I'm not known as a runner. It is my husband who is the expert marathoner. However, I have once again been bitten by the running bug that is always flying around our house. Heck, I have even found that I am enjoying it (and not just the races, the training too!). So get used to seeing pictures of both of Benjamin's parents crossing finish lines.

I just ran the Women Run the Cities 5K this past Sunday, which is the second race in my series this fall. I actually had no intention of running a race last weekend, but I had Sunday morning open and this race sounded like it would be fun so I registered. It was an all-women's 10 mile and 5k race which benefitted the Anne Bancroft Foundation, a worthy cause. They also gave out some pretty neat technical shirts to all finishers. I improved my time by over 1.5 minutes from my last race, so that was a positive thing for me.

All of this is basically leading up to the big race which is this Friday. I am running the Beacons for Babies Night Lights 8K here in Rochester. This race benefits the March of Dimes, which is a cause close to my heart. My very dear friends Samantha and Tina are participating with me in memory of Samantha's son, Leo, who died after he was born prematurely. Check back here for some pictures of the race and of our fancy homemade shirts! Oh, and wish me luck!!!

Mom and Dad have some pictures of the new baby cousin on their flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/beatlebugs2001

We have a new baby cousin in the family!! My cousin, Erin, gave birth to a baby girl yesterday (9/14) at 7:14am. She is 7 lbs., 15 oz. and just over 20 inches long. Baby, Mommy and Daddy are all doing well. I will post more details and pictures as they become available...

While trying to plan a surprise 50th birthday party for my mom, we knew that it would not be an easy task to get away with completely surprising her! So we set out to create a surprise that would really throw her off. Invitations were sent for a champagne brunch pajama party to be held at 9am Sunday morning. Mom was suspecting that something would be done for her, but she never saw it coming!

Sunday morning I "ran out to the car" to get a recipe for Mike, who was supposedly making her a special birthday breakfast. Instead, I met all of the party guests out in the parking area outside of my parents' house. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table on her new laptop with her back to the living room and front door, so she didn't see any of the people streaming into the room. She didn't hear us because Mike and I were pretending to fight as we yelled to each other from the kitchen to the living room. Mom turned around to tell us to stop fighting and everyone yelled "Surprise!" I have never seen her so shocked in my whole life. We got her good!!!!

Other than the pajama party, we also visited the Brookfield Zoo, which Benjamin loved. For some reason the highlight for him was seeing the tigers, which he talked about the whole time we were there! Then we went out to the Schnitzelplatz restaurant for an Oktoberfest dinner. After we finished our meal, one of the waiters was walking around dressed as a German woman in a ridiculous costume, handing out beaded necklaces. I wanted to get a necklace so we all waved him over to the table. Little did I know that the necklace was an entry to a competition up in front of the whole restaurant where the band was playing. I had no idea what I was in for and was getting more and more nervous when the waiter came back with a tray of baby bottles...that were filled with BEER! 5 women (I was one of them) and 5 men were going to compete in drinking their baby bottle faster than the others. Not one to disppoint audiences, I gave it my all and ended up the female winner! The waiter came by with our prizes and I was delighted to see that I had won a Schnitzelplatz beer mug and a T-shirt that says, "Happiness is drinking German beer." How perfect! We had a wonderful weekend in Chicago and were so glad to give Mom a fun and surprising 50th birthday!