2008 Atlanta ING!

Well.... The race is over and I think it was a success!!

All of you wonderful people out there were sending me good vibes, and I could seriously feel it, so thank you so much!

So this was my fourth Half-Marathon... (outside of a triathlon!)

*My first was Silver Comet October 2006. More of a relative flat course: 1:43 time

*Thanksgiving Half-Marathon November 2006, 1:55 or something like that. Ran with a friend strictly for fun!

*Atlanta ING March 2007, 1:49:40

So as Steve says, there has to be 3 goals!

The Oh, this would be the ultimate goal! For me today, it would have been sub 1:40

The more realistic goal: Sub 1:45

The ok I can live with this goal: sub 1:49:40 to beat last years time! :)

Thankfully, the weather cleared out just in time! Sprinkled a little bit on me on the drive into Downtown, so I decided a hat would be a MUST to help keep the rain out of my eyes if it did rain. But it was completely overcast, so no sunglasses were needed.

Thanks to Coach Jen Harrison... I've HTFU when it comes to my clothing selection! It was chilly this morning. Pretty brutal winds and definitely NOT the nice Spring weather we've been having lately! I probably would have worn my tights to race in today... BUT I've come to realize that once you get moving... HEAT production is definitely NOT a problem for me! So I toughed out the cold winds in the line up before the start so my legs could move more freely during the race! Did wear a long sleeve shirt, but it was my skin tight, SUPER light-weight Zoot shirt which ended up being PERFECT!

Ok... so I call this race a success because there were MANY successful factors! Some people will look just at that finishing clock number, but there are a lot of other factors that people can work on when using these types of races for training races basically, and I was able to pull off a few!

Number 1: NO bathroom pit stops!! I've had to pull over at the Silver Comet and ING last year. So the fact that I just kept-on-moving-on and didn't need to stop was VERY good for me and good news for my nutrition!

Number 2: I have a tendency to die out towards the end. My pace did slow down, but not for lack of trying! I KEPT pushing it up the hills regardless of how dead my legs felt, and the last bit of this race is mostly uphill, so by then they did NOT want to keep moving. But I kept pushing through it, so that was good!

Number 3: I KNOW I could have pushed out another minute or two if I would have pushed it to that puke zone towards the end, which I honestly did not. I definitely WAS in my Hurt Box, but I can say I had a little more in me, and I think it's good knowing that walking away because though I could have decided to go there today... I know it's there and I WILL go there for Hawaii, so I am starting to learn those zones for my body and that's a GOOD thing!!

Number 4: I learned that I'm getting there! In all of my glorious studies... :) I've learned that speed is a result of 2 things: Pushing yourself beyond your limits to ultimately "reset" those limits, and neuromuscular memory. As I like to tell Adam, "You are good at what you do!" The more you do something, the better your body will function at that level. So speed isn't going to happen just because you push as hard as you can. It's a by-product that will develop overtime, and I've DEFINITELY picked some up!

I finished the race in 1:44:11!!

Not quite my Uber- goal, but definitely met my Realistic goal! (And... My Garmin clocked the race at 13.25.... So that's my story and I'm sticking to it! :)

Gained more than 5 min's on my finish time from last year.... Learned about pacing some... AND managed to hold the same pace for this Half-Marathon that I did for that 10k just one month ago. I think that says a lot!

It was hilly... It was windy... It was TOUGH... and It was FUN!!

Isn't it funny when you're at that 9-10mile mark looking at all the people having fun watching and thinking to yourself, "Why do I do this to myself? Why again do I find it fun to put myself through a ton of pain... not just now, but for the next several days as my battered legs heal?"

But I pushed on literally thinking of all you guys out there that are now my friends because we share this common interest. About how good it feels to finish and have that accomplishment to hold forever, and about if I kept pushing beyond that point... it'd make me that much stronger for Hawaii in a couple of months!!

AND... I stole one of Marit's ideas and wrote inspirational things on the back of my race number to run with! I loved it! Great Idea! And it seriously did help! And all of you guys were there with me.... So thank you!

By the time I finished... I was wet and COLD... so I didn't hang out very long before heading to the hot tub! :)

I'm about to spin my legs out and have been relaxing all afternoon, playing ZINGO about a gazillion times! :) If you're unfamiliar... It's Bingo with a ZING!! Ask Marit, she had the privilege of playing with all of us :)

So that's it! Now... a little rest and then a build to St. Anthony's!

And for those of you who may not have already looked it up yet...

Eileen had a GREAT race at California yesterday!! GO E!!

And Bree did GREAT at the Wooloolaba today too!

Oh... and let's not forget Beth's sub 19min 5k! If you're racing her this year... BEWARE!!

Great job everybody and thanks again for all of your support!!

K :)

I PASSED!!

Well guys... One down... One to go!!

2 Major events this weekend to be pumped up/worried about!

*My test I took today

*My 1/2 marathon tomorrow

The good news is that I passed my test!! Whoo Hoo!!

Gonna be honest and say that as I was taking it, I got a little worried. The test ended up being different than that of the practice tests I took. The majority of the practice tests questions came from one section and the majority of the tests questions came from another.

Fortunately, I guess I either knew it well enough regardless or was a good guesser. It doesn't give you your score, just a PASS. .. And that's all I needed!

So Whoo!!

At least I don't have to run tomorrow with the doom of failure written all over me!

Now... I'm just nervous about my run... Not really sure why... it's not like this is some A race or anything... I just get to doubting myself. Can I push it to where I need to go? Will I hang tough when I need to? Can I manage NOT to chicken out? That kind of stuff. Then God forbid throw in where in the world I'm going to park and whooo, I will probably be up a lot tonight! :)

But tomorrow, by this time, I will have finished with whatever time it will be for 2008. I'll have spun my legs out on my trainer, soaked in a hot tub at the gym for awhile to relieve my poor, battered legs, and will have hopefully the ability walking away from the weekend having grown as a person and athlete!

As a person I can say that I've learned it is CRAZY hard to be a student/mom/employee/athlete. My hat seriously goes off to Mira... A full time Physical Therapy student who races Ironman and has two kids. That woman is truly AMAZING!! I'm glad for now my studies are behind me!

So... for all of you friends that wished me luck today on my test... I need your help ONE more time this weekend!! You did awesome today, now keep that energy flowing for about another 15 hours and we'll be good to go. In all seriousness.... THANKS you guys! I love you all!

K :)

Chillaxin... Well Kind of!

On the agenda for most of today and tomorrow is to CHILL!!

Kind of funny... for 2 reasons:

1. I'm not good at it. I start inventing things to do if given the opportunity!

2. Cooper, Gracie, Rocky, Work, the laundry, dishes, and studies don't quite get the concept! :)

But... In all seriousness, I'm making an effort for today and tomorrow to stay off of my feet because this Sunday is the Atlanta ING Half Marathon!!

I'm excited... A little nervous... mostly because I'm ALWAYS nervous before races!

AND a cool tidbit... It will be my first real repeat race! I've done the Peachtree Road Race twice, but that doesn't really count. I never raced those. And the course is supposed to be a little different this year, so I don't know if it will be roughly the same so I can really compare or not, but I think it shall be close enough! So it will be fun to go for a better time this year than last!

If I can race on Sunday like my swim went this morning, I'll be doing well!

I was so excited!! Monday was an off day for me in the swim department. It was proceeded by 2 weeks of some subpar swimming efforts, and I couldn't help but thinking... Great, I'm losing it.

But today it came back together! I'm actually making it sound like more than it was... It was only 1200 of some actual speed, but it went perfectly.

