Ouchie

Well this ouchie is from Ambar's crazy mission for the evening. Nothing like being bumped, bruised and scabbed up in your 20's and looking like a 7 year old :P

Although, I did warn her I was not good on my rollerblades! This is my shoulder... obviously, but it did save my face :) Right out the door I got my bum and my elbow. Thank goodness for my wrist guards. But on the way back a dark shadow hid an evil uneven spot and I spilled, and almost had Ambar right on top of me. My knee hit first, then the shoulder. I didn't cry b/c it hurt, but I was so embarrassed and laughing so hard, I could hardly get back up! I told them next time I'd bring my bike instead, but I don't know if I'll get off that easily. It was a fun night out as we ventured through Grant Park and down, around the Shedd. Ahh the times :) At least it started feeling a bit better with a dose of pizza while watching Jon & Kate plus 8 and The Hills!

8-8-8

Well believe it, Phelps set the record.

He won 8 gold medals in his 8 races and set 8 records in the pool (7 world, 1 olympic). I guess 8 is a lucky number in China ;)

Phelps' Photo Phinish and a PHEW!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah... Phelps joins Spitz with the most gold medals by an Olympian in a single game with seven - but he's done it with flair. He just won the 200m Butterfly by 1/100th of a second. I need to find a video, it was a crazy photo finish. It's inexplicable. Who cares what number gold this is for him, the skill in catching and out-touching someone by 1/100 second....Speechless.

Here is a link to his first 6 races: http://www.nbcolympics.com/racefortherecord/

In other news - my sandy hunk & co. beat Switzerland. It wasn't easy. The first set was good, the Swiss battled back and won the second 23-21. And tied at 9 in the 3rd set (that only goes to 15) they cut to a swimming final (luckily a short race - women's 200 back) and back to the courts just in time for me to see match point. It was so quick, I hardly realized it was match point until the celebration! Phew!!

An a-MAY-zing Match UPDATED

Well, Happy Birthday Kerri Walsh! 105th victory is in the books... (and so you know, I wrote my blog before I pulled up the related article that also opened with Happy Birthday wishes!)

Kerri and Misty battled through the first set of their match against Belgium, they trailed through most of it and after 5 set points, their experience and excellence finally muscled through and they won 24-22. The second match, no contest 21-10.

To watch and see their experience and strength pull them through was amazing, and it's great to see them get one step closer to their dreams!


Michael Phelps has been 5 for 5 for 5 so far in Beijing - Five Races, Five Gold Medals, and Five world records. Tonight he is in contest number six...we'll see how it goes.
UPDATE: He did it in the 200IM, so another gold, WR.

Oh, Detroit....

I miss being home and close to my friends and family, but Detroit is getting more and more depressed and I am glad to be out.

The housing market is awful. Forclosure is an everday occurance especially in Wayne Co. (Detroit, Dearborn, Livonia, and Redford - where I grew up) and a lot of people are getting despearate. But you could get a "deal" if you're looking for a fixer upper!

Everyone is losing their jobs because the car manufacturing plants are closing and so many of the companies in Metro Detroit always relied on the auto contracts. The jobless rate is 8.5%, compared to the national average of 5.7%


Michigan's biggest export?! College graduates. I think it will be a while before the state rebounds economically.


Oh and the Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick... Don't get me started, what an embarassment.

Proud to be a Daddy's Girl

Happy Birthday Daddy! I hope you had a great day with Mom and Erin at the Tigers game... wish I could have been there!

Here's to you - Lover of the "tall labatt" (with hand motion), possessor of guessing your gift with a shake talent, best egg sandwich maker in the world and hot dog/burger grill master, Mr. 'I can doze off anytime, anywhere' (glad to have inherited that skill!), fan of Meet the Press, and the McLaughin group on Sundays and FoxNews every other day of the week, king of porch sitting in the summer with the one arm curl, sarcastic trickster and occasional fixer, Auto Show, curling, Tigers and Red Wings buddy, and best daddy a girl could ask for! I miss you!

Love, Your Big Red :)

Sad News on Sedgwick

So every Monday, the RedEye reports the flurry of crime in Chicago from over the weekend. Today was no different - although amongst the killings on the south side a 29 year old was killed on Grand and Wolcott (the Ukranian Village neighborhood a little south west from me). Turns out this man, Jason Mueller, was the owner of Nonna's. The little pizza place right below me. :*(

I didn't find this out till Jess told me she saw it on the news while I was at the gym. The street has since been scattered with news vans and the pizza makers. The pizza was voted best at Pizza Fest 2008, and they seem to be a big hit around here since opening in December 2007.

We are in shock. Our condolences to the staff at Nonna's and hope they are able to stay open!