Getting Faster… No Wait, I Can’t Walk

This week was pretty hectic around here. Bastille days has been going on so there has been no parking and an influx of people into our area. Thursday Jocelyn and I did the storming of the Bastille run. We walked down to the starting area and there were a bunch of people running. I wasn’t expecting to see as many people as I did. There were enough people to fill up three quarters of a city block sidewalk to sidewalk. The run was a fun run throughout downtown Milwaukee. There were no mile markers or even official times so it really was a fun run. There was one bar in the Third Ward that was acting like a water station and handing out beers. I was dying at this point and taking a beer, as funny as it would have been, would’ve have been the death of me. I knocked almost a minute off my time from my last 5k and ended up with a 21:05. I still have a little over a minute to shave off to get to my goal.

Thursday and Friday from about 3:00 until 5:00 I got to watch the Blue Angels practice for the coming weekends air show. I could watch these guys everyday all day and never get sick of them. They are absolutely amazing and a lot of crazy. I would love to explain what I saw but you really have to see them yourselves to appreciate them.

Friday after I got done watching the Blue Angels practice I had to head to Menomonee Falls with Jocelyn for the wedding rehearsal of this weekend’s wedding. We got to the church right on time and the rehearsal was the easiest I’ve ever been in. After that we went to a super nice shelter in Brookfield where Todd and Steph had a luau themed rehearsal cookout. All our friends were there and the luau was a great success. We drank some rum punch, played some softball and told college stories. We headed home after the park closed and got ready for the big day tomorrow.

We woke up bright and early ready to celebrate Todd and Steph’s big day. Jocelyn had to head out earlier than me because she had to get her hair done and all that good stuff. I caught a ride with Luedke. He also picked up Ham and Ben so we were a good looking car or tuxed up men. We went to Todd’s and got ready and ate some left over brats from the night before. Then the bus came and it was go time. We got to the church with almost no incident. The limo driver was clueless as to how to get to the church so we had to give her some direction. Pulling a Y turn in a limo bus on a country road is quite the heralding experience. We finally made it to the church just a couple minutes late. We then waited around for the girls, who were late, so we could get the show on the road. They finally arrived and it was wedding time. It was a Catholic wedding but there was no communion so the whole thing only took about 45 minutes. The wedding was very nice and easy on all the attendants. The A/C was pumping and there wasn’t a lot of standing or any kneeling. The whole thing almost went off without a hitch except for a little confusion on the holding of the rings. I wasn’t a big think and everyone got a laugh. So the wedding was over and two of our close friends are officially husband and wife. We didn’t take any pictures at the church, again nice. So we piled on the bus and started the celebration. We took the bus downtown to the Lakefront Bistro to snap some picture in the blazing sun and heat. The groomsmen were sweating up a storm but we were able to watch the Blue Angels again. They were doing their Saturday show as we were taking our pictures. We snapped some pictures by the lake, lost a couple pounds of sweat, and then hopped back on the bus to get downtown. This ride would usually take under five minutes but since the air show had just gotten out it was bumper to bumper downtown. It took us over half an hour to get downtown but we had tunes and some wine so we were good to go. Once we got to the reception at the downtown Hilton the fun kicked into high gear. We had some more drinks and ate dinner. I had the filet mignon and I might add it was delicious. The rest of the night was spent dancing away. Then, my awful luck continued. I pulled out one of my patented dance moves that I had done a million times before but this time my hamstring didn’t want to do it. I felt it tear and the pain was unbelievable. I think my hamstrings were still tight from the run on Thursday. I couldn’t walk and my night was over. I went into steaming mad depression mode because this kind of stuff has been happening to me too much lately. The fun and dancing came to an end and I hobbled to a cab and went home for the night while everyone else went out to have fun.

Sunday I was in extreme pain. I tried to leave the couch to go see the Blue Angels do their actual show. It took me fifteen minutes to go two blocks and the heat was killing me so I hobbled back to the couch where I stayed for the rest of the day. This sucks.

Overlooked Summer Festival: Kondofest

Happy Independence Day everyone! I love the holiday weekends. This past fourth weekend was quite chill for a usual party weekend. Friday I stayed in and wound down to go into full relaxation mode for the weekend. Saturday was Kondofest. For those of you that don’t know Kondofest is a party held each year in conjunction with Summerfest. It is put on by one of my friends Mike Kondracowitz, or something like that. Any who, this year it was held at a new location because Mike now lives downtown and it’s easier to get to Summerfest than from Brookfield. This year Mike went all out. He got a permit from the city to shut down his block to through traffic and he also got a huge pig to roast up for the carnivores. The party always has a lot of people so it’s always tons of flying quarters fun. I was planning on pulling the all day party but I got a call from my brother saying he and Billie were coming down to see the Brewers. As fun as Kondofest is it isn’t often that my brother ventures to Miller Park so I decided to go to the game. Jocelyn stayed at Kondofest because she and a couple other girls were going to see Kenny Chesney at Summerfest. So I hopped into Schwenker’s Jeep and we headed off the park. We found my brother and we tailgated and enjoyed the perfect weekend weather. We headed into the game and although the Brewers lost we were able to enjoy the game. It was pretty cool after the game. Everyone stayed in the park and you were able to watch fireworks from your seat at the park. They turned all the lights off for ultimate effect. It was kind of weird seeing a full, dark, Miller Park. After the works we tailgated a bit more in the parking lot and then headed back downtown. We got a couple calls from some Kondofesters and they wanted us to meet them at the bars but I was too tired so I headed home and called it a night.

