Liebster Award

So, I'm sure you've heard of the Liebster Award, a type of blog survey post that is "awarded" to bloggers that have a smaller following, by other bloggers who feel they deserve to be noticed. I was recently tagged by Cathy, of the blog Living the Dream (a Crazy and Convoluted Dream), and then Marie, a college friend who has a blog called Every Day is a Miracle.

 

I've sort of procrastinated over doing it, even though I love answering questions, because part of the survey is to list 11 random things about yourself. I was having trouble thinking up random things that weren't already a part of my profile...because I'm pretty boring, really. But with the two mentions, I figured I could combine them and only list the 11 things once, but answer all of their (22) questions. And it turns out, I could think of 11 random things...but they are still pretty boring things, I'm afraid.

 

So here are the rules:

 

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you, and link back to her blog. Thank you, ladies! And see links above.
2. List 11 random facts about yourself, and answer the 11 questions from the nominator.
3. Present the Liebster Award to 11 other bloggers, and create 11 questions for them to answer. (I'm skipping this one, because a lot of the blogs I read have already participated.)

 

11 Random Facts about Me
By the way, these really are random, not arranged chronologically or anything. Just how I thought of them.

1. When I was young (grade school, middle school, maybe into high school), I was a little obsessed with the Sound of Music...the true story (I read the book many times), the play (I read the script many times), and the music (I listened to the movie soundtrack many, many, many times.) This was before VCRs were common, so I only watched the movie once a year, when it came on around Easter. I knew all the words to all the songs, and sang them frequently.
2. Right before I graduated from law school (actually for a good part of my third year), I had bad eczema on my fingers and bad sinus headaches (might have been a sinus infection). Then when I was preparing for the bar exam, I sprained my ankle and spent a few weeks on crutches. In retrospect, I connect all these things with my unhappiness about law school and looking for a job at a law firm (which was really not my calling). (It actually took eight years before I found my niche, which is Juvenile Court!)
3. Starbucks introduced the egg white, spinach and feta wrap right before the Portland Marathon in October 2011.  I have had one for breakfast almost every weekday since then...and occasionally on a weekend day.
4. I have really, really big calves. It is my bête noire.
5. I don't often chew gum, but when I do, I go through the whole package (because I only like it while it tastes good, so I chain chew). Then I get gas and an upset stomach from the sugar alcohols (sweeteners). It is ridiculous..
6. My boyfriend and I have known each other since we were about four years old (Sunday School and church), went to the same high school and college (where we lived in the same dorm), and both went to law school (though different schools) but we didn't start seeing each other until our 25 year high school reunions. (And we weren't even close friends in school, just casual friends.)
7. In 1992 I went to Seattle to see presidential candidate Bill Clinton at a rally. I went really early and got to see him returning to the Westin Hotel from jogging (yes I said jogging, not running...it was the early 90s). I was so excited to take a close picture that a secret service agent told me to "please step back from the curb" (I don't remember if he added "ma'am", but probably). I got a good picture though! Unfortunately I don't where it is anymore.
8. In August 2011 my house was burglarized while I was at work. They messed stuff up (dumping drawers, etc.), but the only things taken (as far as I know) were a mini-stereo, the TV in my bedroom (the only really nice one I had), and pretty much all my DVDs. They also took the yard waste container to wheel everything away down the alley.
9. I am not a good singer, nor is anyone in my family, but throughout my childhood and youth we sang. Not just at church. We sang at home, we sang in the car (in fact my dad got a speeding ticket once for driving too fast during a particularly heartfelt chorus of something). My girlfriends and I sang camp songs and musical theater at the beach, in the car, in a boat. This continued through high school and I think sometimes in college...I seem to recall a road trip to Anacortes to go on a boat trip where we were singing along the way.
10. I had really long hair for a lot of years after law school. I stopped going to my fancy stylist and just let it grow. At some point I did start getting trims, but kept it long and wore it in a ponytail most all the time. I know, this is not very interesting without a picture.
11. I was a National Merit Scholar in high school. I got a scholarship out of it, but only $1000, not a full ride or anything.

