Wednesday, February 27

Today I am in Chicago. I went for a run this evening and was feeling pretty good about myself because it was cold and kind of icy and I went out anyway. These are the days when you don't feel like going but you know you have to. So there I am, running along, enjoying life, when I pass this guy running the other direction and JUGGLING. On the icy sidewalks. In the dark. So much for self-congratulation!

The main thing on my mind today is who is going to draw the short straw assignment of having to tell Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the race. God help us if she wins Texas or Ohio by enough of a margin to make her think she can still win the nomination. Can you imagine the hand-wringing going on in the Democratic Party right now? It must be like when the Nixon White House had to decide who was going to tell him he needed to resign. With respect to last night's debate, I was looking through the reader comments on the Washington Post online today and found this very insightful post in response to Hillary's claim of media bias:

"Hillary's whining about the media is absurd. She had a massive built in advantage with the media at the start of this race and its name was Bill Clinton. Anywhere he went he instantly monopolized coverage. She screwed up using him but that's her fault. Biden, Dodd and lots of others who have TONS more experience that Clinton got completely ignored by the media. If anyone should be complaining, they should."

Amen! In pro-Hillary news, I must admit that I loved Tina Fey's "endorsement" of Hillary on SNL in which she proclaimed that "bitch is the new black." Word.

PS: here's a link to the Tina Fey bit. High-larious. http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/47c2f665c957dd9

Tuesday, February 26

Today I am in Chicago after flying back from London last night. I had a nice time in Brussels and have decided that I must be part Belgian, what with their (and my) love of french fries, cheese, beer, mussels, chocolate, waffles, and Jean Claude van Damme. Okay, maybe not so much that last one. Here are a few photos:

Saturday, February 23

Today I am in Brussels, and earlier I was in London. Brussels is an unplanned stop on my European vacation, but so far one that I am enjoying. I had dinner tonight at Restaurant Vincent, a place where my mom and Gary ate together over 20 years ago! The food was wonderful and the maitre'd flirted shamelessly, so it was an all-around uplifting experience. Tomorrow I shall walk around Grand Place and gorge myself on Belgian chocolates, and then on Monday it's back to London.

All of this loveliness aside, I am a bit homesick. I feel this way a lot when I am traveling outside the US - I'm not sure if it's that I'm so used to the comforts of home or that I feel a bit lonely traveling on my own. I swear, every time I hear an American accent I get these little pangs of "oh, I wish I was there now." I'll be glad to be back home in a few days.

Oh, I almost forgot - today I ran along the Thames!

Wednesday, February 13

Today I am in Chicago. The sun is shining here today, which is a nice break from our cloudy weather of late. Apparently last week we set a Chicago record for the most days in a row without sun (seven). Boy, am I happy to have been a part of that.

Heading to the UK early next week to see my old friend, Wayne. I'm sure I'll have lots of things to report, though fairly confident that most of them are things that I probably shouldn't share with my mom and dad.

Here are some new kitten pictures. I watched the last hour of the Westminster Dog Show last night and we all cheered when Uno the beagle won best in show - but I think they were a little miffed today because they were painfully cute! (Dewey is sitting on my semi-new dining room table - Rachel and Randy, you'll recognize the chairs.)