Sunday I woke up to a full house of partied out Kondofesters. We debated on going to the Brewers game but we decided to just pull the lazy day and watched it on TV and ordered pizza. That night we watched the lakefront fireworks and concluded the day.

Monday we did absolutely nothing and loved it.

Life: Next Chapter – CliffsNotes

So this weekend was pretty big. But I can’t just overlook Friday. Friday J and I went to the Brewers game. The Brewers played the Twins and these tickets were one of the sets of Beer Pen tickets that I bought on in the beginning of the year. The Brewers picked up the victory and we met some nice people in the parking lot tailgating before the game.

This brings us to Saturday. So this was the big day as was previously mentioned. I had this day planned for a couple months but it almost didn’t come together. The day kind of snuck up on me and I booked the hotel and the dinner cruise the week before. It was tough finding a hotel and my original cruise was sold out. But it all turned out in the end. We woke up early and drove to our hotel, the Congress Plaza in Chicago, at about 11. We weren’t able to check in and I had the ring (which I bought online at bluenile.com) in my bag and wasn’t about to let Jose throw it in the corner of some room. So I told Jocelyn that I didn’t want to check my bag because my watch was in there and I didn’t want it to get stolen. She didn’t buy that so I told her that I had to go to the bathroom. She kept on yelling to leave my bag but I just ignored her and kept walking. I got down the corridor a bit and ducked down a hall where I took the ring out and put it in my pocket so I ended up having to walk around with the ring all day in the cargo pocket of my shorts. Once we got our bags dropped off we headed across the street to the Taste of Chicago. The Taste was a good time. It’s a big food festival and they have a “taste portion” at eat food stand which is a sampling of the food of the restaurant. Some of the taste portions were actually a good size and we had plenty to eat. After the taste we walked to Navy Pier and around Chicago a bit. Wired NextFest was going on at Navy Pier and I really really wanted to go. If it was any other weekend I would have probably put up a stink and went but it really wasn’t on my mind this weekend. I did get to peek in the entrance doors and I did have a little “doggy in the window” feeling. After Navy Pier we headed back to the hotel to check in and get ready for the night. We got back and I was getting ready to shower when I realized I grabbed the wrong the shirt. I grabbed my light blue short sleeve one when I wanted my long sleeve one. Then I realized that I had NO PANTS! I had laid out my outfit the night before and hung my pants on the hanger with my long sleeve shirt. So I started to panic a little and off we went to try to find some pants at 4 on Saturday. Luckily we were in Chicago and there was a Carson’s about four blocks down. We got the much need khakis and I was able to relax a bit. So back to the hotel we went. We both got ready and then cabbed it to Navy Pier for our dinner cruise. The cruise I ended up booking was the Odyssey dinner cruise. Since it was a special night I also booked the “special occasion” package where you get a souvenir picture and I got the champagne special where you get two souvenir glasses. So we sat down and had some drinks. We walked around the boat and checked out all the decks. Then we had our dinner. We both ended up ordering the same thing. It started with a tasting appetizer. Our first course was seafood in a puff pastry bowl and our main course was filet mignon with some potatoes and delicious creamed spinach. Our waiter was very nice and part of the special occasion package was a special dessert. I told him that we were there to celebrate Jocelyn’s birthday which was over a month ago but that really was what she thought we were there to celebrate. But never-the-less they brought out a special dessert with candles on it. I have neglected to mention that the weather was sweltering which made for some interesting weather on Lake Michigan. It was very hazy when we left the pier and continued to be very hazy throughout our cruise which actually kind of stunk. You couldn’t see the skyline too well which is a big part of the cruise. Then all of a sudden the haze lifted but it didn’t stay that way for long. It was crystal clear for about thirty minutes. You could see the entire city of Chicago for thirty minutes and then the haze got doubly worse. So after dessert they back the boat up to Navy Pier so you can watch the fireworks but it was so foggy that we could barely see the fireworks. It was kind of cool but there was no way I could give Jocelyn my jacket with the ring in it so she was forced to tough it out. After the sub-par fireworks we headed back to our table. It was kind of strange again because no one really came back into the dinning area until about twenty minutes after the finale, so this was my time to act. I told Jocelyn, ‘are you ready for the real grand finale,’ a funny pun on the fireworks, get it. Then, after that, I proposed. She was quite shocked and surprised and couldn’t stop smiling, it was great. After that we danced to a couple songs and waited for the boat to dock. Once back on land we tried to go to a couple bars but they were closing so we ended up going to the Hard Rock hotel. It was a very modern trendy type bar. It was nice and we sat down and had a couple beers. It was a long day in the sun so we headed back about oneish and called it a night, a very special night.

