Grandma's and a Family Reunion

Well, T-2 full days until the marathon! Today was the last day of running, so I obliged with a nice, easy 4-miler with the illustrious Eric Borndal. I have to say, I wasn't quite as vigorous with my training as I was last time, so Saturday could be an interesting run! However, I feel that the spirit of Lake Superior will give me the needed boost; that, and the shame of walking in front of so many people I know. Shame: motivating since 1984. Speaking of people I know, I am looking forward to Greg and Kelly Johnston, Cooper Gillan, Tim Lindstrom, and Steve Hawkinson - all friends from my Chicago university/seminary days - coming up for the race!

 As part of my marathon preparation, I've been listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as an audiobook, and I timing it so that I can listen to the last four hours while running the race. I mean, I may be wiping sweaty tears from my eyes, but it should keep my mind occupied from the stupid thing I'm doing to my body. (Speaking of which, you can still vote on your favorite of the HP books on my poll found just to your left.) I found my motivation to run years ago when I was running my first half-marathon and I saw someone wearing a t-shirt saying, "Run to Eat Club." It was deep crying out to deep, as something within me, in the very core of my being, resonated with that sentiment.

Congratulations to Jenny, Kyle, and Charlotte Mecher on the addition of the beautiful Evelyn Jane to their family! Although I was partial to the name Charlotte had chosen for the baby: Oreo Chili. Lately when I have thought about the wonder that is childbirth, this song always pops into my head:



I mean, besides the whole subtext of the dude getting Tevye to let him marry his daughter.

This past weekend I went down to the Twin Cities for my cousin Zack's wedding (Congratulations, Zack and Angie!). It was so wonderful to have all ten people from the Bjorlin/Graves/Kasper family together for the first time! We spent Friday at the rehearsal dinner and then hanging out at Jessica and Isaac's (where we had Part 2 of the Great Bjorlin Air Mattress Debacle; see Facebook for more details). Saturday we ate a decadent breakfast consisting almost exclusively of bacon (brought from the farms of North Dakota) and baked goods (doughnuts, almond cake, and American tea cakes from the Minneapolis bakery The Baker's Wife, which are basically the best thing I've ever eaten, which means they must be TERRIBLE for you) before heading to the wedding. Sunday morning we went to First Covenant Church (glad to have brought my sister and brother-in-law over to the dark side) and then Anna, Peter, Isaac, and I went to the Twins game! It was my first experience at Target Field, and it was amazing thanks to great seats given to Anna by her boss, Dan Urshan.Here are some of the highlights in pictures. Daphne and me at the rehearsal dinner:

The family after church (at First Covenant - Minneapolis) and before the Twins game. The nieces are looking at MJ because every time they aren't looking at the camera, she tells the person taking the picture to make a certain noise and then demonstrates, which invariably causes the nieces to look at their grandma instead. Apparently, I too was drawn by the noise:

And here's a rag-tag picture of the Szyman clan (my mom and her seven brothers and some of their kids/grandkids) at the wedding:

I love the photobomb in the lower right side of the picture combined with most of the family neither smiling nor looking at the camera. Pretty typical. Finally, this is the view from our seats at the Twins game:

Seriously, we were so close that I was nervous I might not be paying attention for a second and get tattooed in the kisser by a foul ball. Unfortunately, the Twins took it on the chin, losing fairly handily to the Tigers. So, all and all it's been a good week. Now I need to buckle down and get some writing done. Also, I'm going to eat whatever I want between now and the marathon, all under the pretense of "carb-loading." Blizzards/concrete mixers and hops are forms of carbs right? I'm going to let my ignorance answer a resounding yes. Happy Wednesday!