Science Book, French I Took...

Anyone know this line? It's out of Sam Cook's "Wonderful World".




Saturday during the bike ride, I remembered a story from a while ago. You know, one of the stories that you will remember every now and then sitting down with friends. Well this is one of those:

Way back when I was young and restless and in college, my best college friend got an assignment from her dad. Her dad owns a leasing company for cars (or did at the time) and for one of their customers the lease was up. The customer lived up in Hamburg which is a 7 hour drive to where we went to school on a good day (= no traffic jams). So we got the assignment to bring his new car to him and take the old car back and while we were up there, we were able to spent some time with her mother. Win, win and win. The ride up was a breeze. We had a brand new Mercedes C-Class (if I remember correctly) as a ride and just had a blast road tripping and having girl time.

On the last day of the trip we drove into a surburb of Hamburg to exchange cars. The guy was older and if I remember correctly a doctor. While we were handling some of the paperwork, we had some issues with a fax machine (paper jam) that he tried to remedy it by stuffing even more paper into the machine. It took forever to take care of everything and I can't even remember anymore what exactly the holdup was.

When we were finally done, he gave us the car radio that he had removed, because he didn't want to tempt anybody to break into the car to steal it. Even back then, nobody was getting into the hassle of breaking into a car to steal a regular radio plus tape deck. Once we were in the car, we stuffed the radio back into the console and had to find out that the security system works and that thing wouldn't play unless we entered a PIN... And of course the PIN was nowhere to be found. We ended up driving home for at least 7 hours (I think there were traffic jams, but not sure) with no music. Zipp. Nada. Nothing.

Since I was the passenger, I felt like I had to entertain my driver on this looooong tip. So I started singing... A lot... Random songs... Just a couple of lines each time, because (of course) I don't know so many song lyrics from the top of my head. Let me say that my playlist was shorter than one of the local top 40 radio stations. You get the picture. For whatever reason, I had the line "science book, french I took" going around in my head and it probably took me half the trip to remember the melody and the rest of the song.... But whenever I hear the song or remember the line, it triggers all of those memories about this trip.

How did I remember this random story while being on my bike? Well, I don't use iPods and sometimes, when I am on the road all alone, I entertain myself with singing. Well, maybe not singing but squeezing out a couple of notes between my huffing and puffing. And the funny thing is: I am NOT alone. We live at a fairly well frequented cycling route and you would be surprised by the amount of cyclists singing to themselves! We sure seem to be on the road to happiness on our two wheels! ;-)

Other than that? It's Monday.

So long! ;-)

Thursday Thunks: Welcome To Summertime 2010

Oh well... I know, I promised to share our Savannah sightseeing trip with you today, but it's Thursday... I like this edition of "Thursday Thunks" and therefore you'll get the Sunday recap tomorrow... PROMISE!

On other news: Germany moved into the next round at the World Cup and will play England on Sunday... Oh boy, I am already nervous. To celebrate their win yesterday, I went out and bought a pair of shoes! ;-)

Here we go:

1. It became officially summer on Monday. What's your favorite part of winter?
My favorite part about winter is, that we don't have much of one in South Carolina.

2. What was your worst summer vacation ever?
Camping near Venice (Italy) one summer. It rained almost for the whole week and when it didn't rain, it was cold... By the end of the week all of our clothes were damp. Which reminds me of another camping trip somewhere at the Baltic Sea were it probably rained even more and harder and it was windy on top of it... By the end of the trip all of our clothes were damp. Oh... This is a really close call!

In Italy we ended up having to take one of our travel compagnions to the hospital because he stepped into some debris while we got our car tags stolen during the other trip. In Venice, we got a good laugh out of peeing off all the Gondolieries by driving our motor boat through the canals while the travel compagnions at the Baltic Sea trip were more fun.

Sorry, I can't decide which trip was worse... They both sure did have several good stories to tell though! ;-)

3. Tell us about the best job that you ever had.
One summer I was working as the office help at an art festival. It was long hours, but the group of people I was working with were a lot of fun and the work itself was very divers... never got bored... not even a little! Wouldn't want to do it for the rest of my life though, but it was perfect at the time!

4. Who is probably talking a load of crap about you right now?
I don't care!

5. An alien appears and offers you the opportunity to repeat one year of your life. You will still know everything that you know now. He explains that no matter what you do differently, when you are returned to the present nothing will have changed. What year would you pick and why?
The year I lived in Berlin (Germany) for six months and right after that in Reading (England)* for six months. There is some small stuff that I would do differently now knowing what I know, but in general I would just like to do it all over again, because it was one of the best years of my life!

*It was in 2002 during the World Cup... I shared an office with a girl from Spain and girl from Ireland surrounded by English co-workers.... Emotions were flying high during that time!

6. Name three things you have on you at all times. Explain why.
When I pretend to me low maintenance all I have on me is the car key, money and cell phone... But who are we kidding... My purse can sometimes be mistaken for a piece of luggage that requires to be checked in.

7. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
The last letters were the thank you notes after the wedding. But actually I do have a "pen pal". It's my 75 year old neighbor from my last apartment in Germany and she "doesn't do" internet... So handwriting it is! ;-)

8. If you could have everyone in the blogosphere read just one of your posts, which post would you pick and why?
My post about "Operation Beautiful", because everybody needs to know that they are beautiful! Spread the word!
9. I recently read that the music industry continues to decline at an alarming rate. In the last year it said the sales of Michael Jackson's and The Beatles' music are the only artists who sales continue to climb. The article stated that the two are holding up the industry. Have you bought a CD or mp3 of either artist recently?
Nope... And not planning on it either... I can hardly remember when I last bought a CD or MP3 at all. I used to be all my ipod, but I don't even bother with that anymore. As mentioned recently, I am trying to recycle all the music that I already have and currently have fun rediscovering all the music that I bought years and years ago.

10. What radio ad right now do you find so annoying that you'd rather have a tooth drilled than hear it again?
I think 90% of radio commercials are just flat out annoying and I change stations or switch to CD as soon as the commercials come on. I really can't take it!

11. skipped

12. There is a knock on your door. It can be anyone in the world. Who would you want it to be?
I know, I should put like Mother Theresa or something like this on here, but I really don't know...

13. What would be the worst entertainment or sporting that you could be forced to watch?
That's easy.... Hunting and Fishing... Just don't see the point of it... Sorry baby! ;-)

So long! ;-)

Thursday Thunks: Never Agree In The First Place

Once again, I am joining in for Thursday Thunks and here we go...