After a long warm up, I was to do 4 sets of 100 ALL OUT, 200 Tempo, and then 100 easy backstroke. Well my Tempo pace for 100's is supposed to be around 1:35. On Monday, my biggest effort only gave me a 1:31 Pace. And my best 100 to date has been 1:24, so last Monday I had one 100 supposed to be under 1:25, and I couldn't make it.

Well today, I did the first 100 and came in right at 1:25. I was like WHOO HOO!! Ok, now if I can tempo it for 200 immediately following. And I DID. Easy 100 Back and ready to go again...

The next sets went just as well. 2- I hit a 1:24, #3- 1:23 WHOO HOO!! New PR!! #4-1:24 and I was able to keep it between 1:30-1:35 for my 200's it was BEAUTIFUL!

I finish up with a little more speed stuff and then I'm in the showers talking to another girl who I've swam with on occasion when she gives me the best news of the day... The pool is METERED!!

It's a brand new pool I've been using for the past couple of weeks. I just assumed it was yards. BUT... I asked the people up front and confirmed it's Meters!! That means all of those 100's were even faster than I had realized. That little thing made my day! :)

So after picking up all of my race stuff, and squeezing in some study time, I just woke up from a nap! I need to study more because tomorrow's my big test day!! I'm more nervous about that than the race on Sunday. IF I don't pass, I've got to explain that to my soon to be employer and then pay $100 to retake it... ICK!! How's that for some hiring incentive...

"Yes, um... I know I'm supposed to start working with you today. But um... I am not qualified and need to retake the exam. Would you still like for me to represent your company???"

So it's at 2pm tomorrow. Enough time to do some more cramming tonight and tomorrow for it. At least I can do it and stay off of my feet, and I'm convinced that if all goes well with this test, I'm going to run on Sunday 10lbs lighter!!

So that's my weekend in a nutshell. A baseball game and a few small things thrown in, and it'll be over before you know it!

So everyone needs to have all of their good race vibes flowing this weekend!

Eileen is racing Oceanside!

Bree is racing Mooloolaba!

Steve is doing I believe a 5k!

And I could have sworn someone else was racing this weekend, but I can't find it now, so if you are, let us know so we can root for you!

Good luck to everyone! Have fun! and Kick some Butt!!

K :)

My Split Personalities

Before all of my extra money went to aero helmets, race wheels, coaches, and swim classes.... I was very much into being a Fashion Diva... or at least trying to be one! :)

Shoes, clothes, purses, jewelery, Instyle Magazine... You name it.... if they sell it at Nordstrom, I loved it!!

I've always enjoyed getting dressed up. It was my hobby in high school! :)

I know what you're thinking... I was that Mean Girls B#$%# in high school all stuck up and snobby. But I swear I don't think I was. I never put other's down for having less or thought of myself as a better person because my purse cost more or anything like that.

I swear... It's an inherited gene. If you set out 5 items all VERY similar in color, consistency, and style and ask me to chose which I like best, I will undoubtedly pick the item that is most expensive. I have no idea why!!

Plus... it is not my imagination that I tend to like things that are more simplistic in style and I swear the knock-off versions try to make up for their savings in cost by making the items SOOOO gaudy!

Now, I've always been a bargain shopper. I don't like to buy things simply BECAUSE they're expensive. I'm TOTALLY ok with saving money and getting a good deal. I'm just not near as good at it as others! :)

And again, I've got my girlie side, and I like the pretty little things. I'm the type that would rather spend $100 on a skirt that I LOVE from Anthropologie than 10 that I think are ok from somewhere else. But I will tell you that one of my favorite bargain places is Forever 21 where you can buy cute trendy clothes that are in style now, but won't be for long and get them super cheap!! AND H & M is coming to Atlanta this summer that I'm super excited about because they're supposed to be a Fashionista's bargain dream!!

Well... since getting into triathlon a year and a half ago... I would say 95% of my extra money has gone into all tri stuff! I have even made attempts to reconnect with my inner-girlie girl as I specifically said I wanted non-tri stuff for Christmas and then ended up putting a new swimsuit and goggles, recovery slippers, arm warmers, etc. on my Christmas list!!

I'll even admit that I paid for my first bike by returning a brand new Chanel purse that I'd just bought. Oh... It was beautiful!! I've ALWAYS wanted one. It's my one special item that I seriously hope to one day cherish. BUT.. I broke down and took it back to embark on this tri journey... a decision I definitely do NOT regret.

However, I was walking Mr. Rocky Pug yesterday, and my neighbor Cara is currently having her brother-in-law and his wife stay with them since they just moved to the Atlanta area and they're getting settled in. Well I saw the wife hop out of the car and head into the house when it hit me... She's really cute!

I looked down at my adidas clad pants self with a race t-shirt on. No makeup, my hair pulled back into my everyday hair-do of a bun, and flip-flops. At least my toenails were painted!!

I thought, "Oh God!! I look like CRAP! And not just today. This is my daily attire!!"

So though I'm ok with being more athletic these days than a little miss priss! :) I COULD step it up a notch!

Thank goodness Summer and warm weather is on it's way because I can get away with being comfortable AND cute a little more!!

Why can't Zoot make a cute pump that won't ruin your feet??? :)

So here's to be more of the cute Nike girl and not the bum off of the street! :)

Have a great day everyone!

K :)

What is Up with The Fly???

Ok... so as you probably know or realize, I'm new to swimming! At least beyond the Marco Polo and Cannon Ball zone of swimming! :)

I've been at it seriously now for right at a year. Finally starting to make a little progress with my free-style and think it's slowly coming together!

Well, all my super-swimmer blogger friends out there keep talking about "The Fly." You know... the Butterfly stroke.

The insanely difficult Butterfly stroke!

How hard it is to do just 25 or 50 or heaven forbid 200!

Danielle... aka Pedergraham in all of her swim studdness presented another swim challenge this time involving a little bit more of a traditional swim approach somehow involving some of the other 3 strokes that exists in the swimming world.... the Back stroke, the Breast stroke, and the Butterfly, or what is called the IM, which stands for Individual Medley.

When I first started swimming, I didn't realize that the lanes were broken up into swim pace groups, hopped right in one of the "FAST" lanes and proceeded to ask one of the guys in that lane what IM meant, because that was part of the workout on the board?? :)

He was nice, but was probably thinking, "Uh... would you please get the heck out of my lane!"

Fortunately for the both of us, he kindly explained, one of the coaches came over and told me that was for the "non-triathelete" swimmers, and my group was on the further side down on the pool :)

I was so clueless.... at the time I didn't even know better to be embarrassed! I just hopped out and meandered my way down to the "triathlete lanes." :)

So, up until Danielle's new challenge... I've read about Marit's attempts to do the Fly. Elizabeth's explanation of the triathletes that have never tried it and fully recognized myself as one of "those" people! And have briefly thought about it, but have never really had any sort of reason to try. Honestly, as far as I know, most of the triathletes DON'T worry about IM. So???

But.... I'm also one of "those" people that can't resist a good challenge!

So of course I signed on for at least some version of this new swim challenge presented by Danielle!

I couldn't make it to Master's yesterday morning, so Jen wrote me a workout. Low and Behold... 50 Fly.

Instructions... watch the video's on Danielle's page, read up on it, and give it a try!

Ok. doesn't seem too bad. What's all the fuss about??? :)

During my warm up, I even put my fins on, grabbed my kick board, and did some dolphin kicks, which I've also never done before, just to kind of get the feel.

