happy halloween!

this america's next top model contestant preps for her next photo challenge. the assignment: a day at the zoo. unleash your inner animal... (updated photos may be posted later.)

the wild julie

found the link to this fun on the caffeinated librarian's blog. want to make your own? go to www.buildyourwildself.com.

happy anniversary to us!

hard to believe it's been 2 years since honey and i got married... now here we are, just an old married couple... sittin' on the couch on our anniversary.

well, it's not as pathetic as it sounds. we're going to celebrate on friday, when LM has a daycare-sponsored "kids' night out." he believes he is having all the fun by going to an amusement park with all his daycare buddies, but we parents know better! what it really translates to is another night off for us. woohoo!

cold stone creamery, here we come! (or something like that.)

ok mistr dentst

runnin' down a documentary

i'm so excited! i actually won something!

last friday i was listening to the globe on my way to work, as usual, to hear the morning's trivia question. each day at about 7:45 a.m. the globe gives away some sort of prize to a person who can correctly answer one trivia question (always related to the prize they're giving away that week).

well, last week's prize was a pair of tickets to see the d.c. premiere screening of runnin' down a dream: tom petty and the heartbreakers, the new documentary on tom petty's career. friday's question was:

"one of tom petty's biggest hits was "mary jane's last dance." in 2002 a band that we all know and love was accused of plagiarism for copying the structure of the song. what band was accused, and what song sparked the accusation?"

for most of these questions i'm pretty clueless about the answer, but this time, i knew! i figured, what the heck... i'll give it a shot! i called in while i was driving and almost couldn't believe it when the phone actually started ringing. usually with these radio contests you get a busy signal. i let it ring and ring... so long i thought for sure the operator would come on and announce that my party wasn't answering and i should hang up and try my call again.

then, just when i was about to give up, weasel answered. he asked the question again, and i answered correctly! after telling me i was right, he asked me the routine questions: what's my name, where am i calling from, am i a fan of tom petty, etc. he then took down my info. so the interns could get in touch with me later.

to sum up, on monday honey and i went downtown for dinner and then went to see the movie. it was long, but really great! i never thought about how many hits the heartbreakers have had, and in general the documentary was very well-presented, humorous, and lively. four hours went by pretty quickly. in fact, i think it felt shorter than any one of the lord of the rings series!

now i'm looking forward to the second part of my prize: receiving the dvd in the mail!

halftime alternative?

you know, watching football games on tv could be a whole lot more bearable for me if i could watch the marching band at halftime!

this has been a longtime gripe of mine... why won't they show the band? we have to watch hours upon hours of huddles, plays that gain meager yardage, missed field goals, sideline interviews, and flags on plays. what about the halftime flags? you know, those wonderful ladies who add color and interest to the marching band?

i would find all of this more fun and worthwhile if i was just rewarded with the ability to watch a whole halftime show. especially if it's a game with one of the big southern schools with a good band... that music brings back memories of high school for me, and i love to see the drill, watch the pictures change on the field, admire how each person makes up a little part of the big picture with precise movements...

when i see a band on the field i can almost smell the crisp fall air and feel the cozy warmth of the early october sun. ahh, the memories!

so, major networks, please hear me: show me the marching band!

no more bouncy rubber track?

i checked back on tuesday evening and the track was locked again. guess i'm going to have to come up with "plan b."

disappointment

after four long weeks of nursing my injured foot (see weekend update for details), i was finally ready to go out to the track to run yesterday. i was pumped up, i was ready, i was going to start back in and really train for real! buuut...

the track was locked! i drove over to the high school and all the gates to access the football field and track were padlocked, save for one. since i would have had to walk through the outfield of a baseball game while it was in progress just to access that gate, i thought better of it and went home.

bummer!

i'm going to check in the evening to see if they're keeping it locked all the time now... that would really throw a wrench into my running plans!