25 Random things boop boop be doop

So in case you live in a cave and don't know what facebook is, I will tell you. It is a social networking website, that I pretty much live for. I get to talk to all my friends, and we update what we are doing, so you really feel like you are still part of eachothers days. Recently there has been a forward going around in which you are supposed to share 25 random things about yourself and send it to your friends. I figured I would share mine, because they are ridiculous, yet all true, and I think I could keep going on and on but I did stop at 25. WARNING: They are almost all about either pee or poop, or both.

1. My first concert was Paula Abdul
2. I was OBSESSED with Debbie Gibson when I was younger. Each birthday and CHristmas my parents asked what I wanted and I would reply " I want to meet Debbie Gibson"
3. I met Debbie Gibson when I was 19, and yelled her name during the broadway show, then staulked her after. She needed a body guard because I was psycho, but I got a good pic with her. My dad sent me a picture of me dressed up as her and she autographed it.
4. I just saw the New Kids on The BLock BY MYSELF in San Diego and had a great time
5. My all time favorite CHristmas present was my LA Gear jacket in 2nd grade, I wear it any chance I can get (e.g. the new kids concert a few months ago, still fits)
6. When I smell parmesan cheese I think of my mother. I loved smelling her hands after she grated cheese.
7. I still pee my pants on a regular basis, sometimes from laughing too hard, sometimes because I can't get my pants off fast enough.
8. I once mooned thousands of people at once during our midnight madness, had a players name on my ass, and was told that next monday morning by my theology teacher (yes he was a priest) that he "saw a side of me that he never thought he would).
9. Speaking of inappropriate things in college. When my name was announced in college for my diploma, I walked up to the president of the school, also a priest, and grabbed his ass, and then squeezed it. My mother was sick and in a wheelchar, and BEGGED me not to do it. She was pissed for a long time, but i'm almost positive that she really thought it was funny.
10. I think its funny when my Nana makes inappropriate/sexual comments.
11. I call my dog "pooperhead" "stupidface" "sucka" "belleface"
12. I am not sure I will ever cook a meal again, Bri is way better at it and likes to do it.
13. I have awful anxiety attacks due to heights, but keep putting myself in those situations anyways.
14. I have fundraised almost $60,000 for The Leukemia Society in the past six years, and think its funny that when I google myself I come up under an "endurance athletes" website, who'dathunk?!
15. I have no shame in the fact that I still watch the Real World.
16. I like to cup my farts and smell them
17. My favorite topic to talk about is BM's
18. The silliest thing I did in high school was sneak onto stage with the show choir and butcher songs that I didn't know and have to jump off the podium and run away so I didn't get caught. 19. I was pretty drunk at my wedding, but it was in Mexico, so whatev!
20. I played basketball in middle school, I only scored 4 points
21. I have about 30 "best friends" and hope to keep making more
22. My favorite show is AMerica's Funniest Videos, nothing makes me laugh harder than a montage of old people falling
23. I win almost every single karaoke contest that I go to, and have even won one for an interpretive dance to total eclipse of the heart.
24. I have had a 20 minute conversation with Richard Simmons
25. I have peed in my back yard to help teach the dog about where we wanted her to go.

So I have my first bike ride with my team, we are doing 20 miles. My coach said we should do about 5% more than we have been. UMMMMMMMMM well that that would be about 2 miles. So we shall see how this goes. I realized I do not have proper biking clothing. So I went to a bike shop and picked up some bike shorts. Damn things feel like wearing a giant full diaper. While at the store I spotted this Betty Boop shirt. The one they had was WAY too small (picture a belly shirt) but I just found it online. Can't wait to sport this shirt in honor of a few ladies (you all know who i'm talking about). I think that with biking shirts, the more flamboyant the better!

Half diva

Hey everybody! I have to thank those of you who have already donated, I have already raised over $800 with plenty to go...(about $4700 more, but we'll get there!)

Today was the Carlsbad Half Marathon. Despite starting early at 7:30 am, it is a beautiful run, and the weather was perfect (cloudy and 60) for running. I started with my friend from work, who was running her first half ever. Of course I had to stop early on to pee, big shocker, so I ran way faster than normal to make up the 7 minutes it took in the line, to catch up with Melissa. I found her eventually and then powered on. The course is right along the ocean and is an out and back. A full marathon was being run at the same time so that was fun to try to pick out those who were running the full as opposed to the half. I was extremely inspired at one point when I spotted a man in a TNT shirt running with pretty severe cerebral palsy. This guy was fast, it took me a while to catch up with him, but I just had to do tell him how great I thought he was. He was not even verbal, but he was out there running. Absolutely amazing.

