The Pooks

Here is another tag-you're-it post. Everything you ever wanted to know and more!

What is his name? Mr. G

How long have you been married? Eternity

How long did you date? A year and change

How old is he? 30-something

Who eats more? I could win an eating contest, but for everyday eating habits then Mr. G wins.

Who kissed who first? I think it was mutual. He probably started it.

Who said "I Love You" first? I did.

Who is smarter? Generally he is, but ask him anything about the Advisers Act and I take the cake.

Who is taller? Mr. G by a foot. Don't believe me? Let me point you to the picture at the top of the blog.

Who sings better? Me, for sure.

Whose temper is worse? Mine. Push my buttons and I get all fired up. He stays pretty even keel in most situations.

Who is more sensitive? Me. I can get misty eyed watching Oprah's Favorite Things.

Who does the laundry? Mostly Mr. G, but don't be fooled. I get to "rotate the laundry" my fair share.

Who does the dishes? Me, 99% of the time. I have to be having a particularly bad day for Mr. G to load the dishwasher. Dishes that require hand washing = 100% me.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're laying on the bed it's me, but all too often Mr. G crosses the half-way mark and is on the right side and I'm on the edge of the right side and the floor.

Who pays the bills? Mr. G.

Who cooks dinner? I am head chef most of the time. I can occassionally get him to open a can of beans or grate the cheese.

Who drives when you are together? I drive to the gym. That's about it.

Who is more stubborn? Oooh, tough one. We're both pretty stubborn. It's my Dutch blood. I don't know where he gets it.

Who's parents do you see the most? Mine.

Who proposed? He did.

Who has more friends? Probably me, but he keeps in touch with his better than I do.

Who wears the pants in the family? We share the pants.

Original Art

Noelle sent me a series of pictures from her creative art collection - originals I'll have you know (she knows what her Auntie likes). Noelle loves to draw. Rach says she can sit her at the table with a pen and pad of paper and she will create little masterpieces for hours on end. I feel fortunate to have a collection from such an artist (read ar-tee-st).

Week 5: Countdown to April 19, 2008

I ran 7 miles today! I'm more than half way to my goal now! Woo hoo! This is the furthest I have ever run in my life and I feel like I could do it again tomorrow. I didn't even have a tender moment on my foot today. At mile 2 I was attacked by a vicious side ache, but I kicked it pretty quickly. Read here for some good advice on kicking a side ache while running.

We've Been Simpsonized!

Here's what we would look like as Simpsons characters. Don't we make a nice couple? D'oh!

Diggin' Out

We took Mom and Randy to Idaho for the long weekend. We knew there was going to be snow, and a lot of it. I had no idea how much until we got there. Easily four feet already on the ground and another 18 inches over the weekend. Everyone we talked to said this is a stellar snow year. Most winters in the last several years haven't received this much snow all year - it's only January!

Couldn't get to the porch...Here's Mr. G plowing a path to the well (other than to relax, the purpose of the trip was to meet the well guy who had to fix some pressure valve because the neighbors, who share the well with us, were getting some crazy knocking noises in their pipes everytime we turned on our water. The neighbors, who said they would be there, didn't bother to show up).The snow on the back deck. Mom and I made ourselves useful and shoveled the deck.Ahh, isn't that nice? We did fine work. The rest of this is hard, crusty ice snow. I'm done shoveling.Mom and Randy strapped on some cross-country skis and took a tour around the island. They were gone forever. Mr. G and I were close to sending a search party in fear they somehow were lost (impossible to do on the island) or even worse, had both had heart attacks somewhere down the road.Me playing in the snow in front of the house. Oh look, here comes Mr. G...POOOOFFFF!! (see that little blue speck near Mr G's head? That's me)I've been totally white washed. Ohhhh, that's cold!There is so much snow down my coat. Did I mention its cold? I'm glad Mr. G was having a good time.Off goes Mr. Funny Guy while I sit wondering what just hit me.