1. When was the last time that you made an excuse for not doing something that you shouldn't have agreed to do in the first place?
I honestly can't remember! Normally, I am pretty good about NOT committing for something that I can't/ don't want to do. Terry refers to this as my German straightforwardness (is that a word?). If I really do agree to something that on a second thought wasn't such a great idea, I normally just suck it up and do it anyways. I refer to that as my German reliability. ;-)

2. Without identifying the person, is there someone in your life that you'd like to shake some sense into?
I have to pick one person?? Seriously, even if I could do that, I try to avoid it. I am way too opinionated about how people should live their lives, when I really should just worry about my own life and my family. That doesn't mean that I don't sometimes think that a person shouldn't do this or that with his/her life, but I try to keep it at that..... A thought.

3. Did you ever really care if Tiger Woods cheated on his wife?
Not really.... I don't know either of them, so how can I really "care"? But I remember being disappointed that another "clean" star/ role model goes down the drain. Then today over lunch I read an article in Triathlete Magazine about pro athletes "man or myth" where the author concluded that pro athletes are stellar in one particular thing or maybe several things, but in the end they are just as human as anyone else making the same mistakes... So there you go.


4. Did you watch the last episode of LOST? What did you think happened?
Nope. I can't remember ever even seeing one episode of LOST.

5. If your dining room china was made in Mexico, why is it still called china?
Because it's too complicated to check the "made in" label first before referring to a piece of porcelain... Or you might just want to check the explanation on wikipedia! ;-)


6. Tell us about your favorite movie of all time.
I am NOT a movie person AT ALL. With that being said, the first movie that popped into my head when reading this question was "When Harry Met Sally".

7. Do you think it's fair to get thrown out of a meme?
How CAN you get thrown out of a meme??

8. Berleen lives in Minnesota and Kimber in Arizona. If they were to meet halfway, where would they meet?
Don't ask me, ask them!

9. What do you think of heterosexual marriage?
Is that a trick question?


10. What would you change about your life if you had just one wish?
Starting my healthier lifestyle earlier.

11. How pissed are you that we posted late?
Nope. It's still Thursday right?


12. Tell us about a recent great day.
Memorial Day. It was an extended weekend and even though it was kind of a bummer to have all that rain, it was fun to just take it easy, stay in bed and have the house to myself.

13. When was the last time that you juggled?
Juggling balls? Maybe three years ago. Juggling commitments.... Every day! I know, that one sounds dramatic, but most of those commitments I juggle with joy. If that's not a phrase worthy of a blog post in the future.... Juggle with Joy! ;-)


On other news: I completed my last workout before the race this morning. It was a 1,200 meter swim that included some 50's and some 100's. I feel good and strong right now, but I have to say that I also start getting a little giddy about the whole thing.

Thursday Thunks: Hope It Gives You.... Ideas?

In an ongoing effort to present in this blog not only workout related posts, but also general life and informative "going on these days" posts, I am joining in for "Thursday Thunks" this week.

In the light of living the married life for a couple of weeks now, a lot of my answers to these questions have a "married life review" spin to them. Oh... And since people like to see wedding pictures, I was also able to include some more of them too! ;-)

1. Tomorrow you'll be thinking to yourself?
It's finally Friday. I can't wait to get out of work to meet up with hubby for dinner. During the week, things sometimes get a little crazy and with everyone's schedule filled to the brim, we sometimes chase each other like the sun and the moon. But Friday (the latest) marks the day of regrouping and catching up. Looking forward to it.

2. Where's your picket fence?
Currently it's in Greenville and I really LOVE the area that we are living in... At the foot of Paris Mountain, close to Furman, close to downtown, BUT far far away from work for me. We want to sell the current house and move to somewhere, where it makes more sense for BOTH of our jobs. But there is still some stuff to get done in the current house before it goes on the market... Remember that big hole in the deck?

3. With a big smile on your face, you do what?
I want to think of myself as someone that smiles a lot. Most recently the day that I maybe smiled the most in my life so far, was my wedding day... Even though there was a little breakdown involved in that day as well! ;-)

4. If I was to walk up to you, you'd do what?
I am normally the smile, say "hi" and (maybe) shake hands kinda gal. But there was a day in my recent past, where I ended up hugging A LOT of people! ;-)

5. The list goes on and on. What list?
The TO DO LIST of course keeps piling up! After having lists and lists of stuff to do before the wedding, I thought that I will get a little breather now.... Well, I underestimated the time it takes to take care of the "thank-you" notes, but I am almost done. Then the whole "adjustment of status for permanent residency" process started and took a lot of my attention in the last couple of weeks, but I am happy to announce that as of today, the paperwork is in the mail and hopefully we didn't screw up filling everything out and collecting the supporting documentation. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

6. Does every rose have a thorn or does every thorn have a rose?
BOTH. Most good things have a bad/ not so good side and most bad things have a positive side/ aspect.... It doesn't matter what you are looking at as long as you focus on the "rose side" of things! ;-)

7. Talk dirty to me. What kind of mop/vacuum/dust thingymabob do you use?
My choice of floor cleaning utensil is a vacuum and a pad-thingy for mopping the floor... My husband choice (and I am soooo happy that we split this chore) is a broom and a soggy wet mop... YIKES... I think my methods are superior, but not having to clean the floors all the time is EVEN BETTER! 

8. Your Mamma don't _______ and your Daddy don't _______.
speak much English; speak English.... That was quite a challenge for us during their trip for our wedding. As much as I love having my family around, it just gets very difficult at times with the communication barrier between them and my husband. Basically, it's all about me sucking it up and translate more and also to become a better teacher to my husband. We known each other for over three years now (started dating close to three years ago) and so far, he picked up most of his German over the Rosetta Stone program and not because of me teaching... That's a very sad testament of my teaching skills. Add that to #5!

9. Ever had a suitcase packed by your feet, and if so where were you going?
 I feel lucky to say that I traveled around quite a bit in my 30 plus years of existence. But of course, the one thing that you can't get you want the most... I want to have the honeymoon that we planned, but until my "adjustment of status" stuff isn't processed and approved, I have to stay put. In the meantime, I am happy to say that we booked a hotel on Hilton Head Island for a long weekend sometime in June to get a mental break for the both of us. I am looking forward to not only pack the suitcase, but also the bikes and discover the island on two wheels!

