Kendra Babbles

Today the puppies were driving me nuts.  Shelby thinks I should entertain her all day - its like when we first got her all over again.  At least she hasn’t peed on the floor to spite me - yet.

So at lunch I ran to Ghetto Target to pick up some chewies to keep them entertained.  I purchased a lovely assortment of rawhides and bones and the guy behind me in line says “$20 for bones??”  I said “Yes, they really like to chew.” and continue to check out.  Then he says “I just go to the butcher and ask for scraps.  Then they still have real blood on them.”

Um, WTF?

I left quickly after that.  Welcome to Ghetto Target.

It’s my big brother’s 31st birthday today.  Here is your cake Chad!

Last night I ran the Freedom Run 5K in downtown Dallas.  This was one I couldn’t pass up - it was about a half mile from my house!  The race benefits the Assist The Officer Foundation, which is a good cause and an appropriate race to run on the anniversary of 9/11.  The course ran west from City Hall and out onto the Houston Street bridge.  After the turnaround point you had an awesome view of downtown Dallas - completely unobstructed.  Great course with some hills and the police blocking traffic for you, I couldn’t ask for more there. 

However, I could ask for more water next year.  It was humid last night and the race started at 6:30 - a good 45 minutes before I usually run during the Texas summer.  I brought my own water, but it had warmed up by halfway through the race and wasn’t very refreshing.  There was only one water station on the course - but it wasn’t until 2.3 miles or so.  On a course that is just over 3 miles, that seemed odd.  And when I made it to the finish - no water there either.  They apparently ran out long before I got there.  Luckily I was smart enough to bring my own water to this race, but I felt pretty bad for all the finishers who had nothing at all.

My chip time was 36:26.7 - about an 11:41 min/mile.  I was pretty surprised by that.  I’ve had a cold for a few days and about halfway through I was wheezing pretty bad.  It’s not fun trying to run without your full lung capacity.  I hope that clears up before the 8 mile run on Saturday morning!

*This posts title is a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song.  Appropriate for this post, and also conincidental because the post-race band was Petty Theft - a Tom Petty cover band.

Saturday night Blake and I had tickets to the Augustana/Counting Crows/Maroon 5 concert at the Superpages.com center in Fair Park (the StarPlex for all you Dallasites).  I have been dying to see Maroon 5 since their first album came out several years ago, but every time they came to Dallas I had a conflict and couldn’t go.  Well as soon as I heard they were coming to town, I bought tickets ASAP and waited somewhat patiently for the big show.

They did not disappoint!  Blake and I missed the opening act because we needed some food, but we arrived about 10 minutes before Maroon 5 started.  We found a nice spot on the lawn, laid out our blanket, and settled in.  I was excited to see lots of people our age or older around, which meant no one would be standing up for the whole show, forcing me to stand to even see the TV monitors.  Drives me nuts when I buy lawn seats and then end up standing just to see what is going on!  Anyway, Maroon 5 kicked ass.  The sound and vocals were just as good as the CD and they mixed the faster and slower songs well to keep the energy from the crowd going.  They played a great mix of their first and second CD, and also did a short cover of Chris Issak’s Wicked Game, which was awesome.  They didn’t play Figure It Out, which is on the second CD and one of my favorites, but they played enough of my other favorites to make me happy.

After a short break to switch out equipment, Counting Crows hit the stage.  I wasn’t sure what to expect since they haven’t released a new album in years and I only know a handful of their songs.  But we were in for a treat - they decided to do an acoustic set and make things a bit more intimate.  Hard to do in the StarPlex, but they did a great job.  They played some of the songs that I knew, and a few others that I enjoyed as well.  For the encore they brought out the opening act, Augustana, to do the intro to the song and it was pretty spectacular.  It was an all around great show.  Definitely worth the $40 or so dollars you pay after you buy the ticket and then TicketMaster charges you insane fees for no reason.  The lead singer also took just a few minutes to encourage people to register to vote and to just generally be responsible citizens. 

It was a great show.  If they are coming to your town, I highly recommend it.

*Maroon 5 - If I Never See Your Face Again