raising the dork level

I can be very particular.

It drives my husband crazy when I correct him with exact details. It's never something that matters. You know, give or take 10 minutes to determine what time something happened, for example.

When following a recipe, I will measure out every amount. Unless it's just a dash.

I'm sure I get this from my mother ... though, when telling me how to make her homemade mac and cheese, she said to "add some milk." I need to know how much "some" is!

Not surprising, my attention to detail has followed me into my athletic activities.

Ever since March 2005, I have been a loyal user of a Garmin Forerunner 201.

It's a satellite watch that tracks distance and speed. It doesn't have true maps, but it will make a dotted line showing you where you've been. And it connects to the computer so you can download all of your data to their "Training Center" software.

I love it. I have it set to beep every mile so I can pace myself. And I can easily track the mileage on my shoes in the notes field of the software so I know when it's time to replace.

In the "Training Center," I create folders for each year to easily see my totals -- miles, time and pace for the whole year. Last year, I logged 636.67 miles. That's higher than usual because of marathon training.

So far this year, I'm at 330.09, give or take. The Garmin has some limitations, and it isn't 100% accurate. It can lose the signal around tall buildings or trees (like park trails, where I run often). Or sometimes, I can't run outside and instead hit the treadmill, so I can't track it.

Now that I'm biking, it works for that, too. (I've only ridden 111.48 miles so far, but I've only been riding since May!)

Even with the limitations, it's good enough. I'll never replace you, Garmin!*

However, I have recently added another stat-tracking gadget.

Enter the iPod Nano with Nike+.

I had been thinking about it anyway, but after I switched to Nike shoes (thanks to a trial run during a Nike promotion at our local running store), my mind was made up. (There are third-party shoe pouches so it can be used with non-Nike shoes. But it's nice that I can just slide the sensor into my shoe.)

For the past month, I've been double-tracking my mileage. I upload my iPod data to the Nike site, and my Garmin data to the computer.

I am running with the iPod in either a pocket or the pouch of my water bottle. It's bad enough that I've got two gadgets. I wouldn't want to be that big of a dork to have it on my arm with that huge watch on my wrist!

I knew I'd be able to see all of my runs online with Nike+, but I wasn't aware of the community until I registered. I've been participating in challenges (for example, run 50 miles in a month) with other individuals, and have set goals for myself (my current goal is to run five runs in a month under 10 minutes per mile).

There are some flaws with the iPod as well. Being a pedometer-based product, it had to be calibrated (out of the box, it thought I was really fast!). Even being done, some times it matches the Garmin, other days it's a bit too fast. Not too bad, though.

And once, it lost a five-mile run. The iPod itself seemed to have updated the total mileage, but nothing was uploaded to the site and I couldn't see that run on the iPod. It was a good one, too!

I still like it. And tonight, when all of my friends bailed on our run, I was able to track my treadmill mileage!


*OK, when it breaks, I'll be upgrading to a newer, smaller model!

photo hunt: emotion

Me, 1975

I was hoping to find a screaming Santa photo in my baby book, but I looked pretty indifferent in the photos I found.

But I love the pout in this one!

Check out more photo hunters over here.

photo hunt: bad hair

When I saw the theme this week, I knew what I had to do.

6th grade graduation, 1987

This "bad hair" was with me from 1987-1989 when I finally managed to grow it out. The bad glasses did not help things.

After this experience, I refused to cut layers again for over 10 years.

See more bad hair over here!

come as you are

For sweetney.com challenge.

Unfortunately, I've only got my crummy cell phone camera availalbe at the moment!

photo hunt: self

I almost forgot! This week's theme is "Self."

Rather than use an old photo, I just grabbed my camera and started pointing it at my face.

Today's been a lazy day (well, since this morning's swim, anyway). I showered at the pool and pulled my hair into a ponytail, where it's been all day.

I never bothered putting on make-up, even though I actually left the house for a quick shopping trip. I usually make a little effort if I'm going out in public, but not today. At least I swapped the gym shorts for some capri pants!

Anyway, this is me today. Unedited. I guess I felt like being honest again. (At least I'm awake this time!)

truthiness

I've seen several bloggers participate in this project, but it started with Sweetney. She created a Self-Portrait Truthiness Flickr group for us to post honest photos of ourselves.

First thing in the morning. No make-up. No hairbrush. No shower.

I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly a vision of beauty in the morning. Most days, I can't even open my eyes until after I shower and/or wash my face -- but that wasn't allowed for this project.

Are you ready for it?

