Chapter 2 page 602–Saying Goodbye

As you may have noticed, I’ve been rather absent from the blogosphere for the better part of a month.  I regret this has happened and wish I could have prevented it but the last month (really the last 3 weeks) have been absolutely a whirlwind. 

In the past couple of months and especially this past week I’ve said “good bye” to several things and wish that I could update the title of my blog to say Chapter 3 . . . as I have no doubt that’s where I’m at now. 

Here are some of the things that I have had to say goodbye to recently:

-Soda (so sad – I miss it everyday!  Honestly think I’ll revert sooner rather than later, but for now, I’m holding strong!  It’s been 2 months without soda)

-Crappy fast-food (I still go to McDonalds on the rare occasion for a plain no butter english muffin and a round egg or a fruit and yogurt parfait and if in a crisis a grilled chicken sandwich, but LONG gone are the double cheeseburgers and fries!  I don’t miss them at all . . . well the convenience of it I miss.  It’s been 2 months.

-Donuts and other frosted deliciousness (I had a frosted cinnamon roll today and feared it would drive me right of the wagon instead it was so sweet I didn’t eat all the frosting – THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE!  It’s been 2 months – longest time ever except for when I was at basic training for the army).  Recently I attended several gatherings thrown in my honor and ate 4 pieces of cake but none were frosted and none were the “normal” cake and none resulted in  me falling off the wagon which I think is super awesome!

Now on to a more serious note of who/what I’ve said goodbye to in the past week:

-A week ago a close family friend died unexpectedly.  My heart aches for his companion and his 2 daughters.  He was an amazing person who lived a life we should all live – he did the things he really wanted to do and as best as I can tell he lived his life with no regrets.  We should all be so lucky at the end of our lives.

-I left my job of 8 years at a local hospital.  I never discuss work on my blog unless it’s something amazing like my training groups, but work stress and the search for new work has been a huge part of my life for the past 6-12 months.  I will so totally miss my friends and especially being across the hall from physical therapy because as we all know – I’m a heavy user of the rehab!!!!  I loved my co-workers and was blessed with an amazing opportunity to work with some of the most talented people in the country! (Spoiler alert:  Later this week I will post about my new job – it’s my dream job and I’m so blessed!!!  It starts tomorrow  . . . positive thoughts sent my way would be totally appreciated!)

-I traded in my old 2001 Saturn L200 car.  I had bought it brand new when it only had 42 miles on it and after 11 years ago we had been together for 165,438 miles!  Man I loved that car.  (Spoiler alert:  I had to get a new vehicle because my new job which is quite the commute of 120 miles round trip . . .post about my new ride coming later this week)

Well, that’s about it.  I pinky swear promise to write another post later this week about all the things I’ve gotten to say hello to in the last week.

Hope you are doing well and haven’t forgotten about me or deleted me from your google reader.  I won’t be back full strength but fortunately when I set out to write this post I was going to add “saying goodbye to blogging”, but I just can’t do it – I love it too much and I’m hopeful that my hectic life of the last 3 weeks will subside a little and allow more time for blogging and running and blogging about running.

Hugs bloggy friends!

Chapter 2 page 601–Chicago Hotel

I can imagine you don’t care, and honestly I wasn’t going to write up this post, but some of the pictures are lovely given I was on the 14th floor of the Congress Plaza so . . . read it or not – just thought I would include it in the full recap.

That’s all she wrote for Chicago RnR 2012! 

Chapter 2 page 600– An afternoon of chillin’ while sweatin’ on the Pier

With MOA’s train leaving a couple of hours before mine, I found myself “homeless” (had to check out of the hotel early in the afternoon) and not a lot of energy I decided to spend a few hours sitting in an adorandak chair and just take in all of the scenary.  It was beautiful and fairly peaceful.  It was the perfect way to enjoy the sun (and oh so much heat), the sky line, water, boats, and people. 

Then . .  sadly, the 36 hours in Chicago was over . . . all aboard!

I had a blast in Chicago with MOA!

Chapter 2 page 599–Chicago Eatfest

How can MOA and I go to Chicago, run a race, and have a girlfriend’s weekend away without having all the carbs you can manage to consume?  Yeah, we thought so . . .

First up – awesome brunch on Saturday morning at Corner Bakery – YUM.  Here’s a photo of us outside of the restaurant.

Next up – pre-race carb loading dinner at Maggianos – LOVE THIS PLACE.  We had reservations but things got messed up so we had about 75 minutes to walk around . . . so we checked out the Rainforest café and Hard Rock Café while we waited.

What was “on tap” for our pre-race dinner?  Bruschetta, Salads, bread, Lasagna (me), Chicken Marsalla (MOA), and Spumoni (not pictured).

Finally, a post race visit to an authentic pizzaria for a bit of deep dish – my mouth is watering just typing about it.  We had this amazing appetizers that was a stuffed bread – holy delicious batman!  We both had 2 servings of a “medium” size salad and still had at least half left – crazy huge servings!  And of course – the feature – pizza (insert mouth watering here).

Next up?  A day on the Pier (the Navy Pier that is!).

Chapter 2 page 598–Post Race Party

As you are familiar, every RnR event has a post race concert and a gigantic party.  At this event Cobra Starship was the featured band and there was TONS of freebies to drink, eat, and enjoy.  McDonalds was giving away Cherry Berry Chillers (SOOOO GOOD since it was already over 90 degrees), Jamba Juice and Naked juice was there to give away samples – couldn’t get enough.  The location of the post race party was in a large grassy area – so perfect to just chill (ha – it was really just a sweatfest!). 

Next up?  Chicago Eatfest!