Friday, October 8, 2010

The Versatile Blogger

    Wow, two posts in one week from Jillie.  I know you guys were shocked to see me in the ole google reader today after posting a few days ago.  Even more shocking is that in another life, I used to blog daily.  Oh the days.  So what am I doing here on a Friday morning?  Well, that dang Kovas tagged me for this beautiful "The Versatile Blogger" award and since this is about the 8th time I've been tagged and the previous 7 times I've avoided it, I figured it's time to play the game.  
    First, I have some random thought bullets to spew off, just cuz it's Friday and just cuz it's my blog and I can:
  • I'm feeling pretty crapotastico the past couple days.  A combination of Code Red allergies, stomach "issues" (trust me, you don't want the details - Beth from SUAR would be very proud, though), and total insomnia.  Yesterday's scheduled run of "anything over 6" was a measly 3 before my stomach made me bail.  Of course...cuz you know, things were just going TOO well - heaven forbid I'd have 3 solid weeks of base building. 
  • No news on the insurance.  Go figure.
  • I'm drinking a RockStar, zero carb, green tea, Yerba mate energy drink.  I know - shameful, but that's how tired I am (I don't do coffee).
  • Good luck to, Tom, a guy I've been working with, who is running The Chicago Marathon this weekend.  Please give him some LUUUUVin!!  He's going go do awesome...he's been running great and I know if the weather cooperates (which I hear it's suppose to be pretty warm, grrr), he will run very well.
  • I loved hearing everyone's thoughts on my last post: Boston vs. 50-miler.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading every single comment and smiled at such a diversity of opinions.  I laughed knowing what many of you would say as soon as I saw your name - sure enough, you did not disappoint :).  Thank you so much for your thoughts, truly they are all very helpful and exactly what I needed to hear.  I am leaning towards one direction....time will tell if it pans out.  For now, I'm just trying to get the miles built up without my heel protesting.
Ok, back to "the award" dangit -  here's the rules:
  1. Thanks and link back to the person who gave you the award.
  2. Share 7 things about yourself.
  3. Pass the award to other bloggers.
1) Um, Thanks Kovas!!??!!??

If you recall some time ago, I had one of these awards and totally eluded my own list by having you guys write 7 things about me instead.  Oh how fun that was to read about all my faults.  Don't worry, I eventually graduated from therapy after all your comments and am now a much better person, so my therapist said ... so time for me to put on the big girl panties and jump on the bandwagon.  You're going to be so riveted with wowness after reading this list, I'm not sure how you'll be able to go back to work afterwards.  Thankfully it's Friday, and you'll have the weekend to recover.

Here we go....
2) The 7 THINGS:

1.  Because it's one of those mornings, I have to start off this list by stating I absolutely hate my hair right now.  I'm not sure what happened; I was growing it for Locks for Love and was pretty dang close to possessing the required 10" and still be able to pull it in a ponytail (mandatory for when I run) when I had a major melt-down before Tucson Marathon last December and decided I needed to chop 7" off for a "new me."  Something has been off since and my sweet hairdresser and I can't seem to get it right (sorry Becky, it's not you, it's my stupid hair!).  Pic was the good old hair days.  Hum, maybe the hair wasn't actually that good...maybe it was that margarita I'm holding that made it only appear good?!?  Who knows.  Today, I gave up and hair is in ponytail - you now it's a bad hair day when the ponytail is donned at work.
    
Abbey and I having some sunglasses fun, night before the Tucson Marathon, Dec '09
2.  I love my boys to death, I honestly do, but I'm so glad God gave me a daughter.  I can't say it's been "easy" with her all the time but I never had any sisters I so desperately wanted so I love the girly time Abbey and I have together.  Those times are few and far between now with her off to college :(.

3.  My first car was a AMC Gremlin.  Purple.  With an orange wheel.  I paid $285 for it. Don't go judging now.

4.  I've spent more than half my life mom-less.  I'd do almost anything to spend just one day with her right now. 

5.  I swam competitively in high school and landed some cashola to swim in college at the big ole University of Northern Iowa.  Ironically, I'm deathly afraid of drowning.  I had a severe anxiety attack going over the Coronado Bridge in San Diego one year and seriously considered swimming back over to San Diego instead of going back over that bridge.  I did, however, run over the Golden Gate Bridge just fine this summer in the marathon.  In fact, I never even thought about my anxiety crossing it...probably cuz I was more worried about dying due to being so out of shape.

