A Little Navel Gazing: Liz's Nickname Story

It was recently brought up on somebody's facebook wall that I need a nickname and would I, perhaps, mind being called "Lizard"? Well, considering that I never intend to think of myself as a slow, scaly creature with a flicky tongue, I would prefer not to be referred to as such. So, for the benefit of Newt and anyone else who wants to know, I will here relate my nickname story.

I have been called many things throughout my life. Mostly, I have been called Elisabeth. I had a very short period in third grade where I wanted to called "Lisa", and another one between fifth and sixth grade where I wanted to be called "Libby." (I hate that name now!) And when I was sixteen and I worked at Wendy's, one of the managers christened me "Pokey" because I was so freaking slow. (I'm waaayyyy to ADD for fast food work!) To make this summary much shorter, I will just provide a list of stuff I like to be called and stuff I don't like to be called below.

Stuff I Have Been Called That I Like

1. Liz
2. Elisabeth
3. Beautiful Girl (Unfortunately, the person who called me this was female and very weird!)
4. Lizziebelle
5. Sweet Pea
6. Punkin'
7. Honey
8. Sweetheart
9. Miss Liz

Stuff I Have Been Called That I Don't Like

1. Lizabitch
2. Hey, You!
3. Zabeth
4. Pokey
5. Libby
6. Lizard
7. Stephen
8. Libby Lou and Tigger, Too!
9. Daughter of Chuck

Actually, no one ever called me Stephen but I wouldn't like it if they had!

So, now let me explain what people usually call me nowadays and who has the right to call me what:

The vast majority of people, including co-workers, acquaintances, my parents' friends, people who haven't seen me in a while, etc., know me as "Elisabeth." Why? Because this is what I have gone by since the sixth grade. It was at that point that I decided that my parents wouldn't have given me a perfectly good name if they didn't intend for me to use it.

So, for you who are visual learners, here is part of a graph showing how many people in my life call me "Elisabeth."

I call this area the "Elisabeth Zone." It is clearly the biggest since the majority of people I know dwell in this zone.

Then there is a smaller group of people including friends, running mates, close co-workers, and those who have seen me naked. These folks call me "Liz." This reality is depicted below. I call it the "Liz Area."

This section of the graph is smaller because there are fewer people who dwell in this area. But, for those who read this blog, fear not. By virtue of the fact that you guys run with me, you automatically qualify as my "peeps." "Peeps" clearly dwell in the Liz Area, so "Liz" is the proper nickname to use if we are running buddies.

Now we come to the smallest, and most exclusive group. I call this group the "Lizziebelle Society" because they are so few that they hardly count. The "Lizziebelle Society" consists mostly of my parents, my aunts and uncles, and my grandparents. Lizziebelle was what my family called me when I was little, and only those who have known me since then are really even aware of it.

Beware: If you wish to call me "Lizziebelle" atleast one of the two following things must be true about you

a) You have known me since I was a baby and you're older than I am,
b) You love me. I mean really love me, like Tristan loved Isolde, like meat loves salt, like I love buttercream frosting, or like Monica loves her laptop. We're talking serious love here, and I have to feel the same way about you. If b) isn't absolutely true, then you're better off staying in the Liz area where you belong. :)

So, to put it all together here's what we have:

BUT, if you are wanting to create a new nickname for me that has not been tried before, following are a few suggestions. (Please don't let Scott spearhead any of these. That would just irritate me.)

Stuff I Might Like

1. I can't think of anything. Damn!

But I'm always open to suggestions.

Thanks for listening!
Liz

Prison Break Tempo Run

Hello, All!

After realizing that no one besides us was going to show up, Monica, Scott, and I decided to do our training runs at the Prison Break Half-Marathon, 10K, and 5K site yesterday. I had a 3-mile tempo run to do and was pretty nervous about it, since I had never really done a tempo run. I was so nervous, in fact, that I seriously avoided even starting for an hour after the race started. When I finally did start, Scott was long gone for his 8-mile tempo, and Mike and Kevin were off somewhere giving the impression that they were actually doing a workout that day. After a brief pep talk from Dave (who was at work watching music videos and drinking coffee), I got myself off my lazy butt and did a one-mile warmup. After my warm up, I stretched briefly, then started for the three-mile tempo. I used the pre-set race mile markers.

