Mark Twain Was Brought Back From The Dead By...

LEGOs?!

It seems to be the case. After receiving a phone at my office about another matter, I was also informed about this new addition to our lobby. Not really believing my ears I decided to see for myself if it were true or if someone was pulling my leg.

Really? Wouldn't you do the same if you were told "hey, the life-size LEGO statue of Mark Twain is in our lobby" ? I sure as hell beat feet over, and lo and behold, there he be...



When I saw "him" I was more stunned by his size, or lack thereof. I had to ask my boss how tall he had been in real life to determine if this was really 'life-size." Apparently, he was a short man in his life, and since the statue was just a tad taller than myself, I have to believe it truly is "life-size."


It is pretty cool to see this in person. The details with the LEGOs are intense (as you can see from above), but I must warn you. If you get close to "him" be warned that he is uber sharp! The LEGO edges don't give much and you can end up scraping your entire arm if you aren't careful.

PS...no, you can't pull "him" apart (though I did witness someone trying). The pieces are all glued together to ensure that it doesn't happened.

Can you imagine though? You walk in some morning to check on the sculpture only to find it in pieces (or maybe chunks....like his head somewhere, and his limbs scattered through the lobby). I would not want to be in charge of 'humpty dumpty' at that point.

Good luck putting "him" back together again...

Meet Me In Mystic

Today was a fun-filled adventure at Mystic Aquarium with my friend from work. If you have never been and you are in the area, you need to go. While it was a bit cold outside and overcast, it was a great day to visit. Not very crowded, which made for easy viewing the animals.

We saw sea lions and stingrays and sharks...oh my!

Actually, I think the stingrays were my favorite. I had a great time at the ray tank where you could pet them. It wasn't the first time I had actually touched one (I got the first opportunity on my honeymoon when we visited Sea World) and it was just as cool today; cooler if you asked me because the rays kept coming up to me. There were two little girls who were getting upset about not being able to touch one because they were coming to me. Once I got a couple to come to me, I pulled the girls over to pet the stingrays. They loved it!


Below are some of the videos (I took a lot) from the day that I thought were the funniest or the weirdest due to the conversations about what was being filmed. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!



This is a video that I took just for the sounds. The penguins were mating (there were about three couples going at it when we were standing there) but the sounds were unbelievable. I never knew penguins could sound like that...and the conversation we had was funny too!



I liked that these fish were swimming in this cylinder and I enjoyed the conversation about their names...



This last video was great because of the ending!

I LOVE aquariums. They are awesome!!!!

Time To Meet Some Neighbors...The Unconventional Way

I was trying to relax at home tonight. I popped open a beer, turned on the TV to watch No Reservations and made my dinner. It was going so well. Then it happened...

Usually in our apartment complex, when another apartments smoke detector goes off, you can hear it but just barely...when the building's fire alarms go off, you can't miss them!

I had just finished my dinner and had rinsed off the plate and headed back to the couch to finish my beer and enjoy the remainder of the movie when...

WHOOP
WHOOP
WHOOP

WHOOP
WHOOP
WHOOP

Trust me when I say it wasn't Arsenio Hall that was "whooping" outside my door.

I headed into my room to grab my phones and keys before heading out to see what was happening. Through the curtains in my room I could see the flashing lights and thought "ruh-roh!"

I headed outside to see that I was the first one out of my building, but that the building attached to mine was being evacuated by firemen. These same men headed over to our building to start evacuating us as well. Two of my neighbors who live above us chatted with me about what we thought was going on. The two boys asked if it was real and how this was inconveniently happening during American Idol.

Great.

Anyway, I called my roommate (who wasn't home yet) and explained how she was missing the 'fun' and she happened to be on her way home. Once she arrived, I had discovered that it was an alarm about a natural gas leak so we hung out in the cold as we waiting for news of what would happen next.

After a grand total of about 15 minutes outside for me, the sirens were shut off and we were allowed back inside with the words 'false alarm' ringing in our ears like those alarms.

So, now I'm warm again and heading to bed...while visions of fire engines dance in my head!

Run [Insert Name] Run!

Well, it was back to the grind today.

I was up at 5:30am, to be on the road by 6am, to be at the gym and on the treadmill by 6:30am. Good thing I'm a morning person.

Other than the fire alarm being activated about 5 minutes into my run, the gym experience was a good one today.

I did a thirty minute run (would have been forty, but since I spent ten minutes outside in the cold during the evacuation, I cut it short). The run itself was a little painful for me to get back into the swing of things. Unlike the race last week, the first mile and a half was good, but the last mile and a half were a struggle for me. I started to lose my pace and it hindered me a bit. Luckily I got it under control for about the last half mile. Not great, but not awful; 3 miles in 30 minutes flat.

I then proceeded to the rowing machine (something I haven't done since high school) and proceeded to work out there, followed by a ton of crunches. I'm sure my body will have some unkind words for me in the morning when I wake up and do it all over again....

An interesting side effect of today's workout was a very chipper attitude from me and an extra pep in my step. Now, I consider myself a fairly rambunctious person, but since I got my injury a month ago and had to stop running, I felt myself draining from work load and lack of energy. But damn, if that energy wasn't back in full force today! I was bouncing around, laughing more than I felt I had, just in good spirits. I even decided that I would have a more positive outlook at work. Pretty impressive for one work out session.