10. Have you ever ridden in a limousine?
Nope, not even on our wedding day... We are cheap like that! ;-)

11. I went to bed too soon and got up to ____?
workout three mornings this week. Oh well... I had to sneak in a workout reference at one point right?? ;-)

12. "And this last mile I travel with you ", to where?
To the finish line of the Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte NC. I think, I never mentioned what the circumstances of the proposal to me were. Well, this is as good a time as any! ;-) You remember the post about Terry's first marathon last year? Make a long story short, Terry had horrible cramps and we ended up walking the last ten miles of his marathon together. That night back at home, wrapped in ice packs and compression socks he proposed to me... saying that "if someone walks 10 miles with you, just so that you don't have to walk the 10 miles alone, she's a keeper" and " I don't think we are going to forget this day any time soon."... Actually, we do have the race t-shirt with the date one it! So there you have it... Oh boy, that made me well up a little!

Tuesday Tidbits: Late Weekend Recap Edition

• We had a wonderful time BBQ'ing at the house on Saturday. The house was filled up with old and new friends and the food was soooo yummie...and plenty.... I think we'll eat leftovers for the rest of the week and that even after I already sent people home with the leftover of the food that they brought.
• It was quite an international assembly that we had going on in our dinning/living room: American, German, Brazilian, Puerto-Rican, Czech and English... Several different languages flying around at times, always depending on who was talking to who at the moment... Of course it was English as soon as the whole table joined into one conversation! ;-)
• My bike ride Sunday did not happen due to several factors: I was SO SORE from Saturday (trail run) and honestly I have no idea why. On top of that, I had a couple of beers during the BBQ and that left me cranky and dehydrated the next day... I just didn't feel like myself at all. That's exactly the reason, why I hardly touch alcohol... It's just not worth feeling crappy the next day and it sure doesn't take much to make me feel crappy. On top of sore and cranky, I also didn't sleep much and just called it at day when it came to my cycling.
• Later on Sunday, I still got a workout in.... just a different kind of workout. 5 hours at the package-pickup for the Assaults on Mt Mitchell/Marion sure has to count for something! ;-) It was rough and I got home late, but those couple of hours is nothing compared to what time and effort a lot of other people (race director and Freewheeler members etc) poured into this event, so I am not going to complain. Some people even volunteered on Sunday and then did the ride on Monday!!! 
• Also, it was a lot of fun to talk to the cyclists and to see the hustle and bustle and the excitement.
• Actually, it made me want to do this ride next year! I know, I have been talking about doing this race since I started cycling, but never committed to it.... I might have to put it on the calendar for next year early, because a 100-miler up to the highest point east of the Mississippi needs a little more preparation than the events that I normally do around this time of the year!
• One highlight of the package-pickup... I met a fellow blogger who did the race yesterday and I can't wait to see his race report! He left a comment on yesterday's post and said he made it all the way to the top! CONGRATS! That is AWESOME!!!
• Then last night, I wanted to do the bike ride that was originally planned for Sunday... I was set on two loops of the MTY tri course. First my Garmin died (again - I need a replacement batteries, but things seem not that easy), then I ran out of sunscreen and then, instead of pumping up my tire, I let out all the air in my front tire and was not able to pump it back up to save my life... Nope, the tire itself is still intact, it's just my poor pump handling skills that sometimes get the best of me. Anyways, I ended up doing the spin class at the Y instead... Was a good workout!
 

• On many other fronts (housework, paperwork) the stuff keeps on piling up and I start thinking about taking a random Friday or Monday off to catch up. Then again, there is a holiday next Monday... That might just do the trick or maybe it's going to be tomorrow afternoon.... We'll see. 

Tuesday Tidbits Vol. 8

•  The other day, a Cadillac XLR passed me on the highway. Not sure of the model year, but maybe around 2007? Anyways, this car looks from the outside, like designer would have invisioned the 2000's to look like back in the 1980's.
•  Terry official threw down the gauntlet for the Middle Tyger YMCA Sprint Tri. He wants to beat me... And to be fair, his chances are pretty good for it. The deciding factor of the race between the two of us is going to be transitions and the bike leg... I have a hard time gauging his and my bike fitness this year vs last year.
• Update on my To-Do-List (like it's not already long enough): Ride the bike leg of the MTY Tri in order to compensate (possible) gaps in fitness with course knowledge. Yeah... I am sneaky like that.
• Once again, I am slacking in the nutrition department... I think that was also part of the problem of Saturday's run and Sunday's ride. It's not like I am not taking enough calories in (I know I don't have a problem on that end), but it certainly is not enough good quality calories and I also think that my timing is off for fueling.
• After redoing our honeymoon plans over and over, I think we finally getting somewhere.... Not where we originally wanted to go, but it's going to be a getaway that is desperately needed. Once the whole process described yesterday is over, there will be a "real" honeymoon, but we NEED to get out for a little while in the meantime.
• We have a hole in the deck right now... Yeah... It's another one of our remodeling projects... Sorry no picture right now.
• Highlights of tonight's run: THE GOOD: going on a little discovery tour of the new section of the Swamp Rabbit trail and have a good run in general. THE BAD: the guy on the unicycle telling me to "pick it up" during a rest interval.... seriously? THE UGLY: waiting to cross a road and saw a guy throwing trash out of a truck, I just looked at him and shook my head, while the truck passed me, he leaned out and blew a kiss at me... I was sooooo close to flick him off and then thought better of it... you never know what they would do next.
• The orange guy at Biggest Loser just finished a marathon in 4h 2mins. What an accomplishment. On the other hand, I am always surprised that those BL people, don't give their contestants a proper training plan, if they want them to run a marathon. One guy just passed the 13 mile marker and said that it's further than he ever ran.... That is crazy!

Tuesday Tidbits: The "FEEL GOOD" Edition

A lot of people (and I don't exclude myself here) struggle with self image. This is too big and another thing is too small. I believe that women are more prone do put themselves down, but men do it just as much, but don't speak as openly about it.


In the high fashion, glam cover world of magazines things are going pretty bananas these days. Some celebrities don't even look like themselves anymore, as much as their bodies are getting smoothed out in a computer program. This is especially troublesome, because most of the celebrities on magazine covers are beautiful to start with, no matter what age they are and how many children they gave birth to. But being beautiful doesn't seem to be enough anymore... You obviously have to look like plastic these days to be put on a cover.


So, when I saw these before and after photoshopped pictures from Britney Spears, I thought that it was a gutsy move from her side... And she certainly set herself apart from all the plastic drones* and stood up for herself and her body.


