Catching Up

I have to admit this blogging thing is much more difficult than I thought it would be.  I am doing my best to update at least once a week but I am falling a little behind.  

On Saturday we went to Oktoberfest in Peoria.  One of my favorite parts was when I was walking near the front gate and overhead a little girl look at the entrance and tell her mom "they spelled October wrong".  But my most favorite part of the evening is when the organizers asked Seth and Brad to be part of the log sawing contest.  I guess they thought the boys looked beefy (it's probably because Brad has been going to Pilates).  They made it through their log in 47 seconds, but that wasn't good enough to qualify for the finals.  

Last week Seth and I had the opportunity to go to the race track for a day!  Arlington International Race Course hosted lawmakers for a visit and my boss didn't want to go (he had done it in the past) so he told me I could.  

They showed us around the park, including the backstretch where all the workers are and even gave us the opportunity to go to the winners circle after one of the races.  We had a great time because we had no clue how it all worked.  

Here is our view from the "Million Room" where we had lunch.

I was so overwhelmed with the betting options that I decided to hold onto my cash.  Seth place a $4 bet and lost.  I know, we're big spenders.  I didn't get too many pictures because I had to play it cool and didn't want to look like one of those...I was among other lawmakers.

After the racetrack we had to make some important stops-like Trader Joe's.  I still get so upset that we don't have one closer.  We also stopped at Whole Foods...it was my first experience in the mega natural foods supermarket.  I knew it would be amazing when I walked in the door and saw they had a stand of Tom's shoes.  As we walked through the store I continued to be amazed with all the other sites...including a make your own trail mix bar (I prefer to call it a nut bar).  REI was also awesome-I bought a new insulated Camelbak water bottle.

Last, we stopped at Jason's Deli- despite the fact that I was still stuffed from my 20 oz. sirloin and $10 piece of carrot cake (don't worry, we didn't have to pay for the food at the race track).  Even though I wasn't very hungry I had to try the place that Seth always raves about.  When he goes to work training up there he eats there like once a day.  It lived up to Seth's reviews with an awesome salad bar with soft serve ice cream.  

Only four more days until the half-marathon.  I have a good feeling!  Tomorrow morning will be my last run before the race.  I'm super pumped because tomorrow night I'm getting a massage to make sure the legs are loose and ready to go.