Pepe…like it says above: “All the best, babe!” My dear friend, Pepe, got engaged this evening, to one Sarah Freischmidt, of DePere, WI. Congratulations to these two wonderful kids!
They were in town this weekend, visiting, for Jesse’s wedding reception! We had a great time with Pepe and Sarah, and with everyone at Jesse’s reception! I love weekends like this! Lots to do, lots of friends and family all the way around!
Jesse and Angela
Their wedding reception was splendid!!! A perfect mix of family and friends for me. I was able to mingle with a little bit of Jesse’s and Angela’s families, as well as some old time friends, college friends, and family! The reception was held at Island Lake. Man, that place is HUGE! I was so excited as we kept driving deeper and deeper into the place! The weather couldn’t have been better. It was in the low 70s, sunny, and very dry! God blessed our friends with this miracle of a day! God bless you both!
Saab ticket #1
Let’s hope this is the ONLY ticket the Saab earns. As we were headed down Mound, for Kurnip’s wedding party, Jon wanted to drag race the Saab, for kicks. Hell, I though, what harm could that be on Mound. It’s not like we’d end up going TOO fast! So Jon is in the far left lane, and I’m in the 2nd from the left. Michelle says to me: “Get ’em, Pete!” No problem, I thought. So I rev the Saab up a little bit, and let the clutch out. I forgot to turn off the ESP (traction control), so the front end made an obnoxious noise from trying to gain traction. LESSON LEARNED. So, as I’m getting an earful from Michelle, I look behind me and see a black, unmarked Sterling Heights Copper! Phew, I thought, as I put on my seatbelt, thinking that I got away with my little drag race. About 5 seconds later, I see him pull next to me, all the while thinking that I was lucky and he was just driving slow for some odd reason. Another 5 or 10 seconds pass, and I look to my right to see an irrate office, gesturing for me to pull over. So, the long and short of it: He gives me a speeding ticket for 10 mph over the limit, but didn’t give me a noise ticket or careless driving ticket for spinning my tires or drag racing. I guess I am lucky. I’m definitely going to ask for a court date, hoping the ticket will just be reduced to something that is without points, but it’s going to be hard to, as I’m sure the judge will ask for my story, and I’m going to tell him what I did. He’s going to hate me for it, and throw the book at me, telling me that I’m wasting his and the court’s time. My only hope is that the officer doesn’t make it that day. All I can say: FUCK YOU…COPPER!
My Nouna
On a more sombre note, my Nouna (Godmother) passed away on Saturday. She had been battling lung cancer for 3 months. Apparently, the lung cancer spread to her other organs, ending up in her brain, causing a few strokes in recent days. I will miss her, dearly! She was a very loving woman, much like my Thea Sofoula, who passed earlier this year, on January 22, a day prior to my birthday! Let’s just hope that this year stays with two deaths in my “family”. I couldn’t take any more!
Afeena
We also celebrated our Goddaughter, Athena Lillian’s birthday yesterday! It was another fantastic day spent visiting with our family! I got to see my cousin’s Ike and Lilly, as well as Mitchell and Alyssa, Jake and Markos! I love my cousins’ kids! They are so young and tender, and full of love and energy! Michelle and I enjoy spending time with all of them. Ike and Demo are always fun to see. Got to see them two days in a row, which was nice. Cindy was there, but April was absent. Perhaps she had some other obligations! We did get to see her and finally officially “meet” her at Turk’s wedding shindig. Very nice, and pretty girl. I’m very happy for Ike! I also got to see Danielle and Dino. We didn’t get to on Saturday because they were “booked” with a wedding of one of Dani’s friends. They said it was at the Atheneum, in Greektown. Said it was VERY HIGH RENT. Sounds like a very good time.
18.04 miles
As Michelle and I laid in bed this morning, from 7 until about 11:15, we kept hearing rainfall…it was nonstop. We finally decided that it was letting up enough for us to make it towards Stony Creek to do our 18 miles. We felt GREAT! I was SO excited for the day’s run, and nervous, naturally. We got all geared up, waters, goos, “The Stick”, GPS, HRM, watch, visor…the whole “nine”. Still sprinkling, but very cool and seemingly dry, we started on our journey. We had all the intentions in the world to do 2 laps, 4 and back, which would be 20 miles. Why not, right? It ended up being an incredible 12 miles (2 laps)… Even on the 3rd lap, I was feeling great, a little bit stiff, but no biggie… near the 15th mile, halfway around the 6 mile loop, I started to feel REALLY stiff. So stiff, that I had to stop and stretch with about 2.5 miles to go to reach 18 miles. Again, no worries, as I stretched it out, somewhat, and started running, to get the blood flowing down there. Again, this has been a great run, as we took bathroom breaks at 6 and 12 miles, but no other walking stops… I think it was the best I’ve ever done in terms of not needing to take breaks. I think I’ve narrowed it down to temperature and humidity. The temp was great, around 62-65 degrees. It was a little bit humid, but really not that bad, as the sprinkling rain was keeping it under control! Anyway, the last 2 miles sucked…it was devastatia. I pretty much decided, with 2 miles to go, that 18 would be the distance I’d run. And 18.04 was what it ended up being. The only good thing about it, it only took us 2:57:08, about a 9:48 pace. We were both extremely happy with this time, and chalked it up as a victory. Michelle drove, and the whole way home I was writhing in pain, as my upper calf muscles were KILLING me. I didn’t know how to fix the pain. It was almost cyclical in nature. When I got home, I laid flat on my back, legs perched straight. The pain started to go away. The hot shower helped, and we got ready for my Nouna’s funeral home showing…
Nouna and Funeral Home
Not very fun, but good to see family and be there for my Godsiblings. They are both wonderful people, Gus and Sandy, as are their spouses and children. They each have two wonderful sons. God bless them!