Is it really an award if you don't win anything other than the opportunity to answer invasive questions about yourself?

Because I'm a complete narcissist avid blogger, I just love blogger awards that involve questionnaires and surveys in which I am invited to overshare and brag and self-promote. When I get to use links to previous posts and recycled pictures, well, all the better! #pageviews! Thank you so much, Marie, for presenting me with this outstanding framework for self-expression that will undoubtedly serve as a catalyst for my blogging resurgence. Or not.

On to my responses to the invasive questions:

1) What is my current health-related goal?

Get freakishly skinny. This IS health-related...there were no parameters established as far as positive or negative impact on health. My goal is to lose 15 lbs. and get my BMI down to 17. I figure my third place finish at the Head of the Charles is setting me up for an Olympic coxswain bid. I have 12 months to get grossly underweight all in the name of Olympic glory. Nothing like a self-destructive overreach to pump blog readership! I did this back in 1992 by following a steady diet of jellybeans and Honeycomb cereal and a 45-mile a week running program. I lost 20 lbs. in 10 weeks and still didn't get selected. I think it was because I wasn't sleeping with the right people. 

2) What is my biggest irrational fear?

I suppose my biggest irrational fear right now is that I'll blow the wrong person in my quest for Olympic glory (see above). 

A balloon is probably not selecting the team :(

3) Do I enjoy wrapping presents?


I like wrapping and UNwrapping presents. I actually used to be a professional wrapper. I can make the shittiest present look beautiful. It really is a gift.

4) What is my favorite cross training activity?

I love the elliptical. LOVE. And doing pull-ups. 

Please click this link to Marie's post if you want to see the most amazing cross-training GIF in the history of the internet.

5) If you came to visit me, what would we do?

We would laugh too loudly and too hard in public places. I would make you see redwood trees and teach you how to row. And we'd probably go to the zoo.

Our zoo has a male elephant.

6) I have two weeks off work and two round trip plane tickets to anywhere. Where would I go and who would I take?

I'd go to Indianapolis. Duh. I wouldn't need to bring anyone...Marie already lives there.

7) What’s the most embarrassing thing to happen to me during a run or a race? 

Once after a race I had taken my sportsbra off through my shirt sleeves (you know that awesome skill that all females eventually acquire?) and was hanging out in my t-shirt. It was July and insanely hot and humid. It was so hot and humid, in fact, that my t-shirt was too much. Forgetting I had nothing on underneath, I pulled my shirt over my head fully exposing my bare bosom before realizing I was flashing a large crowd. 

8) Three best days of my life? Or at least the top three that come to mind.

I can't pick my kids' birth days because someone would be left out, but all of those days were pretty awesome. I'm not going to say my wedding day because I was pretty stressed out and kind of bitchy. I'll go with: 

1. the day I met my husband...fairytale love-at-first-sight, 
2. the day I won trials to go to Cuba for the PanAm Games,
3. and May 23, 2013.

9) Okay, so I HAVE to eat a fast food meal. Which restaurant would I choose and what do I order? 

In N Out, hands down. Double meat protein style no tomato...because that's all my delicate-flower, princess gut can handle. 

10) Have I ever met a celebrity?

Honestly, I feel our society is way too preoccupied with celebrities. I've met many. They really aren't, as a general rule, any more special than you are. Some are nice, some are assholes, some fall in between. Daphne Zuniga was a friend of mine when I was in elementary school. I took skiing lessons with Jodie Foster. My very close friend's dad is a bonafide movie star and I've met him several times. Does Fidel Castro count? I hugged him once. How are we defining "celebrity" anyway? Having been in People magazine and on Wide World of Sports, it might even be argued that I, myself, am a celebrity. Just kidding. No one knows who I am. 

11) Share a pic of myself in non-workout clothes.

Are you sure?

and more recently...

12) If I could choose to have a “do over” and switch careers, what would I choose and why?

