Day 134

Busy weekend here. We are trying to get ourselves as organized as we can be to put this place on the market. Last Wednesday we had the painters here re-painting our hallway and bedroom walls. On Friday we had the carpets in our two bedrooms steam cleaned. Yesterday Jessica came over and helped us go through our closets getting rid of all of the junk and clothes we no longer need. Its amazing the extra amount of space we have and how much bigger our closets looks. The maids come this week and right after they are here, we are going to take digital pictures of the condo and create the flyer which we will put up in the front window of our building. Our building is unique in this neighborhood - it is really the only condo building in a very sought after location in the city. Places in our building go off the market usually within 2 weeks of being put up. No need for us to use a realtor or put it up on MLS. We will probably put an add in the Chicago Reader and put it up on Craig's List online. Other than that, we will be fine. I know we are still a few months away, but I am very excited about the move and moving into the next chapter of my life.

I watched a ton of college hoops this weekend. Remember who told you that LSU would beat Duke last Thursday? As good of a call as that was, my Final Four of Boston College, Kansas, Connecticut, and Texas went 0-4. George Mason's miracle run to the Final Four is the reason the NCAA Tournament is the best event in sports. Yesterday's win over Connecticut has to be considered one of the top three upsets of all time. What a finish to the game and overtime. Unbelievable. I am going to the Final Four this weekend with clients and my boss and I bet George Mason will have the crowd behind them. Everyone loves the underdog. I am happy for my boy Dave as his Florida Gators have made it to Indianapolis and will be rooting for the Gators to win it all. I watched the Gators win over Georgetown Friday night with Dave at Joe's, the Gators alumni bar. A good time was had by all.

The wedding season is rapidly approaching. We had 11 weddings on tap between April and October, but one of them was called off. 10 is still a lot to deal with. Add in showers, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and traveling to the weddings, and its a lot of outings to go to and presents to give. Even though one of the weddings was called off, my inlaws and brother and law are coming in town for the weekend next weekend. Will be a crazy week for us as we go to Cleveland Tuesday for work and to look at houses. I am at a trade show all day Wednesday. I go to Iowa for a sales meeting on Friday and then everyone comes in town.

Leah and I started to make a list of things we want to do and places we need to go eat before we leave the city for good. Some are obvious (Joe's, Athenian Room, Manny's) and others are specialties - like I have to have a Merk's Cheddar spread burger on a Tuesday night at Mystic Celt and a cupcake from Dinkel's. We knocked one off of our list on Saturday night - P.J. Clarke's for the Mini-Burgers. That is the number one thing I will miss about this city itself - the Food. I can't imagine a city that has better places to eat than Chicago.

This weekend was the bris of my cousin Debbie's son Jordan. The middle name of their son is Benjamin and was named for my father. My brother and mom were at the bris and said that bith Russ and Debbie gave a great speech about how much dad meant to them and how they hope that their son can have the personality, sensibility, and kindness that dad had. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that. They are both class acts.

Song of the Day: "Speed Law" by Mos Def