Bobby

I’m finding that time management has become one of the most important things for me lately.

Here’s a couple of resources that have served me well.
When I’m looking for inspiration and don’t feel like reading, I watch (or listen to) Randy Pausch’s lecture on Time Management.  The video is on the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
I’ve posted this on the cubicle wall at my desk to remind myself where I should be spending my time.  It’s an example of the four quadrants that Stephen Covey mentions in his book.

Just saying hi

Of course you are.  And of course I am too.  I’m busy all the way up to the middle of August, when I’ll be celebrating the marriage of Justin and Mandy.  After that though, my calendar is pretty much open.  So why not fill it up a bit more!

Remember Bar Louie on Halstead and Randolph?  Well I do too.  Like you, I’m glad they’re gone and I’m excited about who’s taking that space.

Q.  Bobby, who’s moving in?
A.   A local brewer Haymarket Pub & Brewery will open the doors this summer. (grand opening is August 18th. 6pm)

Q.  Will they have good beer?
A.   Pete Crowley the Brewmaster at Rock Bottom Brewery and some of his friends will have a permanent home for The Drinking & Writing Brewery at
There will be classic Belgian and contemporary American ales and lagers brewed in house, as well as many other craft beers on tap.

Q.  Food?
A.   Hand made sausages, pulled pork, pizza, and rotisserie chicken.  mmmmm

Q.  What else could I ask for?
A.   As mentioned above. “Drinking and Writing”
These guys are part of the Neo-Futurist Theater group which has the longest running show in Chicago Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind .  If  you haven’t seen it, you have to check it out.  Shellie and I saw it with Ken and Sharon this weekend and it was awesome.

If you’re interested in checking out Haymarket, let me know.  It’s just a short walk across the highway for me and I’m excited about exploring the neighborhood this summer.

I’ve been meaning to write a post about our wedding day for quite some time, but nothing I write can describe how I felt that day. Shellie and I had a small ceremony and reception, and I don’t think it could have been more perfect for us. I had never been as sure of anything in my life as when I proposed. The wedding planning was completely stress free. I was calm and cool even the morning of the wedding as we took pictures with Eric from snostudios around the city. But when I saw Shellie walk down the isle, I was so overcome with happiness I could barely speak. There was no way I could hide the way I felt at that moment (not that I would want to). When it was time for me to read my vows, I stumbled over the few lines I had written down on a small piece of paper, but it wasn’t because I was unsure of myself. It was because I was so incredibly excited that this day that we’ve talked about for so long was finally here.

I want to give a huge thanks to our friends that helped to make this day the best day of my life: Jessica Large handled all the details and appointments and kept us within our budget; Kurt Cruse provided all the music and DJ’d like a ninja (no DJ booth needed); Bridget Gannon made the cupcake tier, and they were better than the ones we tried from Sugar Bliss; Melia Jones at Shikago Restaurant made sure “The Library” was all setup and the food/drinks were flowing; and of course Rev. Graeme Tower for perfoming the ceremony better than I could have ever imagined.

Our photos are online at http://smugmug.snostudios.com/Weddings/Argeanton-Shellie-and-Robert and there’s also tons that friends and family took. I’ll try to get them all together, or at least link to them here.

It works!

After I sprained my left ankle back in March, I was on crutches for a month, then wore a brace for a month. I figured I could work it out at home and recover on my own…… Wrong.

Since I’ve been doing P.T., every week I feel like it’s getting better. I can workout and even job a bit now. Pretty soon I’ll be playing soccer again.

Basically my advice is this: If you ever have a serious injury and the doctor says you need physical therapy, do it. Don’t wait or delay, just do it.
I regret putting it off for two months, and if I hadn’t, I would have fully recovered by now.

Shellie and I have finally moved into our new home and are starting to get settled in, but more importantly we’re engaged!  We’ve both been incredibly busy lately, but we’ve stil been able to make time to spend with our friends.  Shellie has an Art show opening next week, and I couldn’t be more proud of her.  She’s been working non-stop lately to get her pieces ready for the show, and they look great.

Well, I’m not much of a writer so I’ll leave it at that.

I did the Bucktown 5k today… here’s how I did:

Well… I did it, and I’m glad I did.  This was Shellie’s first race, and my first race in quite a while.  I did the 100 mile bike ride in Dekalb and the Chase Corporate Challenge 3.5mile run earlier this year, but this race was different.  Probably because it was in my own neighborhood and more importantly because this is the first time Shellie and I have run a race together.  We didn’t run next to each other but it was still awesome.  The Nike+ in my shoe says I ran 3.21 miles in 25:02, but the official time was 24:58 for the 3.1 mile course.  Close enough.  Not fast enough for me to brag, but I’m happy with it.

At the race Shellie and I saw Sang-woo, Rich, and Mike so we decided to go have brunch at Moonshine. It was a great way to end the week.

So over the last couple years I know I’ve not stayed as fit as I have in the past.  I guess I just kinda thought, “eh, I’m not overweight so it’s ok.”.  But I realized it’s not just about being a certain weight, it’s about being healthy and feeling good.

Shellie has been running about 3 miles almost every morning and decided to do a 5K run this weekend.  She even created a Google Map of her daily run.  So I told myself, “Hey, this is a great oppourtunity to buy a cool Gadget!!”  (I know it doen’t make sense, but hey… I’m using Technology!”)  I got a new pair of Nike running shoes and the Nike+ iPod adapter to track my runs.  I have to say, I think it’s more encouragement to run than I thought it would be.  Nike has an awesome site where you can upload/share and track your running… set goals for faster times, train for a marathon and other things like that.  This all got me thinking, “Hey, I have friends that have done triathalons and marathons, maybe I should try to do one next year.”.  Well… I don’t want to get ahead of myself now… so let’s see how this 5K tomorrow goes.

Wish me luck!