Mother of All Weekends

Well, I may not have run the Chicago Marathon, but I sure got my "bling."


Oh yeah. That is what you think it is. Cheese lost his damn mind and wants to marry me.

This is us, goofing off, trying to get a decent picture of this thing. And you all know me - I own virtually no jewlery except for a pearl necklace my sister got me, I couldn't tell you the first thing about diamonds (including what carats mean) and am about three steps BELOW "low maintance"- but I gotta tell you - I love this ring. I mean like, I can't stop staring at it. When he opened the box, I damn threw up from blindness. It's so sparkly! Please bear with me, 'cause I have a feeling I will be slobbering about this for while, and trying to post a picture that does it justice. I know that's tacky as hell, but fuck it.

So, the brief run down is this (because it will likely be a good day before I can properly post).

His family arrived Friday monring at 4AM. Yes, AM. As in, the morning. After some sleep, we lal hit the ground running, withthe surprise proposal Friday night (details next post), followed by a joint family dinner, the another full day of festivities, and a pre-marathon dinner for my sister and her friend Dave.

It is now after midnight on Sunday morning, and while 45,000 runners sleep soundly just hours before "game time" in Grant Park, I am sitting on a cooler in my kitchen while seven people slumber around my apartment - wondering what the hell just happened.

Tomorrow it will be a day of spectating, then a visit to the zoo, and wrapped up with a pizza party at Devin's.

A million pictures and details to follow in the next day, but before I go, I need a couple of back slaps -

First, this weekend would never have happened without my family. Ellen, Devin and my mom were the key figures, and nothing would have gone down without you guys.

For Nat and PAtrick, two brother-in-laws that are beyond gracious in dealing with the tornados of having me and my sisters always around.

For Nolan, who couldn't be here but sent the most wonderful text this morning.

For Anne-Marie and Colin, who came toight to celebrate - it meant the world. And yes, Anne-Marie, you can carry flowers in the wedding, and yes, I will ask you properly.

And of course to Cheese - are you sure? I mean, like, REALLY sure? 'Cause if you know me at all, you know I am a handful, and loving me is like living in dogs years - everything seems to last that much longer.

More later. I got a marathon to cheer for in a few hours.

GO DEVIN, FRIED CHICKEN DAVE, and JOE!!!!!!!!