Pain now...beer later.

I just got home from watching my brother-in-law, sister and sister's friend run in the Atlanta marathon. What a morning for it! It's the coldest morning we've had all year, I think, and it's starting to get a little wet from Hurricane Sandy. Brr! Several of us were there holding signs, and it was fun to cheer for the runners. We definitely amused ourselves!

The Falcons play the Eagles today in Philadelphia. The Falcons are actually the underdogs, but I have a good feeling about it. I think it has already started raining in Philadelphia from the storm, so it might get pretty messy today. I wore my Falcons hoodie to the marathon and waved a Falcons flag, so that's got to bring the team some good luck. Goooo Falcons! The Eagles are 13-0 coming off of bye weeks under this coach, but every streak must come to an end.

One of my best childhood friends (KZ) got married two weekends ago, and it was a blast. The wedding was in Rome, which is quite a beautiful little town. It was so low-key and full of awesome attendees. The ceremony went off without a hitch. I was responsible for carrying the groom's ring, which was somewhat nerveracking, but I made it to the vows without losing it! I only have one more wedding to attend this year, and it's my cousin's (EJ) next weekend. Until next spring...

My doctor's appointment went okay the other week. I ended up getting put on oral antibiotics, and I go back in about two weeks. I'm not surprised it wasn't my best, but I thought it would have gone slightly better than it did. You win some; you lose some!

Yesterday, when getting dog food at PetSmart, I saw a little jester collar and hat on sale for $1.97. Of course I had to get it for Noodle, and I had her wear it for much of the day yesterday. I think the collar might be the key to the Falcons' victory today. I like the sound of the little jingle bells on it. Aww!

Well, I hope the Falcons make me proud today. Rise up!

Back that thing up

Well, well, well... To address the elephant in the room, the Braves lost the stinkin' playoff game. They made three errors that gave up five unearned runs. Painful. They lost their best scoring opportunity on a pop-up to left field, on which the umpires absurdly applied the infield fly rule. The horrid call got a lot of air time, and the remainder of the game was played under protest. It wouldn't be Braves baseball without some insane drama! Despite the loss, I'm glad I went.

I was supposed to go to the doctor on Monday for a check-up and my annual labs, which meant fasting since Sunday night. When I was getting ready on Monday morning, Noodle took it upon herself to open a cabinet and find the only chocolate that exists in the house. In addition to half of a huge chocolate bar (ahem, dark chocolate, the worst kind for dogs), she ate an entire bag of craisins.

I obviously started freaking out about the chocolate, and my friend (IK) gave me a recipe for a potion to make her throw up. At this time in the saga, it's literally impossible for me to make it to the doctor on time. She drank one dose and I could tell she wanted to vomit, but she was holding it back. I whipped up another dose, but she'd realized it was awful by this point, so I tried adding some peanut butter. Not thinking, I ate a fingerful of peanut butter, accidentally breaking my 12-hour fast. After this, I just threw in the towel and canceled my appointment all together.

When she threw up, boy, did she throw up! Tons and tons of it. The only casualty I suffered was one rug. If you were to make a baked bean and craisin casserole... TMI.

I am slowly injuring every player in the NFL through my fantasy football efforts. I have now injured my back-up running back's back-up. This one was season-ending. In case you aren't following, I'm now on my fourth different starting running back for one slot. Quite impressive, if I do say so myself. I'm 3-2 for the season, so I could be doing much worse given all of my injuries.

I'm sure I have more to say, but I'm very tired. The Falcons are 5-0, which is AWESOME!!!!!

Peace!

It's Wild-Card Friday!

Go Braves!

Tonight is a big night for the Atlanta Braves. After a dramatic season (What's new!?), the Braves will compete in the first-ever one-game Wild-Card playoff tonight. (Lots of hyphens there!) The Braves were playing incredible baseball at the end of the regular season (minus the games that they didn't use their starters), so I am excited to see what's in store.

Speaking of Atlanta sports success (You don't hear that often...), the Falcons have started the season 4-0. There were several too-close-for-comfort games, but they've put together a really solid team this season. I went to the Monday Night Football game against the Denver Broncos a couple of weeks ago. What a game! I somehow ended up in the most obnoxious section ever, but it was still a blast. (By obnoxious, I mean that the fans felt the need to yell ignorant commentary on everything, the boyfriend and girlfriend behind me broke up in the first quarter, the boyfriend proceeded to pass out with his knees where my head should be until the fourth quarter, etc.)

I went to Arizona last Wednesday through Monday. It was mainly for work, but partially for fun. I absolutely loved the weather out there. Supposedly we got there just in time for "cool season" of about 100-degree days, but I loved it. People were joking about how the "dry heat" concept was a myth, but I totally agree. I could be in the heat all day without feeling sticky and gross. The nights there were absolutely perfect. They weren't hot or cold; they were just right. (Goldilocks!) I would love to go back there. I stayed at an incredible resort called Montelucia. It was just as beautiful as it looked in photographs, which isn't often the case.

Well, I better get moving this morning.

Happy Friday to all...and GO BRAVES!