I'm not! Oh well ... here you go:

You can tell I'm straining to pry my eyes open in the shot on the right. And yes, in keeping with the theme, I did not clean the smudges off the mirror before taking these!

list day 14: seven random things

I was tagged, oh, nearly four months ago by Sandy. Sorry, Sandy -- I wasn't ignoring it!

The rules:

1. Write your meme, then link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself. You can do the weird random stuff; stuff that you think could make for an interesting blog post, but you were too shy to tell about.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. Do this step wisely; you know who is game to play and who isn't.

So, to think of seven things that are different from the five things I blogged in the last meme about me ...

1. I used to hate black licorice as a kid.
   That included black jellybeans and Good & Plenty. Jägermeister shots in college got me over the hatred. It's still not my favorite, but I can deal with it now.
   
2. I sang back-up for Kenny Rogers.
   ... with my college choir. He was touring with his holiday show. We learned the music and were really singing, but they piped in the choir from the recording on top of us. I have a photo from the newspaper that I should scan in one of these days!
   
3. I also shared a stage with John Astin.
   He was a guest reader at my community choir holiday concert a few years ago.
   
4. Sometimes I forget to zipper my pants if they have extra buttons or hooks.
   Which is pretty much any pair of pants other than jeans or cords. I've got to be careful!
   
5. I don't like it when I have to cut up my salad.
   It should already be in ready-to-eat pieces! Panera did not do a good job today.
   
6. People that know me now are usually surprised to know I dyed my hair odd colors on college.
   Purple twice, dark pink once. Sorry, I don't have any photographic evidence!
   
7. I am pretty addicted to HGTV.
   It happened immediately after I became a homeowner. My parents were big home-show watchers and I always laughed at them. Now I get it!

Since this meme is so old and just about everybody's done it, I'm not going to tag anybody.

If you missed it the first time around or have thought of seven more random/weird things you'd like to share, consider yourself tagged!

fourteen years

I wouldn't exactly call it an anniversary, since neither one of us really remembers exactly when it happened. I'm pretty sure, though, that it was February 27 or 28, 1994.

Days prior, I broke up with my high school boyfriend. He was still back home in his senior year of high school while I was a college freshman. We made it through the first semester, but I was becoming a different person.

I never cheated on high school boyfriend, but we were growing apart. Or, rather, I was. I felt terrible; I had never been the dumper before, I'd always been dumped. But, it had to be done.

Anyway, I suppose we could say this photo, taken December 1993, is foreshadowing. I was still 18 here, and he was almost 20.

There was always something between us. It just waited for the right moment.

Anyway, those early days weren't easy. That boy was stupid and afraid, and broke up with me a few times during the first two years.

I really couldn't tell you if we were together or not in the above picture, probably taken spring 1994. We always remained friends. And I remained hopeful that it wasn't truly over.

The turmoil ended when we got back together for good in October 1995. He graduated in 1996, but I still had another year to go.

The photo above was taken after his graduation.

He got a job and stayed at home with his Mom (two-hour drive from campus) to wait out my senior year.

Above, we are are at a party on campus in 1997. He was able to visit often, even though his cousin/mechanic told him the wheel on his 1988 Ford Escort could fall off at any time!

It didn't fall off, and his mom sold the car for a couple hundred dollars after he moved down to the DC area. He moved a couple months before I graduated and stayed with friends. We found an apartment in a suburb in Maryland when I was visiting / on an interview. I got the job, too.

We lived in that one-bedroom apartment for a little over a year. When we needed more space, we moved into a two-bedroom apartment in DC.

Above is a 1999 photo taken on our first trip to Hatteras Island. We were invited to join one of my co-workers and her friends/family. While not with the same group, we've been going ever since!

While living in DC, we went out to happy hours at least weekly. It was nice to be able to stumble home! It was after one of those walks back to our apartment that he asked me to marry him. I wasn't expecting that at all.

He didn't have a ring, since he figured I'd probably want to pick that out. I suppose had we discussed marriage, he might have known what I wanted, but it certainly wouldn't have been such a surprise!

The photo above, from 2000, was taken the night we announced our engagement to our friends. It was convenient that one of them brought a camera to happy hour!

We were engaged for about a year. Here's an outtake from our engagement photos, from 2001:

A few months after the wedding, we bought our house and moved again, back to Maryland (though, considerably farther from DC!).

Where we lived happily ever after ...

2002. My face is kind weird in this pic, but I wanted to include evidence of his hillbilly stage!


2005. On top of a butte in Eugene, Oregon.


2007, at a friend's wedding.

this is totally out of character for me ...