I then proceed through my main workout. Main Set: 3000 mixed of pull sets and FAST 100's!

So by the time I get to this 50 fly, my arms are already tired. Fortunately, I was at a brand new pool that just opened in a new gym where all of the other people in the pool are spending more time hugging the wall than they are wading through the water. Hey... Don't get me wrong, I think it's GREAT that they're in there and they're exercising. It's just funny because they all think that I am some sort of pool stud!! HA HA!! If they only knew!

So I wasn't too worried about attempting this here because I figured that none of those people would know if I was doing this completely the wrong way!

I start out, and my initial reaction: This is so completely AWKWARD!!

Before I hit the 25 mark and turn around... I've gotten water up my nose. I keep forgetting to kick. I realize I'm doing something wrong as I can't seem to pull my head out of the water enough to breathe! I turn around SLOWLY thinking WHOA... This is ALL wrong! But I keep moving...

More water up the nose...

More attempts to pull myself up out of the water to breathe to not get far enough and miss my chance!...

More having to remind myself to use my legs and not just my arms...

Finally.... make it to 50. It was NOT pretty. It was NOT anywhere close!

So here's my question... Did someone sit around one day and say, "Yeah, so what you can do a Free Style 100 in less than a min.... Let's see you swim in this RIDICULOUS hard way and do it!"

Was it some sort of bet of who could come up with the hardest possible way to move your body through water???

What's the deal??

Because the ONLY reason why I see a person actually participating in this sort of activity is for the PURE challenge of it. The simple... Look What I Can Do fact of it!

Don't get me wrong... I haven't given up on it yet! :)

I'm definitely game. I'm seriously just wondering it's purpose in life! So to all you swimmer studs out there... PLEASE enlighten me!

And FYI: My Dad is doing ok. We got Good news and Bad news yesterday. We thought he had another blockage, which would then hopefully explain the reason why his blood pressure keeps creeping up above 200. After doing another Cath. there is no blockage, which IS the good news, but the Bad news is that it's not a situation that they can throw a stint in there and kind of alleviate a lot of the problem.

The simple fact of the matter is is that my Dad is 63 years old. He's been Diabetic for as long as I can remember. He's been overweight since I was born. He smoked for 40 years. He has heart disease and high blood pressure, and those aren't problems you fix over night. His kidneys only function to 50% because of the diabetes. So the goal is to restabilize his blood pressure to as close to normal as possible through medicine, diet, and exercise. Other medication can help not heal his kidneys but slow down the deterioration process. He needs to lose weight!! I've tried walking with him before, and he owns a treadmill that I ride his case about walking on. I've honestly not been on him about it the way that I should so I've already told him that he's about to become my own personal project!

Diet and exercise program WILL be designed by next week. I'm going to head down on Sunday and help my mom grocery shop for him, go over some food with him, and be there to watch him walk at least 2 x for 5 min each. They THINK he's doing ok, but the truth is he's not. And though I've bought him books and highlighted areas for him in there before of diabetic nutrition and what not, I don't stay on top of him about it and therefore he doesn't either. So, I am going to see what I can do to help him out. Cooper and Gracie have 10-13 more years before my Dad can enjoy watching him them play high school sports and what not, and if I have anything to do about it, I want to be sure he's here.

So... he'll be ok. I think he gets out of the hospital today or tomorrow and then the REAL work begins. Wish us luck! And thank you so much to everyone for your support and kind words. I can't tell you how much it means to me!!

Have a GREAT day!

K :)

Happy Easter!!

Easter came early this year, and I think it brought the Spring time weather with it around here!

Yesterday was GORGEOUS!! And I had the BEST ride!

The day began with a baseball game for Cooper at the park. Guess what?... We WON!! Again!! And so did they! It really is a super cute thing, and the other team had two little girls on it who got a hit off of the pitcher both innings. You should have seen them hammering that baseball in their hot pink helmets. Too cute!!

Afterwards, I got to take an opportunity I've been waiting for for a long time... I went and rode at The Gaps!!

My Dad has been doing well. He's over at Peidmont, and I have to tell you, Night and Day to what we experienced in Carrollton!! I was there on Friday evening when a Neurologist came in to see him. He had ordered a MRI of the cranial area to look further into the stroke issue. I was under the impression that that had been completely ruled out, but apparently not. I asked him what the ultrasound of the corota had indicated, which is the test that the other hospital had run because they never did tell us the results of it, and he said that the paperwork they sent over didn't have the results. I mean it was evident that we all felt that the information sent over was on the level of incompetence. He said not to worry because that particular ultrasound really wouldn't have provided any conclusive results anyways, so doesn't really matter. The MRI is the way to go. Sure enough it showed that he DID have a series of mini strokes AND a heart attack. The other hospital claimed he did not, so I'm at least feeling better with our quality of care and feel like we're getting somewhere. They are continuing to run tests, monitor him, and allow for the dye that was used by the other hospital for his cauterization to clear out before making some decisions tomorrow.

We're going to head over to the hospital later this afternoon as Cooper is very interested in the whole situation. I explained that Paw-Paw's heart was tired and not feeling well. Cooper kept asking me what happened. "Did he fall Mom? Did he run into the wall?" Something had to happen physically to have put his paw-paw in the hospital. :) I then turned to my explanation of the little tiny bugs that are all over the place that can get into your body and make you sick and that's why we have to wash our hands and cover our mouths when we cough and sneeze, etc. :) He was like, "Ohhhh, I get it!" It was funny. But then he'll go into this really long story about the time his bones got tired and then you're just like, ok.. :)

So, I thought it'd make him feel better if he got to kind of see that my Dad is ok. Even though I know we won't be able to stay long as I will most likely constantly hear, "Hey Mom... What does this do'es?" :) So in the interest of my father's safety, it will be an in and out visit! :)

Since things were well with my Dad yesterday, I kept to my original plans of going to The Gaps!

It's a series of 6 Mountain top ranges in the North Georgia Mountains. Every cyclist in the Atlanta area has ridden up there it seems, and last year I REALLY wanted to go, but was recommended not to. I guess because of my Ironman Florida training. Maybe it was a timing issue or something, but I was bummed that I couldn't go. So when I read my schedule for last week that said make Saturday's long ride hilly, I thought, oh boy.... here we go!!

There's all sorts of ways to ride it. You can ride the front three, the back three, all of them if you're feeling like a super stud or a combination! We rode the front three yesterday. I really didn't know what to expect and had only 4 hours so I didn't want to set my expectations too high.

The front three are Neels, Wolfpen, and Woody (Don't ask me where these names came from. I have no clue???). Of these, Wolfpen is considered the difficult one because it's the steepest. However, it's not as long, so I guess difficult is an opinion here. Hogpen is in the second set and is supposed to be the Mama-jama of them all. I didn't do that one this time, but I can't wait to tackle that sucker next!

We started out on Neels. 7.5 miles of all the way up. 1600ft in elevation change over that distance. Lots of switchbacks and definitely small chain ring for me. But I felt good the whole way up. The worst part... the sport bikes going God knows how fast up and down that mountain getting just a little too close for comfort to me. :) It's kind of funny, we pulled over at a gas station after Wolfpen to get a refill on water and I see TONS of these motorcycle people all decked out in those super heavy outfits. I'd just seen one of them take a curve so tight that his right knee touched the ground and made MANY sparks! I'm thinking to myself, "What is wrong with these people? They're NUTS in that ridiculous outfit and they're going to kill themselves!" And then I take a look at myself, all decked out in lycra bike shorts, a jersey full of gels and p.b. and j's with a silly helmet on after just biking almost 30 miles up 2 major mountain range areas and laugh! :) Realizing, they're thinking the SAME thing about me! "Look at that silly girl in her ridiculous outfit choosing to ride a BICYCLE up this mountain instead of going SUPER fast and cool like us!" I guess to each his own right! :)

Wolfpen was DEFINITELY steeper, but not near as long. Roughly 2 miles. Heart rate was pumping... but so were my legs, and I've got to say... It was FUN! I loved it!! And then you get to the top and get to go crazy down hill... SOOOO much fun!

