It's a Match!

With the Australian Open under way, I couldn't resist posting a photograph taken of Andy Roddick and me at a charity tennis event in 2004. He was in the middle of two phenomenal years. He had just won the U.S. Open in 2003 and was runner-up at Wimbledon in 2004.

Now he's made it to the third round of the Australian Open having defeated Xavier Malisse of Belgium on Wednesday. Ranked 9th in the world today, he'll face Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in the next round.

But I digress; here he is, with me, at the charity tennis event!

Looking at the photograph, you might think I was a little more excited about getting my picture taken with him than he was about getting his picture taken with me. But the camera, you see, just caught him at the wrong moment.

This is how he actually looked when he first saw me walk into the room...


Well... not really.

I pulled the second photograph off the Australian Open Web site.

But a girl can pretend, can't she?

Me, Quirky? Say It Ain't So!

Quirky might actually be an understatement....

Okay, I was tagged by Miruspeg and Mommy2Twinkies and had to come up with seven quirky things I do. Problem was, after counting seven I could have continued, but I decided to combine a couple and disregard the rest. No one wants to read that much about me!

1. To get the ideas rolling, I asked my daughter if I had any quirks. "Yes," she said with a snicker. "You read magazines from the back to the front." Actually, I don't begin reading an article until I get to the first page of the article, then I proceed to read it the way it was meant to be read. But she's right. I always start in the back and work my way forward.

2. When I worked full time as a writer, I would walk to the restroom and wash my hands before starting a new writing project. And if I got bogged down with the details... a/k/a a small moment of writer's block... I would take that little walk again and re-wash my hands. I guess I was clearing my mind while cleaning my hands.

3. Combo #1: I never let my tennis partner or opposing player change the score. If someone changed it, I always had to "straighten it up," before I could start playing again. And this "straightening up" had to be done with me never changing my grip on my racket.

4. I doodle ceaselessly while waiting for my computer to catch up with whatever I am attempting to do. Boxes, faces, letters, and words. You name it; I doodle it.

5. I organize the books in my home office by subject.

6. Combo #2: After taking my shower in the morning, I put my PJ's back on until I've finished putting on a little make-up and drying my hair. I also wear socks - always - while in my house.

7. I leave e-mails in my inbox... forever. It may soon runneth over.

8. And, although I was only supposed to come up with seven, I have to add one more. For a while I woke up at 3:16 a.m. every morning. Last night, I was trying to remember what time I used to wake up (thanks to another post). And although I knew it was sometime around 3 a.m., I couldn't remember exactly when. This morning I woke up, but kept my eyes closed for about a minute. When I opened them, it was 3:17 a.m. Then I remembered! 3:16 a.m....

9. Okay. One more. Just one more. After checking out the quirks of MCMGrad89, I had to add this one: I love tomato sauce, spaghetti, and even drink tomato juice. But I HATE ketchup. I won't even touch the bottle. Can't even imagine closing the lid. I don't, and I mean absolutely won't, touch ketchup.

I call these little habits "quirks." Please don't call them anything else!

P.S. I'm afraid everyone I know has already been tagged. It looks like the quirks stop here.