Jan profile picture

Jan

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

WARNING: LOTS OF READING AHEADIf you meet me in person and are beyond surprised at my outsized, extroverted personality, chalk it up to the myriad challenges and opportunities throughout my 46-plus years on earth. Essentially, I'm the way that life has shaped me: gutsy (ballsy, quite honestly), outgoing, vibrant, direct, no-nonsense, witty, and a keen observer of the world around me. I'm also extremely intelligent, something that's often a double-edged sword in my daily life. My dearest friend is my husband: a man who's been my best friend, confidante, teammate, and lover 22 years this last June, and my wedded mate of 20 years on Feb. 20, 2008. Finally, the friends I've made in school, as well as at hockey and baseball games, are ones I'll remember throughout my life.One major part of my life is the 100-pound weight loss I've maintained since February 1998. It's hard work, but totally worth it in terms of physical health, emotional well being, and looks (you be the judge regarding the latter). Without my overhauled nutrition and my strenuous six-day-a-week workouts, I know I would have died of a heart attack or a stroke more than a decade ago. So if I'm offline more than I'm online, I'm probably running (I do three training runs a week) or working out.On Oct. 15, 2006, I completed all 26.2 miles of the 2006 Long Beach Marathon (www.runlongbeach.com). My plan was to take on the '08 L.A. Marathon, but I'm considering strongly doing that in March 2009. Before the '06 Marathon, I completed the half marathon in the '05 LB event, and have done numerous 5Ks, 10Ks, and other running events. Have I ever left one of those events with an age-group award? No ... and I probably won't, since I'm definitely not a "natural" runner. Still, I run for my physical health, my sense of well being, and -- I'll admit it -- what little remains of my looks. (I'm vain!).Finally, David and I are the co-owners of Vin de Pays, a wine shop in Yorba Linda, Calif. We've put a tremendous amount of dedication, physical and mental sweat, and money into our joint venture, which we're planning to be our livelihood until we retire some 25 (or more) years from now. Yeah, my own life would make 10 people dizzy with fatigue, but that's how is is for me.

My Interests

Running, baseball (go Padres!), hockey, travel, fashion (can you say "shopaholic"?), fine dining, wine tasting, vintage movies, and pets.

I'd like to meet:

Fellow Caniacs and hockey fans, no matter where they live! Additionally, I'd also love to meet wise and witty people with a realistic view about themselves. (Sorry to sound rude, but I'll take a pass on "him-bos.")

Music:

I'm good with most genres, but I like jazz, "the standards," vintage R&B, '70s/'80s new wave, disco, and oldies best. Thanks to my learning classical guitar when I was a kid, I also enjoy classical music.

Movies:

If it's a silent movie, a comedy from the '30s or '40s, or one of those so-bad-it's-good movies, I'm in! That said, I just saw "Sideways," which has marvelous direction and acting, and one of the best screenplays in years. The same can be said for "The Incredibles," definitely a witty, intelligent, shrewd cartoon meant for adults.

Books:

Tuesdays With Morrie, James Herriot's Cat Stories, Passages, Pathfinders, My War, The Greatest Generation, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath (and nearly every one of John Steinbeck's books), The Last Convertible, The Accidental Tourist, The Scarlet Letter, and Washington Square. I also love sports books, especially hockey (Ultimate Hockey, The Hockey Chronicles, amd The Red Wings), baseball (every annual Sporting News Scouting Report, the entire Baseball Memories series, We Played the Game, Ball Four, Green Cathedrals, Sandy Koufax, I Was Right on Time, Iron Horse, and Hank Greenberg: The Story of My Life), and basketball (Chick).

Heroes:

My dad and my mom (see the "About Me" section in my bio for more info). Sadly, I was never able to become their friend.

My Blog

Update: training runs from 4/4 to 5/7

I'm still at the running thing, no matter what. (Keep in mind that every day I'm not running, I'm doing a 50-minute advanced Callanetics cross-training session. During a typical week, I'm running two ...
Posted by Jan on Fri, 09 May 2008 05:26:00 PST

Update: training runs from 2/20 to 4/2

Since I've had to get my rump out of the apartment ASAP after running and showering these last six weeks, I haven't been able to post my training results for quite a while. Here they are, for those wa...
Posted by Jan on Fri, 09 May 2008 04:28:00 PST

A few hockey tidbits that made me say "Cool!"

For real: My boy Gerby is taking his fellow IIHF netminders to school in the '08 World Championships!   Games: 2 Ice time: 120 minutes Shots on goal: 49 Shots against: 2 Saves: 47 Save perce...
Posted by Jan on Fri, 09 May 2008 04:06:00 PST

This.must.never.happen.

Based on what some Bolts fans -- good online friends, no less -- have told me about Tampa Bay head coach John Tortorella, I'm already concerned what might happen if Gerbs and his teammates had this tr...
Posted by Jan on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:02:00 PST

The Gerbs: sensitive, but strong as an ox

Y’know what about my NHL fave? He has guts ... and, when it matters most, the brawn and the savvy to carry his entire team on his back for a long, long haul. Bryan Murray, the Sens&rsq...
Posted by Jan on Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:33:00 PST

More love for the Gerbmeister

This is definitely working for me!   ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------- March 11, 2008 This year, things may finally be different Gerber, ...
Posted by Jan on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:31:00 PST

Gerber, baby, youre the man

This is what goaltending ought to be like in Ottawa!      ------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------- Ottawa Sun Monday, Marc...
Posted by Jan on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:32:00 PST

Cooperative weather + sufficient rest = Great Run 11

Don't know how it's happening, but I'm enjoying running at this pace -- easily a minute faster than my high school running pace! DISTANCE: 2.8 miles TIME: 31 minutes PACE: 11:04 minutes per mile SPE...
Posted by Jan on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 09:30:00 PST

My 10th solid run in a row -- and total sorrow for the Northern Illinois University victims

To describe the weather for this morning's run as ugly would be a serious understatement. For the first three minutes of the run, I ran AGAINST what I call "mini-tornadoes," swirling winds reaching ne...
Posted by Jan on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:59:00 PST

The first outing on my alternate "hill run"

For those very few of you who are acquainted with Highland and Buena Vista avenues in Yorba Linda, Calif., that was my course today. Those of you know know about those streets realize how ve...
Posted by Jan on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 02:25:00 PST