But OMSH made me do it!

Not funny enough?

Is this better?

late to the game

The game being Chinese Freeze Tag. Cecily tagged me oh, a month ago, and I'm just finally getting around to it!

I'm supposed to tell you ten interesting facts/habits about myself. So, here you go.

Not sure how interesting they'll be ... let's just say I'm giving you ten facts/habits/random tidbits ...

1. When snacking at home, I eat ice cream out of a mug. My husband finds this odd.
   
   
2. I've never broken any bones.
   
   In first grade, I needed four stitches in my chin after sliding across the gym floor and smashing into the wall. We were playing a game that involved running around and throwing balls at each other, and I tripped over a friend's foot. I'm sure they're not allowed to play that game anymore.
   
   I was on crutches for a week or two in fourth grade after the (twice-my-size) girl on the other end of the see-saw was goofing around. Instead of sitting on it, she put her hands on the seat and attempted to hold herself up with her arms. She slipped and I slammed to the ground, landing on my foot. It was only bruised.
   
   
3. I love cereal, but eat it more often as a nighttime snack rather than breakfast. Yet, despite my childhood deprivation of sugary cereals, I tend to buy ones my mom would approve of. (of course, this is after a Cocoa Puffs phase in college)
   
   
4. I sometimes forget to zipper my pants when there are extra buttons, like when there is one on the inside of the waistband. Something about the extra step must distract me.
   
   Today I had to be especially careful, since there were three buttons on the front and one on the waistband. I've caught myself with my zipper down a few times, and now I always make sure to double check!
   
   
5. The last movie I saw in the theater was Walk the Line on opening night. So many movies are crap; it's not usually worth it to spend that much money on them. We only go when we're reasonably sure it will be good.
   
   They played the trailer for Brokeback Mountain at that movie. We hadn't heard the buzz yet (and, guessing by the snickering in the crowd, neither did the audience). My husband started quoting Eric Cartman (in his best Eric Cartman impersonation) ... before it was revealed that it actually was a gay cowboy movie.
   
   
6. I only learned I like asparagus a few years ago, when it was a side dish at a friend's wedding. Since my mom doesn't like asparagus, she never made us eat it. I've still never had Brussel sprouts, for the same reason.
   
   
7. I go through phases with my music. I always like the same things ... but I tend to rotate one or two CDs that I listen to over and over again in my car. Currently, it is Laura Veirs' new album, Saltbreakers. I can't get enough.
   
   
8. I don't have favorites. If someone asks what my favorite movie/book/musician is, I never have just one. Sometimes, I can't really even narrow it down. I'll forget about ones I haven't thought about in a while.
   
   Actually, since I rarely watch (or re-watch) movies, it'd even be hard to come up with a list!
   
   
9. I never liked black licorice as a kid, but acquired a taste for it in college from Jägermeister shots! We didn't drink it all that much ... but, enough to learn to like it!
   
   I didn't like beer when I first went away to college, either. Since beer was usually the only choice, I learned to love it! Quickly!
   
   
10. In cooler months, I usually put my socks on first when getting dressed in the morning. Much of the time, my socks would be on before I decided what I would wear that day. This often results in having to change socks since the original pair wouldn't match or work with the shoes my the chosen outfit. I don't know why I keep doing it!
    
    Now that it's warm, no more socks for a while!

Wow, I spent way too much time coming up with that!

I'm also supposed to tag ten more people, but I'm not going to do that. I think everyone that visits my site has already participated in this game!

If not ... tag! You're it!

my inner dork has gotten loose

Not that I really to suppress it. I've admitted having perfect attendance and to drawing floor plans when rearranging furniture.

Oh, yeah, and I do web development at a software company. But we're all dorks so it's quite comfortable here :)

It really hit home yesterday when I purchased a fanny pack to use during my marathon. (It is technically a 'Runner's Pack,' but that doesn't change the basic form and function!)

We've been training through the winter so I've always carried gel packs or protein bars in my pockets, but we probably won't need jackets on race day. That stuff gets kind of annoying in pockets, anyway, if you tie your jacket around your waist.

So, I'm trying to make peace with it. It will be comfortable, and practical. And I can carry a spare pair of socks. It is surprisingly refreshing to change into a new pair after 16 miles ...

The fanny pack is not the only thing. It's more like the final straw.

I've already been running with a GPS watch (which, my non-dork husband thought was incredibly geeky at first, until he saw what it did and then realized it was actually kind of cool).