Woody was even shorter. Only like 1 mile up and not bad at all. A little steeper than Neels, but not as bad as Wolfpen. However, the back side was really long. If you took a quick second to look out over the Mountain it was seriously gorgeous. I kept thinking, WOW... people drive their cars up here to see the view and I get the opportunity to bike it. Truly amazing! Next time though, I want to go up the other side of Neels. Seems like you'd have to go up that way to really make it count! :)

All in all we went 37 miles in 2:30. Finished up MUCH earlier than I was expecting and so lovely Jen tells me to head home and hit the trainer for 1:30. All out Mountain climbing for 2:30 followed by a 1:30 ride on the trainer, which was all zone 2 except for 20 min solid zone 3 and 15 min of warm up and cool down. And zone 2 on a trainer for me is tough, so this was no laid back ride.

But, I finished, and felt good! Felt like I'd really accomplished something. I know there's people out there who've ridden all 6 Gaps or Epic climbs much larger than these, but this was my first, and I was happy with it! :)

Now it's Easter! The Easter Bunny was nice enough to swing by our house with some baskets full of candy and fun stuff! Some recovery stuff today, some SERIOUS attention to my house, a visit to see my Dad with the kids (Did I mention that the stomach bug has finally made the full route through our family ending it's trails at Adam today. So he won't be coming to the hospital with us.) some Easter Egg dying and hunting this afternoon, AND my Personal Trainer test is coming up in less than a week so some CRAZY all-out studying!! That should be enough for one day!

Happy Easter to you all!!

K :)

A Disruption in the Universe

(This is a picture of the tornado in Atlanta this past weekend. Creepy isn't it??)

I swear, it literally seems like this past weekend the winds shifted and the world just went awry. So many really bad things happened this weekend that it seriously just seems odd.

Between lots of illness, my father and another family member of Blogger friend Jennifer having Heart Attacks, Marit's Bike accident, her husband Nathaniel's flight instructor's tragic crash, a seriously odd tornado in the middle of downtown Atlanta, my neighbor's brother being hit by a drunk driver.... and it seems like daily I've been hearing of these terrible incidents occurring over the weekend.

Let's all hope that the winds will once again change in the direction of the positive and hopefully one weekend soon we'll all be blogging about winning the lottery, new babies being born, and positive miracles happening all over the place! :)

As many of you know, Marit is doing well. She's been through a lot, but to talk to her, she is so exceptionally positive. She even offered me support from her for my father's issues, which goes to show that she is always thinking of others and I believe she recognizes just how lucky she really is. She's an awesome individual who will heal so well and strong because of her conviction and her support, and I'm honestly honored to be apart of that and help her in any way that I can!

Though Gracie ended up having to stay home from school today for having a visit to the porcelain goddess, I believe the bug has made it's run through our household and is on it's way out. She was fine other than being a little grumpier than usual today, so tomorrow should be back to the normal Cooper and Gracie schedules. :)

You may have been wondering about my Dad. I haven't updated until now because up to this point there has been no news. It was determined that he did NOT suffer from a stroke but did indeed have a second heart attack. His first was 8 years ago and since has had angioplasty 2 times totaling 4 stints in the back artery of his heart opening that area up. After stabilizing his blood pressure and kidneys over the past couple of days, they were able to do a heart cauterization today to determine what exactly the problem was. That particular artery being held up by 4 stints had collapsed, which caused the heart attack. His collateral's took over thank goodness saving him from a massive heart attack, which would have been fatal. His kidneys are now functioning much better, but the jury is still out as to if medication is the answer to that.

Its been difficult the past couple of days because he's been in a hospital in Carrollton, Georgia, which is about an hour outside of Atlanta. I've lived all over these parts of Georgia since I was born and without meaning to offend anyone, am EXTREMELY biased towards the big city hospitals. I've honestly never known anyone to have a good experience at the hospital in LaGrange, Georgia, which is in the Carrollton vicinity. And the other hospital in the area, Newnan, no one even attempts to go to because it has such a bad reputation. We didn't even want to take him to the Carrollton hospital, but when someone is suffering from a fatal issue like that, you'd rather not take the extra 45 min to make it to downtown.

However, the recommendation received from the Cardio Surgeon today doing his procedure was to NOT do anything. He said that the collaterals would be fine in maintaining the functioning of his heart. That he believed my Dad would be ok from suffering from any other heart attacks for at least another year or two and though he may be affected by being much more fatigued, his recommendation was for my Dad to sit down and take it more easy!!

Well... I thought that was RIDICULOUS!! I mean who tells the family of a loved one that their dad had a heart attack and his cure was to sit down when he got tired??? Where did this guy get his degree?? And besides, though his collaterals may allow his heart to function for another year or two, they are extremely small blood vessels. My dad is Diabetic. The vessels will not be able to maintain proper functioning for an extended period of time and if they ever DO fail well they ARE the back up system. Therefore my Dad WOULD suffer a massive heart attack and it would be all over in the blink of an eye. And though he may be ok with allowing my Dad to walk back into the world with a clearance of a year or two, he's 63, I'm not even 30, and I'd like for him to be around for a much longer time than that!!

So... we insisted that he be transferred to Peidmont in Atlanta. Even if they tell us the exact same thing, at least I'll know it was coming from people that have the right equipment to do everything they can do, and they KNOW what they're talking about!!

So he is being transferred in the morning. And hopefully we can get some answers BEFORE another 4 days go by.

Sorry for the rant, but it's my Daddy!! I've only got one! :)

I'll keep you posted on the updates, and again, I am CERTAIN that the winds are changing and positive air is on it's way!! :)

Happy Good Friday to everyone tomorrow!!

K :)

A Not-So Welcome Home

Well....In my last post you could tell that I missed my babies and was excited about seeing them!! Though I was sad to leave Park City because I didn't really feel like I got to enjoy it this year, after being sick and so tired... I was honestly ready to get home to my bed and my food and my home.

Monday morning I once again wake up at the ACD of 4:15am!! Yes... I know I just slept 14 hours a day for 3 days, but I was all caught up and now I'm right back into my deficit! We arrived at the airport at around 5am and started working our way through the pandemonium that is the airport.

I quite honestly didn't behave myself very well. :) I had been explaining to Adam all weekend that I was actually looking forward to turning 30 this year because I felt that I was "growing" as an individual... Well, he said I lost several years after exiting the airport security line. :)

In all seriousness... I'm all for the security of our nation and I've never had a problem with the security lines before... But this was just plain OVERKILL....