*I do wonder, if the celebs agree to the amounts of electronic adjustments done to their pictures or if they signed that right away with the contract....

Because we all do have things that we don't like about ourselves, we need to learn how to focus on the things we DO like about ourselves and the things in our life that are good and beautiful... Here are my "feel good" tidbits for today:

• when the sun is shining, a nice breeze is blowing, you are sitting in the car with the windows down and a song that you haven't heard in a long time is on the radio e.g. Fastball - The Way... works every time for me
• sitting down at a BBQ with friends after a day of hustle and bustle and running errands... look around into smiling faces and open a bottle of beer
• I think my hands are awesome, because they can do stuff and hold on to stuff... like my handle bars on the bike.... kudos also goes to my feet, that get me from A to B without CO2 emissions... 
• my family... they drive me crazy sometimes... exactly the way people should that care about you! sometimes it's tough to be so far away from them, but then I have to remind myself, that...
• phones, internet and air travel is available today as readily as never before and fairly cheap on top of that... the world is growing together and it's not scary at all
• when I stumble over an inspirational story
• food, good food.... healthy food and the occasional unhealthy food
• the rare moments when I feel like my life is balanced
• when I leave the hair salon
• shopping with a girl friend and finding a pair of jeans that just fit
• finishing a long workout with the feeling of accomplishment
• that I can see my abs... it's not a six pack or a four pack... but I can see them and even more, I can feel how strong they are holding my upright
• getting back my health assessment results and scoring very high
  

(I just notice how little those feel good tidbits have to do with outside appearance... I guess it just doesn't matter so much in the long run!)


And if you need some inspiration to be able to focus on your own beauty rather than a photoshopped magazine cover... Check in with Operation Beautiful!


So long! ;-)

Tuesday Tidbits Vol 7

I think it's time to get back to normal broadcast for the Tuesday Tidbits.

• At lunch today, I did something I normally don't do... I bought a People's Magazine. What a waste of time and money that was.... And yes, I should have known better.
• I am sick and tired of paperwork... ALREADY!
• It's getting hot out there.... NICE!
• Today, I rode Paris Mountain for the second time ever and for the first time this year... I took my time to complete it and it's going to be my benchmark for doing this loop in the future. This is the elevation chart for the ride... That was a total of 2,200 of climbing over 13.3 miles.

• The "100 Miles Of Nowhere" is this Saturday... My plan is to get a total of 100 miles for this week... My butt muscles are just in no shape to do 100 miles in one day right now. But honestly, even 100 miles for the week is kinda crazy right now.
• Speaking of which... The swag back for the ride was in the mail last week and there are so many goodies in there.... SWEET!
• I have a little calf/shin stuff going on, so I won't be running until Thursday most likely.
• Next race on tap is the Paris Mountain 15K Trail Run and I guess that's my cue to get some trail running in... I am shooting for Sunday to run the course... I miss trail running.
• I really hope that by putting my workout plans in this post is going to help me getting motivated on getting my butt in motion.
• As you may have noticed, I have motivational issues when it comes to training right now... ARRRGGGHHH... I just don't get it... I think I need a change of scenery.... Or a vacation... Or a getaway... We'll have to figure out something...

So long! ;-)

Tuesday Tidbits: One Word Meme Edition

Lately, I have had people commenting (not commenting in the comments section, more of an e-mail and phone call commenting) about the blog being very sports focused... So I was thinking about keeping the "Tuesday Tidbits" free of sports and then I saw this "One Word Meme" on Mel's blog and thought this would be a great way to break things up a little.

The only rule is:

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.
No.
Explanations.

Not as easy as you might think…

1. Yourself: happy
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband: newlywed
3. Your hair: unhappy
4. Your mother/stepmother: phone
5. Your dog: Karma
6. Your favorite item: dunno
7. Your dream last night: forgotten
8. Your favorite drink: soda
9. Your dream car: practical
10. The room you are in: open
12. Your fear: mistakes
13. What you want to be in 10 years: better
14. Who you hung out with last night: nobody
15. What you’re not: patient
16. Muffin: yummy
17. One of your wish list items: decisions
18. Time: 8:01
19. The last thing you did: laundry
20. What you are wearing: comfy
21. Your favorite weather: sunny
22. Your favorite book: nonfiction
23. The last thing you ate: veggies
24. Your life: settling
25. Your mood: mellow
26. Your best friend(S): fun
27. What are you thinking about right now? post
28. Your car: KIA
29. What are you doing at the moment?: blogging
30. Your summer: honeymoon
31. Your relationship status: married
32. What is on your TV?: nothing
33. What is the weather like?: fresh
34. When is the last time you laughed?: now

So, if you wanna play, you can either copy and paste this to your blog or you can answer in the comments at Calli’s place, where this meme originated. Either way, make sure you stop by and tell her you played.

And because I think a post is not complete without a pic, here is a "Lolcat" just for you.

So long! ;-)

Tuesday Tidbits: The Wedding Edition

• There is a reason, why you should only get married once... It's just too much of a hassle for a couple of hours.

• With that being said, the whole thing went off without a hitch (that I know of) and from what we hear, our guests enjoyed themselves and had a good time.
• We had a good time and especially enjoyed that so many of our friends and family came out to celebrate this day with us... We have an amazing group of people around us!
• I got tons of compliments on my dress... Funniest compliment was: It's so functional! (Coming from a guy.)
• I got blisters from the shoes... of course... Half way through the thing I changed into Salsa shoes... It felt soooo good.
• Terry and I rocked our first dance. We did a cha-cha to the song Ich+Ich "Vom Selben Stern". Yes, there is a cha-cha version of this one and we ROCKED it!
• Our guests busted quite the moves on the dance floor... There was the Electric Slide, a SOUL TRAIN and LOTS and LOTS of SALSA!!
• Did I mentioned that we have a great group of friends? Because we do!
• I am a wife now... That idea hasn't quite settled in yet.
• The ceremony was SO NICE... Very touching and personal and the waterworks were ON! ;-)
• Here are a couple of pictures taken by my brother. I won't have any "official" pictures for the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Goofing around a little!


The wedding party... Small and perfect! ;-)


Giving my feet a little break before everything started.


Itching to get this show on the road! ;-)


I do! And I do, too!


First dance! We ROCKED it! ;-)

• I am happy!

PS: My parents plus brother are currently on a flight to Madrid. We'll see how they get from Spain to Germany.

