Lots Going On - Brady

Ah...Finally today I was able to sit down and work on my dissertation proposal after weeks of prepping for a conference,  traveling, and getting used to a new dog. But just as I started to open the file I thought, "Eh. I only have 45 minutes. I'll write a blog post instead."

Life has been very full, very busy, and very happy. Here are the highlights.

- Molly's great. She's a solid B+ dog, moving closer to an A- all the time. She's had a couple of accidents and can get a little too enthusiastic about chewing, but all in all she's a joy to have around. She can sit, lay down, stay, come, jump up (we're working on "down") and, I discovered today, do a great imitation of Chewbacca.

Molly after her first trip to Sherry, the groomer.

- My sisters, Kevin, and I ran the Indianapolis Half Marathon. Kelly and Amy didn't train much, so they ran for fun (although they ended up with a pretty fast time for a "fun run"). Kevin and I actually did great. Our time was about a 2:08, which means we averaged 9:45 miles (actually 9:36 miles, but our official time will say 9:45... you always end up running a little bit more than 13.1 because you kind of zig zag all over the course). We were very proud, very happy, and it re-inspired me to keep working to become a better runner.

At Rock Bottom Brewery after the race. Happy as can be.

- I've been on the road a bunch. I attended a conference in San Francisco which was awesome, awesome, awesome (the city AND the meeting of nerds) and I took zero pictures because I forgot my camera. I also just got back from a bachelorette party in New Orleans and leave today for another conference in St. Paul. We're taking Ms. Molly with us on this weekend's trip, so we'll see how that goes. Below are three of my favorite shots from Louisiana.

Swamp tour!

Just a photo I like...at one of the first bars we stopped into.

Frenchmen Street on Saturday night.

- I've got to get over and get my hands on Mona. What a sweet face. I also haven't seen Kelly and Nate's new place yet. Bad sister alert.

- Last and definitely least, I'm sick. I knew the short nights of light sleep, tossing and turning at every dog sound and the hours on airplanes and the generally higher stress levels that come when life gets a bit crazy would catch up with me. Even my fancy iced coffee with cream doesn't taste very good right now. Yuck. I think, taking into consideration everything you've just read about my fabulous life and exciting adventures, that you should feel really sorry for me right now. Don't you agree? ;)