Step1: Print boarding pass and show id to person to check baggage
Step 2: Proceed through security line and show id and boarding pass to get into the security area.
Step 3: Take off shoes, jacket, jewelery, etc... load all belongings into bins to slide through detection screening.
(Ok with everything so far, nothing too unusual. Here's where it gets ridiculous)
Step 4: Load my saved water bottles that are the only thing I can drink at the moment without making me nauseous only to have them confiscated by the security man. "No liquids through this point." I was like they're not even open... Didn't matter, so my first little "moment" is when I told him to enjoy my waters while I had to go pay $4 for another one rather sarcastically. :I
Step 5: Get yelled at by same security man to once again show id and boarding pass AGAIN. Is it normal to show it AGAIN??? Adam says yes, so I dig it out and proceed.
Step 6: Move into this air sprayer container thing that sprays you with air in testing for gun powder residue???? WHAT??? Never done this before. AND the doors took no kidding forever to open as if they'd found something on me or something. It was retarded.
Step 7: Get patted down by lady in security for wearing a "hooded shirt" which she just so happen to realize wasn't hooded after she'd felt me up all over the front and turned me around to the back side... "Sorry." Yeah right.
Step 8: Ma'am... We're going to need to look in your bag. So now I'm like great. She scans all over it with this little pencil thing then proceeds to open it and go through the entire contents. Apparently I was in violation of the 3:1:1 rule. You know... 3 oz, in one container in one bag. Well, I made it from Atlanta to Salt Lake that way, now suddenly it was a problem. She puts all of my stuff in this baggie and starts explaining this rule thing to me. Well... unfortunately for us all I was EXTREMELY tired, nauseous, low on food, and VERY grumpy. Normally I don't say anything in these types of situations, but today I'd just had it and was being a royal B$%^&! When she finally took my brand new bottle of $8 lotion that I had just purchased because it was 7.5oz instead of 7oz, I retreated to a bratty teenager and didn't really say anything but you could tell I was boiling inside. My final straw... and I'm so sorry to admit that I actually did this... I can attempt to blame it on the timing and circumstances, but ultimately I must face that I behaved badly in that I actually coughed on the ladies equipment! I know... really stupid.... :) But I'd like to think that ultimately I've grown through the situation and will try NOT to let my personal issues interfere with my behavior in the outside world. :)

So I have the entire 4 hour plane ride to reconnect with my inner self. We get home and see the kiddos and give them their little gifts and everything is good and fine. Gracie had ballet practice that we all went to to watch. On my way to her class, I send Marit a text to check in with her and make plans to pick her up at the airport later that night. She was to fly home on Monday as well and since she rode to the airport with me and Adam, I was going to head back over there that night to pick her back up.

Well she sends me a message back saying that she had been in a little bike wreck and was still in the E.R. That she and Liz were ok, but she was getting checked out. So of course I'm freaking out wondering if she's really ok and worried about her. But she assures me she'll be fine and will call me when she gets discharged.

In the meantime... my Mom is at our house still from staying with the kids over the weekend and when she calls to talk to my Dad for a second, she says that it sounds like he's not feeling well. She insists on calling back in 30 min to check on him and when she does he assures her that he's fine.

So I proceed with dinner and trying to pick up my yet again disaster of a house when my sister calls to say that something isn't right with my Dad. Just for a little history... he's Diabetic, had a heart attack 8 years ago, has 3 stints in his heart or blood vessels where ever those things go, he has high blood pressure, and has had many issues for quite sometime. He smoked for A LONG time all the way up until his heart attack and hasn't lit up ever since, but... you know... sometimes things develop and there's no turning back. He's never SUPER healthy. He's always had these chronic issues, but generally he's fine. Well as soon as my sister said that he was delirious and didn't really know what he was talking about yet his blood sugar level was fine... we got scared.

So off to Carrollton, an hour away from my house to meet her and my brother-in-law Gary with my Dad. MANY phone calls later and SEVERAL hours. They decide my Dad had a mini-stroke and want to admit him for further testing.

In the meantime I talk to Marit shortly enough to find out that her situation is more complicated than originally thought. She's suffering from some nerve damage and they're admitting her to the hospital there in San Deigo.

After an EXHAUSTING day, I finally hit my bed at 12:30am after being up for over 20 hours straight and with my Dad and my new friend Marit both in the hospital!!

The updates as of now is that Marit is unfortunately having to undergo some surgery to alleviate some nerve damage to her pelvic/bladder area. She'll be in San Deigo for a few more days and her Dad and husband are both flying out there now to help her. Her car is still at my house, but of course I told her NOT to worry about that. When she needed it, we'd get it to her. So PLEASE be thinking about her and her speedy recovery!

After more tests they are now thinking that my Dad did NOT have a stroke, but is suffering from more heart complications that may be associated with his kidneys....He's in the cardiac wing over in the hospital in Carrollton and is doing fine, but they're trying to figure out what's going on. His blood pressure was like 250/132 and is still fluctuating, so a specialist has been called in to try to solve the mystery. I'm guessing he won't be released today or maybe for a few more days, so we're continuing to think and pray about him.

After my 12:30 bedtime... Cooper promptly woke me up at 6am throwing up. Apparently, he has now gotten the infamous stomach bug going around. So no school for him today... However, he's actually in great spirits and is currently bugging the mess out of his sister, so the bug hasn't knocked him out on the couch as it did me!

So... If you've made it this far in my blog, you're probably super depressed by now!! :)

I'm sorry!!

I'm sure everything is going to be fine. Marit is going to have a super quick recovery and be back racing and kicking everyone's butt come end of season! :)

My Dad I'm sure will be fine. More medication and he'll go back to his cute, stubborn self. Why is it so hard to convince a 63 year old man to go to the Dr. or that if you've maybe had a stroke you might need to spend the night in the hospital "just to be sure??" I mean... BIG stubborn old man! :) But of course I adore him and am a Daddy's girl, so he'll be fine, simply because he has to!!

Hopefully, Cooper will be back in school tomorrow and within the next day or two life will return to a semblance of normal.

Until then... you may want to be thinking of us all!!

Thanks everyone!
K :)

Being a Parent is So Weird!

I absolutely adore my children all of the time...

BUT :)

They have their moments. Life at home isn't incredibly peaceful. If I'm not busy running around chasing after/taking care of them, I'm busy doing my stuff, house stuff, work stuff, etc.

So anytime a vacation is around the corner, I get a little excited about the opportunity to have some "quiet time!" I seriously do believe that all marriages are made stronger with a little alone time without the kids! So, I am very grateful for the opportunity.

However, the moment I'm out of their site or earshot, I miss them SOOO much! I talk about them and the things they would like or wouldn't. Like, they'd LOVE to see all of this snow. They would have a blast at the tubing park or going down the alpine slide!

We'd actually planned on bringing them along this year, but it went from a big family vacation with Adam's family to not a ski vacation at all because of several reasons on all sides, to a quick long weekend with just me and Adam.

Next year though, I really do want them to come. Honestly, I'm not sure they'd appreciate it as much this year as I hope they will next. There's a LOT of little-bity ones out there, but knowing mine's personalities, I'm not sure they could hang out there long enough to make it worth the while. However, I think next year will be perfect!

And you should see some of these babies skiing!!! Literally... we saw one little fellow that couldn't have been 3 yet out there on two itty-bitty little skis holding onto a pole that two other adults were squatting and holding onto too. He was so cute! And the kids here can do things us adults wouldn't dream of. They have such a low center of gravity, even if they do fall it doesn't hurt that bad!

I am feeling better, but ended up not skiing today either. So it does suck that I got in only a little less than 3 hours on the slopes, but I think I've averaged about 14 hours a day sleep, so that had to count for something! :)

I thought about skiing today, but am still a little iffy and the weather here has actually been a bit on the harsher side. Winds of 25-30mph mixed with snow showers on a Mountain didn't sound like something a weak body should be engaging in today!