11 Questions from Cathy

1. Are you a cat or a dog person? Definitely a cat person. I always say I like dogs on an individual basis, but I like all cats. I have one cat right now (I had three at one time, but two have passed on) and Rod has two. I am particularly not so much into dogs since the dogbite while running last summer! Also, cats are much more forgiving and adaptable to working long days and being away from home. Meaning me working and being away, not the cat.
2. What is your favorite workout? Obviously, I have to say running. I assume that counts. :) Everything else is just cross-training.
3. What do you do for "me" time? Well, since I don't have children, really all my time is "me" time, except for the third of my life that belongs to Juvenile Court. To decompress from work, I like to walk while listening to audiobooks on my phone, sit around and watch TV, and read. Sometimes running is "me time," and sometimes it is another obligation (that I enjoy and am committed to, but it is still an obligation). However, when I am spending a lot of time with Rod or my parents, leaving them all behind to go running is my "me" time! 
4. If you won the lottery (the really big one), who would be the first person you told? And why? Probably my mother. Because she would be so happy for me, and have similar ideas as me what to do with it (in the frivolous sense, as opposed to the investment, practical sense).
5. What is the strangest thing you can think about yourself? This is kind of a difficult question to figure out...I guess I will say that despite being an avid runner, and very committed to physical fitness, I think I am pretty lazy at heart (and in action). I like to park close to the door, and I don't like chores such as house cleaning.
6. If you could go back in time and change anything, would you? What would you change? There are many things I wish never happened (both in the world, and with me) but I am too afraid of the Butterfly Effect to want to make any big changes. I do wish I could go back and be less shy as a child and teenager. Even now I am very introverted...I am fine in a professional setting, but tend to cower in the corner in social environments. Unless I know everyone. Well.
7. What is your greatest accomplishment? I am not going to say anything related to school or education...even though I got very good grades, went to law school, etc., I don't consider that an accomplishment, that is just what was expected of me (and what I expected of myself). I think that my real greatest accomplishment was losing 100+ pounds about eight years ago, and then becoming a runner.
8. What was your favorite toy as a child? I always liked books best.
9. Are you close with your family? Why or why not? Yes, I am close with my parents and sister (and don't have any other nearby relatives; my grandparents are all deceased). There is no special reason why we have always been close, although the fact that we all live in the same area at least has allowed us to get together frequently.
10. Empty your purse...what is in it? Oh very dull. Credit cards, driver's license, passport card, Y card, Starbucks card (though I use my phone app), cash and change, a checkbook, a few groupons I've printed, some useless receipts, several tinted and plain lip balms, birth control pills, a few honey, sugar and splenda packets, a bandaid (need to remember that), one Kleenex (all that is left from a packet), and other random pieces of paper. My phone and keys travel in my hand or pocket.
11. How did you start blogging? I started writing a travel blog for one of my trips to England. I did it so I could post pictures and write about my travels without having to email everyone. (This was before Facebook was invented!) I've updated the travel blog a few times for subsequent England trips, but haven't been to England since 2009. Somewhere in there (I think 2007), I came back and wanted to keep writing so I started writing about running...then added this blog.