So I finished somewhere around 2:25, but I never stopped my timer for my porto potty run, so that means I am getting faster! yay! Good news since the next time I race, I will be doing 56 miles of biking before it!

Lots of TNT people out there. I can't wait to meet all my new teammates and coaches. I have my kick off on Tuesday night and start training next weekend! Not much time off but I feel like I am in good shape so who knows. Shall we start taking bets on my first injury?! NAH

Well I am off to do some more sitting on the couch and get ready to take Bri to the airport for his trip to Boston.

Puppy/Jody time! Gotta love it!

Found a great clothing line for female runners at the expo, check out their stuff. its my new fave t-shirt. http://www.runningdivas.com/

cold weather and please give me money!!

I am not going to even sugarcoat it, it has been the most amazing weather this week. Its not only amazing compared to the weather that is being reported from back home (ie snow and frigid cold). Luckily Erin was here visiting during this time and I was so glad that the weather cooperated. We pretty much went to the beach every day and I am now rockin a pretty nice tan. SORRY!

Anyhoo I have already started sending out my fundraising letter since I have to raise quite a bit this year. So here it is!

Since the past few years have involved nothing but life altering decisions (buy a house, get a dog, get married, sell the house, move to San Diego, turn 30) I figured it was only fit to go really big this year and participate in the Vineman Ironman 70.3, as part of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training(TNT). I will be swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56, and running a half marathon in beautiful Sonoma, CA.
This will be my sixth event with the TNT since losing my mom to multiple myeloma six years ago. As I sat at the information session in San Diego, I thought about who I was sitting in that seat 6 years ago as I was about to sign up for my first marathon in San Diego. I wonder what the older, more mature(sometimes) Jody would say to the young 23 yr old Jody. I think she would say this:
“Don’t sweat it, there is nothing that a few cortisone shots won’t fix!”
“You aren’t going to believe this but you are going to run the Boston Marathon 3 times after this.”
“Get comfortable being uncomfortable.”
“Oh did I mention you are going to do a triathlon too?”
“You will inspire other people to do this.”
“You actually win and learn to ride a motorcycle.”
“You will learn to love running, okay you will learn to tolerate running.”
“You are going to raise over 60K in just 6 years.”
“You are going to see people survive and thrive with the same disease that took your mothers life.”
I cannot thank all of you for your support I would not be able to fundraise or train for these endurance events without your help. Because of you, people have the chance to live, to see their kids grow up, to see them get married, to see their kids have kids. While it is the big things in life that make it difficult to be without the people you love, it’s the little things that you need to appreciate in the here and now.
I am going to continue my fight so that more people can celebrate the everyday occurrences that happen with family and friends. Help me to raise a whole bunch of money for this wonderful cause!
Be well in 09!
You can check my updates on my blog:
http://www.jodsandbri.blogspot.com/

You can donate online at:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/sd/VineHIrn09/jmerrill

Why Not?

Okay so I just made it back from the Team in Training info session, I think that after 6 years I could probably run the info session but whatev. Its always fun to see the newbies and remember how I felt six years ago as I sat there. Its amazing that each time I well up and cry like I don't know whats coming. It is amazing to think that in only 6 years I will have completed 6 endurance events and raised over 60K. I have certainly come a long way since 2002 when I sat there thinking it were impossible for me to complete a maratho, but now I have possibly LOST MY MARBLES!!!

Yes people, I did it. I signed up for the Vineman Half IRONMAN. I guess they call it IRONMAN 70.3 because thats how many combined miles you do that day. Anyways I went to the info session thinking I was probably going to do another marathon. But I went with an open mind and wanted to speak to the triathlon coach before I made my decision.

Here were the pros of the triathlon:

Unbelieveable training conditions

A beautiful bike that I bought two years ago and need to get my moneys worth

Not many open water swims (less likely to get eaten by a great white...husband and father are nervous about that)

Nothing better than peeing in a wet suit

A great way to see all of San Diego county

No two a days! (I thought I was going to have to wake up and work out and then work out at the end of the day, and I have to be to work at 730 so that just seemed impossible)

Taking part in an event that it is okay to pee yourself while riding a bike

The coach promised he would ride the bike with me so that I don't get lost during 50 mile bike rides.