Tuesday Tidbits Vol. 6

• Since my family is using my KIA for their road trip, I am currently using Terry's truck... I don't hate it as much as I thought I would, but I still can't wait to get my car back! ;-)
• Life happens a lot these days, so once again I had to scramble around my training plan a little. So no run for me tonight, I will do that tomorrow night instead.
• I also had a 1.5 hour bike ride on schedule for tomorrow night, but since I knocked myself out with some hill repeats yesterday, I think I will run and then bike tomorrow night... We'll see what life brings tomorrow though.
• I thought I was done with the wedding planning and then my soon to be husband comes home with a laundry list of stuff one of his co-worker reminded him that we need... By now I wished we would have eloped, even if that means that my parents exclude me in their will. Too late now anyways, once the first deposit check was mailed the show was on. I handle races this way and do the same thing for weddings! ;-)
• Great Facebook reconnecting going on these days... A girl I went to middle school with found me on Facebook. In her friend list I found a common friend and then another friend of mine found me on the second friend's friends list... Confused... Don't be... Bottom line is: Great things happen on FB every now and then! ;-)
• The impromptu dance practice Sunday evening almost killed my feet... Sometimes it feels like there is a stress fracture waiting to happen. I think it's about time to take the Vibrams back out of the box and slowly start building some mileage on them again. I basically put them away over the winter, but with the temps being like they are, it's time to use them... And hopefully, it's going to make my feet stronger again.

Tuesday Tidbits Vol. 5

• Saw a glimpse of House Hunter International on HGTV placed in Berlin. They played Bavarian hump-ta music... Berlin is not in Bavaria... Not everyone in Germany wears Lederhosen... It's always fun to see stereotyping like that.
• Don't you just love spring break? Okay, maybe you don't love it that much in case you work at a Mexican resort and have to deal with drunk teenagers. But for me, it's wonderful... Traffic is SOOO light... WONDERFUL!
• At the "Walk To The Beach" challenge the results after the first week have been posted. There are tons of teams/ people that haven't turned in there numbers yet, so it's really hard to tell where we stand right now. There is one team that posted close to 450 miles for last week. Rumor has it, that one person accounts for around 200 miles out of that. That would be a marathon per day... It's currently blamed on a pedometer malfunction.
  
• Another crappy run.... I cut it short once again. At least I ran a little, but with everything that is going on in the kitchen remodel, I just got completely stressed out on the run today because I was running late with everything anyways.
• Good news about the kitchen remodel: We now have counter tops again and they look GREAT. Hopefully I am going to have a working sink and dish washer by tomorrow. Pretty please.

Okay... I gotta get some shut eye. Nighty night!

SMILE! You Are Beautiful!

A couple of weeks ago, I found the website "Operation Beautiful".

Here is the mission of this site:

The goal of the Operation Beautiful website is to end negative self-talk or “Fat Talk.” If this little blog only does one productive thing, I hope it helps readers realize how truly toxic negative self-talk is — it hurts you emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Through my own experiences fighting Fat Talk, I’ve realized the power behind an anonymous act such as Operation Beautiful. When I post a note, I’m saying, “I CHOOSE to be positive!”

Participating in "Operation Beautiful" is sooooo simple. Just take a post-it note with a positive message and leave it in a public place e.g. bathrooms, fitting rooms, supermarkets and where ever else you want to leave a piece of encouragement.

Everyday, they post pictures and stories on this web page from people that left or found notes. Everyday, people all over the world, take a little time out of their day and scribble some encouraging words on a post-it note and leave it for someone that maybe needs to hear encouragement at that very moment.

Even though, the mission seems to mostly be propelled by young girls and women, it's a message that everyone needs to hear! YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! YOUR CLOTHING SIZE DOESN'T DEFINE, WHO YOU ARE! Instead of focusing on the number on the scale, it's more important to make good living choices... eat healthy and exercise... Smile a lot, spend time with people you love...

Have a great weekend.

Tuesday Tidbits Vol. 4

1. I blew off my swim this morning. On the one hand I feel really bad about it, on the other hand I still believe that I couldn't have gotten up at 5am this morning and that the extra hour of sleep saved my life. Well maybe didn't safe my life, but... it was important!
2. On Sunday I had my usual phone talk with my mom and she starts sounding nervous about the trip over here. I am so glad that my brother is tagging along, so they don't have to worry about a thing!
3. Our first mission, once my mother is here, is to find her an outfit for the wedding. Yes, they actually do sell clothing in Germany as well, but so far she hasn't found the right thing... Which is code for: "I really want you to go shopping with me, Dad is useless when it comes to stuff like that!" That's the least I can do for getting married in a far away country! ;-)
4. In case you are still thinking about signing up for the 100 Miles Of Nowhere... It's too late... Registrations is closed! If you already signed up for it and want some company and you are in the SC Upstate area, pls comment on this post and maybe we can keep each other company while riding the bike on the road or the trainer for 100 miles.
5. Did my first hill repeats in weeks if not months. That was one long hill, but I got faster as I went and I clocked a total of six miles... During the week... On the road, not on the track or the campus.... I love daylight saving time! Are you already tired of me saying that???? ;-)
   

Tuesday Tidbits Vol. 3

It's Tuesday and I didn't do "Tidbits" in a couple of weeks. Also, I am on a roll here of continuous posting and don't want to break it quite yet... Yes I know... I am OCD like that.

1. I love me some networking: Last week our DJ for the wedding bailed out and so we had to find someone new. All of last week passed without any real progress. So Sunday afternoon I posted a request for help in my Facebook status and I got tons of feedback from friends and the new DJ is already booked. YAY for my FB family!
2. Since yesterday, I am back on a training plan. That's a good thing. I took a generic BT plan and really love the option of moving planned workouts around during the week. Of course I have replaced the given workout for swims with whatever we do in the swim class.
3. Also since yesterday, we don't have a kitchen in the house anymore. Terry has been doing a great job with several big home improvement project over the last couple of months. The kitchen is the LAST BIG project IN the house. There is still some to do on the outside, but at least it's going to be actually worth trying to keep the place clean once the kitchen is done.
4. My parents and brother are coming in less then three weeks. Not to put any pressure on a huge home improvement project like A KITCHEN!
5. Yes... I have my moments where I am completely stressed out... I am glad that Terry is not the "getting stressed out" kinda guy, otherwise we would be SCREWED!!
6. Tonight also marked the return to the track. Instead of joining the GTC track workout, I did one on my own at Furman. 1 mile WU, 4x800s 1 mile CD... I had to ease back into those... This was the first time running for me since the RRR 10K. Sad, so very sad.
7. I added another feed to my Google Reader... Very De-motivational... Some of it is not for the faint at heart... Consider yourself warned.
8. I really want to do an outside ride tomorrow night, but they are calling for rain. It really only makes sense to ride after work, if I would ride around there. It's Daylight Saving Time alright, but it's also still March. But that means I would need to rack up my bike tomorrow morning and take it to work... All that mess and then I might get rained out. What to do??
9. While waiting at the check-out at Publix, I scanned the tabloid covers and was surprised by the headline that Charles and Camilla are getting divorced. Of course I don't have a clue what is going on in these people's lives, but he was running after this woman for most of his life and now that they are finally married, it's over.
10. Flipping through my Triathlete magazine, I noticed that Paul Mitchell is sponsoring XTERRA Races. Am I the only one that finds that this is an odd combination?

