Phew!

That’s my sigh of relief - you’ll see why…

When we were without TV and internet in our apartment for the first 2 weeks of September, I was reminded of how much I depend on the internet - to communicate, to get information, to be entertained.

Usually I check email and blogs while I eat breakfast. (More often than not lately, breakfast has been oatmeal or pancakes.)

Yesterday the wireless router started to get funky and we had no internet. I brushed it off and went to tackle making meatballs for dinner. Then it hit me that I could not quickly google a recipe! (How pathetic, right?)

Good thing Giada and her turkey meatball recipe were around to help me out (I know meatballs don’t really require a recipe, but I wanted to get a feel for the ratios and seasonings.)

Served with our favorite pasta:

Spaghetti & Meatballs = comfort food.

Then I drowned my sorrows about the internet (and about the Yankees if I knew how bad they were going to lose) in some cookie dough ice cream.

Okay I wasn’t really drowning any sorrows – I just wanted ice cream!

But on Monday, my ability to use the internet at work for personal things proved to be very important…

I was so lucky on Monday to register for the 2011 Boston Marathon! Registration opened at 9:00 am Monday, and I remembered around noon when I saw it written in my planner.

I knew thought it was on the early side to register (I thought the first week or two would be plenty of time), but Monday I figured “why not” since I had already given it a lot of thought and decided that Boston would be my next marathon.

Even though last year the registration closed in 2 months, which was quick (in the past it’s been significantly longer), Monday it closed in 8 hours.

I’m sure there are thousands of frustrated people out there, but this article mentions a few. I really felt for them. Not everyone has the ability to get on a computer between 9 am and 5 pm! To train that hard, run a qualifying race, and then not be able to register must be heart breaking.

Here is an interview about it with the BAA Executive Director:

He expressed sympathy, but basically said:

• There is not much they can do at this point about the runners who got closed out for 2011, but they are very open to suggestions for the 2012 process.
• The BAA is considering making changes in the future, such as expanding the field size of the race (currently capped around 26,800 runners) or tightening up the qualifying standards.
• However, the goal is not to make Boston the “mega marathon” – the BAA believes in quality over quantity.
• They want to maintain the integrity of the Boston Marathon experience (which would likely be compromised with a significantly larger field size).
• You can’t forget that there are thousands of people who were able to register, and you can never please everybody.

The Boston Marathon holds a special place in my heart, having lived in Boston and run the race 3 years in a row…

2008 (junior year of college) with mom, through an unofficial charity at BC

2009 (senior year of college) with mom again, through BC again

Writing “mother” and “daughter” on our shirts was the best decision – we got so many amazing comments from people that kept us laughing and smiling the whole time!

[qualified for Boston]

2010 with a number (and in the first wave. which my geeky runner self thought was so cool )

I can’t wait for 2011! I feel so lucky that I was able to get on the internet Monday to register.

Are you able to use the internet for “personal things” at work? What do you depend on the internet for?