BABY GIRL!!!!!!

Big fat congrats to Jenn and Zack who have a baby girl! I can't wait to meet Ms. Layla Mae.

SOTD: Baby Mine by Alison Krauss. (Also, HIMYM fans, the video says "Canada Day". What up Robin Sparkles!)

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

I saw this movie yesterday, and OH MY GOD. High school me would have been OBSESSED with this movie. It's got all kinds of awesome music and stuff, and Michael Cera. And I love that kid, if only he didn't make me feel like a cougar...

So yeah. Go see it now that it's cold and shitty and stuff outside.

XOXO,

Rachel

SOTD is from the soundtrack- Baby, You're My Light by Richard Hawley.

PS- I don't know if this is getting the kind of national coverage that it is here, but if I were Jennifer Hudson, I'm not sure I'd ever be able to get out of bed again. Or survive. Go hug your loved ones.

#17- "Ok is better than No Way"

I had a match date last night, and I'm going to go ahead and claim that I've accomplished #17 on the list and had a blind date. Since my waitress was asking me if it was a blind date when he went to the bathroom, it totally counts.

And like I told a lot of people, it was okay. And my very wise sister said, "Ok is better than no way." He was very nice, and he was funny and he laughed at my jokes. He also looked exactly like his picture, which is nice. I've totally been a victim of the bait and switch before, so he totally earns points for that.

And we'll see. It could go either way, and that's fine. And that's all I'm going to say about it, because it feels weird to be talking about it, but I realized I haven't crossed anything off of my list in awhile.

What should I do next? Does anyone have a stick shift car they can bring to Chicago and teach me to drive it?

SOTD: First Date by Blink-182. Because it makes me laugh and it's close to being topical-ish.

D-bags.

Dear Douche Bag who thought it was necessary to email me two weeks after our last interaction on match to tell me that you weren't interested,

Really? You should probably take a second to get over yourself. I will now spend the next 30 seconds mocking your sorry ass in my brain ...and, I'm done.

XOXO,

Rachel

Also, I've been having dreams about going on dates with jerks all week. Last night it was a guy who forgot to take off his wedding ring. The night before, the dude had the nastiest teeth I've ever seen. I think my brain is reminding me to hold on to my rule of low expectations. (For those of you who don't know, the rule is that if you go in with low expectations, it's hard to be disappointed. Also, you may have noticed how long I've been single.)

SOTD: Dickhead by Kate Nash. Two other links: When I typed dickhead into the you tube search, this popped up and it makes me happy. Also, this website Reasons Why I Dumped You cracks me up. Over eager penis pic emailer is my favorite.

Overheard at recess...

Yesterday, it decided to rain for the 20 mins. in the afternoon when I have recess, so as soon as we got to the playground, we had to turn that train around.

Me: Rain, rain, go away. Come again some other day.

O (my little 4-year-old friend): Ms. K, that doesn't make any sense at all.

Me: Why is that?

O: I hate the rain. It ruins everything. I say rain, rain, stay gone forever.

Me: Point taken, Mr. O.

I just really like his logic. Rain is a bummer.

SOTD: Ok, so my big sister gets two b-day SOTD's because she's awesome. (And I didn't send her anything yet, even though I gave her husband an STD for his b-day...I sometimes suck as a sister.) So, like I said, I was at a wedding this weekend and with all the travel, I made myself a few new playlists on the ol' iPod, and I found this song that I'd forgotten about. The first time I heard it, I immediately thought of Sarah and Tim...don't know if it's the line about a life less sedentary or the toddler with a complex toy, but it sort of makes me think of their schmoopy love story. I see how happy they are, and it makes me happy. And reminds me to keep my standards high. So here it is- A Life Less Ordinary by Carbon Leaf. Go get schmoopy with it. Happy b-day again, Sarah.

NC Wedding

I was in North Carolina this weekend for my cousin Erin's wedding. See how pretty she is?



After the outdoor wedding, instead of going inside to the reception, we were treated to a bluegrass band and appetizers in a tent with heating lamps so that we could appreciate the scenery. That I forgot to take pictures of. Why did I forget to take pictures? Oh, that's because there was also a bar in there and since it was cold, all of my relatives were drinking to stay warm. So I was too busy taking pictures like this:

Beautiful, ladies. Beautiful. (Tricia, you are welcome.)

These are my cousins at the end of the night. We were dancing pretty much the entire time, so we'd had to lose our shoes (obviously) and this is what our feet looked like. It was pretty nasty.

And now, a quick quiz: Which of the following did NOT happen while I was there?

a) I had a cab driver I could barely understand.
b) I was asked if I was married to my cousin.
c) I immediately threw up all over myself.
d) I had to ask if that was gravy in that pan.