I really do believe in a reason for everything and have CONVINCED myself that I would have gotten hurt this year or something. Adam participated in this NASTAR thing where they set up a course with gates for you to go through and try to win medals. He did two trys and did really awesome! They even have 2 side by side ones so you can race your friends and such...

So this year he signed us up for it and here's what WOULD have happened if I wouldn't have gotten sick...

Adam and Kellye each lined up at the start line waiting for the buzzer to sound and the gate to open... Adam starts pulling slightly ahead when Kellye looks over and decides she will have none of that....Kellye maneuvers her body into a tight tuck heading straight down the hill to beat Adam and Win the GOLD....Suddenly, she's out of control, falls, loses a ski, and breaks many said body parts all in an effort to maintain her competitive spirit!!

So, I guess the world does have a way of working everything out KNOWING that Kellye Mills had no business racing that course this year and therefore stuck her butt on a couch instead!!

There's always next year... RIGHT!!

We're headed home tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be 100% and back into my training groove.

Until Then...
K :)

Vacation: Plan B

Well, I had said that I wanted to focus more on relaxing this vacation than Adam and I normally do, and apparently my body did as well as it has now taken over and bed-ridden me here in the beautiful Mountains.

I'm sick :(

It completely sucks!

We arrived on Thursday, and I was just tired. But you know travelling, 3:30 wake up call, and all just made sense. We went to bed pretty early and I slept 12 hours!! Holy Cow!! Couldn't even remember the last time that happened!

Well we decided to go get some breakfast, then hit the slopes, and then I'd get my run in in the afternoon. After breakfast, I knew I wasn't feeling 100%, but I just kind of blew it off and off to the slopes we went. Things were going well, but my body just started aching. So I decided to head back to the room early to lay down for a minute to try to recoup. Well... my run never happened. :(

I did manage to go to dinner last night, but have been stuck to the couch or bed ever since.

UHHHH...

I keep telling myself that everything happens for a reason.. Maybe I would have hurt myself on the slopes or something like that and that would have been REALLY bad!

So, I'm just trying to rest while poor Adam has to ski alone.

Well back to bed. :)

"There's Nothing like A Buhcation!"

Somewhere, Cooper picked up that little line! When he "lounges" on the couch or something, he'll put his little hands behind his head and kick back and say that! But it comes out "Buhcation" instead of "Vacation!" :) So that has been the line for today!

Yesterday was CRAZY busy! It was Gracie girl's 4th birthday party. She really got into the birthday thing this year! I took Dunkin Donuts to school for her and her class. Her favorite thing is to lick the icing off of about 6 of those things if you let her! She got to make a Birthday Crown at school to wear all day. I dressed her up in a pretty, new dress for her big day, and she literally felt like a princess ALL DAY!! We had a Tinkerbell party with my Mom and Marit. Pizza, flower cakes, and presents... doesn't get much better than that!

Marit is GREAT!! Absolutely everything that I was envisioning but more! She's so sweet and just fit right in. And to sit and have a conversation with her about triathlon... was the BEST!! She is so incredibly enthusiastic about it, and I can just imagine a person NOT into traithlon getting around her and getting excited about the sport! We talked bikes, races, results, plans, sponsors, shoes, helmets, nutrition, coaches (we have the same coach so we swapped secrets about Jen... :) Just kidding! ha ha), and seriously everything about triathlon. She is already such a great friend!! I may come and return the house favor and stay with her, Nathaniel, and Tabittha for some good old fashion heat and humidity training if it doesn't get warm enough in Georgia before Hawaii. And we're both teetering on riding out together to Lubbock, TX for the Buffallo Springs race in June. Kellye and Marit on a Road Trip... we just may be able to supply enough energy together so that we don't even need gas!! :)

You know I must like her if we hauled ourselves out of bed at 3:30am this morning (YES...you did NOT read that wrong... I said 3:30!!) to make it to the airport for her 5:45am flight. It actually ended up getting cancelled, but it worked out really good in the long run because the 3 of us sat there and chatted and got to know each other that much better for a couple hours in the airport before flying out to complete opposite destinations! Well... 3 of us until Adam couln't stand the tri-talk for one second longer and went to peruse through the terminal to people watch! :)

So here I am... in our second little home of Park City, Utah! Completely snow covered and beautiful as always! After a long flight full of some quality study time for my PT test coming up, the whole rental car pick up, check-in, and lunch we arrived! With a full belly, my chocolate craving for fudge subsided, and a quick dip in our hot tub in our condo... I just woke up from a 2 hour nap and the first thought... "Ahhhh... There's Nothing like a Buhcation!" :)

I'm completely bummed though because I forgot the little cord that plugs my camera into my computer, so I don't think I'll be able to post any pictures right now... but I'll have plenty of them as soon as I get my hands on that cord!!

I'm off to go pick up our ski gear, grab some dinner, and pick up a bottle of wine for a little hot tub relaxation before probably passing out tonight shortly around 7pm!! Hey... on a side note, Giro makes ski helmets. Thought... if I would have brought the Giro Advantage 2 aero helmet I'm planning on getting with my whopping $100 gift card from All 3 Sports, would that have been a GOOD idea or a BAD one??? Hummmm... The way I ski... probably BAD!! :)

Have fun everyone, and hope and pray that each and every blog I post over the next couple of days is done so with a body completely intact of all parts in proper working and functioning order!!

Until then...
K :)

I Have a Confession!

I LOVE anything and everything chubby!!

With everyone all focused on nutrition and wanting to get it together for race season or even drop a few pounds... I decided to pay tribute to the other side.

The Cute...

The Adorable...

The Chubby!!

Yes... I know it's not healthy, and on most adults it's not the most attractive feature, but you have to admit... to a certain extent... some children, animals, and even adults are SOOOO super cute chubby!!

You hear about weight discrimination... I'm GUILTY!! I literally have this sweet little place in my heart for the cute and chubby!!

Examples:

Rocky: He weighs 28.6lbs at the moment. YES... we have him on a diet and are pushing the exercise program up a bit with Spring in the air, but look at him... he's so CUTE AND CHUBBY!

This is my super fat Cooper! How cute are fat babies??!!

My favorite Characters are always the round ones! Santa Claus, Theodore from the Chipmunks, Heimlich from A Bug's Life, Eore, Cookie Monster, Patrick from Sponge Bob, etc...

And I know it' not healthy for kids to be super obese... but the cute little round ones are always sooo sweet aren't they!

So... I'll admit.... I'm biased

Give me a group of kids or adults or animals or anything, and I will ALWAYS fall in love with the short, sweet, happy, loving, round ones!!

So though I am not promoting a chubby lifestyle :), I'm here to let you know that you are still and always will be loved!!!

Happy Day!

k

Let The FUN Begin!!

If you've been reading for awhile, you know that I've made an effort to embrace the winter "down time" this year. We're a busy, on-the-go family! Things slow down a little after the holidays and January and February tend to be more about the daily grind than the usual rest of the year craziness. As I'm sure it is for a lot of people!

Well... Spring is here, and the CRAZINESS is about to begin!!! :)

And I LOVE IT!! I get stressed and overwhelmed some sure.... but honestly... I THRIVE in these sorts of conditions. So I'm READY!

Wednesday is going to be a GREAT day! Gracie girl turns the big 4 on Wednesday. And to make it that much more special... my mom and Marit will be at our house to celebrate. Yep... Marit is flying out to San Deigo to do MORE training! I hate to say it, but if you're in the 25-29 age group, you're a female, and you're racing IM AZ on April 13th... um... you've got some SERIOUS competition coming at ya! :) So Marit is going to spend a couple of nights with us to have access to the Atl. airport. We are VERY excited that she is coming, and I'll finally get to meet one of my blogger friends!