But the model I have doesn't track our run-walk intervals accurately, so I wear another watch to beep at appropriate times. (I have been calling myself the dork with two watches. At least neither is a calculator.)

And then there are knee braces on both knees.

At least I will also be embracing my inner six-year old.

We all got matching pink shirts (after all, it is the Flying Pig Marathon). Since it is likely to be warm, I will probably wear shorts. My favorite pair are purple.

That's a color combination I haven't worn since childhood, but, I'm going for comfort!

interview

I needed some blogging ideas so I asked Alissa to interview me.

Thanks, Alissa, this was fun!

1. In honor of your upcoming vacation to Jamaica, what has been your most memorable vacation so far?
It's hard to pick just one! Of course, our honeymoon taught us the wonders of all-inclusive vacations! Every one we've been on has been fantastic. However, one stands out ...

Our trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, was rather unusual. They were filming Celebrity Mole at the resort (of those in the cast, we saw Angie Everhart, Dennis Rodman, Mark Curry, and Corbin Bernsen. Corbin was wearing short-shorts.)

There would be random restaurant closures (without notice, or, maybe they posted something in the lobby which was really far from our room!). Some parts of the resort were off-limits. The folks in the room next to us must have been on crew, and would leave their rooms early in the morning without turning off their alarm, which was set at 5am. After calling the front desk someone came and shut it off ... but hit SNOOZE! This happened more than one day.

2. What is your earliest childhood memory?
My earliest memory clips aren't the most exciting ...

I remember lying in my crib looking at the animal wallpaper, crying. I must have just woke up, and as I lay there I remember thinking I didn't know why I was crying, but I kept crying anyway.

I also remember standing in the doorway of a kitchen, looking up at an old woman who had the refrigerator door open. I asked my mom about this once, and she wasn't sure who it was, it could have been either my great-grandmother or great-aunt.

This was a little later, but I remember in nursery school, I saw my friend's show-and-tell toy before show-and-tell, and she wanted me to forget what she brought. I told her I did, but I still remember it was a play sewing kit.

3. If reincarnation exists, what animal would you like to come back as and why?
A cat. All they have to do is eat, sleep, play and cuddle. It's too tough being a stray, so I'd want a nice family, of course!

4. If you had to choose between never being able to turn off the TV or never being able to watch TV again, what would you choose?
I'm a TV junkie. It'd have to stay on all the time! (I can always tune it out if nothing is on!)

I can change the channels, right?

5. What advice can you give me regarding my upcoming wedding/marriage?
If you're looking to learn from my mistakes :) ...

For the wedding itself:
1) Whenever possible, prepare things ahead of time.

I should have prepared checks for all the vendors, but instead just grabbed my checkbook (which was on the last check!). Good thing hubby was staying at our apartment the night before and could grab a new book. He was stuck paying people, when I had had all the info with me ... oh well!

I also saved the seating chart until the last minute (I knew where people were sitting, but hadn't created the map for the hotel). We wound up with two tables in the wrong place (an 8-person table was swapped with a 10-person table), so some family members switched table numbers and/or rearranged themselves. The staff did set up another table for some reason. My in-laws ended up being mixed in with my family.

2) Thinks will go wrong. Don't let them stress you out!
As long as you are married at the end of the day, it was a success!

And for marriage?
It seems every relationship is different, so there are going to be many paths to a successful marriage.

My husband thanks me all the time when he sees our friends' wives nagging/controlling their husbands ... I don't know, nagging doesn't seem to be the way to go!

Remember that you are individuals, and getting married doesn't change that. For me, we lived together for four years first, so really, the only changes after the wedding were my last name, a ring on my finger, and being able to file joint taxes!

---

Wanna participate? The "rules"...
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by e-mailing you five questions. I get to pick them, and you have to answer them all.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

---

i am a contradiction

Or maybe a conundrum. Or a hodgepodge. (My husband gets credit for reminding me of this commercial, of course, now he has also compared me to a platypus.)

It crossed my mind last night, as I was getting ready for bed, that my hair falls somewhere between wavy and curly.

It has too much curl to be wavy, but the weight of my hair tends to straighten the curls somewhat, so that it's not really curly either. It just gets frizzy/fluffy if I don't use the right products!

And then there's the color. A friend once described me as a "rotten strawberry blond." That's probably the best way to put it! I'm too dark to be strawberry blond, not red enough to be a redhead. I'd like it to be redder, but I won't dye it*. I love that it's natural.

So we've got sort of curly reddish-blondish-brownish hair.