Do Not Freeze

(Click on picture to enlarge!)

This is printed on the back of a shower gel container that I recently bought... It really makes me wonder, what incident prompted the producers to do this? Do you know of a lawsuit that involved frozen shower gel?

I might adapt this line for a tattoo... This morning it was 27 degrees! Twenty-Seven! It is end of February and we are in South Carolina... It has been way too cold for way too long... IT'S ENOUGH!

100 Tidbits For The 100th

1. This is my 100th post and I will try to come up with 100 tidbits. 100 tidbits is a lot of stuff, so bear with me in the case it is getting a little ridiculous at one point.
2. I started this blog on August 27th 2009 with this post.
3. You might have noticed, that I didn't post in the last two days. I just couldn't make up my mind if I even wanted to do something "special" for number 100.
4. Last night I attended my first workout with the Greenville Track Club. I did group track workouts before, but never with a group of that size.
5. The guy who organizes the track workouts is German AND he comes from the same county I come from... The world is a village!
6. We did 1x400, 5x800s and 1x400 and I am happy with the fairly even splits I ran... All of them where around a 8:30min/mile pace. The 400 were even a little faster.
7. I am not so happy about being one of the slowest runners of the group, but I have to keep in perspective where I am coming from (weight loss and only two years of running) and how far I already got.
8. Even though the workout was high intensity, I was very cold when I got back in the car and I had a hard time warming up. That was weird.
9. When I got home last night, I found a letter from my best friend from high school. It was an invitation for her wedding in July. Chances are pretty slim that I will be able to be there. SUCKS!
10. Most likely, she won't be able to be at my wedding! SUCKS!!!
11. I live in the US for almost five years by now and in moments like this, it feels like my life is never going to be whole again since half of it will be always missing no matter where I am from here on out.
12. Speaking of weddings: We finally decided where we going to celebrate our big day and it was about time to do so.... Just two months left to get everything done.
13. The other week, I picked up one of those free wedding magazines. There was a time table in it. It stated something like "18 months before wedding: announce engagement". Yeah right... I guess I am way behind on that schedule.
14. I think I need a "not-so-frilly girl's guide to organize a wedding in two months", but I kinda doubt there is something like this out there. When it's done and if we survived the big day, I might write up my experience just for you! ;-)
15. One more wedding thing and I'll move on: I don't want to have a wedding gown, but I saw some gorgeous dresses in some runway show footages... What do you think are my chances of finding a knock-off of these dresses at a good department store?
16. The Olympic Games are fun! I just LOVE big international sporting events.
17. That reminds me of back in the day (2002) when I did an internship in England and the soccer world championship was on. I don't think that I have to mention how soccer crazy the English are and how soccer crazy the Germans are. So I was at a German company in England (and it's getting better) while sharing a desk cluster with a girl from Ireland and a girl from Spain. Germany made it into the final against Brazil. ;-)
18. Back to the Olympics: Even though I love them, I have hardly seen any events so far. I started to watch a little men's figure skating on Tuesday night, but the commercial breaks every five minutes were driving me nuts, so I just gave up.
19. I think I will follow the events on this handy iGoogle Vancouver 2010 app... No commercial breaks there.
20. My mom calls me every Sunday. So last Sunday we talked and after a while she was cutting me off, because she wanted to watch the Biathlon event at the Olympics. This woman has her priorities straight! ;-)
21. I think the most talked about events at the winter Olympics are curling and men's figure skating... At least it seems that way sometimes.
22. The weather forecast for the weekend finally looks a little better which is good because:
23. Terry is planning on installing new windows at the house on Saturday and that would just suck in the cold and rain.
24. It increases my chances of getting out on the bike exponentially.
25. Speaking of installing new windows. Terry does TONS of remodelling projects at the house right now. Downstairs and upstairs bathroom have been just recently completed. Now the windows and then the kitchen. Those are the big projects and then there are other smaller ones to take care of. So proud of him, to get all of this done.
26. I am just realizing that this is going to be a very long post and you might want to grab a little snack now.
27. This morning we did a 1,000 yard time trial at swim class. I did my TT in 18min 22sec and I am happy about that.
28. Coach Katie threatened right away, that I have to swim with the boys next week. I know, it's for my own good and it'll make me faster, but those guys are much faster than me and they normally drop my like a hot potato.
29. Sometimes, the Y's swim team has practice while we have our class and on those days the locker room is a loony bin.
30. You ask why? Can you remember when you were a teenager and you were talking to your teenage girlfriends.... "it's like so weird, because he said like something and I said like... WHATEVER".... remember?
31. On top of the talk, the locker room looks like a tornado went through once they leave.
32. One more locker room rant point... At the Y that I am swimming at, the locker rooms seem to be the coldest rooms in the whole facility.
33. And while we are at it... a couple of benches would be really NICE. Because if you don't get lucky and get one of the three little cabins, the only place to put your crap is on the ground. I heard the guys have benches.
34. Lately, I finally seem to be able to get a grip on my nutrition again and it starts to pay off.
35. My 125 lbs goal by the end of February seems to get done this time.
36. I honestly can't believe how long it takes me this time to get back in check. Two months to get back to my pre holiday weight. This is ridiculous.
37. In my defense I just want to mention, that I have been sick twice during that time and I really don't watch my intake when I am sick. Then there was useless carbo loading for a half marathon that didn't happen... You see... Valid points.
38. One of my co-worker made a comment the other day, about how I could get sick especially since I am living such a healthy lifestyle. Well... Endurance athletes tend to struggle with that at times, because after long workouts your immune system takes a dive for a couple of hours and if you get exposed to stuff in that window, you are basically screwed.
39. Speaking of health: My butt pain is getting worse and worse... Walking, after I sat for a little while, looks really funny. I stretch and foam roll my little heart out but nothing seems to work.
40. Of course I noticed the butt pain this morning already and I still chose to wear heels to work... Not such a great idea... At all.
41. I am so looking forward to my chiropractor appointment tomorrow to hopefully get some relieve in that matter. I might want to look into getting a massage as well.
42. Audio books are expensive! At least the selection I found at Barnes and Nobles.
43. After listening to the audio books that I got from the book sales last November (I will write a review of those soon!) and then worked through all my Christmas present audio books, I ran out of them end of last week.
44. Today we had lunch at Cracker Barrel and I noticed once again that they "rent out" audio books. I say "rent out" because basically you buy the book and when you are done you return and get a refund of the purchase price minus a weekly fee. That would be a great option and they have tons of books, but not necessarily anything that I am interested in.
45. That also brings me back to finally get a library card, but with that it's going to be tough for me to make their hours.
46. Currently I am listening to "The Blind Side - The Evolution of the Game" and even though I am not a football fan, I really enjoy this book.
47. There was one statement early on about at a certain level, it's all about the will to win and not about using the game as a profession to pay your bill or maintain a certain life style. When two players have the same athletic abilities, that the person that has the will/ desire to win will succeed over the other player.
48. This statement really struck a cord with me. Of course I am not a professional athlete and I doubt that I will ever be a contender for winning my age group, but I still feel that this applies to any age grouper.
49. Everyone talks about goals and if it's just to give an answer in case somebody ask you for the time that you will be shooting for at any given race. But is this time really your goal and you work hard for it and you fight for it and you suffer for it or are you just going through the motions?
