Gotta Get 'Girlie'

Dawn, from Racing Dawn, hit me with a ‘girlie blog award’ (her words, not mine), which calls for a list of my ten favorite things.

Embracing my inner girlieness, I figured I’d give it a shot. Here’s the top ten, in no particular order:

Sunrises while running or fishing – Running and fishing are two activities that I very much enjoy, but my experience shows that it’s challenging and often painful to try and combine the two. Once I’ve chosen between the two, there’s something about starting a run or wetting a line while it’s still dark out, and watching the day begin while doing something I enjoy can carry me through the whole day. Makes me feel like I’ve squeezed a little extra out of the day.

Completing a home-improvement project – I’ve always enjoyed and been fairly adept at woodworking and general home-improvement. As my life has progressed and time to work on these projects has become harder to come by, I’ve found I draw more enjoyment from completing a project than actually doing the work. I don’t necessarily view this shift as a bad thing, but more of a healthy understanding of the reality of my life right now.

Chocolate-covered pretzels – Crazy good. Evil good. Not a huge fan of sweets, but a big fan of salty things, and when these two come together it leaves me powerless. My willpower kryptonite. Rivaled only by Bryer’s mint chocolate chip ice cream.

The color green – I assume this is tied to my general love of the outdoors, landscaping, etc. There was a point in time where almost every item of clothing I owned was some shade of green. Made for some rather unfortunate combinations I’m sure. Thankfully my wife is around to make it appear I have some sense of fashion.

Random acts of kindness – Amazing the power that the smallest act can have if it’s completely unexpected.

Good, sincere customer service – Sadly, a nearly lost art. However, it’s become rare enough that when you get truly good service it stands out like a lighthouse in a storm. There are several companies that I continue to use almost entirely due to positive experiences dealing with their employees. I wish more companies recognized the return they get on simple, positive actions from the folks that work for them.

A cold Guinness on a hot day – I generally don’t drink much these days, especially if I’m in a marathon training cycle, but I’m a sucker for an icy Stout at the end of a hot day. The perfect punctuation for a busy, and hopefully productive day. There are stouts I like better than Guiness, but Guiness is my best bang-for-the-buck option, and is the beer that really turned me on to stouts many years ago.

Cool rain on a hot summer day – Always a winner for me, unless said rain decides to violate the inner working of my iPod leaving the screen a dark, unbacklit field of sadness.

Unsolicited hugs from my family, especially my little girl – Fortunately my daughter is a big-time hugger. She is singlehandedly trying to ensure that the East Coast continues to meet its daily quota of hugs. I used to refer to her as the koala, like those clip on koalas that were everywhere when I was a kid. Whatever happened to those things?

My Garmin (most of the time) – Still, pound-for-pound, the best gift I have ever been given by my wife. For a numbers junkie like me, this is like a wrist-mounted crack pipe. I can’t get enough of checking this thing while I run, after I run, before I run, etc., etc. If loving Lil’ G is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

Don’t forget to enter my $45 CSN Stores Giveaway.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled manliness.

I’m on a horse.