Phinally!

After 25 years of never having a sports championship, the city of Philadelphia finally won a title!  The Philadelphia Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays in game 5 last night.  Our city was rocking!  People were in the streets everywhere, cars drove by honking and waving, fans flooded Broad street for miles...for one night, we truly were the city of brotherly love.  Everybody seemed happy and excited, and it was really cool.  Can the Phillies win it all every week??

Here's a video of our home group watching the final out:

Free Taco Bell

If anyone steals a base in the World Series, go visit a Taco Bell near you (between 2-6PM on Tues, October 28 or Mon, November 3!  Visit their website for the details.

How our presidential candidates should speak every day

They were both positive, funny, encouraging, genuine, and fresh.  Why don't they do this on their stump speeches???

Phillies Day at Spruce Hill

Today was Phillies Day at my school. Instead of wearing their uniform, students could wear Phillies or red shirts to support their home team. Since I don't own any Phillies shirts (yet), I called my friend Alan to see if I could borrow his. Not only did he let me borrow his jersey, but he had a whole uniform for me to wear! I felt so athletic and official as I strolled up to school this morning. The kids LOVED it, and I had a bunch of younger students even ask me if I played for the Phillies. All the teachers got into the action too. Almost everyone in the school had red on! I even had a big Chase Utley blanket that Sarah received when we went to a game on Mother's Day last year. Having a theme day like that was very fun...here are some pictures from the day's events:

Freebies

• Ben and Jerry's will give you free ice cream if you bring your "I voted" sticker in on Nov 4.
• Barnes and Noble will give you free coffee any day before November 1.

And Whole Foods will give you $5 off an order of $25 or more by 10/22.

Price of gasoline

Today, I filled up my tank at $2.91/gallon in New Jersey (would have only been $2.85 if I paid cash).  What is this...2006???

Obama in our neighborhood

This morning, Sarah, Alaina, and I woke up early and went to a Barak Obama rally in north Philadelphia.  It was probably four or five blocks from Alaina/Jim/Teresa/Emily's house (which is a mile from our apartment), so we couldn't really miss it!  He had four rallies in Philly today in various parts of the city.  We got up at 6, then arrived in line for the event at 6:45AM.  The rally started at 8:15, but there already was a line several blocks long to get into the parking lot.  Our timing was amazing--just as we got through security, Mayor Nutter and Governer Rendell were providing the intoductory remarks.  His speech was succinct, reminicent of past speeches, and had some folk flair (a la Palin??).  Still, we agreed that we were impressed with his ability to inspire and connect to his audience. 

All in all, even though it made for an early Saturday morning, we were pretty honored to go see the next possible president stop by our neighborhood!  The NYTimes had a short synapsis of his speech that we heard and here are some pictures I snapped:

I had a fun time watching the secret service on the roofs around us.  They must get so nervous at these open air/inner city events!!!

America laughs at Cubs fans

You know your team has struggled when two major networks poke fun at Cubs fans.  Here are two clips--one from Jon Stewart's Daily Show and one from Saturday Night Live--that joke about the intelligence of Cubs fans.  I see it as faith: belief in something I cannot see.  

Grandma Carter

Tuesday evening, I learned that my good friend's grandmother passed away. Normally, I feel sorrow for my friend and think a few thoughts along the lines of, "I wonder what her life was like? How my friend interacted with her? What her legacy will be?" This week, however, my friend Dan Carter's grandma Carter passed away. I had the unspeakable pleasure of getting to know Mimee Carter in the few times our paths crossed--most memorably in the Carter cabin in Interlochen, MI. She cooked food, gave hugs, laughed, and was a grandmother to everyone she met. Her savory food will be missed in many stomachs, and her ceaseless love will be missed in many hearts.

Breaking the silence

Anyone who knows a good deal about me knows how much I care about the Chicago Cubs.  Their last World Series victory came in 1908 (depressing fact?  Teddy Roosevelt was president.  Even more depressing about that?  He is on Mount Rushmore.).  This year, the Cubs had great pitching, very good defense, hitters who were dangerous in every part of the lineup, and a match-up with the worst team allowed into the playoffs.  What did that get them?  Swept in the first round for the second year in a row.  Despite coming in with the best record in the national league, the Cubs didn't win a game.  The only other time that has happened in 40 years was once to the Astros. 

After the first loss, I had a bad feeling in my stomach.  I held off posting a blog entry with all the dates and times of future playoff games in fear that the Cubs wouldn't make it.  Unfortunately, I was right. 

Sarah and I watched the games together.  After the second loss, I felt numb.  Not tearful or sad...a feeling even worse: apathy.  This feeling continued throughout the Cubs game three loss and into this current week.  I know it will go away as spring training comes up in March, but for now, the winter looks pretty bleak.  The one light in this darkness of a situation was that Sarah lived and died with the Cubs right next to me.  She now understands the pain and heartache required to cheer for the Cubs.  Sarah, welcome to the family.

Reading articles about it just makes the situation even more depressing:
Here
Here
or
Here

But hey--wait until next year!