a life beyond running shoes.

i do have the cutest baby on the planet - baby gap just did not agree. here he is being the cute kid that he is....showing off his teeth. if you would like to see what constitutes a cute baby and this photo is not sufficient, you can look at www.babygap.com and see the semi-finalists of the casting call contest. so, we didn't win....i guess that means micah needs to be brilliant and cute in order to get some amazing scholarship to college!! thanks for voting for his pictures, though.... and mostly for agreeing with me that he is amazingly cute.... you can see for yourself that he totally should have been in the semi-finals... oh 'twell.

last night we ventured over to grand army plaza for the start of the holiday season. they had a whole lights celebration with mayor bloomberg, a band, some kids singing, and lights. they lit the monument that stand behind us....including the holiday "cone." not tree - too christian...so they opted for a cone - very festive. these are the galts: laura & jamison and their twins, arthur and adaline. they are micah's best friends; well as much as anyone can be a best friend at one-and-a-half. the light spectacular was not what i was anticipating. i can't say with any honesty what i was actually expecting, but i doubt that the lighting of the cone was really it. it was still fun to see others from the church, including the browns and some other friends. i believe that this wednesday is the lighting of the rockefeller tree which we will NOT venture out for..... i am too pregnant for that! fyi - four weeks and counting!!!

in a game of scrabble i have never gotten a score this close from a single word. my friend, carolyn, in the midst of thanksgiving cooking and i played a quick game. she got triple letter for a "j" and double word score and ended up with 66 points from the word "juicy." holy cow. she creamed me. i was not thrilled and i even had words like valium, quail (i was missing a "t" for quality), teeth... and she still creamed me. i am working up for a rematch. at least my team creamed hers last night in taboo!

it was 45 degrees out this morning when micah and i walked john to the office. all i could think about was if i would have worn my hat or just an ear thing if i had gone for a run..... i see people almost every day running and all it does is enforce the longing i have to be out there. i know stef would have had a hat & gloves on, i know that i would not have moved to my "winter" pants yet and that i would have had on two layers under my jacket. it makes me feel good to still think in terms of running when i approach weather. perhaps it is a strong indicator that i will one day be back out there hitting the pavement. by the way, five weeks to go.

i was sad it was over. that is the sign of a good read. it is the story of jewish cousins, one from prague & one from brooklyn, that create comic books during the era of WWII. the overwhelming themes of escape - from germany, from oneself, from the past - create an intricate story that moves past the backdrop of american pulp fiction & pop culture...which added considerable enjoyment to the story. now, i need to start cracking on my next book club book - i am behind the eight ball just a bit.

okay, total girl moment to refer to grey's anatomy (i know) but wait!!! i was watching last week as john tends to have appointments on thursday nights (intentional - i wonder)...well, anyway. a guy i went to high school was on the show and even had a speaking part. he played joe's boyfriend, walter. he got to fall and hit his head and have it stitched up by dr. burke. how cool is that. way to go jack yang! another star sighting - our friend, shane, will be in law and order: CI tonight as the bad guy - oh boy! and in kathy news, i had a girl's day out yesterday. pastor's wives take manhattan. we window shopped in soho, played dress up (well, i did not), had lunch in nolita, got our nails done in chinatown, drank hot chocolate in little italy, AND saw a movie. phew. we were busy. it is amazing what a mom can do without her kids. i had a great day and then was excited to come home to my family... who has a new edition - nemo, the fish. it is all micah can ta...

i totally forgot to announce which pictures i entered for the contest. based on the criteria, i picked a picture that i felt fit each category well. photo 2: for its composition and artistic quality; photo F: cuz everyone loved it and it really does express his personality; photo A: for its personality & artistic quality; photo B: cuz i am the mom and it was my favorite pic - i love his tongue out; and photo C: cuz it is cute. well, there you go. thank you for your input and while it may seem like i didn't use it cuz i went with different pictures, i did use your opinions. the unanimous winners were: F, A, C. a lot of folks like H & 5, but the quality wasn't all that "contest" worthy for H and i just couldn't decide about #5. I could have gone that way instead of C. so, there you have it. i think we find out at the end of the month who the finalist are...then it becomes a voting thing. thanks for humoring me!

okay, not really but john and i did have two nights out in a row. he was officiating a wedding on sunday night, so we got to attend the rehearsal drinks & dessert party on saturday night as well. wow, were we tired on monday morning... okay, actually we left before the cake & dessert from the wedding actually. but it was an amazing wedding. it was at the botanic gardens here in brooklyn - stunning!!! there was champagne flowing and the food was excellent....the best part, though, was the band. they absolutely rocked. i only wish i did not have swollen feet and could have really boggied the night away. here we are all decked out: by the way, i only have seven weeks till segundo's due date!

just to let you all know - F is the unanimous winner, if there needed to be just one. H would be second and C & A would be tied for third. #5, #1, B are in the running for the fifth entry..... i'll keep you posted & thank you, THANK YOU, for voting.... feel free to pass it along to others who may have an opinion.

three more options..... i promise no more. so vote away!!!! there were some awesome pics from a friend of mine - but i didn't take them..... bummer! PHOTO 4 PHOTO 5 PHOTO 6