The first mile went rather well, and I felt okay. I ran the first mile in about 8:15. I started getting tired at that point, though, and did the second mile a bit slower (in spite of my attempts to keep up speed) and I made it in about 8:30. The last mile I guesstimate would have been about 8:40 or 8:45, but I really don't know, since I actually stopped at the wrong mile marker! Because the three races shared parts of the course, the Prison Break people had staggered the mile markers, and I stopped at the wrong one, which was, maybe 1/4 of a mile before the correct mile marker. Oh well.

After the tempo, I jogged back to the starting line, gave Dave an "Okay! I did it!" call, and welcomed Maricella and her crowd of admirers as they ran across the finish line. It was so cute! Kevin, Scott, AND Monica all went to find her and run her in. It looked like a celebrity with her entourage and body guards were crossing the finish line. Maricella did awesome, with a time of about 2:10! (Great Job!)

I then spent the rest of the day vegging at home, spending way too much time on facebook, and being bored. This was true at least until I went upstairs to watch episodes of "Forensic Files", all of which told true stories of women living alone getting sexually molested and murdered. Needless to say, I was nervous when I finally went to bed, but I slept well anyway.

The End of the Weekend: My Honest Idiocy

This is written on Friday, as I'm sitting at my friends', Petra and Hubert's, house waiting for Hubert's birthday party to start. I arrived early because their children are my favorite humans under 6 and I wanted to say, "Good Night" to them before they went to sleep. Before I begin the story, I will include a couple of pictures I took of their baby, Helena, with my cell phone as she was trying to climb me.




Now, I'm playing on the internet trying to stay out of my hosts' hair until the party starts.

SO! The fun started last Sunday at 5:26, Portland Time. I was sitting in the airport -- past the security checkpoint -- with Monica, Scott, and Mike. We were shooting the breeze and I was cool as a cucumber. I had a whole hour until my flight left. (I had judged this from the time I would be arriving in Boise, 7:30. If I arrive at 7:30, and its a one-hour flight, then my flight should leave at 6:3o, right? Wrong. I forgot all about Pacific Time.) At 5:26, for fun, I decided to look at my plane ticket just to verify that I was, indeed, scheduled to fly out at 6:30. I was wrong. Indeed, the plane was schedule to fly out at 5:30. Grabbing my stuff and not really saying good bye, I got up and sprinted to my gate. (I think I PRd on that run!) When I got there, the plane hadn't left, but it was about to, and they didn't end up letting me on. My only alternative was to a) take Mike and Monica's flight with them an hour later, or b) hang out in Portland one more night and take the first flight out at 6 am the next day.

I tried first for option A, but quickly discovered that it was a no go, since Mike and Monica's flight was overbooked by 5 people. So, I called my cousin, Pat, who, thank goodness, lives in Portland, and asked if I could crash at his place for evening. He quickly said "Yes" but added that he wouldn't get off work until 10 pm, and that I would have to wait at the airport until then.

I saw Mike, Monica, and Scott off on their overbooked flight, and then set out to find a crossword puzzle book. The book wasn't hard to find, but a pencil was! The store at the airport wanted nearly as much for the pencil as they had wanted for the book! As a result, I searched until I found a store that would cell me a pencil for 35 cents, sat down, and waited for my cousin. After a little while, my cousin arrived in his little blue sports car with the white tire tracks painted all up and down it. Just about that time, I received a text message from Dave, announcing that Monica and Scott had just thrown up in his car.

