101 Things About Me

1. I was born in Broomfield, Colorado.

2. I moved to Pueblo, Colorado when I was about 3.

3. My family belonged to the Minnequa Country Club in Pueblo, and my mom, sister, and brothers would go there every day, all day during the summers.

4. The summer swim team coaches at Minnequa called my family at 7 p.m. one night when I was 5 years old to see if my sister and I wanted to be on the swim team.

5. I said yes because she said yes.

6. At my first meet, even though I knew how to swim perfectly well, I refused to put my head in the water and no one wanted me on their relay team.

7. I ended up being on a relay team with my sister and Heidi and Heather Holter.

8. We got last, because they couldn't make up for me.

9. The next summer I broke all the records for 8 & unders at the Colorado state championship meet.

10. I cried a few times because I thought all the boys at Minnequa Club liked my sister and none liked me.

11. I went to Happy Hands Pre School, and my teacher's name was Mrs. Horny. I kid you not.

12. I had to stay at Happy Hands an extra year before starting kindergarden because I could not say my "r." For a long time, my name was Nikki Hawt.

13. My first crush was Brad Gardner, but I had a list of other crushes at the same time.

14. I think my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Champion, hated me.

15. I always loved school.

16. I always loved bedtime. Literally, I would look forward to it.

17. I would sometimes sleep in my swim suit the night before a swim meet.

18. My sister and I shared a bedroom and a bed while we lived in Pueblo.

19. We had a picture of Andy Gibb in our closet.

20. I slept on the left side of the bed.

21. I still sleep on the left side of the bed.

21.5 I remember the day that Marvin Gaye died. I was in my basement, listening to eight tracks and the radio, and I cried.

22. My family moved to Colorado Springs when I was in 5th grade.

23. Before we moved, I would walk to Pitts Junior High to take the 7th grade math class each day.

24. My sister was in the same math class.

25. In Colorado Springs, my brothers and I were bussed to Washington Elementary (about 10 miles away) as part of socio-economic class integration efforts despite the fact that Jackson Elementary was about 1 mile away. Most the other students at Washington were very poor, aside from those that rode my bus, who were basically middle/lower-middle class.

26. While at Washington Elementary, I was the only person in my math class, which consisted of me sitting on my own during math class doing nothing.

27. My teacher at Washington, Mr. Strom, recommended me for the city's gifted program. No one listened.

28. I dated Chris, who was the best break dancer at school and looked like Kevin Bacon.

29. Aside from saying "yes" when he asked "would you go out with me," I never remember talking to Chris, just holding his hand.

30. In sixth grade I went to Jackson elementary for one week.

31. My teacher recommended me for the city's gifted program. I was accepted.

32. I had the same gym teacher at the gifted school as I had at Washington, Mr. Kaiser.

33. Mr. Kaiser was friends with my swim coach, Coach Christy.

34. Mr. Kaiser would exchange notes between me and my old friends at Washington, Autumn and Olivia.

35. While we lived in Colorado Springs, my sister and I each had our own room.

36. I kicked her door one day and split it in half during a fight.

37. She took the blame.

38. My dad stopped drinking when we lived in Colorado Springs because he didn't want to lose his family. He has never drank again.


39. The house my parents bought in Colorado Springs was built on a faulty foundation and started cracking.

40. They sued the builder, who claimed bankruptcy.

41. My parents later had to claim bankruptcy because of it.

42. After 2 years in Colorado Springs, we moved to California.

43. The first house we rented in California was owned by a former San Diego Charger.

44. It had a pool and horrible wall paper.

45. When we moved into the second house in California, my sister and I shared a 20 x 20 room that was supposed to be a game room.

46. My brothers shared a 11 x 11 bedroom.

47. All of us would use my parents bathroom instead of the one that we all shared.

48. This drove my dad crazy.

49. I was grounded once in my life, for coming home late.

50. My sister took the blame (this time, it was in fact her fault), so I was only grounded for about 45 minutes.

51. I got away with murder in junior high and high school.

52. I never less than an "A" until college.

53. Because I never got less than an "A," I would help my friends get away with murder, too. ("You can't go to Mexico." "But, mom, I am going with Nikki. She's driving." "Oh, okay.")

54. I was the valedictorian of my high school class.

55. Two people boycotted graduation because I was the valedictorian.

56. They boycotted because, basically, my GPA was slighly higher than theirs because I didn't have to take gym (for which you can get no weighted AP grade) because I swam for 4+ hours a day and got independent credits.

