Melanie Does Life - being pregnant :-)

Day 31: What are you looking forward to.

Oh, there are lots of things. I am looking forward to…

1. my next run
2. trying out my new iPod Shuffle on one of my longer runs
3. trying out my new fuel belt
4. going to Germany to see my friends and family (no idea when I will be going but I am looking forward to it anyway)
5. going to see my in-laws in Puerto Rico (and again no idea when we will be going back to PR)
6. having more time for my blog / emails - since my sister is gone
7. easter
8. my birthday in May
9. enjoying the florida sun
10. my half marathon in November
11. …

Day 30: What you prefer to write with.

My computer. If I can’t have that one then I like my Stabilo pens.

Day 29: The most recent dream you remember in detail.

I can’t remember any dream - sorry can’t answer this question. :-(

Day 27: A list of things you’re good and bad at.

OMG - I don’t like this question. I think it is so hard to answer… but I try anyway.

I am good at reading. I love reading and can “eat” a book really quickly. Then I am good a figuring stuff out with my mac - especially when something goes wrong.

I can get impatient when something doesn’t work the way I want it. I had some photo troubles yesterday and after a few hours of figuring it out/finding a solution I gave up. Frustrated and really impatient. Then - after a few hours of doing something else and a good nights sleep - I tried again and I found a solution.

Day 28: Write about what’s most often on your mind.

My family and my friends back in Germany. I miss them and I thinking a lot about them. Can’t wait till I see them again - even if I am not sure when that will be.

Another thing often on my mind is running - when can I get out for the next run? how many miles will I do during this run? etc. And of course food is another thing on my mind. I ate to much junk food these last weeks and I have to go back to healthier eating habits soon.

Day 26: Your favorite thing to get at a restaurant.

My favorite thing to eat are french fries. I just love them. Not really healthy but so tasty. The other thing I get most of the time is a soda without ice.

Day 25: Your favorite flavor of ice cream.

Strawberry - definitely strawberry. 

Day 24: Your plans after high school / college.

I worked at an electricity company for 6 years after I left high school.

Day 23: A list of things hanging on your walls.

• A big Keith Haring picture - my sister gave this to me when I moved out of my parents house.
• A big flag from Puerto Rico - my hubby is from there
• A flatscreen TV
• A map of breweries in Germany - a good bye present from our friends
• Pictures of our church wedding
• Pictures of our travels -  e.g. Puerto Rico, Muinch, Paris, …
• Lots of pictures of family and friends

Day 22: Write about the thing that stresses you out the most.

Mmmhhh, let me think about what stresses me out… There are two things that really can stress me out.

First, when I tell somebody I did not like this or ask them not to do this and they do it again and again and again. And no, the thing they do is not some random thing. No, it is something close to me or touching me or something like that.
For example: My hubby likes to touch my belly and he likes to do it in public a lot. I do not like that at all. It drives me crazy. I tell him and ask him to stop. But he doesn’t do it. He just keeps going and going (not sure if he thinks it’s fun or what is going on in his head). But that can keep me getting mad a lot and really fast this way. I don’t mind it that much at home (but even there I wish he would stop) but in public it is a big no-go. He also did that a lot to me in Germany and some of my family over there thought it is cute. (Aaarrgh.) And of course they commented on it and laughed and all that. (More aarrrggghh.) Even thinking about it gets my heart rate up. It drives me crazy and he doesn’t understand that I hate it when he does that.

Secondly, I can get stressed about the way other people are driving - espacially when it is affecting me. There is a reason why the cars have indicators, you know? This way you can show other drivers where you are going. You don’t need to cut me and change lanes way without using them. Or stay at a green traffic light without moving. It is green - it is not getting any greener for you to start driving.

Day 21: Your favorite name.

Mine, I guess. :-) Haven’t really thought about this. As in male names I like Leon.

Day 20: Your favorite blog.

I really don’t have a favorite blog. I read so many of them - so here are a few I visit regularly.

Discom-BOB-ulated Running and Ben does Life and Smile for a mile and Caution: Redhead Running

Day 19: What are you doing tonight.

We wanna go out tonight - it’s just not clear where we want to go…

Day 17: Post your favorite poem, song or photo.

To many photos to post - but I will have a look if I can post a few afterwards.

Poem not sure if I have any.

