So Much Going On...So Little Time!

Sometimes there just are not enough hours in the day.
The last two weeks have been like that for me and I'm so glad I'm getting back to some sense of normalcy today.
Last week Tuesday, I finished my class for my Multi Channel Marketing Communications and gave my group presentation. We were supposed to have 5 in the group, 3 presented. Oh well, it went well and I got my certificate in the mail the other day :)
Also on Tuesday, friends of my family suffered a great loss when their house burned beyond use.
Apparently the wife went to go pick the boys up, and while she was gone the freezer in the basement malfunctioned and set the old pine paneling behind it on fire. The windows were all closed and the air was on, so the smoke and fire traveled to the third floor quickly, and no one noticed that it was burning. Yay brick.
By the time the family got back, it was already too late. The fire department was there and by some miracle, managed to save 3 of their 4 house pets. Lost was their 19 year old male cat. He was put down because he was already suffering from cancer, and was too old to revive in an oxygen tank for days. The firemen saved Puck, their Newfoundland dog, Won-ton, the pekingese, and their female cat, Roux.
And a miracle it was...Chicago literally just got pet oxygen masks for the fire departments in the last few weeks, and the local fire house that answered the call had just received their pet masks the very morning the house burned.
These animals were the very first to be saved with on site oxygen from the fire department in Chicago, and I'm so very glad of that.
The house is a total loss and must be gutted, but at least our friends are ok.
So that was Tuesday...
Thursday was my 26th Birthday.
Didn't do a whole lot. Went to work and had dinner plans for afterward at my favorite restaurant in Chicago; Sabatino's on Irving Park.
Incredible food, amazing staff and service, and I admit that I have a sweet spot for old school European places that still have a wandering string trio in the dining room.
The meal was incredible. Everything from the escargot to the very last bite of pistachio gelato with a chocolate liquor glaze was perfect. It was so nice to have someone else cook my steak for once lol. I was just happy my Birthday was not Wednesday. Wednesday is Lobster Night at Sabatino's haha.
The day I go out for Lobster is the day I'm committed to the asylum.
Quick pic of me on my way out the door to dinner on Thursday...

No..I usually don't smile in pictures...not even on my birthday ;)
I enjoyed a long weekend for my birthday, and ended it with the City Heat Annual RIP Run.
The purpose of this run is to go to the cemetery where most of the absent brothers are laid to rest and pay them a visit. It began in 1993 and has continued the first weekend in June ever since.
Here are some pictures from my Birthday and the RIP run.
Tomorrow I'll be putting up recipes and pictures for Herb Compound Butter Baked Lobster Tails!