FMM: Getting to Know Each Other

My weekend was lovely, but not as productive as I'd hoped.  I missed out on perhaps the most important thing on my agenda -- calling my baby brother for his birthday on Friday.  I called him Saturday around lunch time and left a voicemail, but in my family, birthday phone calls are important and I feel awful that I didn't make one.  I thought about him so many times on Friday during the day and was waiting for the right time to call.  And then we stayed at dinner pretty late and I didn't think about it on my way home.  Ugh.  I left him a message on Saturday saying that I'd worried it was too late to call, but that was BS.  Sometimes people call really late at night and joke about getting the call in just under the wire.  But we'd sent him a card and I did think of it several times that day, just didn't actually dial.  I'm irritated with myself.  Fortunately he called me back on Sunday on my way to a party with my running friends and we got to catch up for almost an hour. 

The 5k race on Saturday was a mess.  Typical Lewis George (aka Mellew) race.  It was supposed to start at 8, but the start was actually at 8:23.  The excuse?  Apparently more people came to register that morning than expected.  And apparently it's more important to make more money than it is to hold a race that people have already paid $30 to enter.  His races are always so poorly organized, I have no idea why I did one again.  Well, I do know why -- it was because this run promised donuts.  Good donuts.  On the course and after the race.  That to me is a fun reason to run a race on what is normally a rest day.  But no, it ended up being just plain glazed donuts, nothing spectacular.  Very disappointing.  My time was slow but I think I still managed to be toward the top of my age group, which was nice, but it mostly means that it was a slow field.  But I was proud of myself for eating a donut hole at each of the 5 donut stations on the course, and I ran near my friend the whole way, which was nice.  I love having company. 

The rest of the weekend was nice.  I brought a friend with me for her first Bikram yoga class ever.  She did really well.  She sat out several postures, but she stayed in the room the whole time.  And she's a natural at locking her leg, which is so difficult for me, even now after all these months. 

My long run on Sunday was only 12 miles and I would not say it went well, but it was okay. 

I'm expecting another hectic week at work, but hopefully less stressful than last week (did I mention I had to fire outside counsel?  that was a painful conversation).  Since it's Monday, here we go with Friend Making Mondays. 

Now it’s that time…If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Getting To Know Each Other

 

1. What is your favorite color?  I've never really had a definitive favorite.  Today, I'd choose blue.  I usually would say red or blue, but sometimes maybe purple or pink.

2. Share one or more of your talents.   I was a stud at boot camp this morning, front of the pack.  I don't really have any talents that come to mind, so that was a bit of a stretch.  Maybe a talent is that I'm decent at learning bits of languages?  I don't think it's really a talent since obviously many people can do this and learn many languages to the point of fluency, but I tried to learn the basics of Thai, Russian, Bosnian and Chinese when we traveled to those places.  I speak Italian and French. 

3. If you were spending the day getting to know someone new, where would you want to go?  I love running with new friends.  Spending a few hours pounding the pavement gives you a chance to talk about all kinds of stuff -- and in some ways, running together is like the car effect -- there's no direct eye contact, so sometimes it's easier to have conversations you wouldn't otherwise.  It's just so nice to talk to someone while running since no one is distracted by phones, family, or other obligations.  You're just wholly present in the moment. 

4. What is your favorite meal?  Tough call, I like so many different things.  My husband's favorite meal is what we had for our rehearsal dinner and I think it's becoming my favorite meal as well -- pizza, fries, gelato and beer, preferably in Italia. 

5. Do you prefer to text or talk?  I text far more often, but spending an hour on the phone with my baby brother this weekend reminded me how much I really do prefer connecting my talking. 

6. Share something about yourself that might surprise someone that you’re getting to know.  I come from a very large family. 

7. Do you color your hair?  Never have, not sure I ever will.  I live in Dallas, which strikes me as a very superficial city, and I don't want to feed into that.  It just feels unnatural and misleading, like you're not content with who you are naturally.  I wonder if my answer would be different if I were single. 

8. Do you wear glasses or contacts?  Contacts.

9. What is your favorite breakfast food? I do smoothies pretty much every day, but this morning I supplemented with a grapefruit sprinkled with splenda.  Ooh, it hit the spot! 

10. Would your friends say that you’re sarcastic?  Probably, but not overly so I don't think. 

11. Do you prefer salty or sweet? Depends on the day.  Usually salty.

12. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?  I've said before, I hate this question -- the first thing I notice is I think the same thing every single person notices.  You notice sex, general build and height, and race or skin color.  I think it's absolute BS to say you notice smile before you notice race.  Or that you notice eyes before you notice if someone is rail thin or heavier.  But if the question is really what is the first thing I consider to determine if I'm attracted to someone, I'd say arms or smile. 

13. What is the last movie you watched?  In the theater, Zero Dark Thirty.  On TV, something on Lifetime. 

14. Are you religious?  Not overly. 

15. Are you a neat freak, a slob, or somewhere in between?  Somewhere in between.  I am good about keeping things put away, but I don't freak out if we have a clean dishwasher waiting to be unloaded and dishes stack up in the sink for a few days until we have time to unload.  But for the most part, on any given day, it would be no big deal if someone came over to visit and wanted to scope out the entire house, including our bedroom and even our closets.  It's generally pretty orderly. 

16. Share something from your bucket list that you hope to do someday.  I have a big picture book with a two-page spread for every country in the world (though the very recent ones (Kosovo, Montenegro, South Sudan) are not included).  Some day, I want to be at the point where I can open it at random and have a 50-50 shot of having been to that country.  That would mean that I've traveled to about 98 countries total.  I'm about halfway there right now, so lots more traveling is needed. 

17. Are you a risk taker, or do you prefer to play it safe?  I probably play it safe.  I want so much to travel to Israel and Egypt, but it just seems too risky to me.  I like my routine in general, and don't mix it up enough probably. 

18. Have you ever worn braces?  Never. 

19. Would you rather spend an evening at a theater or at a club?   Depends who I'm with.  I'd say theater 90% of the time, but I love going out dancing with my brothers' wives and some of my friends.  I haven't done that in ages (but actually, I haven't been to the theater in a long time either).  Wait, unless this question meant movie theater -- then I'd definitely say I prefer a club, far more memorable. 

20. If you could have three wishes, what would one of them be?  Continued fitness improvements for about 10-20 more years, and then I would hold steady.  

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions. Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments! Happy Monday!