally making a fool of herself in the mall, only Mommy and Santa were smiling in the pictures. At least we were color coordinated!

Up next, the 5K Turkey Trot with Fay on Thanksgiving morning. Nothing prepared us for the hills, as we huffed and puffed on our day off. Fay got hungry in the middle of the walk and I believe we were the only walkers calling McDonald's during the race to see if they were open! We needed sustenance! If it wasn't so early, we toyed with Jimmy John's as they "are freaky fast" and deliver.

Day after Thanksgiving shopping. Again, why do people where costumes/outfits to inappropriate locations? No one wants to see your pajama pants and we definitely don't think you need to wear a hard hat while shopping. People like that tell me to stay away from them, as they are the ones that end up on the news for punching another shopper to save a buck or two.

All this in a span of 20 days, time to fortify myself for December!

Things That Make Me Laugh

I know it's Thanksgiving and I should be listing all the things that I am thankful for - my family, my friends, my job, my health, but I am thankful for those things every day. So, I decided that I should tell you things that have made me laugh this month.

1) First, this poem, compliments of Brian Palmby. I have no idea where he comes up with this shit but I can't wait for our night before Thanksgiving tradition!

Twas the night before Thanksgiving, and all through the bar
People were eating wings, as they came from afar.
The orders were told to the waitress with care,
In the hopes that the cold beer would soon be there....

"Now Medium! now, Mango Habanero! now, Mild and Garlic Parmesan!
On, Asian Zing! On, BBQ! on, on Teriyaki and Blazin!
To the top of the stomach! Eat this fireball!
Now eat away! Eat away! Eat away all!"

And then, in a twinkling, I heard the Impala
The prancing and pawing of local fella.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Into the entrance Zeke came with a bound.

He was dressed all in Carharrt, from his head to his foot,
And his hoodies were all tarnished with wrenches and soot.
A bundle of alloys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a bachelor, just opening his six-pack.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
Eating all the wings, even the last Caribbean-jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, he started bitch slapping all the Ho's!

He sprang to his Impala, not before taking a piddle,
And away he drove in cold November drizzle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Thanksgiving to all, and thanks for the invite!"

2) Sophia Frankenstein - she is starting to walk but she looks like Frankenstein trying to keep her balance! The squeals of delight when she gets to you and gets a hug is awesome!

3) Traverse City Toast the Season Wine Tour - This is always a good time. 8 wineries and 1 distillery in a day, how can you go wrong? But what I don't get is the people that wear boas, Santa hats and matching shirts. This is not a race, this is not a team event. You don't wear a boa to a fancy restaurant, why to a winery?

4) Breaking Dawn Part I Premiere - I have never seen so many teenagers decked out in Victoria Secret PINK apparel and Uggs in all my life. You would have sworn we were at the premiere with the stars with the amount of camera flashes that were going off! The Twilight trivia, the tweens yelling "Team Edward", " Team Jacob" and clapping certainly made sure the movie and the previews were not boring!

So Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night!

Where Has The Time Gone?

My baby turns 1 in 5 days? Where did the last 360 days go? One year ago, I was cursing my doctor telling her to get this kid out of me, because she was 1 day late and I needed to go to Japan in 16 days! 24 hours of languishing in the hospital waiting for the drugs to kick in to induce labor did nothing to improve my mood! I was not sick, I was bored! Luckily, Mary Jo, Fay and Wendy came and played Scrabble Slam and Trivial Pursuit. Fay was on a roll with her stand-up comedy routine and my room was definitely the loudest on the floor.

Finally, labor. Laughing hysterically that Tom got up in the middle of the night and got dressed so he could spring into action at a moment's notice. Too bad that moment, took 12 hours! Then, there was the epidural, that took 1 1/2 hours to put in (3 attempts) and we cursing at the 3 Doctors screaming "I told you I did not want medical students!" only to find out they were just inept doctors! I was too pissed to be embarrassed!

Flash forward a year, how could it be a year! She is the most captivating creature on the planet. Her new game of peek-a-b00 is hysterical. She will cover her face, or her eyes, or even part of 1 eye and will not stop until you say "Where's Sophia? She's hiding on Mommy!" We need to have a talk - a ball the size of your hand does not cover your whole body.

She is already playing Mommy and Daddy. She will not feed herself when we are around. She will pick up her puff, hand it to you and then open her mouth! Really, Lazy Daisy??? But, put her in the big kid's room at school and she is eating her snack by herself and using her sippy cup like a pro. Hmmmm, we talk to your teachers ya know!

How about her melodramatics? She can be playing along, get tired, and just lay down, sprawl out and sigh. Really, life is that hard? You've lost your will? In 5 seconds? I wish I could decompress that quickly!

It's definitely been the best year of my life, but also the craziest! Happy Birthday to Mommy's Little Baby!

Baseball Shenanigan's

Wendy and I always have weird adventures when we go places. No matter where it is, Starbuck's, shopping, vacation, there is always some weirdo with radar who hones in on us. First, we were driving to Detroit and saw something that must have been illegal if the police were around. We saw a mini-van cruising down 94 with both slide doors open, with the driver and the passenger holding them. Probably not the safest thing ever as you drive 70 mph. One wrong move and appendages are gone. If your windows do not work, wouldn't you maybe bungee cord the door open for air instead of this alternative? Not sure we are dealing with the smartest people here!

OK, now we get to our seats to be asked by Mr. Perky Usher, where are our seats? Um, where we are sitting stupid! After being told that he did not realize that the Tigers had sold any tickets in this section, we were left alone. Why would they not sell tickets in this section? It is one of the best in the stadium. I guess it was our private VIP section. No sausage stuffed LA Dodgers section.

