kitty in a corner

When I came home tonight this little guy was hiding in a corner of the stairwell. He didn't budge. I think he thought he was invisible. I tried to get him to move but he pressed himself further into the corner. Luckily, his owner found him before he was too traumatized.

run for cover

While training for the Boston Marathon I have started a fundraising site through Against Malaria to aid in fighting those nasty disease carryin' skeeters. I would like to arrive in West Africa this June knowing that children and families there have been provided access to the most effective preventable measure against malaria, a bednet.

www.againstmalaria.com/runforcover

Feel free to visit my site and donate what you can for the cause. Thank you so much!

i come from chicago...

So you may be thinking...why the hell is she dressed like this? Has she joined some alien subculture? Nope, just trying to stay warm...

Well since the Chicago weather has been less than inviting lately and I can't stand to get back on the treadmill this is what must be done. I must go out and savor the chill since I will be heading to the hot zone for the next two years where the seasons amount to a hot wet and a hot dry. I also qualified last fall to run the Boston Marathon in April and since this is the only chance I'll have I figured why not go for it. I failed to remember the agony of Chicago winters where the temperature has been stuck around zero for the past couple weeks. So when it finally makes it up to 26 (that feels like 15)...you just have to go for it. Surprisingly there were more people out running than I expected. Of course we all looked like we were on the edge of death. But hey, nothing compares to the great outdoors they say. Just to breath in the frosty winter air seems so exhilarating. For the first few minutes that is...

And so it goes...

I received my final invitation to Togo the night I got back from my holiday travels to New Mexico with my boyfriend Wil. We sat in suspense as I opened up the package and started to read the invitation letter that stated where in the great expanse of West Africa I will be dropped off. I scanned the whole letter once and didn't notice that the country of my service was stated in the first sentence. So when I finally saw "Welcome to Togo" I looked at Wil and we both dashed to the map of Africa. Togo..Togo....ohh there it is, the one country I didn't even think of. But now it's on my mind and as I prepare for my departure this June, I can't wait to see what will be in store for me there.

Wil is still waiting to hear of his placement as an IT Volunteer in West Africa as well. I'm hoping he will be across the border. But we are prepared to be far apart.

So now begins The Great Purge...The Final Meetings...Preperation...and Closure of All Things American.

Yeah Togo!