I've gotten by for 51 years without a career. Aside from the no money part, it's kind of awesome. I get to play Candyland and watch Frozen multiple times a day. But if I had to pick something I would be a rowing coach. I did that for a little while. Driving around in a motorboat telling people what to do and getting paid for it...not a get-rich-quick but again, kind of awesome! 

13) If I won an Olympic Gold Medal, how do I think I would react?

Immediately post-event I'd no doubt be trying to catch my breath and dry-heaving. Then, when on the podium, I would probably smile so hard my face would turn inside out. 

14) What did I want for Christmas?

I wanted a car that wasn't broken. And a trip to Hawaii. Santa listened.

15) What skills do I lack?

Practicing humility and knowing when to stop.

Passing the award on to …

Alicia
Tina
Kathee
Char

Do you hate me for that?

If you feel left out, consider the survey to be our rainbow questions and answer them in the comments!!!!!!!

I'M REFLECTING HERE! 2014: a retrospective

I'm just going to put it out there...my blogging mojo is in hibernation. It might never wake up, but who knows? I meant to post this before I went on vacation but jeeez...Christmas and getting a whole family ready to go away for a week...suffice it to say blogging wasn't the only casualty. So here at long last is my YEAR END RECAP!!!!! THE RECAP YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR WITH BATED BREATH... because it's so hard to go through my archives and read the ONE post per month. Let's get to it...

We'll go backwards because something really cool but also sort of sad (they call that bittersweet) happened on the last day of 2014. My baby lost her first tooth. She may be five AND THREE-QUARTERS, but she's still my baby. This tooth fell out at a younger age than any of my other kids. I wasn't really prepared for the flood of maternal, final-baby-growing-up emotions, but luckily we were at Target and all the kids were running around like maniacs so I wasn't allowed to indulgently wallow.

Also in December...

Best Christmas present ever.

From one of my all-time favorite movies.

Biggest fucking tree ever.

Eighteen feet tall.

Those are 12-foot ladders.

I thought it might be easier if we just left it outside.
Luckily, my husband is a professional
when it comes to home repairs.

The sign that sold my crazy husband on the tree.

Best news ever.

First run in something like 2 years...
and first run post-hip replacement.

Back in November...

Favoritest sport ever.

That's me :)

I started rowing again after a 15-year break.

In the lamest blogger move ever... I botched my first free shit deal.

And I hosted Thanksgiving with gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, potato-free everything except the mashed potatoes. Those I couldn't eat anyway so I made them traditional-style...cream, butter, and potatoes. The pumpkin pies were AMAZING. And I could eat them. So I ate 3/4 of one. In two days.

Flashing to October...

What prompted my return to rowing...funnest race ever.

This is the easiest year to recap! I only posted once a month so I don't need to make decisions about what to reflect on!

In September...

I Ragnar-ed for the first time.

Betcha can't tell which van is mine ;-)

I killed my legs. All 19 of them.
#masterdriver

And was in on some #bloggymeetupmadness with RoseRunner, Jen, the FasterBunny, and Sesa. We had Slurpees but no #froyo.

August was super fun!

I not humbly-bragged my appearance in People magazine...and seriously, who gives a shit if you're in a magazine? Less than 0.0012% of the global population...and that's being generous.

I WK'ed for StuftMama. Probably an internet first.

I signed up for a spring marathon, joined my friend for an 3-week break from sugar, and spent some time in the California redwoods.

Early in the summer...

I did some camping and a lot of hiking as I rehabbed from hip replacement surgery. I also did a ton of driving.

May and April were consumed with my surgery and recovery...and my birthday :)

March was spent in a lot of pain.

And I was hard-pressed to calm my nerves. Some major blog babbling took place. Getting a part of one's leg sawed out is a little unsettling.


I kicked the year off with a HUGE decision...

And as I look back on the year I am so unbelievably glad I made that decision.

Having a new, artificial hip has transformed my life.

None of the awesome stuff I've done would have happened if not for the surgery.

Thank you, 2014, for a new and improved life.