And it works out perfectly actually because Adam and I are flying on the same days that she is! Except as she's headed out to sunny, warm San Diego... Adam and I are headed to one of our very favorite places... Park City, Utah!

Thursday we'll arrive in a place completely smothered in beautiful, white snow! Something I know a lot of you WISH you didn't see right now! However, I know the difference is that we don't have to live with it AND we're going for the sole purpose of PLAYING in it!! YIPEE!!

Adam is DEFINITELY the better skier of the two of us! So he'll be kicking my butt up and down the slopes all weekend! Oh... and don't worry... I have a pool I use when I'm there every year to keep up with my training. And come on... running in the mountains like that... pretty good training! No biking unfortunately. But, 3 days of straight skiing is going to make up for that!

So, the CRAZINESS has begun! My TDL is ENORMOUS just to get everything ready to leave. Pack, clean house, get everything ready for my mom for the kids to go to school, baseball, ballet, etc. We've got to do all of our usual stuff, plus get ready for Gracie's Birthday, AND I have my Personal trainer's exam coming up in less than 2 WEEKS!! AHHH!! Good thing I've got some long plane rides coming up!

And it doesn't stop after that! Easter is the weekend we return. Can you believe it? Daylight Savings Time, and then an early Easter??? Wow. 2008 is going to be over before we know it! Then the Atlanta ING half marathon, my PT Test. Then I'm going to start doing some personal training on the side in addition to my spin classes, my own training, being a mom, AND working part time for the restaurant!

After that... we've got St. Anthony's Triathlon followed by a trip to Disney, then OFF to Hawaii!!

And that just gets us TO summer!!

So, I'm ready... I'm excited... I'm pumped up for some sunshine, good times, and LOTS OF FUN!!

Happy Monday to you all!

K :)

Sweat Burn and the Power Challenge!!

I've had more than my fair share of sun burn in my life time!!

I've experienced windburn on several occasions!

Carpet Burn even!

But never have I experienced Sweat Burn!!

Well...After 3 LOOOOOONG hours on my trainer on Friday morning, I discovered that is exactly what I had. Well... kind of I guess! :)

Friday was another day of some pretty nasty weather here in the ATL! And if Marit has taught us anything... you do NOT go out in the thunder and lightning!! Especially on a metal piece of equipment! :)

So I prepped Jen in advance and she got me all set to ride for 3 hours indoors for the day. I wasn't TOO flabbergasted, as I've done as much as 2 1/2 lately on it.

I got all set up. And you know I've always thought getting set to ride outdoors is a lot of work...load bike, helmet, shoes, gels, bars, water bottles, drink mix, recovery food, clothes, extra clothes, towels, pump, etc... etc... Well at home for that long is almost just as bad! :) Get dressed, hr monitor, water bottles, towel for floor so carpet in bedroom won't smell like butt when you're done, towel for you, food, and oh yeah... the most important part... set up T.V.!!

Ok... so I'm locked and loaded... The O.C. is flowing away (I finished watching the first season during this training session. Sorry.... it's one of my favorite shows!)

Now is the part I should mention that I will admit that yes... I am a 5' 2'' tall petite girl... but I sweat like a MAN!! A BIG man!! It's kind of gross actually. And a little embarrassing when I'm teaching class and up there dripping puddles!! According to my VO2 Max test, I burn a lot of calories which most likely come from wasted heat energy!! Ok... that explains a lot!! :)

So I'd gotten out 1 hand towel to drape over the aero bars to help control the shower of filth, BUT... I had to get ANOTHER after maybe half way in because that one had gotten soaking wet and was no longer fulfilling it's job as a moisture soaking tool!

Well after finishing my ride, and a short run off the bike... I realized that my lip, nose, and face hurt. I showered and was trying to figure out what was going on. I looked in the mirror to see that the top of my nose is red from being rubbed raw!! And my upper lip is super chapped.

It's from sweating like a stinking hog and using those soaking wet towels to try to mop my face clean!! :) For me... that's a first!

As for the power challenge, there was a triathlon expo here today that I went to to check out. All 3 Sports, an online and local tri company was doing this power challenge on a compu-trainer. A friend of mine works there and said I should do it. I took my shoes, but have never ridden a compu-trainer before and didn't really think it was any sort of big deal or anything so I didn't bring any cycling attire. I almost didn't even do it.

I ended up semi-reluctantly agreeing. Even though I rode in a sweater, jeans, and my shimano shoes!! Now THAT is a fashion statement!! :) And why a sweater... well, I'm one of those people that will wear a bra ONLY if absolutely necessary. Anytime I double-up on shirts or sweaters or anything, there's simply no need. So when I decided to do it and ALREADY started sweating my manly butt off in the warm-up, I went to take my sweater off to remember that I WAS currently bra-less and therefore should probably continue to leave my sweater on though not seemingly wise as to avoid any local embarrassment! When I went to get on the bike they were like... here, take this off. And I had to say that was NOT a good idea! :)

Well.... it ended up being fun. Despite my wardrobe malfunctions!! I didn't even realize until afterwards that it was actually a competition, and that I had come in SECOND!! So of course I was SUPER stoked about my medal, but then I discover I won $100 Gift card to the tri store!!! I told them had I known that... I would have pushed it a little harder! :) First place won a whopping $250. You better believe next year I'm showing up geared up and ready to GO!! And to Danielle who claimed the first place prize... I'm now glad I aged-up this year so I'm not competing again you, you crazy, strong bike lady!!

So overall things are well. LOOOONG hilly run tomorrow! Looking forward to it actually. You'll all be with me while I'm out there I'm sure as I think about my "blogger world!"

Have a good one tomorrow everyone!!

K :)

Redneck Mansion!!

Ok... my sister-in-law sent this to me saying this is where our hometown of Franklin is heading! Some people may look at this picture and gawk...

BUT... I really like it!! I think it's cool and super creative!! Am I crazy???

7 Random Things!!

So I think this game of "TAG" has been going around the blogger world... So here we go... :)

1. I HATE to defrost meat!! I know it's crazy and ridiculous, but I will use a crockpot, use meat before it needs to be frozen or whatever it takes to avoid defrosting any sort of meat!!

(One Word: GROSS!!)

2. I have been hit by a car! Ok... in the cycling world, that's unfortunately NOT that big of a deal! However, I was 12 years old getting my hair fixed for my sister's wedding. I'd locked the keys in my mother's car and after finally getting them out of the car with the locksmith parked behind our car so that I couldn't see what was coming... I walked out and there was a man driving a Mercedes really FAST in a parking lot in Buckhead!! I was fine. It just sent me for a little flight and I landed on my rump. Spent the next several days with a donut seat!!