A trip to WINE COUNTRY

If I get low on sugar during the race, I can just jump into a vineyard and steal some grapes

Saying that I am an Iron Woman (well half of one anyways)

I am so looking forward to being part of the TEAM once again. I have truly missed it this year and miss that camaraderie.

So look forward to my many emails and letters begging for money because I have to earn my highest amount yet!

Coincidence? I think not

So this week was my first week back to work and it went off without a hitch. My ear is still nagging me, and is pretty painful at night so I decided to call the Dr that sent me to 4 wrong specialists and led to my eight week delay of a cast on my wrist, to see what was going on. I called in the morning and was told "all we have today is 2:45 and 12." So I booked the earlier one thinking the earlier the better. So I leave work and get there and the receptionist says " you are early, your appointment is 12:45" I tell her she is crazy, then she says "oh wait you are really early, your appointment is tomorrow." At this point I am furious and want to leap over the partition and strangle her. I very calmly said "listen I had to leave work early to get here, I was told 12 today, is there anyway someone can look in my ear, it will take one second." She told me to wait and then said "sorry you have to come back tomorrow" At this point I got up and said "I am not coming back tomorrow or EVER! You people suck and the only two experiences I have had here have been miserable. YOu can go ahead and cancel my appointment."

Sooooooooooo I was up shits creek without a paddle, and was told by my wonderful Boston Dr. to suck it up and call the other dr back because I just need someone to look in the ear. So that is what I did, I made the appt, AGAIN, and pretended like I was totally normal and sane. On the bright side, this pushed me to get a new dr, and I feel way better about her. The only thing is I can't see her until February.

Still not sure about the ear, I could not even tolerate the otoscope in my ear. Then the dr blew air into it and I nearly fell off the table in pain. In the same sentence he said "its totally fine" and then says "very inflamed" so I was a bit confused. THen he told me that I should put baby oil in it. This guy must be a frigin whackjob. My boston doc said this could take a while to fully heal so I should just give it some time.

I completed a 12 mile run today. Felt pretty good until a police officer blocked my path so that cruise ship people could get off, and this happened for a good 10 minutes. So I cramped up pretty bad, but other than that a great run on the bay in the sun.

I ran past many TNT runners and yelled a good ole "GO TEAM" as they ran by. I can't wait to start fundrasing and training again with the Leukemia Society, its just a totally different experience than trianing with real runners. I am still undecided on which event I will sign up for.
I am leaning towards the Rock n Roll Marathon here in San Diego. It would require no travel and no time off from work, so that means more days to get back east over the summer. I am also way ahead of the game in regards to running.
My other option is the Half Ironman in Sonoma. I have always wanted to do it and the weather here is probably the best I will ever live in. Great training conditions. Just have to see what kind of training schedule it is. The last TRI I did was all swimming training, and I felt totally unprepared for the biking and running. This race is in a river, and then bikes all through the vineyards. So basically I would probably make it to one winery after and be down for the count after two glasses......hmmn I fell like I just made my decision! Will fill you all in when I attend the meeting on Monday.

Oh and yes my wonderful husband flew to Vegas for the CES convention last night, and played in a poker tournament. Come to find out it is also the Porn Star awards show......hmmmmn and this is where the title of this post comes into play.

Did I mention that I got sunburnt today while running? Going to be 80 degrees here tomorrow so expect pics from the beach.

Oh and I also got news that I got tickets to the Ellen Degeneres show. I will be going February 5th, and it will either air that Friday or Monday. Tune in!!! I will do my best to dance like a total ass and make it on TV.

WE ARE...NOT BETTER THAN USC

New Year's Eve was rather uneventful since we were waking up around 3am to drive to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. We made it there in record time and hot footed it to the rose parade. It was pretty impressive to see the floats in person but after about four of them I was good to go and get to some good ole tailgating. We were parked in a lot right by the entrance. The USC fans were rather friendly and we quickly made friends with the college kids next to us. We had a few laughs with them, and realized that it was not too long ago that we were those kids. You know, the ones who were loaded still from the night before, and then wasted and puking by 10am. I mean who didn't do that in college. We all know the outcome of the game for Penn State, but it was just fun to be there and see the sights and people, oh and sit in about 80 degree weather all day. Happy New Year to all!!