Happy 4th of July!

Popular activities on the Fourth of July include cooking out, and going to parades, festivals, fireworks, etc. My big activity for the Fourth... catching up on sleep. I haven't gotten very much good sleep over the last few weeks, so this was my chance to recharge my batteries a little.

One reason for the interrupted sleep was our puppy Maggie. She continues to improve in regards to housetraining and general obedience, including starting Puppy Kindergarten this week at the Dog Training Club of Champaign-Urbana (http://dtccu.prairienet.org/). She has not yet made many strides yet, however, in sleeping through the night. Another reason for needing to catch up on sleep - a much more fun reason - was going with my sister, niece, and parents to the Women's Nationals Bowling Tournament in Detroit. We got to attend a Tigers game, watch my sister and her team bowl, and I even got to do some bowling myself, as a sub for another team. It was a very busy weekend, but I had a good time. For more info, including photos of little Katelin at the ballgame and in the hot tub (don't worry, it was more like a warm tub), see my sister's "Baby Hicks is Here!" blog in the link to the right.

OK, I admit it... I did participate in one Fourth of July tradition - at least in our household. Scott and I tuned in for the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island. As expected, we saw a very close battle between Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut, with an eventual overtime victory by Chestnut. What I did NOT expect to see was a contestant I went to high school with - Juris "Dr. Bigtime" Shibayama (IMSA class of 1992, one year ahead of me). I didn't know him well, but still... Weird! I will give him credit for throwing the "IMSA nerd" stereotype out the window - spinal surgeon, bodybuilder, fitness model, and now, internationally ranked competitive eater (thanks, Google!).

So, anyway - Happy Independence Day to all... I'm going to bed.