57. The speech I gave at graduation was based on a quote by Ralph Waldo Emmerson, "What lies ahead of you, and what lies behind you, is nothing compared to what lies within you." Or something like that.

58. I loved giving that speech.

59. I got accepted everywhere I applied for college, including Harvard.

60. I went to Georgetown, because I felt like I belonged there when I visited.

61. Some people - none of my family or friends - told me this was a mistake.

62. One of my best friends from high school went to Naval Academy, 45 minutes away from Georgtetown.

63. That might have been one reason he wanted me to go to Georgetown and I wanted to go.

64. My freshmen year of college, I did not have much luck making good friends.

65. I missed my high school friends and my family.

66. I was burned out with swimming, but swam because I had a partial swimming scholarship.

67. My life at Georgetown got better with each passing year.

68. I was an academic under-achiever in college.

69. I wish I could re-do a lot of decisions I made during college.

70. I got my heart broken severely my senior year of college.

71. One reason I moved to NY after college was to be with the guy who broke my heart.

72. We were also going to travel around Europe together.

73. So I traveled by myself, and met up with different friends along the way.

74. The trip could not have been better.

75. I got my master's because I did not know what else to do.

76. I taught at a K-12 school because I did not want to practice social work or be a counselor after getting my masters.

77. Deciding that I wanted to be a lawyer for the NFL or some similar sports organization, I decided to go to law school.

78. I read "1000 Great Places to Work With a Law Degree," which reiterated my desire to work at the NFL.

79. I got into every law school I applied, including Columbia and USC.

80. I went to St. John's because they offered me a full scholarship and I already had massive student loan debt (that had increased due to capitalized interest) from my masters program.

81. I was valedictorian of my law school class.

82. Many people (although no family or friends) told me I was making a mistake by going to St. John's and not Columbia.

83. I now work at the NFL - one of my dream jobs.

84. So I guess the people who thought I should go to Harvard undergrad and Columbia law school in order to achieve my dreams were wrong.

85. I met my husband on a blind date.

86. I told him, "I want to go somewhere close to my house, so if I don't like you I can get home quickly." He said, "Fair enough."

87. He thought I was joking.

88. I didn't think he was good looking when I first saw him. (I know, I know, I was wrong.)

89. I did think he had nice legs and his butt looked good in his jeans.

90. After we dated for a year or so, he broke up with me because he thought I was too good for him.

91. We got back together like two weeks later.

92. We got married on July 4, 2002.

93. I was scared of marriage. I am not anymore.

94. At our wedding, my sister gave the best toast I have ever heard.

95. I look just like my dad and my brother Cookie.

96. My brother's nickname, Cookie, came from me not being able to say his real name, Kirk. (See #12 above).

96. By pretending to be confident and outgoing for most of my life, I have become confident and outgoing.

97. Being outgoing feels exhausting to me.

98. The better I know you, the funnier I am.

99. I suck at blogging.

100. For some reason, I keep doing it anyway.

Work, Life and Workout Ingredients

What is a workplace environment without a little bit of competition and politics? I'd certainly prefer one lacking in both...but since it doesn't seem that exists, you have to revel in the excitement that those extras at work bring. Back in the day (pre-2000) basically everyone who worked at the NFL went to the Super Bowl. One big party. Then things changed, and now they only send those people with valid work responsibilities (that can't be performed remotely). If you work down there, you take a guest with you.

Anyway, most people don't have responsibilities that overlap with the Super Bowl (and that have to be done on site). I do. I didn't think I would start working the game until 2-3 years into my career here (as I was told when I first started), but because a shift in personnel, both of my bosses pushed for me to get to go this year. It made sense. They need two of us to do anti-counterfeiting work. And because of resignations and department changes, there are two of us that do that work. Anyway, so it was "official" - I was going. I went to all the planning meetings, did all the prep work. Derek stepped aside so my dad could go with us. Up through December - close to Christmas - I was going. Then the execs got worried....they thought it was cause turmoil if someone who had been here just 4-5 months went, while people who have worked 5-7 years still haven't gone. Nevermind the logic that if they did what I do, they could go. But they don't. And so instead of having two people doing the work of two people (or really, the work of four people), they have one person doing the work of 2 people (or 4). Everyone felt bad (and I felt bad for my colleague that had all the work on her shoulders), my bosses pushed for me to get to go, but to no avail. I wasn't remotely worried about this - the worst was really just letting my dad know that plans changed. But in any event...it was decided about 2 weeks before the game that I would be doing work here (and "doing work" proved to be an understatement....my past couple weeks here were crazy busy....I'd leave each day totally wiped out). My "consolation prize" -- which is a good one -- they are pushing for me to go to Pro Bowl next year (if not also Super Bowl). Yes, in Hawaii. Yes, more low-key than Super Bowl, which means the work/enjoyment balance is tipped toward enjoyment! Pretty good prize and I didn't even feel like I needed consoling!.