6.  I hate to cook.  One of two shows I'm addicted to is "Chopped" on The Food Network. 

7.  I grew up in the big city of Davenport, Iowa but some of my happiest childhood memories were at my grandmother's in Lansing, Iowa in the NE corner of the state on the Mississippi River.  It's beautiful there!  She actually lived outside of Lansing, in a tiny town called Churchtown, population 14, maybe.  I think I could easily move there.  If they removed the humidity in the summer.

3)  Tag, you're it!
   1.  Chris: http://albatross90.blogspot.com/%20
   2.  Andrew: http://runningmanwannabe.blogspot.com/
   3.  Christi: http://pedestrianrunner.blogspot.com/
   4.  Derek:  http://drogmn.blogspot.com/

Happy Weekend!  I'll be trying to run 16 on Sunday, cross your fingers!
Good luck to my good friend Marcia, my buddy, Tom, and all others running Chicago this weekend - so envious (my very first DNS race I signed up for :( )!!  And Sarah and Juanita running Portland (FUN memories there last year with you guys!).

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey now - nothing wrong with sporting the pony tail. Pony tails rock! Except for those side pony tails. They are the antithesis of "rock."

Evolving Through Running said...

Purple gremlin .... orange wheel. Awesome.
Great list - thanks for sharing.

C2Iowa said...

You almost lost me at no coffee. Sorry - life without a good cup is near point-less.

Great list. Dare I say thanks for the tag... :\

Anne said...

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well...hopefully, you get back out there and rock that ponytail soon :)

Andrew Opala said...

I'm riveted with wowness - and the touchy-feely that brings a tear to my eye (as I have said goodbye to many loved ones in the past 6 years.)

1. nobody likes a hot woman that complains about her hair!
2. good luck to all your friends in their races
3. good luck with your 16 on Sunday - and I hope you get your mojo back

Thanks for the encouraging words on my run this morning. But if you ever write about me in your blog don't call me your client! Call me your pupil or student or protoge or apprentice but not client!

Andrew Opala said...

Oh, and thanks for the award! [grumble]

Christi said...

Yea!!! I have another award! I was not liking my hair and I decided to change the color. I love it! I hoe you find the right fix for you soon. It makes you feel great.

I will let it pass that you went Northern Iowa but you guys did beat my beloved KU Jayhawks in the Big Dance this year!

Good luck to all your friends racing this weekend! Chicago was my first marathon and my first DNS! Yea, I have mixed feelings about it!

P.S. I think my link is wrong in your list.

Andrew Opala said...

Did Christi just call you a "hoe"?

Velma said...

Love me some purple car!! Have a great weekend :)

KovasP said...

Yeah, my fiendish plan worked, you posted quicker than you wanted! That's called blog speedwork my friends.

Kate Geisen said...

I can identify with your #4, except it's my dad I'm missing. I wouldn't know anything about girly time, being surrounded first by 3 brothers and now by 3 sons. That's probably a good thing, though, because the fanciest my hair gets is a ponytail.

Hope you're feeling better very soon, and good luck with the 16 miles.

Katie A. said...

You crack me up! I love your hair! Sheesh! But the maragraita your holding does look tasty!

Miss ya! We'll chat later ;)
xoxoxoxo

Anonymous said...

love learning new things about my blogging friends! i feel you on not being in love with your hair at the moment. but i have the opposite problem: my hair is too long to put up in a ponytail (my hair is really think and heavy) and i'm not digging keeping it down! haha trade?!

Running and living said...

Fun post. And I love that pic of you with the purple flower field!

Tara said...

Hahahaaa! I can just see you sporting a purple Gremlin with an orange wheel! I would pay good money to see old pics of that.....

Good luck to your athlete Tom!

PS. I don't wanna go to Chicago. :(

Generation X (Slomohusky) said...

I was wondering if the rockstar energy drink was helping with the insomnia?

