Six unremarkable quirks

My friend (and published author!!), Farrah Rochon, http://farrahrochon.blogspot.com/ has her Six Unremarkable Quirks meme on her site. Here are the rules:

-Link the person who tagged you.
-Mention the rules in your blog.
-Tell about six unspectacular quirks of yours.
-Tag six bloggers by linking them.
-leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

I'm not tagging anyone. I'm breaking the rules. ;)

1. I cannot sleep uncovered. It doesn't matter if I'm napping on the couch or sleeping in my bed, I have to be covered w/ at least a sheet.

2. I cannot fall asleep while I'm watching TV until the show is over. Even if I'm watching something incredibly stupid. It drives my husband crazy. He can watch a show and just turn it off in the middle and go to sleep. I'm like "waaaaaaaaaaait, I want to see the end!!"

3. I'm quirky about cheese. I'm good w/ cheese and chips, cheese and bread, grilled cheese, but I can't eat cheese on a sandwich/burger, cheese on a salad, etc.

4. I do not like to go to the bathroom w/ anyone in there. I will always close the door, even w/ just tinkling. My husband, on the other hand, could go to the bathroom (1 or 2) with the Pope sitting next to him.

5. I always buy new clothes or new shoes for a trip. Even if I have everything I need.

6. You know how it's usually the man who drives the family car? Not in our family. I ALWAYS drive. My husband never drives. Yes, I know it's a control issue. :)

So there you go. My husband had more for the list. *rolling eyes*

What happens on TDY...

My husband is TDY this week. It's not a long trip, less than a week, so it's going to be totally easy. Right? I mean, I have almost a week of lying in bed w/ the lamp on while I read and not having my husband say, "I can't sleep with the light on." I don't have to cook. And the reunion is, well, I don't need to go into that. *wink* Anyway, we've been married 14 army years, so I've easily survived longer TDY's and a deployment. But this is the first TDY since we've had a dog. A dog who is used to getting up with my husband for his morning walk and, ahem, constitution b/w 4 and 5 am. And our dog *will* go in the house if I don't get my lazy arse up, so I haven't slept well. I wake up at approx 3am and check the clock while dozing until 4-5.

All I know is that I have a wake-up left. I'm exhausted. I just think of future TDY's or deployments and groan.

TDY has taken on a whole different meaning for me.

Power Songs

There was a discussion on Runner's World about power songs: Power songs...pretty self-explanatory, right? Right. So, I read through all the posts. All of them. Very popular are Eminem's Lose Yourself and Survivor's Eye of the Tiger. All genres of music were represented.

I have always loved anything peppy. As long as it was happy and danceable, then I liked it! I mean my mp3 player playlist has songs from the Legally Blonde soundtrack, Toby Keith, Eminem, army cadences, Hannah Montana, Rascal Flatts, Kiss, The Killers, Lenny Kravitz, Britney Spears, Elvis, Will Smith (and more) and my new favorites, angry man groups, like Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine,Foo Fighters and Godsmack. I NEVER thought I'd like this type of music, but these songs are really power songs for me...they can get me running or keep me running like no other music can.

I worked out today at the gym again on the elliptical. My knee is feeling better, so I guess I did need the rest. Whatever. Anyway, I didn't try to set it up for any pre-set program. I just put it on manual and did intervals at certain points. I wasn't bored b/c I had to pay so much attention to the time, so it ended up being a good workout. Yay!

Books of April 08

I've been in a reading slump for years. But don't take it as I'm reading no books at all b/c I'm still reading...I just find very few books that I like. I start a book and, immediately, I'm bored w/ it. Basically, I go into every book already thinking it's going to disappoint me. But I still read. And, yes, I read primarily romance. Don't judge me.

So, here's what I read for the month of April:

Her Every Pleasure -- Gaelen Foley (Eh.)

First You Run -- Roxanne St. Claire (pretty good...good enough that I'm interested in reading more of her backlist)

The Duke Next Door -- Celeste Bradley (Eh.)

Private Arrangements -- Sherry Thomas (pretty good...I still remember the story and it's been a few weeks since I read it, so that's a good sign LOL)

Twilight Series which consists of Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse -- Stephenie Meyer (LOVED them! Yes, the whole love triangle was unnecessary to me. What? Like Edward isn't the one? *pffft*)

Expounding on the Twilight Series....b/c I can. ;) If you haven't read or heard about Twilight, well, they're a series of books for young adults. I am, definitely, not a young adult. LOL But I have many friends who were raving about these books. I don't read books about vampires. Ever. Never. I'm not into fantasy. But I have that reading slump problem and thought, what if these books can pull me out of my slump? So, I went to the store and bought the first book, Twilight, but not the other 2 b/c what if I didn't even like the first book? I went home and read Twilight straight through. I went back to the bookstore the next day and picked up New Moon and Eclipse. I read those straight through back to back. I did have some problems w/ certain issues in the book due to the fact that the books are geared for young women aka tweens and teens. Soulmates? Whatever. But, overall, I LOVED this series. I am minorly obsessed with them and it's been a month since I read the books.

So, now I'm still in a slump b/c I can't find books as good as the Twilight series. *sigh*

Who knew I was an outside person?

I exercised today! Wheeeeee, after a week off trying to heal my naughty knee. I knew I wanted to try something easy on the knee and since the harpy "thou shalt not run" doctor mentioned it, I biked. I don't own a bike and couldn't bike outside (which is better for all involved b/c I'm likely to hurt myself if not someone else), so I went to the gym. Okay, so I used to go to the gym a lot quite a few years ago and bike or run. No problem. The last 2-3 years, I cannot exercise at the gym...so boring and I'm lucky if I complete a mile. But I knew I had to do something before I start to gain back the weight that I've worked so hard to lose. I brought my mp3 player w/ my running songs. I picked the bike in front of one of the 3 tv's. I get myself all settled in and start pedaling. After the first couple of minutes I realize, shit!, I'm in front of the tv that's playing ESPN. *groan* I don't know if there's anyone out there who cares less about sports than I do. So, now I'm only listening to music and it's not diverting my boredom. But I'm trying...I swear. My awesome workout on the bike? 20 minutes. Gah, pathetic.

Good news! My knee has felt great today! I hope it's getting better. I don't know how many more days I'll last having to workout in the gym. I need to be outside w/ my feet on the pavement!!

Naughty knee

I just got back from the doc about my knee. Um, yeah, she was no help. I still have no idea what is wrong w/ my knee. I have no idea what to do about it except stop running says the doc. She was really harpy about running being good for your heart but bad for your joints. Okay, that still doesn't asnwer why I have been running for over a year w/ NO pain AT ALL in my knee and it just starts all of a sudden. Stop running. Oh yeah, that's right. Find a different exercise to do. Ooookay, but I want to know what's wrong. It's probably tendonitis and it will go away if you stop running. I don't think it's serious enough for an x-ray or MRI. I just want to know what to do about it. People w/ knee problems strengthen this muscle (:she pats my thigh:). If it continues to hurt for another month or so then maybe you'll need physical therapy. Yeah, I'm going to not run this week, but I'm starting again next week. I'm researching exercises and a couple of friends who have had knee problems are helping, also. I just can't stop running now. It's part of my life. *sigh*

A friend of mine in her 30's was just diagnosed w/ stage 3 breast cancer. Ladies (and men) do your breast exams! Feel yourself up! :) Thanks Carrie for that one. :)