All my favorite songs are german songs and I am not sure if it makes sense to post them - nobody will understand.

Day 16: Write about your family.

My hubby and I live in Florida - we got here about 15 months ago. Before we were in Germany and that’s were my whole family is. My parents, my sister, grandparents, uncles, great-uncles, nieces - you name it. I have a big family there. Most of them live in a small town and everybody knows each other. And of course they know what is going on in everybody’s life. Annoying sometimes, but helpful on other occasions. I love them and miss them a lot. Can’t wait to see them again but not sure when that will be.

I talk a lot to my grandmother and my parents. It’s a little harder to talk to my other grandfather - he is hearing impaired and I have to yell all the time. Last time I called him he didn’t even recognize me on the phone and just hang up on me. :( To the rest of the family I talk every now and then - depending on the time over there and what I am doing here. Sometimes I forget to call early during the day and later on it’s to late - they are 6 hrs ahead of us.

My sister is here right now visiting me for a few weeks. I hope we will have lots of fun and great time. It is so nice to have her here!

Day 15: Write about your best friend or the bret friend you’ve ever had.

She is in Germany and I miss her a lot. I hope she will be able to visit us next year but we are not sure about that. Sometimes we don’t talk for weeks but when we do it is like we just saw us yesterday. Or talked yesterday. We like to go out together and we laugh a lot. Sometimes we gossip (hey who doesn’t do that?) and forget the time about being together. Miss you!

Day 14: Who you text / talk to most often.

I talk most often to my husband and my grandmother.

Day 13: The best movie you’ve ever seen.

That’s hard again. I like so many movies and often I can’t even remember I watch a certain movie. Again I will list a few of my favorites…

• Good Will Hunting
• The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum
• Cruel Intentions
• Legally Blonde
• GI Jane
• The Saint
• Under Siege
• Bloodsport

I am shopping with my sister. We looked through the whole store and I found six things I like, three of them running clothes. I tried them on and now I will buy two out of six. My sister has found about 50 things and is still trying them on. I am waiting for her to finish…

Day 12: The best book you’ve ever read.

That’s hard for me. I read so much and like so many different kind of books. Let me think about it … but I can’t make up my mind. There are just to many of them. I guess I will list a few of my favorites…

• Eye of the Needle, Code to Zero, Jackdaws, Hornet Flight, The Third Twin, Night over Water (all by Ken Follett)
• The Celestine Prophecy, The Tenth Insight, The Secret of Shambhala (all by James Redfield)
• Point of Impact, Black Light, Time to Hunt, The 47 Samurai, Night of Thunder, I, Sniper (Bob Lee Swagger Novels - all by Stephen Hunter)
• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
• count down 2012 by Brit Morf
• Eifel-Romane by J. Bendorf

As you probably noticed I read a lot of books from the same authors. I read in German and English - therefore I had to find all the title in English before publishing them here. The last two listings are german books - I have no idea if they are available in English as well.

Day 11: Your views on religion.

I don’t see myself as a religious person. I am open minded and everybody can have their own views of religion - and it doesn’t matter which kind of religion we are talking about. We can even discuss our views of religion, what we like or what we don’t like. But we don’t have to argue about right and wrong. And it’s kinda easy to do if people have different visions of religion. I just hope that people who do believe differently than I do do not try to convert me to their religion and try to tell me that it’s the “only right” one to live by. For me it is more like “live and let live”. 

Day 10: Write about your earliest childhood memory.

Me sitting on a frisbee disk. Can’t remember hold old I was but it was before I was able to walk…

My sister is visiting us right now. She got here yesterday from Germany and I am so happy to have her with us. Haven’t seen her for 15 months before that. Today we had a nice trip to the mall - just a nice walk and some window-shopping. A relaxing day to get over the jet lag. Tonight we run together. 3 miles at a slow pace. That’s really great - my sister hasn’t run in a while and I am proud that she made it through the three miles. My back problem is much better and I just felt a little un-easiness after mile 2. When I finished the run I did not feel anything. Now I can’t wait for Thursday nights track workout…

