Momma's at it again...

Momma ran another race last weekend with her buddy, Bev. It was the 26th Annual City of Lakes 25K Run. It's a race around two of the largest Minneapolis lakes - Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun (the latter is pictured at right). For those less in tune with the Metric System, 25 kilometers is "ruffly" 15.534 miles. Speaking of brilliant, Stew has decided to refrain from running any additional races with Momma. You might recall he ran a 10K earlier this summer and nearly exploded during and afterwards. So, don't expect him to be running again this year... or ever. However, take note that he says he once ran nearly 25 kilometers in high school. This is the approximate distance from Pierre, SD, to the Oahe Dam (north of Pierre). Specifically, there's a teen gathering point just west of the Oahe Dam called Bauske Beach, named after a guy a year older than Stew (Lance Bauske). Bauske was known for organizing numerous "KEGs" (Knowledge Engineering Groups), so it was fairly easy for him to establish his own beach. One night, the Stanley County Sheriff's Department decided to raid a Bauske Beach kegger Stew was attending, so Stew took off running down the beach and eventually made his way up the bluffs toward the highway leading back to town. He ran so as not to shame the family name by getting caught at a party -- even though he was NOT partaking in underage drinking. Stew was just there to monitor the event and "scope out chicks" (his words, not mine). Also, let the record show Stew says he was framed by police the three or so times he was actually arrested in high school. Anyway, someone eventually found Stew alongside the highway and transported him the rest of the way back to town (probably to Amy Klein's house for an after-keg party). Stew tried many times to establish Stew's Slough near the Oahe Dam, but he couldn't get enough people interested in drinking in a wetland. Stew says his peers complained about too much mud, too many mosquitos and a lack of hot chicks at Stew's Slough. To the best of my knowledge, Bauske Beach lives on.

Anyway, back to Momma... she finished the 25K in a time of 2:41:16, placing in the top 82 percent of all female runners. She lowered her per mile pace from around 11 minutes to under 10.5 minutes. So, by the time she runs the Twin Cities' Marathon next month, she'll be right up there in the lead pack. Claire plans to hold a sign along the marathon, but Stew's concerned that she'll just throw it on the street. She's currently going through a phase (at least we hope it's a phase) where she throws everything onto the floor. Momma's prize for running the 25K was a commemorative beer stein. Stew thinks it's awesome, but Momma is royally peeved. I overheard her complaining to Stew while shaking the stein in his face, "What's with this [bleep]? I wanted a t-shirt!" So, it looks like the beer stein is going to find it's way to the same place all Stew's college beer mugs went... to the Goodwill store. At least his mugs got to rest in the garage for several months before being taken to their final resting place. But I don't think this stein is going to be around for long. And I'm hoping they give Momma a car or something after she runs the Twin Cities' Marathon. I don't want to be around if she brings home another beer stein!

Until I start my other blog, here's a little Jon Stewart clip for you to view. Watch it before El Presidente` Bush gives his speech Thursday night. And, if you watch the speech, I challenge you to count the number of times Dubya says "making progress", "9/11", "hardwork" or links Al Queda to Iran ('cause the law Congress passed in 2002 gives him authority to attack ANY country without Congressional approval as long as he can tie that country to the 9/11 attacks... thus all the talking points about Iran supporting Al Queda). Lastly, take note in the clip where the General says his report was not written/reviewed by the Whitehouse prior to his presenting it to Congress. And you wonder why I'm an angry mutt. Grrrrrrrr...