Lady Gaga's In Town!

What a friggin busy day!  Class this morning, work all day (errands, piles of files), lunch, run after work, laundry, grading papers!  I guess I signed up for this!  And I loved only the parts involving teaching every minute of it!

Last night my seester made the GF and I dinner.  It was amazing!  So amazing that I'm tempted to ask her to come over once a week just to cook for us.  My nephew had a blast with the pups.  After their 3 mile walk and 15 minute sprints at the doggie park, my nephew played with them for about another 3 hours!  Well, mostly he screamed at them and ran from them and threw the ball on the counter for them!  The pups were exhausted!  Cutest thing of the night: my nephew tried to pout and was walking away from me dragging his blankie...I almost got a Linus picture!

My niece was busy at a Lady Gaga party.  A Lady Gaga party for 6 to 8 year olds.  A Lady Gaga party where all the kids had to dress up like Lady Gaga!  I mean, when's the cutoff?  Anywhoo, when my niece got to the house after the party and I asked her how it went, she said Lady Gaga was at the party...the real Lady Gaga!  How exciting is that?  Lady Gaga in the Land of Enchantment?  I'm still wondering if any kids showed up covered in meat!  Well, they danced the night away and she ended up having a great time.  The seester was smart enough not to dress her in some skimpy outfit!  She's only 6 for cryin out loud!

I ran 3 miles after work today and although my neck was tight and achy all day, it felt just fine while I ran.  I'll try again tomorrow and just keep going until it really hurts again.  I'm planning on signing the GF and I up for a race this weekend anyway, so I gotta get ready!  Speaking of races, I'd like to take a quick moment to talk about a new race on the calendar: The Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold: February 11, 2012.  Some of you may have heard about it on the news, but here's a quick excerpt from Shut Up & Run's page:

"On January 7, 2012, my cousin Sherry, age 43, left her house in the small town of Sidney, Montana at 6:30 a.m. for an early morning run. She didn’t always run in the morning because as a teacher, it was often difficult to fit in runs before she headed to Sidney High School to teach math. January 7 was a Saturday, however, and Sherry had a bit more time to spare. After her run she planned to meet her sister, Rhonda, and head out to their parent’s ranch a few miles outside of town. Her husband, Gary, had gone for a walk at 5:30 a.m. and when he returned home he could tell that Sherry had already left for her run because of the toothpaste splatters in the sink and a light that was on in the kitchen.


Sherry often ran within the town limits and January 7 was no exception. When Sherry did not come home later that morning, however, her husband began to worry. He called the police and a search ensued. By 3:00 p.m. hundreds of volunteers were searching for Sherry and only one clue had been found, Sherry’s right Brook’s running shoe.


My aunt called to tell me that “something bad had happened in Montana.” As the details unfolded, a weight sat in the pit of my stomach. I hoped for the best, but feared the worst. Please find her. Please bring her home.


For several days there was no sign of Sherry. On the seventh day, a tip was received on the FBI’s tip line that led to the arrest of two men, one in North Dakota and one in South Dakota. One of the men confessed to killing Sherry. She had been abducted at 6:40 a.m., only about a mile from her house.


Sherry’s body has not yet been found.


Sherry’s traumatic and heinous death has shocked, angered and saddened her small community. On a much larger scale, it has also rocked the running world from coast to coast and abroad. How could something so random, violent and senseless happen to someone so giving, someone loved by so many?"

This is very sad, especially because it's not supposed to happen to someone we know!  It's never supposed to be this close to home.  So, on February 11th, if you'd like to run/walk/bike or anything with me to honor Sherry Arnold, let me know!  Shut Up & Run has a link on her blogsite where you can also donate to Sherry's family (for her kids) if you so choose.

With that, I'll leave you with one last thing...Good Night!!

~Chix