Adding to the mix, I am also a tall petite. At 5'3", I'm still pretty short. The "petite" category is supposed to be for people 5'4" and under so I should be fine. However, I have a terrible time finding pants with the right length.

Most of the time, petite pants are too short. They are usually the perfect length, if I were to go barefoot. That rules out even the smallest heel most of the time. Non-petite pants tend to be longer than my highest heels.

I'm not a good enough sewer to hem nice pants (I'll only hem pajamas or running pants!), and I'm not going to have all of my clothes tailored, so I'll just keep trying on dozens of pants, waiting for the ones that have a slightly longer (or shorter) inseam!

So, I'm kind of short, with sort of curly reddish-blondish-brownish hair. And blueish-greenish-grayish eyes.

No complaints there. They change color to match my outfits!

*Not that my hair has never been dyed ... in college, it was deeper red, dark brown, reddish-pink, and purple. It's all mine now -- no dye has touched my head since 1996!

my first meme

Because Cecily asked, here are five things you don't know about me:

1. I sleep with my eyes open.
   Really creepy, huh? The first time my husband realized it, we were not even dating yet. A group of us from college went on a road trip, and we all crashed in one friend's parents' living room. They let me have the couch, everyone else was arranged on the floor or in chairs.
   
   In the morning, some of them woke up before me, but they thought I was awake and started talking to me. When I did not respond, they waved their hands in front of my face, and realized I was actually not awake. Just a freak.
   
   I now warn people if I'm ever sharing a hotel room, or if there is the possibility I may doze off (long car ride).
   


2. I used to be in a band.
   Two bands, actually. In college, I got a microphone I could tack to my violin, and joined some friends' rock band. We played out in bars a few times, but disbanded after 1/2 of the band graduated.
   
   A few years after college, I joined some people I found looking for bandmates in a local paper. I played some keyboards, some violin, and backing vocals. It never really went anywhere -- it was a never-ending search to complete the lineup -- but it was fun writing/recording songs.
   


3. People think I'm quiet, until they get to know me.
   Especially in groups, I take a little while to open up. I guess I don't like to compete if there are lots of people talking. I can be a little shy, but usually it's more that I need to warm up to new people/situations. Once I start to break down into smaller groups or one-on-one, I won't shut up. Anybody who thinks I am quiet doesn't really know me.
   


4. I am kind of a dork.
   Just this morning, I took out a tape measure so I could draw up a reasonably to-scale floor plan of my new office onto graph paper. That way, I can cut out miniature desks, bookcases and file cabinets and rearrange them. I currently don't have an officemate, but I will soon, so I want to make sure it's just right!
   
   I'm sure there are plenty of other dorky examples, I will add more if I think of any!



5. I am a vegetarian.
   Well, more accurately, a pescetarian, but it's usually easier to say vegetarian.
   
   Still, my convictions aren't really that strong. I stopped eating meat in college because cafeteria meat was gross, and I had a lot of vegetarian friends so it was easy to go along. Now, 13 or so years later, a lot of it is habit. They make lots of yummy fake meat products now, too.
   
   I still wear leather, but fur is too "dead animal" for me.

There you have it!

perfect attendance

I had perfect attendance in high school.

Actually, I think it started in sixth grade and lasted through graduation. That is seven years of school without missing a full day.

Technically, I did go to the beach on senior cut day, but the award notices had already gone out.

I almost went to school that day because of the perfect attendance thing, though. I would have been there alone, aside from the few people who wouldn't graduate if they missed any more gym classes.

Most definitely, this has molded me to be the person I am today. I wonder how many years into the trend it took to make me drag myself to school with a fever so that I could perform in the high school musical that night? They certainly would have missed third girl from the left ...

I am a rule-follower. I will be where I am supposed to be. I keep my promises. I precisely measure when baking. (I'm not sure if that one is related, but I am very particular, even when mixing margaritas. Even if it's the fifth pitcher of margaritas!)

It really bothered me when I had to miss a Messiah concert, and it just hit me that this must be related to my perfect attendance complex. (I did let illness pull me from a concert in college as well, I had bad cold or the flu. But I tried to perform. I went to the pre-concert rehearsal dressed in my concert uniform black and white, only to realize I felt dizzy every time we stood up and didn't think I could make it through.)

I fortunately do take vacations from work without feeling guilty, apparently my mind can process that I have vacation time and I should use it. I'm still working on the sick days, though. I've only taken a handful in over six years of working with my current employer. But I have taken them! No more perfect attendance!

Now, let's see ... I've posted for 64 days in a row. Is this becoming a problem?