Complaint-free February went out the window yesterday. I’m slightly ashamed. But only slightly, because I intend on redeeming myself today.

First of all, I was hoping to get back on track this week with my marathon training. I did all the exercises that I should, but my running mileage was a little lower than scheduled because I didn’t want to exasperate my foot. I planned a 9 miler for yesterday and realized that it would have to be done on the treadmill because there is no room on the roads for me, cars, and excessive dirty snow. To make the best of a stinky situation, I invited Dave to the gym with me, but it didn’t make it better. First of all, we went out to my car only to discover that the battery was dead. Big deal, right? We hopped in Dave’s Jeep. So at the gym, I became FURIOUS at the weather (and my car) as I plowed away on the treadmill, and at 4.5 miles, I said “screw it” and decided to brave the roads anyway.

We went back to our apartment and Dave prepared to jump the car while I changed. While I was changing I heard what I figured was Dave blowing the horn. This didn’t help my mood and I thought, “If he wants me to come out to help, he’s just going to have to wait.” Well, the horn kept beeping while I bundled up and when I stepped outside, there was Dave standing with the cables in hand and the most baffled look on his face. Everytime he touched the jumper to the Civic’s Engine, the car alarm started to go off. Seeing that the only thing I can do to a car is kill its battery, he sent me one my way. About 30 seconds later, as I was trudging through the knee-deep snow to the loop that I run, I WIPED OUT (in fact, my knee is a little tender from it today). I realized that to try to make it down the hill in those conditions was foolishness and, with my tail between my legs, I went back to car only to find Dave still with the cables in his hand and the same baffled look on his face. FIghting back tears at this point, we decided just to jump the car as normal…I was happy to find that the car didn’t explode when I turned the key, but not so thrilled that the car alarm WOULD NOT STOP. Dave felt bad for the other tenants in our apartment complex, so he took the car for a little ride while I went to do some foam rolling. When I got inside, the overwhelming feeling of defeat came over me and I started to cry… and then I realized that Dave was out driving our “girly” (it’s a pretty shade of blue) car throughout the Pittsburgh suburbs with the car alarm BLARING. HOW FUNNY IS THAT?! The day went up hill from there…once the alarm stopped, that is.

Dave surprised me with a trip to a Vegetarian/Vegan restaurant, The Quiet Storm, for a Valentine’s day treat. I had a quesadilla that was stuffed with some of my favorite foods: black beans, sweet potatoes, pineapple, and cheddar cheese. Oh my.Can you imagine a better combination?! I can’t! I ate half for lunch and half for dinner!!

We went out to lunch because I heaven forbid I am unable to watch my Valentine Apolo Ohno dominate the Olympic Short Track competition. Dave went to return a video and came back with soy lattes and a card for me.

The envelope read: “If you’re not taken by Apolo Ohno will you be mine?”. Hold on, honey. I’ll have to wait until after the men’s 1500m finals to ask him if I’m free. Looks like I am. Turns out Mr. Ohno isn’t into women who care nothing about their appearance OR who misuse Google’s Video chat by making really strange faces to her unsuspecting friends. Lucky Dave is stuck with this:

Oh, marriage, what have you done with my pride?!

Fact #5- Despite my laid-back, “just wanna have fun” attitude, I am a very competitive person. I owe this quality to being raised with boys. My entire childhood was littered with these phrases:
“I dare you.”
“I bet you can’t.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Race ya!”
“Time me.”
“Me first.”
A girl can’t be raised in that kind of environment and not be affected in some way. I swear my parents encouraged this among us because it preoccupied our free time. My dad would even use it to his advantage–for example, if he wanted one of us to get something for him and we didn’t want to, he would say, “I’ll time you”, and we’d be off before he could even say “GO!” I really don’t think he actually timed us, but it didn’t keep me from getting my butt in gear to do him that favor. Probably because I figured out his scheme much later in life. At the time I was just interested in seeing how fast I really was, especially if it meant I was faster than one of my brothers.
Unfortunately for me, my husband is also extremely competitive. This explains why we own only 2 games…and never play them. Dave might have had a deck of cards thrown at his face before….
That competitive spirit could definitely win me some medals in the Olympics if only I had some talent to pair with it.

If you could compete in one sport in the Winter Olympics, what would it be? Or, if you’re not as neurotic competitive as me, what is your favorite Winter Olympic sport to watch? I’m going to have to say SHORT TRACK for both questions!