3. I've HIT another person with my car!! Ok... I honestly think I'm a good driver. Everyone else does NOT!! This however was definitely NOT my fault. I was in Myrtle Beach for my Senior Year Spring Break trip. Me and my 4 other girlfriends were all piled up in my car. We were heading back to our dump of a hotel after dinner when out of nowhere this guy walked right out into the middle of the road and there was no time for me to stop!! I immediately get out of the car to discover this teenage boy laying down in front of my car completely passed out and bleeding!! His CRAZY girlfriend starts screaming at me that I killed her boyfriend. Everyone is screaming and crying... NOT a good time for Spring Break if you know what I mean. Fortunately, he was fine. He was SUPER doped up on something. And actually they told me that's kind of what saved his life. I mean he stepped out in front of me because he was in complete la...la world, but he NEVER saw me coming. And they say that when people see that they're about to be in an accident they tense up and THAT contributes to their injuries, so... whatever he was on left he COMPLETELY relaxed and therefore ended up with a broken arm. I didn't get a ticket or anything because it was his fault. The cop didn't even give me a breathalyzer test, which I thought was interesting considering it was Spring Break and all. Wouldn't have mattered as I had NOT been drinking.... However, I've never had one of those tests before and I was freaked out about the situation enough as it was . I did end up with a broken windshield that had to be fixed there in SC and when I hit him... I knocked him out of his shoes and knocked the pickles out of his hamburger!! Adam removed the pickles from the top of my car after my return!! :)

4. My DREAM car is a antique 2 door Ford Bronco with the soft top that you can remove!! Oh... I LOVE them! They're not that expensive if you buy them unrestored. But then you have to either restore it yourself or have it restored which is expensive. Or you can buy them restored and they're pretty pricey that way as well! One day... I'm going to California to get one of those suckers so I can use it to throw my bike in the back during the summer!!

(Ohhh... Isn't she beautiful!! LOVE this car!!)

5. I like almost EVERY kind of music! On any given day of my ipod you can find things ranging from Snow Patrol, to Sarah Mclachlan, to Korn and Limp Bizkit, to old school 80's music, heavy beat rave type music from my cycling classes, to even a few classical songs (appreciated from the ballet years... and I'm still counting on that Mozart music to help my brain :) to the occasional old school country music of Willie Nelson! Not really a fan of new country music. I do however like a few of Carrie Underwoods songs if those count.

6. As my Dad has always described me..."I'm an accident waiting to happen!!" Adam says people like me shouldn't be in triathlon for that reason!! I'm seriously SUPER clummsy!! In my short almost 30 years of life... I've managed MANY sprained ankles with crutches, a neck brace for 2 weeks because of hitting my head on the concrete, broken my tail bone 3 times!, 3 different surgeries for tubes in my ears (once even at the age of 18!!), a sprained wrist from a bicycle crash, a cracked eye socket bone, an ACL replacement, a stress fracture in my foot, a nail through the bottom of my foot, and even more stuff that I can't remember at the moment!!

7. Some things on my "Bucket List"...try to surf (I'm hoping to do that VERY soon!! :), Do a tour of Europe, see the Aurora Borealis, a bunch of other stuff and the random one... ride in one of those cars that has hydraulics!! I have NO IDEA why... but it looks like fun!!

(So it's completely out of character for me... But come on... It's like a fun ride or something!!)

Ok... so 7 random things about me! If you've read this... "TAG... You're IT!"

K :)

For a Good Cause!!

Ok.... so I HATE asking for money! I'm not a sales person, at least not a very good one! :)

I registered for the Walt Disney 2007 Marathon under a charity. I was required to raise $500 for the charity. I thought..., "I have a really big family and a lot of neighbors, $500 shouldn't be that bad!"

Ummmm... let's see. After a few donations from family AND a Halloween party that I threw for the neighborhood where I sat a pumpkin out and just said drop in whatever you feel comfortable with, I ended up writing a check for approximately $400!!

AND to top it off... I got injured and couldn't even race!

So needless to say, as much as I'd LOVE to do Team in Training, I seriously could not make that kind of commitment. A friend of mine does it every year, and I told her I'd GLADLY give her $20 because I know a) how un-fun (is that a word?) it is to ask people for $$ and b) how seriously hard it is to meet your goal. My hat goes off to you all for doing a really amazing job for an amazing cause!!

I think it's in my genes or something though! Back in school, my mom got to where she forbid fundraisers! I was in a family of 7!! 4-H, or school in general would send everyone home with those gourmet lollipops, Christmas wrapping paper and treats, or heaven forbid... those 4-H chocolate bars. OMG!!! Those things were truly AMAZING!! HUGE chocolate bars, and oh soooo good! So here's what would happen. They were $1 each. I'd come home with 30. A week later... after the 7 (6 really because I don't think it was my mom so much) dipped our sticky fingers in there, my mom would write them a check for $30!! I wouldn't even really have the opportunity to sell them before my family consumed them!! Not to mention there were always those few people... you know who I'm referring to... that had the serious hook up!! There mom's would get the goods first or something. Or maybe they had an "in" in the local church, so you'd go around and ask people and EVERYONE would be like, "Oh sweetie, I would, but I've already bought from so and so!" And it was SO frustrating.

Maybe I should have taken my neighbors approach. Her little sales pitch... she doesn't show us the goods she's pimping... Oh... she shows us what prizes she'll win with the more $ we spend with her!! It's sooo funny!!

Ok... so after that long spiel... I find myself in the once again awkward and challenging position of raising money!!

My triathlon sponsor, PT Solutions, is participating in an Arthritis Foundation Walk on May 3rd. Being that we are a team sponsored by a physical therapy company, the topic hits home with them. We all know someone that has arthritis or lets face it... We're getting old people and it may be US before too long! :)

So I have to raise $100. I KNOW we all get hit up for donations, girl scout cookies, and all that good stuff all of the time. So if this is one that you can't add to your charity list, I totally understand. However, if you have an extra $10 that you need to give to charity to help out with those taxes you're working on now (ok, so it'd be for next year, but you can get a head start!), then please visit the website below and help out for a good cause!!

http://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=253692&lis=1&supid=207034471

Thanks guys, and best of luck to all of you with your charity events for 2008. I know a lot of races revolve around that!!

K :)

My Kind of Baseball!!

(Cooper was 1st to bat! Notice he pauses to smile for the camera instead of focusing on the ball!! :)

I LOVE SPORTS!! I do! It is so much fun to watch any team go out there and put their heart and souls into something they love and go through the ups an downs throughout the competition! I tend to root for the under-dog. I guess because it seems that they have the most to overcome. And you can turn on ANY sport competition that I won't know ANYTHING about, and I will end up picking SOMEONE to root for. Why?? Because it's FUN!!

I mean I'm trying to think of a competition that I DON'T like to watch... and I can't really think of one. Obviously there are a lot out there that I wouldn't go to or purchase tickets for. But come on.... let's all admit that when flipping and you see the lumberjack contests on ESPN.. You stop to watch.. You know you do!!

And the Olympics.... Oh Goodness!! LOVE the Olympics! I get completely sucked into all the dramatic stories about all of the athletes that have worked SOOO hard for their 30 seconds down a ski slope, or their 1 routine on the gym floor. It's incredible!!

Ok.. So yesterday was Cooper's first baseball game!

(Uh. Oh.. Do you see the ball BEHIND the swing!! :)

It was so much fun!!!

It was our first game ever so we didn't really know what to expect. Well here's how it works:

EVERYONE bats each inning.... EVERYONE gets a hit... EVERYONE... gets on first (whether your technically "out" or not. But that honestly doesn't happen very often)...EVERYONE gets to run each base... EVERYONE scores.... EVERYONE WINS!!!

It was seriously so cute! 3 Innings and boy that was long enough! You can see in some of the pictures I posted that after awhile you've got some playing in the dirt, some playing with their hats or gloves, and apparently the pants must have been itchy because at some point they were all playing with "other things" looking like real baseball players if you know what I mean! :)

So I can say it was a very successful game! We WON!! And so did the Braves! :)

I have a feeling we're going to have a VERY successful season!

(Number 1 fan! She seriously cheered for ALL the players!!)

GO ORIOLES!!

K :)