Think it over.

SOTD is in honor of my sister's birthday yesterday. Happy birthday, Sarah! It's a little Neil Diamond- I am, I said. Because the song kills me, and she will be seeing the man in person very soon, and that is a big deal.

(The answer is c. B happened. Not in those exact terms, but it still totally happened in NC. Rednecks.)

Slow news day.

I've been trying to think of something to blog about, and I've got nothing. I got a hair cut today. I dig it, but it's not that much shorter.

As you were.

I'll be in NC for a wedding this weekend. I hear it's gorgeous, so there should be some great foliage shots when I get back. Try to contain yourself.

SOTD: Don't Be Cruel by Bobby Brown because I heard it while I was out and about today, and it cracked me up. Don't be cruel, 'cuz I would never be that cruel to you. Try to stick it out until he raps.

School picture day

Today was school picture day. All of my kids came in dressed up and extra adorable and crazy as shit. (Is it a full moon? They were out of control.) But seriously, I thought my heart was going to explode.

I'll be watching the debates solo tonight, which is unfortunate. If I still play a drinking game, does that make me a drunk?

SOTD: Pictures of You by The Cure. Seriously, if I could ethically post the group picture I took today, I totally would. They are crazy cute.

Running down a dream

Today was the Chicago Marathon, and it is HOT out there. I went down super early like I always do and stand on my street and clap and cheer until my arms want to fall off and I'm on the verge of losing my voice. Because it's worth it. Because when I ran three years ago, it's the closest I've ever come to feeling like a rock star, or like people were supporting me while I was doing something hard even when they didn't know me. It's the most amazing feeling, and I hope people are feeling that today, even on this too hot to run kind of day.

Once upon a time, I was one of you. And at that time, I knew what it was like to have the best cheerleaders in the world (seriously, everyone who was near me was insanely jealous) and I knew that everyone was pulling for me. And I knew that we all had fun laughing at me when everyone came over afterwards and my feet were huge and I couldn't even sit upright to eat. It was totally worth it. I'll probably never do it again, but it was something I had to do and I'm so glad I did.

Hope this wasn't a rambling mess. Go runners!

SOTD: Running Down a Dream by Tom Petty. Because it is a dream. I crossed the finish line in tears and yelled to my brother, "Hey Tom! I'm a badass!" Happy Sunday everyone.

Real Men of Genius

Thanks to Timmy for sending me this. Those geniuses over at Google found a way to test people after a certain time of day when they are sending emails that could mean that they are drunk. It's like an email breathalyzer. Where was this when I was in college? Now what I need is something to stop me from texting drunk. THEN, I will be GOLDEN. Now it's too much trouble to turn on my computer.

Match is a little bit nutty. There's a guy emailing me who's way more aggressive than I can deal with and it's making me nervous. I can't decide if I'm flattered or totally weirded out.

Let's have today's SOTD be a drinkin' one...how about some old school Tubthumping by Chumbawumba. Yeah. Good luck not getting THAT stuck in your head.

(Political PS: Dear Sarah Palin, Call Obama a terrorist again, and see if I don't punch you right in your stupid face.)

Karma

So...seriously...am I the only one who thinks the fact that OJ was convicted of a bunch of stuff THIRTEEN YEARS TO THE DAY that he was acquitted for murder could be chalked up to some nasty karma? Because that shit is messed up.

In other news, all of my bitching about Cubs madness making it too scary to go outside (true story) has been replaced by the CTA doing construction in my back yard since 6 am this morning. Yeah, it's Saturday, and it's 11:45 PM, and they are still at it. With air horns. WTF CTA?!?!?!?! Some bitches need some SLEEP, yo.

Song of the day: Karma Police by Radiohead. (Karma Police...ARREST THIS MAN! That is comedy GOLD as far as I'm concerned.) (Does this mean that I'm going to have negative karma? I'm not really wishing bad things on people. Really.)

Bring it.

I'm all riding my bike home from work today, and there is this one stretch of Lincoln that for some reason, has a lot of people opening their doors into the bike lane. It's happened so many times that I've lost tracked of how many times I've almost been doored. And I'm always like, "SHIT! I can't afford that!" But today, I had a funny thought when the Land Rover nearly took me out- "Oh really bitch? I gots me some health insurance now, so BRING IT."

Then I remembered that I don't actually enjoy pain so I'm still glad I didn't get hit.

My SOTD goes out to Joe Biden, who I'm currently watching on tv, who just got in a line that had roomie and I cheering. SLAM! by Onyx. Seriously, Biden. Bring it home.

PS- Happy birthday to my baby brother who I hope escapes his mosquitos and malaria for margaritas. Because I like alliteration.