~~***~~

Meine Schwester ist im Moment bei uns zu Besuch. Sie kam gestern von Deutschland hier her und ich bin so glücklich sie zu sehen. Ich hab sie davor vor 15 Monaten zum letzten Mal gesehen. Heute haben wir einen Schaufensterbummel eingelegt und einen entspannten Tag gehabt. Ich hoffe, dass das beim Jetlag hilft. Heute Abend sind wir gemeinsam gelaufen. 3 langsame Meilen. Ich bin so stolz, dass wir das hinbekommen haben, da meine Schwester schon seit einiger Zeit nicht mehr gelaufen ist. Mein Rücken ist besser. Nach 2 Meilen hab ich die Stelle etwas gespürt aber nach dem Lauf war alles ok und ich hab nichts mehr gemerkt. Nun kann ich das Donnerstag-Workout gar nicht mehr erwarten…

Day 9: The best thing you’ve ever done.

That’s hard to answer. There are a few things I done and I love. I went to Australia and New Zealand for 10 months and travel around. Got to know the country and the people. I learned how to skydive and overcome my fear of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. And third I started running. All these three things have something together - I did something I thought I wasn’t able to do but tried it anyway. I am so glad I did and learned something about me. I am capable of more than I thought I am able to do.

Day 8: A list of your favorite bands.

OMG - I don’t know most of the artists I listen to but I give it a try anyway…

more relaxing and meditational music

• Ad Dios
• Cecilia
• Deva Premal
• Doreen Virtue
• Jürgen Pfaff
• Kitaro
• Mark Watson
• Peter Kater

everything else

• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Höhner
• Katy Perry
• ATC
• Nelly Furtado
• Nena
• Joshua Kadison
• Bryan Adams
• Juli
• Rosenstolz
• Silbermond
• PUR

Day 7: What you notice first when you meet someone new.

Good question, never really thought about it. Maybe how he/she looks or how I feel about him/her. Not really sure. Will be on the lookout when I meet somebody for the first time…

Day 6: Write about your pet peeve(s).

No pets here. Sorry.

I am off to bed now. I am tired and ready for some sleep.

I wish everybody good luck tomorrow with their races! Go and have fun!!!

I did something to the back of my hip last night when I tried to get on my running shoes. Not sure what happened but it hurt. I went to the track anyway and ran one lap. This hip thing started to hurt again and then I walk one lap. The walking didn’t hurt but feels a bit uncomfortable. So I stopped it as well. Looked at the other while they were running the track and went out for dinner with them afterwards. Put some arctic ease on, some pain gel and gave it some rest. This morning I felt fine - no hurting. But tonight it is back. I can feel it again. Not sure if I pulled a muscle or if it is something else. I will give it another rest day. See how I feel on Sunday and if I can run then. If not I will make a doctor appointment on Monday and get it checked out. I still hope it is just a pulled muscle or something that doesn’t need a lot of rest days and I will be ok soon.

~~***~~

Ich hab mich irgendwie an der Hüfte verletzt gestern Abend als ich meine Laufschuhe anziehen wollte. Keine Ahnung was genau passiert ist aber es tut weh. Ich bin trotzdem zum Track gefahren und hab eine Runde (400m) gelaufen. Dann tat es wieder mehr weh und ich bin eine Runde gelaufen. Beim Laufen tut es nicht weh aber ich merke es trotzdem. Dann hab ich aufgehört und hab den anderen beim Laufen zugesehen und bin nachher mit ihnen zum Essen. Daheim hab ich eine Binde namens arctic ease (um die 15 Grad kalt) auf die Stelle gelegt, Voltaren drauf geschmiert und geruht. Heute morgen war es gut - keine Schmerzen. Heute Abend merke ich es wieder. Bin mir nicht sicher, was es ist - ein gezerrter Muskel vielleicht. Ich werde noch einen Ruhetag einlegen und sehen, ob ich Sonntag wieder laufen kann. Falls nicht, wird am Montag ein Arzttermin gemacht und dann kann der gucken, was es ist. Ich hoffe, es ist bald wieder ok und nicht irgendwas schlimmeres. Ich hoffe, dass ich bald wieder ok bin.

Day 4: The best vacation you’ve ever gone on / your dream vacation.

My 10 month trip to Australia and New Zealand in 2006/07.

Day 3: Your favorite thing to do on the weekends.

Reading and running.

Day 1: What you like people to call you?

Melanie

Day 2: The best teacher you’ve ever had.

Mr. Burgard