50. I think I still have a long way to go and I feel I have to push my comfort zone more and more.
51. There was also an article about this topic in last month's Triathlete magazine. Basically the psychology behind all of those failed new year's resolutions.
52. To reach your goals you have to do things differently than you did them before, otherwise you would have already reached them.
53. Speaking of magazines: I am WAY BEHIND on my reading!
54. I have a Runner's World and a Triathlete subscription, but the magazines that I brought back from Germany after the holidays messed my reading schedule up big time!
55. On top of several audio books, I also got several "real" books for Christmas and that brings me even more behind.
56. Last year I did the St. Francis Mud Run in Greenville SC with Terry and two of our friends. It was a 4 mile run with around 30 obstacles.
57. When we tip toed around the starting line back then, I was apologizing to my team mates to have gotten them in this mess.
58. When we reached the finish line, 3/4 out of the group said that we are going to be there in 2010 again... The 1/4 of the team agreed to join a day later! ;-)
59. Well now it's 2010 and I looked up the date today and I had to find out that this year's Mud Run is going to be on May 1st!
60. Well, on May 1st the D.N.R. All Stars will be somewhere between Columbia and Folly Beach and finish up the Palmetto 200.
61. I hate that we are going to miss the Mud Run.... But there is normally another one in the fall in Columbia SC so I guess I have to start recruiting people once more!
62. Speaking of the Palmetto 200: I used to be listed as runner #3, but then they did a course update and I would have ended up with over 17 miles total mileage for the relay. I asked runner #6 to trade legs with me and he agreed, so I am back at the around 15 miles portion that I was going for in the first place.
63. Currently, the team is also looking into options of renting two full size vans for the race, just to be a little more comfortable and maybe even able to sleep. The Explorer and the Suburban that we used for the BRR was alright, but bigger really is better in that case.
64. Honestly, I am always surprised on how much crap one needs for a running trip. I noticed this last year preparing for the BRR and now again for our trip down to Myrtle Beach.
65. Basically, one has to pack for every possible weather... for relays, it's three fresh sets of clothes... At least two pairs of running shoes and a comfy shoe for when you are not running etc etc etc...
66. Oh yes and whoever started that rumor that running is a cheap sport... forget it... Yes, I might go over the top a little when it comes to cute outfits and stuff, but I take complete responsibility for that one... But aside of that you also have registration fees, travel cost, night run/ safety gear, all types of different weather to deal with.... you get my point.
67. I think swimming might be the cheapest out of the tri sports. But even then... I got myself my own toys (get your mind out of the gutter, I am referring to paddles, fins and pull buoys) last year and a lap counter.
68. Needless to say that there are several bathing suits... Not only because I like cute outfits (see point 66) but also because a bathing suits is going to disintegrate sooner or later in the chlorine water... They fabric is getting thinner and baggy and those are things you don't want in a bathing suit.
69. Ha! Number 69.... I have a funny story for that one. Way back when I did the mentioned internship in England, we went on TONS of road trips. We had lunch in a pub in their beer garden. You ordered and paid in the pub and got a number and a server would walk to the beer garden yelling out the number with your food when it was ready. My food order number was 69 and the server was a 14 year old kid (estimation here!). He was so embarrassed and turned red having to yell out the number and the whole beer garden was laughing. Poor kid!
70. Funny enough, I think sweat and laundry detergent has the same effect on sports bras than chlorine has on bathing suits. I have to get myself some new sports bras because several of the ones I have don't really give a lot of support anymore.
71. I got some great deals last year at the Adidas tent sale at the Gaffney outlets. I got tops for around 4 bucks and tights (long and capris) for around 8 bucks. You can't beat that and I wear those items all the time because they are so comfortable. Unfortunately, we stopped by on the way to the airport and were really pressed for time. Hopefully, they are going to have one of those this year again.
72. It's not rocket science that biking is the most expensive sport out of the three.
73. I really have to start doing bike maintenance myself. There is a free class sometime in March at the Great Escape in Spartanburg... I think I should go there.
74. I changed out a tube before. I did it once and I carry all the necessary tools with me and a spare tube. Nevertheless, if I had a flat on the road by myself, it would be pitiful sight.
75. Last week the stem broke and I asked Terry not to change the tube out until I can watch him. Well the tube is changed and I wasn't present when it was done. I think I need a refresher in tube changing soon!
76. To show you how deep this concern runs, I have one example. Last year, the night before my first (and so far only) triathlon, I had nightmares of getting a flat on the bike course.
77. On the other hand, I don't sleep good before races anyways. There is this reoccurring dream about being to late at the start line, but I understand that I am not the only person having that dream.
78. Did you know that I am a pretty good foosball player? You better believe it, even though my wrist may be a little rusty these days.
79. For whatever reason, I have a feeling that I am using all my potential blog material in this post... That is going to get me in trouble sooner or later!
80. By the way.... How was your little snack?
81. I find the infomercials for programs like "P90X" and "Insanity" very interesting... Those abs after child birth.... I don't have any experience with child birth, but I lost 60 lbs, that should make for an even ground right there.
82. The downside I see with those programs is, that it's basically the only workout that you are going to do for 90 or 60 days and I think I would really miss my tri sports. Doing the program as supplement for the regular workout might doesn't give the same results. But results vary anyways right? I read somewhere that a lot of those exercises are available on YouTube... Maybe something worth looking into.
83. When was the last time you had a Cherry Coke? In my case that is probably 15 years ago. Enough time to forget almost anything. So last weekend while strolling through the soda aisle, I saw Cherry Coke Zero and actually bought it. It seemed to be a good idea at the time and now I have 10 cans sitting here, waiting to be consumed... Oh boy.
84. My current chap stick consumption is out of this world. Not because I use them up so fast, but because I loose those things ALL THE TIME!
85. Safety Bingo at work is letting me down once again. The card started out great and got worse and worse from there.
86. I am really looking forward to race on the weekend. My last race was in November and it's about time for me to get out there again.
87. There will also be tons of familiar faces and that makes races FUN!
88. It's going to be hilly, but hills make you stronger.
89. My goal for the race.... I am hoping for an 9:45 min/mile average... that would make a 1h 37mins goal time.
90. The strategy: Take it easy on the uphills and rock the downhills (I have gotten so much better running downhill)... Shoot for 9:45 pace for the whole thing, but try to pick it up at mile 8 depending on how I feel.
91. I can't wait for daylight saving time to come finally! Just another couple of weeks!
92. There are tons of evening rides around the area where I work. So as soon as DST is here, I really want to join one of these rides at least once a week.
93. For the last 268 days, Marc Beaumont has pedalled 13,080 miles from Anchorage, Alaska to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. He arrived today. What an accomplishment. While doing this, he also climbed two major peaks (Aconcagua and Mount McKinley). CONGRATS!!
94. I think I mentioned it before, but a bike travel tour is definitely on my bucket list.
95. Being out of town for the weekend, really made me want to do another hiking trip soon. I might try to pitch the idea to Terry once the house renovation has gotten to a stage where it is okay to take a weekend off.
96. Maybe I don't even have to pitch the idea, since he actually reads this blog every now and then. :-)
97. On the other hand, he wants to be done by the time my parents are coming to visit and that is just six weeks out.
98. That probably means we have to do a little hiking honeymoon right after the wedding since we are not going to go on our "real" honeymoon until June.
99. I am so glad to be able to "sleep in" tomorrow, since I don't have a morning workout scheduled. By the way... Sleeping in in that context means 6am.
100. I am not going to do "200 Tidbits for the 200th".... One hundred was hard enough already! :-) You are dismissed now! ;-)