11 Questions from Marie

1. If you could get paid to do anything, what would you do? Oh, this is difficult. There are lots of things I would like to do, but figure it would be too hard to be successful and make a living...which I guess is the point of this question, right? You are "guaranteed" that you would be paid for your activities, even if you weren't good at them. Under those circumstances.... I have always wanted to have a tea room and serve afternoon tea and sell antiques and collectibles. This would of course require me to travel around to antiques shows and buy things and decorate the charming English tea room and create a menu. It would not require me to actually prepare and serve food, clean up and wash dishes, or do the bookkeeping...we have staff for that!
2. Who are your favorite actors? Male: Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Jude Law, Cary Grant. Female: Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet, Renee Zellweger, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler (I love Parks and Rec so much!), Grace Kelly.
3. When you were 10, what did you want to be when you grew up? A writer, maybe also a teacher (influenced by my parents, but I also liked "playing school" with my friends).
4. What is your guilty pleasure? I agonized over this, trying to find something that meets all the qualifications of "guilty pleasure." To me, that is something that you love and indulge in, but feel a little bit bad because it's not completely good for you. I thought about fish and chips...which I love but rarely have, and when I do I don't feel guilty about it! I thought about reality TV...sometimes I really like watching junk like Celebrity Wife Swap, but I can take it or leave it. Then...in the kitchen...I knew the answer...and it is jelly beans. I luuuurve jelly beans and can hardly pass through the kitchen without taking one or two...or three or four. I legitimately use them for long run fuel, but I do feel a little guilty about eating them otherwise. Not too much though. Easter is a great time because you can get all kinds of jelly beans that you can't find year round! Of the Easter jelly beans I think my favorite is the Starburst kind. I also like Sweettarts and Jolly Rancher (which I had wanted to find, but now I think that I like the Jolly Rancher hard candies better). I have heard there is a Swedish Fish kind of jelly beans but haven't seen them. For the off season I have discovered a brand called Gimbal's which makes all sorts of jelly bean like candies.  My favorite are the Gimbal's Cherry Lovers. (Nine different cherry flavors and vitamin C!) Yum!
5. How many pairs of shoes do you have? I have no idea. 50? 100? Too many, for sure. Especially since I hardly wear any of them! I love shoes but I tend to wear ones that are comfortable and protect my feet for running. As far as running shoes...I have about four pairs in the current rotation (worn but not worn out), another four brand new pairs for 2013 major runs and marathons, a good pair of trail running shoes, a new pair of biking/light hiking shoes, two newer pairs of running shoes that are not my usual model so I will wear them for things other than heavy running, and way too many old shoes that need to be discarded in some fashion. There's a limit to how many "beach running" shoes I need!
6. What made you start blogging? See above.
7. What is your most popular blog post? I don't know, I don't pay attention to such things!
8. What do you order at Starbucks (or whatever coffee/tea place you patronize)? It's Starbucks....grande Americano with light room. I add a couple tablespoons of half and half, and if I am going home I add additional fat free half and half. I also get a Spinach, Egg White & Feta wrap for breakfast almost every weekday. I have been doing this since they were introduced in October 2011 (right before the Portland Marathon).
9. What is your favorite memory of a grandparent? My Norwegian maternal grandmother ("Bestemor") lived with my family all my life until she died in 1996, so most of my childhood memories include her. She was cook, housekeeper, nanny, gardener, help-paint-the-house person, and everything else you could imagine.
10. If you could change two things in the world, what would you change? I would eliminate cancer and HIV.
11. What is your favorite song? I don't know if I can claim a favorite, but right now I'm loving All Dressed in Love by Jennifer Hudson (still), and Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys.

I'm not going to tag anyone, because so many of the blogs I read have already done this, but I will include 11 questions that I would ask, for fun! (And of course, my personal answers!)

1. What is your favorite movie? Bridget Jones's Diary.
2. What is your favorite ethnic cuisine? I am really loving local Hawaiian (lau lau, kalua pork, lomi salmon, etc). Also sushi....
3. Describe a fun day for you (cost, work obligations, child care not a factor). On a Saturday I would like to go to yoga in the morning, then go on a bike ride on the Centennial Trail and have pastrami sandwiches at the golf course for lunch. In the afternoon I would go antiques shopping and then out to dinner (maybe for sushi) and a movie. A chick flick. Any or all of this could either be done with someone, or by myself. (In my real life I might do one of those things on a Saturday....) Alternative nice weekend day...sleep in as long as I'd like, get up and go for a medium long run (maybe 12 miles), stop at Starbucks then go home, take a long shower, then lie around and read the rest of the day. Eat periodically. But I do that almost every weekend....
4. What was your favorite book (or books) as a child? I was a voracious reader, but my favorite series, which still stick with me today, were the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anne of Green Gables (and the series) by L.M. Montgomery, and the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace.
5. What are your favorite scents? Sweet peas, roses, hyacinths, winter daphne, gardenias and other gardenia-like flower scents (e.g. plumeria), baking (or toasting) bread, coffee, grapefruit.
6. What is one (or more) food that you really like that others might think is strange? Pickled herring.
7. What is one thing that would be on your bucket list, if you had one? Running the London Marathon.
8. Where would you like to go that you have never been before? Provence, France.
9. What is your favorite genre of book? I used to say literary fiction, but now I prefer memoirs--such as personal memoirs of non-famous people (sometimes famous people also), travel memoirs, and running/athletic memoirs. (But I still read fiction as well!)
10. What is something you are really looking forward to? Staying at the Benson Hotel in Portland for the Shamrock Run this weekend!
11. Who is your celebrity doeppelganger? Or someone you wished you looked like? My only doeppelganger is Sylvia Plath, who I think at some points in her life looked like me at some points in my life.

This is Sylvia Plath.

As far as other celebrities, there are a few that I kind of think have a similar "look" as me (except they are more glamorous and stuff)...Felicity Huffman, Darryl Hannah, Uma Thurman (all Nordic-type blondes). When I use one of those celebrity doeppelganger websites, my "match" is always a man!