To be continued

Portland Marathon: A Slacker's Perspective

Saturday Afternoon:

I'm sitting here in the hotel room all by my lonesome right now. Mike and Scott are out looking at tug boats or revisiting the edible panties they saw in the Victoria's Secret window today or taking pictures of one of the oldest strip clubs in Oregon. I don't remember which they said they were going to do. Monica is at her coach class.

I had an enlightening morning taking the Max to Ikea, where I proceeded to discover that Ikea is great if you enjoy one-stop shopping and/or if you already have all your major pieces of furniture, but not so much for folks like me who are still searching to find traditional pieces at a reasonable price (and who will doggedly search high and low for as long as it takes to find exactly what I want at a price I can afford), although there were some bed linens I really loved.

I then went and picked up my luggage from the airport. On the way back, my aunt called with my cousin's number and I gave him a call. Pat lives in Portland and seems enthusiastic about getting together today. I also have to fit a run in. We'll see what happens. Right now, I'm waiting for him to return my call and let me know what he has in mind.

Note to the ladies-- the YOUNG ladies -- Pat is the cousin I refer to as my hot cousin. I'm just proud to share 1/16 of my gene pool with him (is the ratio right?). I'll post a picture to prove it to you as soon as I have one.

Pat just called and we're going to hang out. Hopefully, walking around will be able to be my run today, because I think it's going to get dark soon.

Saturday Night: Not much to report. The boys are out getting Quiznos for dinner. Monica and I are ready to watch a movie and turn in for the night. Ciao!





Written on Saturday morning: Last night was uneventful, except that the airport left my luggage in Boise, I found out I had to share a bed with Scott, and we had a rude waitress at the Italian restaurant where we ate. I'm tired today, without clean clothing, congested, and wishing I could change my clothes. Here are some notable quotes from the weekend so far:

Scenario One: Team Apex decides to give Dave a friendly call at 9:40 pm on the first night he's seen his girlfriend in, like, two months.

Dave: (unimpressed) Anything else you want to tell me?

Liz: (To the room)Anything else I'm supposed to tell Dave?

Scott: Yeah! Tell him you got some nookie!

Liz : (to Dave) Yeah. I ate some Italian pasta called "gnocchi" for dinner and Scott can't pronounce it so he calls it "nookie". So I'm supposed to tell you that I got some nookie.

Dave: Uh . . .Thanks. Well, we're gonna crash because we've got to get up early.

Liz:Okay. And don't worry. We won't call you again until tomorrow night at this time!


Scenario 2: Everyone is ready to go to sleep Friday night.


Liz: Hey, Scott. Could you close the second curtain? There's too much light coming through the first and I need dark to sleep.

Scott: Geez, Liz! How much dark do you need? There's hardly any light coming through that window!

Mike: Scotty, this is a lesson you need to learn. Close the curtain. It's a small price to pay to make her shut up!

Liz's Note: Excellent advice, I think!

Scenario: Saturday morning right after everyone gets up.

Mike: We're all awake and the TV's not on? This is just wrong. (Turns the TV on) (Happily) Oh, Shit! Mr. Rogers! (Proceeds to watch Mr. Rogers teach his neighbors to bowl)

More Serious Stuff:

Well, eating-wise yesterday was no prize. That gnocchi for dinner probably took care of the nutrition goals for the day.

A. Eat light!
B. Four liters of water

Liz

Wednesday

Well, it was bad news when I went in for weigh-in today. . .according to the official Apex scale, I have gained two pounds. SO, as an extra motivator, I am going to start logging my progress on this goal here for the whole world to see.

The rest of the day went quite well! I made dinner for my folks -- marinated steak stir fry and couscous -- and I did the 30 easy minutes I was supposed to run. It's all been recorded, been drinking water. Pretty soon I'll have my clean laundry ready and then I'll be sleepy and satisfied!

I found a song this week that accurately describes the sort of "finding my place" search I'm doing right now. For those of you who have already been inundated with mention of this song, please feel free to ignore the following. For those you who are interested, go ahead and push play and you'll see what I mean.



Quote (teachers know this better than anyone!):

"A child's face can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face."

Jack Handey