Rena And I With The Moffetts

Well, the play was not a comedy afterall but rather a pretty somber affair.  The format was pretty cool - almost no props and the play actually took place in the middle of the seating.  The room was relatively small with seating all around the edges facing toward the center.  The play took place in the middle of the room with the actors coming and going just feet from where we sat - it was quite intimate.  The first act left us hoping the next act would be better and it was.  There were three acts in total and each was better than the previous.  One highlight was that David Schwimmer from Friends was a main character in the play and it was fun to see him up close.  At the end of the play, we all agreed that while we didn’t love it, we were happy to have gone.  The dinner that followed was fantastic!  Thank you to both Rena and the Moffetts for a fun afternoon.  

Building Demolition Near My Apartment

On my walk over to the theatre, I walked on the north side of my building (which I don’t do very often) and noticed that they have finally started to tear down the building across the street.  The building has been in bad shape for a while and seemed to be sitting empty since I moved here.  It is amazing to watch the process and think of the history that has taken place in that old building over the years.  I will, of course, be interested to see what they have planned for the space - I would love it if they put in a dog park for my entertainment.

We caught a glimpse of spring this week, and although winter is back, I am starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.  Rob offered to trade their spring for what remains of our winter, and I’d love to broker that deal, but unfortunately, I can’t figure out how.  Work has been quite busy this week with more than the usual number of meetings and a lot of client meeting prep.  I spent Wednesday fighting off the effects of some bad chicken (not really sure it was chicken but my stomach was funky all day).  Georgia has had a rough go of it lately but showed some real improvement yesterday and has decided to move to Clinton which will make visits much easier and more frequent.  With the weekend nearly upon us, I am definitely looking forward to dinner tonight and to our double date with the Moffetts tomorrow.  We are going to see a play at the Lookingglass called ‘Our Town‘, which is a comedy starring Ross… I mean David Schwimmer, should be fun!

I’m sure it happens all the time but this time I got a close up look at how hilarious the media can be when they have a slow news day.  Yesterday, “a credible news source” ran a story on my employer that painted the image that we were this crazy party-throwing, money-burning organization.  Surprisingly, a major network picked up the story.  If you didn’t see it, here is a link, it is pretty hilarious!  Not surprisingly, The Wall Street Journal this morning doesn’t even mention it.  Why you may ask?  Because they actually do research on their stories and know that this is not a story and that we are known for our conservative and stodgy approach to business rather than what this story is trying to spin.

Me and My "Little" Brother

My brother has been a long time blogger and a pretty sharp guy, so I sent him my original blog link and asked him what he thought.  He came back with a couple of thoughts, not the least of which, that he host my blog.  So… here it is, my new format.  I’m sure it will evolve over time but I feel much more excited about it all.  Thanks Matt!

Another weekend has come and gone.  I am amazed at how easily I can waste an entire weekend without accomplishing much of anything.  Rena and I went to Mark and Amanda’s on Saturday night for dinner, they are an awesome couple and managed to keep Rena awake well past her bedtime.  Sunday was a lazy one with much of the day spent deciding to start a blog, name a blog and figure out how the heck to post to the blog.  I was able to ’squeeze’ in a couple of runs over the weekend; I’ve been happy at how quickly my legs have bounced back after last week’s run.

This week will be a busy one as we prepare for upcoming client meetings.  Over the course of the past year, we have been consistently reducing risk in client accounts and now we are putting together cash implementation plans for all our clients in an effort to get the excess cash back in the game.  On Thursday, my cousin Kelly is coming to town for a conference and staying with me for a few days.  It also happens to be Restaurant Week in Chicago so we (and Rena and some peeps from work) are going to Japonais on Friday.  The last time I was there was two years ago when Rob, Rina and Tom were in town for the marathon - good times.

Did I mention that I am ready for spring?

I just returned from a week of fun in Utah.  I spent the first part of the week playing in Salt Lake City with Rob, Rina, Lucy, and Ben.  We had some great snow, “bottomless powder” is what Rob called it.  The skiing was great and I got my first experience with backcountry touring.  Each day was something fun - skiing, snowshoeing, running - and the nights were filled with lots of laughs and good food.  On Friday, Ben, Rob, Lucy and I roadtripped down to Moab where we met up with Tom for some desert fun.  On Friday, we mountained biked and on Saturday I ran a race called the Moab Red Hot 50K+.  It was an awesome race and I had a great support crew!   Here is a link to pictures from the trip.

Without knowing where it will lead, I enter ‘blog-land’.