However, I'm currently dreading my alarm tomorrow morning...so much for being that morning person, right? Until then...

Race #1

Technically, my first race was cancelled last month and today should have been the second race. However, due to the cancellation, today I participated in my first race of 2010.

Today's race was a 5k (3.1 miles) through downtown and it was being held after a month of not running. Due to my ankle injury, I had not been running in hopes of having it heal as much as it could before I was to race.

Luckily for me, I healed enough to run the race and at the end, my ankle was actually holding up really well. It was twinging a little during that last mile, but nothing I couldn't handle.

The first mile was rough. I could feel my body revolting on me, basically saying 'hey, you haven't done this in a while....what the hell are you thinking?!" I could see my boss ahead of me and he just kept getting further away. I didn't want to push myself for fear of agitating my injured ankle. I held it together as best I could (trying to not get sick) up to the 1.5 mile mark (and basically the half way point).

I picked up some water and basically it gave me the energy to finish the race. By mile 3, I was back at my stride and feeling good; good enough to sprint to the finish at the last hundred yards or so.

My final time: 33:16. Not bad for a month off! To celebrate, my boss and I savored some free beer and corned beef on bagels (hey, it was a St. Patty's Day race after all!)

Next goal: get back in the gym and try and prep for the 1/4 marathon in 3 weeks!

Cross your fingers for no more injuries!!! (And I'll post the finish photo when I can!)

And the winner is...Don't I know you?

Ok...so this blog entry is about two things: award show changes and doppelgangers.

I had a rare experience tonight at dinner with my roommate. We had just gotten our drinks and a waiter (not the one currently serving us) came up to me and said "I know you from somewhere, don't I?"

Uh, no. I had never seen him before. He insisted that he did but I politely said that I had never met him. He seemed a little taken aback and disgruntled, but he walked away.

We were then working on our salads when another guy walks by our table and looked over, saw me and waved, saying "hello." I looked at him like he was crazy. Then he looked closer at me and apologized saying "oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else."

Who is my doppelganger and where was she tonight when I was getting the attention?


Ok, topic number 2:

I am currently watching the Oscars aka the Academy Awards. We tuned in late, due to our dinner out, but we came in at the Best Supporting Actress award. When Robin Williams came out and announced the nominees nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then he said "and the winner is." I had been waiting for "and the Oscar goes to." But no, they had to change the phrase.

So I continue to watch, thinking that maybe Robin Williams made a mistake, but the next presenter said it. And then the next. And the next.

I can't understand why and I really don't have much beyond that to say.

It's just plain weird. Why change something like that?!

How Many Men Does It Take To Change A Flat Tire?

Answer...about 9 apparently.

This morning started off slow and steady. I woke up and brought my computer over to my bed to read some news and other info for a while. Time passed by and I realized that I needed to get ready for my day! I was driving my roommate over to meet her parents for breakfast and then we would be separating while she did her taxes and I went to work.

I was running late (something that doesn't often happen) and so I sped through a shower and quick blow-dry, got changed and met my roommate in our living room. We got in the car and were on our way. Everything was fine until we hit the road that crossed through the Target and Lowe's parking lots.

BANG!

I realized, too late, that I had hit a pothole and hard. We stopped talking for a moment as we realized what had happened. Once the shock wore off, we resumed our conversation but I was thinking about what I might find when we actually got out of the car.

Just what I expected to find: a flat tire. Lovely. We had a very tasty breakfast and then I moved my car into a more open space and my roommate's father and I started to get things in order to change the tire.

I can change a tire. I've done so in the past a number of times. I never would have been able to change this tire by myself.

First, the lug nuts were extremely difficult to loosen. It was ridiculous actually. If you could have seen the two of us jumping on the tire iron, we could have potentially won $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos. Second, we broke one of the bolts. All that jumping and snap! At least the lug nut came off! Third, the tire wouldn't budge. We kept kicking it, pulling it, whatever could do to help loosen it up. Nothing.

We had to call in the big guns: AAA. So, while the wait was on for someone from AAA to come out to our location, other patrons of the restaurant visited our group asking what was wrong and if we needed help. Male after male came up seeing if they could offer suggestions...suggestions we had already considered and tried, but they didn't seem deterred by that fact. No, they would each come up and take a turn kicking at my poor tire. I think it was a pride thing. I could just imagine the gloat that each man would have if he was the one that could kick my tire loose.

Finally, the AAA guy shows up and does the exact same thing excepts adds a few sprays of what I was calling glorified WD-40. Still...nothing. The tire was as stubborn as me and refused to move. Next step...call a tow truck. Yup, my baby was going to have to be towed. Not what I wanted on a Sunday when I needed to be at work to finish up somethings. Ugh!

So, AAA dude leaves and then not one, but TWO tow trucks turn up! Then we decided to make things interesting. My roommate's father and I made a small wager: I bet a cold beer that between these two new men, the tire would come off the car and he bet me a cold beer that they would get frustrated and give up. The game was on...

Lo and behold...Lauren was the victor! The two tow truck guys came to the rescue, put some more umph into their kicks and had the tools to release the corrosion on the tire that was holding it attached to the rim. With my spare tired set into place, I was on my way home to get ready for the remainder of my day.

So, about 2 hours after breakfast was finished and about 9 men later, the drama over my flat tire was over...and I'll be collecting on my bet soon.