Iowa is where all Gremlins with an orange wheels went to die. Does this orange wheel thing have anything to do with the orange shorts you hate to wear?

Jill your lovely no matter the hair. Go eat a nice big heavy thanksgiving like meal. take a long nap after and get your name on the Rocky Racoon 50 miler waiting list.

ShutUpandRun said...

Well sorry your week has sucked, but in a way glad I'm not the only one!!!! Hang in there and loved reading your 7 things.

chris mcpeake said...

Awesome list.
great hair!

Aimee said...

Great list!
I hope you feel better soon! Good luck with your 16 miles this weekend!

Unknown said...

Good luck on the 16 this weekend, Jillie...I hope it is fun and pain free! Did you realize you were called a HOT WOMAN in your comments, go girl, CHA CHA CHA!!! Your hair looks great to me, by the way :) !

Julie said...

Hi Jill,
I loved this! I think you are so crazy...your hair looks great:) Meg is right, you are a hot mama! At least you don't have naturally curly hair that has a mind of it's own!

I love my boy's to death too but I know what you mean about having a very special daughter!

I hope that you have a fantastic run this weekend:) Take care!

Lindsay said...

karma is what's wrong... maybe if you donated... it would magically be better again! :)

so at first i thought the bullet points were the 7 things. even though there are only five.

as for the car - orange and purple rock! go tigers :)

ajh said...

Hey Jill,
Sadly I connect with you on number 4. I have spent all of my adult life mom (and dad) less. I miss my mom tons. I especially miss my own children never knowing my parents and vice versa. You never get over losing your mom. That one day would be great. I get annoyed when people don't appreciate their parents.
Andrea
Got to say on a happier note I love having both a son and daughter!

Molly said...

Fingers crossed for a pain free 16 miler!

I feel very lucky that I have a son and a daughter, even though they're small there is already a difference in raising each of them.

Dude, I like your hair, do you color it???? I've inherited my Dad's early grey, so I've been dyeing it for years, which gets old (and expensive) fast!!

DRog said...

Um...thanks?!
hahahaaha

Quad Cities!!! ever run the Bix? My Mom grew up in Moline and my Grandma lived there until just a few years ago. My Dad has done that race like 10 times....I cant do it in 11' but I am going to try and do it in the future. Now I understand your Mississippi comments on my blog! haha

GL with your run and Ill be interested to hear what plans you make for the next year Boston VS. 50

Derek

misszippy said...

Awww on number 4. I can only imagine.

I love having a daughter as well for the same reasons.

So funny you're such a swimmer and yet afraid of drowning!

Hope the 16 goes smoothly. Anxious to hear what happens on Oct. 18!

Johann said...

I'm grateful to be 47 and still have both my parents. I treasure my time with them. I also swam competitively at school but hasn't done much since then. I did 6 triathlons in 1998 - 2000, but only running after that.

Chris K said...

Hi Jill, thanks for stopping by my Blog. My Coach lives in Fort Collins. Wow, I see so many familiar faces in this Comments section, including the Great Andrew O. I really look forward to following your guys' journey. BTW, there is a ferry that goes back & forth between Coronado and S.D. :-)

The Green Girl said...

I loved this post. ::smiles::

I hope your run went/goes well today.

Anne said...

I'd say the versatility of your random facts earned you that title. The Coronado Bridge is definitely not for the meek if you have a thing against drowning, though I love running over it in an annual road race.

Suzy said...

Love your post! Learned a lot.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and the GL. Didn't go as well as hoped, but better than feared.

Anonymous said...

My mom had a red gremlin when I was little!!!!

The Boring Runner said...

Soooooo, you have lots of stomach issues and you want me to have lunch with you AND Beth? I'll wear a raincoat.

UNI! I've watching many high school state football games in the Unidome. :)

Irene said...

OK, ditto on the hair. Perhaps it's an age thing? I dunno. My hair hasn't been the same in a couple of years.

I think I can one up you on the car. The first car I drove was a 1969 Dodge Lancer with push-button transmission. It was always broke down. My dad sold it for about $50 to a friend who had teen sons who needed a cheap ride and ability to work on the car. :)

Sorry I've been out of the loop. I'm catching up on all of your happenings! You have a lot happening!!!