So we threw our annual Super Bowl party. Last minute invites did not keep people away. We had a house full - about 20-25 people. We supplied the drinks and I baked cookies, and everyone else brought dishes to eat. Chili (meat and veggie), mexican dip, spinach & artichoke dip, chips, chips, chips, hot dogs and vegan hot dogs, chocolate cake. Basically, it was time for gluttony at our house. We all had a good time. New friends, old friends, good neighbors and lots of food makes for a good party (and a good life). 99% of the house was cheering for the Colts, but thank god for the other 1% that kept things interesting. Never really that fun to all be on the same side! We also got to i-chat with some friends in DC before our respective parties began, which proved to kick things off well.

So to work backwards for my story....I've had a busy couple weeks at work. Fairly exhausting, as we all know work can be anywhere, no matter what you do. The last week leading up to SB, I didn't make it to the gym at all (because of how fricking cold it was to run outside or run to the gym, and how busy I was). Saturday I made my special cookie dough to bake on Sunday for the party. While making the dough, I probably ate the equivalent of 12-15 cookies worth of dough. At least. Then, Saturday night I got mad at Derek for something. I don't know what exactly, but it was something valid (I know it was) and not solely due to me being tired or on a sugar-low from the cookie dough. Sunday morning, still a little bitter that he didn't apologize for whatever it was I was mad about, I had a kick-a** run. It was still too cold to run outside, so just on the treadmill at the gym. But 6 miles in 45 minutes, interval work, so felt great. Apparently, cookie dough and anger are good fuel (and the iPod....so nice to run with some music after years of not). Thought I was tired of the cookie dough and inspired by the good run to go back to my usually fairly-healthy ways? Um, no. Think again.

Derek and I made up after the workout, but then I needed to bake the cookies. So probably had about 12 more cookies worth of dough, and tested two of the baked cookies that fell apart (yum). They turned out great. That night, had some chili and about 12 more of my cookies, my friend Lauren's cookies, and my neighbor Kristy's cookies (all delicious). You'd think that would be enough to get me to STOP. Was it? No. I brought all the leftover cookies to work with me on Monday to give away. Since a number of us made gigantic amounts of them, we still had a decent amount left. Throughout the day on Monday, what did I eat? About 8 cookies and an orange. Wonderful. So I went to the gym that night (last night). Despite having survived on a diet of COOKIES since my last workout, I had another great run! I wanted to do some weights/calesthenics and get home early, so didn't run as long. But did some interval work for 25 minutes - and while I am usually feeling good going from 6.5 mph to 8.5 mph, I kept my recovery intervals at 7.5 mph (about 8 minute miles) and my fast intervals all above 9.2 mph(about 6 1/2 minute miles). Go Nikki. So whoever said cookies couldn't fuel a body, they'd be wrong.

I then went home and had a major sugar crash. I never want to eat cookies again, and will be content with my slower intervals and slower runs if that is the tradeoff.

So, I am taking a few days off work next week since the season is over. Derek's schedule is still fairly open, so I am going to surprise him with a few days out of the city before he gets busier. Thanks to a nice tax refund, I have exactly 0% guilt over this. I booked us a B&B in Saugerties, NY (near Woodstock) for two nights, and some 90 minute massages for one of the days we are up there at a nearby spa. The B&B I found by googling "weekend getaways from NYC" and "romantic getaways from NYC." Check out http://www.thevillaatsaugerties.com/ . That is where we will be. Can't wait. My favorite dog walker Julia is going to stay at our house with Butter & Deuce (she is their favorite, too, I believe). So far, Derek knows nothing. Because he has auditions for more instructor positions and may get call backs from the others, I did have to tell him not to plan anything for Feb. 14th-Feb. 16th, but didn't want to tell him more. So i just said, "I am not sure. I was just told there might be some big event for work, but I have no idea. I just know it might be one of those days." He asked if it involved the Commissioner, his wife (Jane Skinner - a newscaster), and a jet....and I said, "Who knows. It might. I have no idea." So hopefully he is not disappointed with a car ride, The Studio at The Villa at Saugerties, and me:).