My heart is so full of love, it encompasses all Chicago baseball fans

The White Sox won their special tie-breaker game and are now officially in the play-offs. Good luck to them and their fans. (Did I really just say that?) They will need it, since Tampa is a scary-good team.

It's almost here!

Remember how you felt as evening approached and then night fell on December 24? How you KNEW it was impossible to think about anything else but the magic of Santa and Christmas Day?

That's how I feel right now. The NLDS begins tomorrow within the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field!

This photo is from today's post-season rally at Daley Plaza. I skipped it because, well, I already have TONS o' spirit. But isn't it great to see all that Cubbie blue? I wanted to preserve that shot of the Picasso. Doesn't the cap complete her?

Isn't this going to be the BEST OCTOBER in the history of Octobers?

Go, Cubs, Go!

Tuesday Tunes #13

Word associations this week: Tell us the first, song, band/artist, album or anything music related that comes to mind when you see these words:

Space: 2001 (Also Sprach Zarathustra) -- and Elvis, of course
Party: like it's 1999 (Prince)
Darkness: on the Edge of Town (Bruce)
Reading: "If You're Reading This" (Tim McGraw)
Touch: "Human Touch" (Springsteen again)
New: "You Make Me Feel Brand New" (Stylistics)
Gone: "Already Gone" (Eagles)
Jazz: "All that Jazz" (from Chicago)
Song: "The Song We Were Singing" (Paul McCartney)
Bag: "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (James Brown)

To play along yourself, click here.

DAY 30 -- September Fitness Challenge

You may not be able to tell, but our jump-roper is not smiling. At the end of the September Fitness Challenge, I don't believe I have lost a frigging ounce, which could be because I only moved my exercyclist seven spots toward my ultimate goal (which is to be in noticeably better shape by December 1).

This makes me sad.

I will try to focus on the bright side. It's been a source of amusement to some of you commenters, but I am VERY PROUD of the fact that I have virtually eliminated candy from my diet. Throughout the entire month of September, my candy/bakery intake has been:

• One chocolate chip brownie
• One package of Twizzlers (which I had at the movies, and since I consider Twizzlers or Sno-caps a part of the film-going experience, I'm not sure I regret it)
• One scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream

I have a prodigious sweet tooth, and have instead been satisfying it with yogurt and fruit. That makes me happy. Therefore I will concentrate on that as my September Accomplishment, and try to stay on the wagon, as it were.