Sunday we woke up and went to Cosi to get some lunch before we checked out. After we finished eating we checked out and headed over to my cousin Steve’s in Lincoln Park. We went there and checked out the remodeling he’s doing on his condo. Then we went over to a bar with an outdoor eatery and had a couple beers and enjoyed the Sunday sun. After that we headed home. I being the computer geek stud that I am will have a wedding website. There will be some cyber invitations, cyber confirmations and information for the wedding. The website is not built yet but all the information you will need be able to be found at http://www.ryanandjocelyn.com.

Buckethead vs. Bandwagon

Last night I went with Luedke to the Brewers game. The Crew took on the Cubs. Luedke and I sat in the buckethead section for 4 innings and then headed down to our normal standing area behind section 110. It’s usually a lucky spot but I guess our luck ran out. The game was going great through the 7th with the Brewers up 2-0. The Chub fans were quiet through the entire game making for an enjoyable experience. But a couple errors and two Chicago bombs put the crew down 2-4 and the obnoxiousness of the bandwagon brigade kicked in. That was the final score but I guess it is nice to have a big crowd for a game even if 70% of them are Cub fans.

Regular ‘ol Weekend

I am posting this entry from the comfort of my couch because this past week it got a new laptop. I got a Dell 700m and I absolutely love it. I’ve had a pretty low key month with the exception of Wertz coming in from NY. Friday we went to Mequon to pick up Jocelyn’s dress for Todd’s wedding. While we were out there we went to Milli’s Spaghetti Factory. This place used to be a regular stop for my mom, aunt Joanie and me when we made our trips to Northridge Mall (which is no longer open). The food was good and I got what I always got as a kid, linguine in red clam sauce, yum. After that we headed back downtown and went by Luedke’s for a bit. We had a beer there and after that Jocelyn went home because she was doing the Urban Frog race the next day. I on the other hand was able to have a couple more beers. So I joined the L, Adam and Stacy for a couple beers across the street at Halliday’s. I had a couple beers and headed home before midnight. On my walk home I got buzzed by a couple on a crotch rocket. They were being followed by four others also on bikes. The second group passed two cars using the white divider line as a lane so they weren’t the safest of riders. At that moment I had one of those, “Those people are going to kill themselves,” or “Someday something bad is going to happen to them moments.” I kept on walking and got about 100 yards from the upcoming intersection when I heard the screeching and crashing. The guy and girl got hit broadside and thrown a good 20+ yards into the little park that was by the intersection. There was a white Celica with four hysterical girls in it that had the front end smashed in and the bumper half off. I was one of the first people on the scene but could already hear sirens coming so I didn’t need to call 911. I stood and watched the melee for about 20 minutes and the guy didn’t move once. The bike had a v contour to it so I’d imagine they both had at least one crushed leg. Shows you what unsafe riding can do I guess.

Saturday I had a little list of things to do. Jocelyn was doing her adventure race so I was going solo. I took her car to the mechanic to get the air conditioning checked. I dropped the car off and took my bike out of the back of the Montero and biked around downtown for a bit. There were people running around doing the race but I didn’t see J anywhere. One of my errands was exchanging my bike seat. It had a hole in it when I bought it and they said I could just take it in to Wheel & Sprocket for an exchange. It was a good fifteen miles roundtrip so it took me a little over an hour. I got the seat exchanged, biked to the mechanic to pick up the Montero and headed home. Jocelyn got home about four or five and took a nap. Around seven we went to Elsa’s with Adam and Stacy to get some grub. The food there is very good. Their menu is mostly gourmet hamburgers and pork chops. When you walk into the place it seems like a swanky joint but they serve mostly burgers. The place is owned by the same people who own the Kopp’s hamburger places so you know the burger is going to be good, and it was. I had an APV II which had some blue cheese and onions fried in Cabernet sauvignon, delicious. The meal was very good but the drinks added a lot of money to the bill and we spent more than expected. My suggestion is just get the burgers there. They’re about $8 and well worth it. Save the drinks for My Office. So after dinner we went to of all places, My Office. We had a couple drinks there and chatted it up with the bartender. After that we went and met Adam’s friends at County Claire for one last beer and then headed home, again before the stroke of midnight.

Sunday I woke up and did what will be my normal Sunday morning routine for the next 18 weeks. I started training for the Chicago marathon so I do my long runs on Sundays, 11 miles this week. After that Jocelyn and I went to the mall in Brookfield. We shopped around and then went and ate at a place called the Char House. I had to get a suit coat for an event this coming weekend so we went to Men’s Warehouse after that and low and behold Todd and Steph were there. Todd was getting his tux fitted for the big day. It was a quite the coincidence because I will probably die in this suit coat and don’t venture to Brookfield very much. After that run in I got my coat, a steal by the way, and we headed home to sit on the couch and watch the end of the U.S. Open.