Tuesday Tidbits Vol. 2

1. Sometimes, I catch myself having the urge to put on a seat belt while riding my bicycle.


2. What is the story about LOST? I have never seen one episode and now I hear people are going crazy over the last season. It might be too late to catch up now... I think I'll survive.


3. Is anyone else experiencing that taking Tylenol PM makes for some weird dreams?


4. As a creature of habit, I have a routine in the morning that I run down EVERY morning, even if I get ready in the gym or at home. Weird enough, if I mess up one thing... It screws up my whole pattern. I know... There are worse things that can happen to you.


5. Not much time left for my first half marathon attempt. Weirdly enough, I am not freaking out... I am confident that I will go the distance and I am not going crazy over goal times.


6. So far I am following through my plan of plenty of sleep and good nutrition. Yay me... I just have to keep going this way for the rest of the week!


7. Like I mentioned last week, I needed a new computer. It's past tense, since I got myself one over the weekend. It's a pain to change over computers and it reminds me why I stuck to my old one for eight years even though it was getting slower and slower. The time I spent over the weekend on transferring data and resetting our home network... HOURS! But I am happy now.


8. Trying to pull a wedding together in four months is NO JOKE! But actually two out of the four months have passed by and we still don't have a location. It's not like were are sitting on our hands... But nothing seems to fit... Either it's too expensive, too small, already booked or whatever else. That is probably why I don't freak out over the half at the moment, because all my 'freak-out-energy" goes towards the wedding planning.


9. I should cook more often. It's healthier and cheaper.


10. Yesterday, I did my trainer ride on the hybrid because my road bike has a flat and I was lazy. Forgot how comfortable the hybrid is and I am thinking about taking it out on some trials... I never mountain biked, but I think it's something worth looking into! ;-)

I Think, I Need An Ark SOON!

Remember my last post when I was gushing about how great we have it around here and how beautiful the weather was and that I was wearing shorts in January... Yeah, I wrote "Shorts in January" even though it's already February. But still.... Running in shorts in February is just as GREAT.

Well, the honeymoon is over and was fairly short anyways. Since Thursday the rain is coming down in buckets. We have a creek flowing at the corner of the property and right now it looks more like a pond.

When I left from work yesterday, I made this picture on my commute... Normally, this area is covered in grass... There is no water, not even creek at this spot.



I am so having this rain and wonder, if we might have to start building an ark or something.

Speaking of arks... Finally somebody figured out what really happened to the dinosaurs! ;-)


Happy weekend everyone!

PS: This week my posting was a little weak, but I have a couple of post topics in the back of my head, but time was a little sparse this week.

I Need A Punch Line

Okay, let me rephrase this: I WANT a punch line... Or a signature line... Do you know what I mean? A nice catchy phrase that I can put to "sign" every post.

I really like "Waddle On", but that is already being used by John "The Penguin" Bingham (Runner's World Columnist).

"Happily Yours" is also very nice, but already used by Carol Hannah, a Project Runway Season 6 designer.

I love the sound of "Just a few (thousand) miles north" even though it's not applicable to my situation.... or only if my main bulk of readers would be from Patagonia. It's the signature for this awesome Alaskan adventure blog... And it's a perfect fit for it.

A lot of blogs don't have a signature line, but I just like the structure of title and a signature line. WHAT TO DO??

By now I almost think that I make a way too big of a deal of this and whatever I will come up with, will fall short of this ambitious post! ;-)

I think this whole topic needs to cook a little longer in my head and if I start using a signature line sometime soon, you'll know where it is coming from.

Nothing for Ungood! Auf Wiedersehn and Good Bye!