As a few more people sat in the section, again the usher's perplexment, the Bald Brigade sat down in front of us. 4 men dressed the same, in the same type of glasses, all with no hair. Were they trying to be quadruplets? Really, you just look ridiculous!

What's up with the Weird Wave people? Why are they at every game and why do they think it is their responsibility to convince 30,000 people to act like idiots instead of watching the game?

Finally, at the last Tiger's game, we had a first. The seagulls started congregating on the field for a convention when a load screech erupts. The grounds crew is shooting flares with hunting sounds off to scare the birds. This goes on for several innings before the heinous sound ends! I can understand this at Giant's stadium maybe, but in the middle of the D? Really? Who thought this was a good idea?

As Wendy and I spend the evening laughing, we chalk it up to another wacky weirdo adventure!

Freaky Facts and Odd Outings

Well, it's been a while since my last blog, but we were on Day 3 of our Pittsburgh part guy. Wendy offered to hang out with Sophia so Fay and I could explore. First, we went to Fallingwater, which does not allow visitors under 6. WTF? They are too good for little kids? After hiking a 1/4 mile down a trail in thunder and lightening, we arrived at the magnificent Frank Llyod Wright house where apparently all the guides are required to use walking sticks. Our dressed in black, bedazzled jacket woman with hair as high as a bee hive, regaled for over an hour about unique architect facts, while Fay and I focused in on the bar and kept telling each other "Just a splash darling, I'm serious" as we giggled through the tour sneaking cheese crackers to eat (as we were starving)!

The we decided to drive another 6 miles into the stix to see another Frank Lloyd Wright house, Kentuck Knob. What a funny name! I certainly would not brag about living at a house with a name like that. Speaking of, why do people name their houses? What should Tom and I name our condo? Hmmm, McAllister Manse, Meadow Hall, really? I don't think so.

Then, it was off to a winery, and to Nemocolin Spa and Resort, which immediately plunged us into the movie Dirty Dancing as we were yelling "No Body Puts Baby in a Corner!" Things got crazy in the car when we saw a sign for Mystic Falls and started looking for Damon and Stephen Salvatore from the Vampire Diaries. We were sure we would be bit by a vampire at any minute!

On the way back to Uniontown, we paid homage to the Scott's when we visited Fort Necessity (where we don't like history that you have to pay for), Braddock's Grave and the Mount Washington Tavern.

The day completed with me going to bed while Wendy, Fay and her Dad (who was not technically playing) trivial pursuit yelling answers. I was woken up to be quizzed about the strongest muscle in the human body. Groggily, I said "the tongue, of course" turned over and prayed that these two crazies would let me go back to sleep!

The Science of Sightseeing

So up early Thursday morning for a marathon day of sightseeing. After spending the prerequisite 1/2 hour packing up all the crap we unpacked the night before and hauling it to the car and pretending to feed Sophia a waffle to freak Tom out, we were off to Barnes and Noble to stand in line for our passes to the Jen Lancaster book signing that night. That's when the fun started! Jean Jacket Bitchy Girl decided that she had been "temporarily hired" by Barnes and Noble to tell everyone else in line what to do, because being #4 in line somehow also grants you the power to be an ass! After securing the 14th, 15th and 16th "golden tickets" and securing our books, we were off to downtown to walk along the river front and take a tour of PNC park.

The tour was awesome and we got to go all over the place and met pitchers James McDonald (right off the minors plane) and Paul Malholm. We oohed and ahhed over where the Taylor Lautner movie "Abduction" was filmed within the stadium. We were able to go on the warning track on the field and in the dugout. Because Sophia is super cute, she got to put her tootsies down on the actual grass!

Then it was off to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and off to Monongahela Incline, which for the life of me I could not pronounce much to Wendy and Fay's amusement. After the hot 5 minute RIDE up the side of the hill, we decided we should reward ourselves with ice cream, for which we had to walk 100 feet for. If we wanted gourmet coffee, we would have had to walk 120 feet, so being lazy, we decided that was too far!

Then it was back to the Waterfront to hang out until Jen's book event. We decided to have a WT picnic on the grass in the parking lot so Sophia could roly poly and we could chill. That lasted for all of 10 minutes before it started pouring, thunder and lightening. So we decided to do what we do best - SHOP! Off to DSW!

I decided to try on some Guess flip flops (retailing for $24.95). As I put them back in the box to purchase them, I see blue ink on my chest. After inspection, the security ink tag on these shoes has exploded onto my skin, my new, first time worn shorts and my boob. They are so lucky that Sophia wasn't Smurfed up like I was or they really would have had a pissed off person on their hands! After "this has never happened before" by several members of the staff, I left looking like Smurfette. Really, you need a ink tag for cheap flip flops? These are not Loubatins or Manolos or even Havianas for F sake, really? Boy, they really trust their customers!

Not wanting to go to the Book signing looking like a deranged fan, a quick change in the parking lot was necessary (luckily we still had all our crap in the car)! From there it was off to an uneventful dinner at Gran Agave followed by the book signing which was excellent! After securing our signed books and our requisite picture, we started the 1 hour trek to Wendy's parent's house where it continued to rain hard enough to cause flooding. We swear we saw Noah's Arc pass by and a flying cow shoot by.

Once finally at Tom and Donna's it was time to unpack the car, set up the pack and play again (we did better this time) and pass out! Tomorrow is another day of fun!