CHICAGO, IL -- I don't even remember the last time I was home for more than a full week. It must have been last Thanksgiving in 2011. I have taken a whole bunch of weekends, long weekends, and really long weekends, but I have yet to actually spend so much time at home - it is nice to be back!
I am flying back to California later tonight but will be back here this weekend and then again in early October for the upcoming Chicago Marathon!!! One thing that has been nice is running in different places here - I have done the same routes in California for 14 weeks in a row, with very slight differences. This past week I got in 5, 8, 5, and 12 mile runs in the Deer Grove Forest Preserve, one of the two trails I originally ran a few years ago when I first got into running. It is also home to the Midtown 5K, the first running race I ever did, way back in 2004. I got to participate in both 2010 and 2011, but sadly will have to miss this year's event. Anybody in the Chicago area looking for a great 5K to do (90% on asphalt and in the forest preserve), this year it will be on September 29th at 8:30am. All proceeds go to Bears Care charity.
Luckily it has been fantastic weather the past week. I got rained on a couple of times, which actually felt nice for a change (don't even remember the last time it rained in LA), and overall it has been 70s and sunshine - perfect for running and anything else. I hope it's the same weather for the marathon day. I'd gladly take a 55F temperature at the start and only warming into the upper 60s/low 70s! Fingers crossed!
One of the best parts about the week was taking the red-eye Sunday night (okay, so red-eyes suck, but I got bumped up to first class) and into ORD Monday very early. I told my immediate family, but being here for our family barbecue on Labor Day was a surprise for all of my extended family! It was great to see everyone. I worked the rest of the week, and then Saturday got to do a few information meetings for People to People. Two of the meetings were for delegations traveling to Australia, which was very exciting given I just got back from Australia a month and a half ago, and will be there again over New Years. I think all of the families were excited and understood the opportunity at hand, and I am very excited for those students who will be traveling abroad this summer!
Yesterday I met up with some friends and watched the most pathetic three and a half minutes of professional sports I have seen in at least five years. After that insanity came to an end, the Chicago Bears came out and whopped the Indianapolis Colts 41-21 on the first NFL Sunday of the year. It was a nice cool fall day too - we ordered some deep dish pizza and enjoyed.
Today has been a particularly productive work day - I have been cranking for the most part, with a nice lunch break and then a quick trip to the township office to get a new passport! The application fee (for a renewal) was $110, which is less than I remembered it being, a nice surprise. I was even more pleasantly surprised to find out that for no additional charge, you can request a 52 page passport instead of the standard 28 page version. This is particularly useful for anybody who has ever needed to get extra pages. My passport is only 5 1/2 years old (I could have continued using it for another 4 years), but since extra pages cost the same, I figured I'd rather just get a new passport with new binding, a new photo, etc. I did all of that and then through some emotional pain, handed over my current passport (required along with the application for a renewal). Why pain? That passport has stamps from all 7 continents in it, and I have a 50% success rate in getting old passports back from the State Department. I really hope I see it again along with the new one. It also still has some valid visas within it that can still be traveled on (along with the new passport) - Argentina, Brazil, and Turkey to name a few. It is also very strange not being able to hop on a plane and go absolutely anywhere on a whim. Not that I had plans to do that at the moment, but I feel very restricted. Hopefully it only takes them a few weeks to get the new one!
Alright, time to finish some work and then head out to the airport. The rest of the week will pretty much be cranking on work the entire time, but I'll be back for my cousin Elliott's Bar Mitzvah this Saturday! Have a great week everybody!
I am flying back to California later tonight but will be back here this weekend and then again in early October for the upcoming Chicago Marathon!!! One thing that has been nice is running in different places here - I have done the same routes in California for 14 weeks in a row, with very slight differences. This past week I got in 5, 8, 5, and 12 mile runs in the Deer Grove Forest Preserve, one of the two trails I originally ran a few years ago when I first got into running. It is also home to the Midtown 5K, the first running race I ever did, way back in 2004. I got to participate in both 2010 and 2011, but sadly will have to miss this year's event. Anybody in the Chicago area looking for a great 5K to do (90% on asphalt and in the forest preserve), this year it will be on September 29th at 8:30am. All proceeds go to Bears Care charity.
Luckily it has been fantastic weather the past week. I got rained on a couple of times, which actually felt nice for a change (don't even remember the last time it rained in LA), and overall it has been 70s and sunshine - perfect for running and anything else. I hope it's the same weather for the marathon day. I'd gladly take a 55F temperature at the start and only warming into the upper 60s/low 70s! Fingers crossed!
One of the best parts about the week was taking the red-eye Sunday night (okay, so red-eyes suck, but I got bumped up to first class) and into ORD Monday very early. I told my immediate family, but being here for our family barbecue on Labor Day was a surprise for all of my extended family! It was great to see everyone. I worked the rest of the week, and then Saturday got to do a few information meetings for People to People. Two of the meetings were for delegations traveling to Australia, which was very exciting given I just got back from Australia a month and a half ago, and will be there again over New Years. I think all of the families were excited and understood the opportunity at hand, and I am very excited for those students who will be traveling abroad this summer!
Yesterday I met up with some friends and watched the most pathetic three and a half minutes of professional sports I have seen in at least five years. After that insanity came to an end, the Chicago Bears came out and whopped the Indianapolis Colts 41-21 on the first NFL Sunday of the year. It was a nice cool fall day too - we ordered some deep dish pizza and enjoyed.
Today has been a particularly productive work day - I have been cranking for the most part, with a nice lunch break and then a quick trip to the township office to get a new passport! The application fee (for a renewal) was $110, which is less than I remembered it being, a nice surprise. I was even more pleasantly surprised to find out that for no additional charge, you can request a 52 page passport instead of the standard 28 page version. This is particularly useful for anybody who has ever needed to get extra pages. My passport is only 5 1/2 years old (I could have continued using it for another 4 years), but since extra pages cost the same, I figured I'd rather just get a new passport with new binding, a new photo, etc. I did all of that and then through some emotional pain, handed over my current passport (required along with the application for a renewal). Why pain? That passport has stamps from all 7 continents in it, and I have a 50% success rate in getting old passports back from the State Department. I really hope I see it again along with the new one. It also still has some valid visas within it that can still be traveled on (along with the new passport) - Argentina, Brazil, and Turkey to name a few. It is also very strange not being able to hop on a plane and go absolutely anywhere on a whim. Not that I had plans to do that at the moment, but I feel very restricted. Hopefully it only takes them a few weeks to get the new one!
Alright, time to finish some work and then head out to the airport. The rest of the week will pretty much be cranking on work the entire time, but I'll be back for my cousin Elliott's Bar Mitzvah this Saturday! Have a great week everybody!
No comments:
Post a Comment