Week 4: Countdown to April 19, 2008

No need to wonder where week 3 went. I skipped right to week 4 and ran my 10K. I felt great during the whole run, well, until I was finished and while stretching my heel started to hurt. It felt almost like it was bruised. It remained pretty tender the rest of the day, but appeared to heal itself alright. Maybe its time for new shoes. What do you think about these? They're supposed to be the shizz.

Will Work for Airline Ticket

This past weekend I made a quick trip to visit my sissy in her new location. Since I'm sure you all know how much fun it is to unpack, she pleaded for me to come and help her get organized. So Thursday I bought a ticket and Friday flew out for the weekend (luckily the flight is only 1 1/2 hours now instead of 5!).

The best part of the whole trip was Saturday morning when I woke up and saw Noelle chillin' across the living room. "Psstt" I said to catch her attention. Noelle, in her footsie pjs and fuzzy bedhead looked over at me with a "what the heck are you doing here" look. After a moment of me waving to her and she processing who I was, I said, "HI NOELLE! Can Auntie have a hug?" With arms wide open and the biggest smile, she ran across the room and jumped into my arms, wrapping her little arms around my neck, and with a little "grrr" gave me the biggest bear hug. Made unpacking Rachel's hud totally worth it.

Was Chopin Crazy or am I?

After several recitals full of fun, fast and often angry sounding pieces, I've had some requests to play something lovely and pleasing to the ear. So, with my upcoming recital, I have chosen Frederic Chopin's Berceuse, Op. 57 in D flat major (it was a toss up between Chopin or Liszt's Un Sospiro, which I also love - look for it next year). I think the Berceuse is beautiful and will probably put my audience right to sleep (well, it is a lullaby afterall...). I'll tell you what though, I am really struggling to memorize it. I'm sure any pianist out there can look at this piece and break it down and say, "what is wrong with you girl, it is so repetitive!" Yeah, I keep thinking the same thing. The left hand plays basically the same accompaniment the entire piece and the right hand plays a million variations of the same melody. Well, either I'm not dedicating enough time to the cause or my brain is missing some connections because I just can't get it together. Maybe its because I listened to this 8 year old child prodigy and suddenly I'm intimidated. This is for you, HJ!

Week 2: Countdown to April 19, 2008

Saturday's are designated as our long run training days for our 1/2 marathon training. Today: 5 miles. Great success! I didn't need to be rescued by the 'emergency stop button,' or need to call 911 for oxygen. Actually, the challenge for today's run was not the distance, nor the fact that we were faced with a snow storm forcing us to run on treadmills (any runner will tell you - running outside is so much better, so much more interesting and challenging then running on a treadmill). The real challenge was the 80 degree temperature in the fitness center. 80 degrees on a summer day is fantastic, darn near perfect, but anyone who has stepped into a fitness center warmed to 80 degrees would rather run outside in an inversion. It's rough.

HAPPY NEW YEAR ROCK STAR!

We rang in the new year by inviting ourselves to Dan and Ez's, where we partied like it was 1999 with the usual suspects as well as Ez's brother Kevin and several of his buddies. The highlight of the evening (with the exception of the New Year's kiss I got from my old acquaintance when the ball dropped - Mr.G + Mrs. G forever!) was the Rock Band game Dan picked up for Christmas. We formed several bands and really went crazy. Rock and Roll! Ben and Mr. G where our stellar bass and guitarists. As you can see, it took serious concentration to hit all those notes. Occasionally we'd get a swing of the guitar, but still with little expression.

Mr. G had no idea how much he loved push button guitar! Rock star addiction!

I tried my hand at the bass. I must admit, it took getting through a couple of songs to avoid being booed off the stage and losing thousands of fans.

Dan went expert guitarist on Metallica's Enter Sandman, with Mr. G on lead vocals.Here is my true talent - the drums. It's harder than it looks, but I am a natural - 25 years at the piano gives a girl a pretty good sense of beat and coordination (you can't see it here, but my foot is working a petal the same time I'm pounding away). I have to concentrate really hard to get all the notes. All function, no form!