Just Have Fun With It!

Introvert Wish List announcement

Thanks to all who answered the In Tandem 2010 Wish List survey.

The winner of the book drawing is Birgit Olson of Focused On Your Business Virtual Office Assistance LLC, www.focusedonyourbusiness.com

Birgit has received her choice of one book from my Introvert’s Ultimate Reading List. Wanna know what she picked? OK, I'll tell ya: Introvert Power: Why Your inner Life is Your Hidden Strength by Laurie Helgoe.

Curious about the reading list? You can find all the book titles right here on the sidebar.

It's a Major Award!

For the 3 of you who haven't seen it yet; the title is a shout-out to A Christmas Story.

So, a few days ago, I received an email from a virtual colleague of mine (and fellow introvert), Ellen H. Brown.  She nominated me for a Kreativ Blogger award! Yeah me! And thank you, Ellen. I appreciate your support, especially because I have not been blogging for very long, often suffer from blogger's block and sometimes wonder if I'm talking to myself on this blog. (Yes, I know a few of you read it, and a few of you even leave comments, but I am allowed to exaggerate and be a drama queen every now and then). I prefer to focus on quality over quantity; it's validating to have this choice recognized with an award, be it major or minor. I'm just about as pleased to get this award as the Darren McGavin character in A Christmas Story was to get his "major award."

Now, I guess this Kreativ Blogger award is what is known as a "meme." (I'm not sure what a meme is myself, but I'm giving it my best guess -- forgive me if I'm mistaken).  So there's some stuff I'm supposed to do and then pass it on:

1. Thank the person who has given you the award
2. Place the logo on your blog
3. Link to the person who nominated you
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting
5. Nominate 7 bloggers for this award and post links to their blogs
6. Send a message to let them know they've been nominated

I've done 1-3 above.

Seven Interesting Facts about Me:

1. When I was 5 years old I wanted a live penguin (and nothing else) for Christmas. We lived in Ohio at the time. (I now own several stuffed penguins).
2. In elementary school, any time there was a play to be cast, I was always given the role with the most lines (whether I wanted it or not) because I had a phenomenal memory. I sometimes memorized others' lines as well (unintentionally).
3. I became the first African-American to captain a women's athletic team (women's fencing) at my undergraduate institution, The Johns Hopkins University. I didn't realize it at the time; I saw this milestone noted in a recent alumni publication.
4. I have a private pilot certificate and an instrument rating. I worked, in the early 90s, at a small magazine called Professional Pilot as the News Editor.
5. In the past 20 years, I have resided in 6 different states in this order: CA, MA, AZ, MD, CT, NJ, CA, AZ. It's not a typo; I've moved to and from both CA and AZ twice.
6. I can't parallel park to save my life!
7. I harbor a secret fear that deep down, I'm a really boring person to be around, my blog posts are boring, my speeches are boring, etc. I act in spite of that fear, but it slows me down quite a bit.

Seven Blogs I Nominate for the Kreativ Blogger Award:

1. Michelle Ward (I'm your biggest fan) is an enthusiastic certified coach for creatives, specializing in helping them decide what they want to do/be when they grow up. We also went to the same coaching school, so I know she's "all trained up" to a high standard. Her blog makes me smile (or laugh) every time I visit it. Her blog/website is titled: When I Grow Up.
2. Tracey Lawton is an online business manager/virtual assistant who has jump-started my online marketing efforts. She manages my newsletter (you ARE subscribed to it, right?) and she sees that my article marketing stays on track. Because of her, I look like a pro when it comes to content marketing. She blogs at: Office Organization Success.
3. Introvert Retreat is written by a group of four contributors. It's for and about introverts, so of course the posts are thoughtful and well written.
4. I recently discovered Rise of the Innerpreneur and I love this blog. It expresses a lot of my thoughts and feelings, only better than I can. Plus, I really like the blog badge; you can see it for yourself on the sidebar. Visit the blog and get a badge for your own blog.
5. Karen Batchelor writes Midlife's A Trip. She's a certified coach who specializes in "midlife makeovers" and is another fellow graduate of my coaching school.  I went to school with some talented folks! Her site, like her personality, is brimming with positive energy.
6. Beverly Mahone is a force to be reckoned with! (I say this fondly). I discovered Beverly on twitter. I admire her tell-it-like-it-is style. Or as she would describe it, she "keeps it real." Beverly's site is Boomer Diva Nation; I believe the name says it all.
7. Living Introverted is another blog that is written by and for introverts. And yet another blog where I think the author does such a better job at expressing herself than I. (But hey, I'm gong to keep blogging anyway).

A Stoker's Life

If you know me well (and you probably don't, at least not yet), then you know I am a tandem cyclist. I ride in the stoker position, which is the seat in the back. My husband, Alexander, rides in the captain position. He does the steering and the gear changes. I get to relax mentally because I don't have to think about tactics. I can enjoy the scenery.  But don't get me wrong; I do have work physically -- they don't call that position the stoker for nuthin'. I enjoy tandeming so much I named my coaching business after it. 

Now, I'm not in the best of shape -- but one of my goals for this year is to lose weight (I'm not saying how much, but let's say it should take me about six months to reach my goal), and to become more physically active on a consistent basis. One milestone for me is to complete the 72-mile America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride (72 miles around Lake Tahoe) on June 7, 2009.

Here's a trip report from our most recent training ride -- I sent this as an email to several long-distance friends who are also training for this event. (It's even funnier if you've met Alexander and his exuberant personality, compared to my more reserved and cautious nature).

Alexander & I decided to do a training ride for Tahoe early this morning (it has to be early cuz we have 100+-degree days now).  We set off at 5:45 am (can you believe I actually got up that early?) on a new route Alexander planned. He estimated it to be a 25-mile loop.

So we ride and ride and ride. I'm starting to get hot, and the water supply is running low.  We've only gone about 16 miles. But still, I'm thinking: just 9 more miles to go. Alexander does some quick calculations: "Umm, I think it's more like 17 miles to go; I guess it's not a 25-mile route." 

Uh oh, then I need something to eat and something to drink with sugar in it.  Luckily, we are right by a Denny's so we have breakfast. A real breakfast: eggs, hashbrowns, juice. We fill the water bottles with ice water. OK, now I'm good to go -- but the breakfast break made for a longer stop. It's really hot now.

As we go along, I start psyching myself to make it another 17 miles. Somewhere between Denny's and home, Alexander does another calculation. "Umm, this route is more like 37 miles."  I can do it, but I'm tired and hot and want the ride to be over.  I psyche myself to just keep going, and pray that Alexander does not do any more calculations, because with each calculation the route gets longer. :-)  While I silently curse, Alexander is happily pedaling and telling me how "fresh" he feels.

All right finally we are in the home stretch.  I am just barely hanging in there. I tell myself

"Just stay on the bike, let Alexander do the work, but stay on the bike. You can do this. As soon as you get to the driveway you can get off the bike, cool down and rest." 

Oh boy!  The driveway is in sight! I did it! No more sore butt! Then Alexander just whooshes past the driveway. What the H___!  He tells me he wants to log a full 39 miles; we're at 38+.  Well, ladies and gents, that's the downside of riding a tandem. If you have a crazy adrenaline-fueled captain the FOL [translation: fat old lady] stoker has no choice but to be dragged along. I protested enough to get him to turn around and hit that driveway.

End result: 38.94 miles (when I was mentally prepared to do 25).  But actually I don't feel that bad. My butt is sore, but my legs feel OK. And the heat was the hardest thing for me on this ride.

Now I 'm off to have a nap!