the beauty of friendship

I remember several years back when Jessica was moving into a new apartment. My mom and dad bragged about how fast and easy the moving experience was because she had so many friends from her small group that came and helped. I remember thinking at that time that I wished I had a group of friends that would do something like that for me.
Well, my wish came true. This past Tuesday our bible study group offered to come over to our house and help us out with some 'fixing up' things that we needed to get done.
To back up a little bit, Jason and I are about ready to put our house on the market. We are going to try and sell it so that we can move closer to where he works. Right now he is driving almost an hour one way because of the traffic, so the closer we can get the better. The location won't affect me as much because of how early I would have to leave to get to work on time along with the fact that I would be traveling the opposite direction of the heaviest traffic.
So...we had mentioned to our friends that we were going to try and get the house on the market as quickly as we could and we told them what the realtor had told us to do to get it ready to sell. They just offered to give up their evening to come and help. We have the best friends ever! They came over a little after six that evening and we got started by around seven. Before 10pm we had almost everything done on our list! It was awesome! We did touch up painting (which also involved completely repainting one whole wall because the color we touched up with ended up not being the right one), fixing the hole in our ceiling that had been there almost a year, handing curtains and curtain rods, updating 3 faucets, trimming a tree branch that had fallen down, replacing the hardware on our back door and decluttering every area that I wanted to get to except for two! We got SO much done! We had a yard sale today with the help of Jason's family and managed to get rid of some more junk. We are having new carpet installed on Monday and then we should be able to meet with the realtor again next week and go from there!

We have been SO busy lately! I actually had the triathlon post done a while ago, but when I went to upload the pictures my computer froze and I was so frustrated that I just went to bed! You know how I feel about technology and I had had enough!

School has been nuts! There is so much paperwork to do at the end of the year it is just crazy! We have 7 more days left and then its over! It has been a FABULOUS year, but it is time for it to be over! Jason has been busier at work than he's ever been which is such a blessing considering the economy. He actually has two houses that are being featured in two different Parade of Homes here in Austin. I hate to brag, but he is good at what he does.

I started training for my next triathlon this past Monday. The race is on September 17 and it is quite a bit longer than the last one. The swim is 800m, the bike is 20 miles and the run is a 10K. I have joined a training team that actually does fundraising for lukemia and other blood cancers. I joined this team because it will be a way for me to help fund research for a cure in honor of the student that I lost last year to lukemia. I will be setting up a website and sending out letters to collect donations in the next week or so. Each race has a set amount that is a minimum for you to collect and 75% of those funds go back to the society to help these families that are affected and to fund the research. The other 25% covers our race entry fees, our trainings, uniforms, etc. It seems like it will be a really neat thing to be a part of and I am looking forward to it!

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. I plan to be in Oklahoma June 17-21, splitting my time between OKC and Tulsa. I hope to see a lot of you and look forward to catching up! Everyone take care!

Mission Accomplished

my transition area

about to cross the finish line

right after I got out of the water

Well, its not often that I set a New Year's Resolution and actually accomplish it, but I made it through the triathlon! It was really fun and I start training for my next one on Monday.

The drama started on Saturday when we went to pick up our race packets and the bike that I rented. Since it was a rookie triathlon, I expected the people there to offer a lot of information about what to expect and the rules, etc. Well, there was none of that and it really added to my anxiety about the whole thing. After we picked up our packets and were in the car I was reading the handbook and it said that we had to have our race numbers displayed on the front of our bodies when we begin the running part of the race. Well, I was planning on wearing the same thing throughout the race so I couldn't figure out what I was to do with my number because it was on paper and that wasn't going to make it through the water, but I didn't want to have to take the time to pin it to my shirt in the middle of the race. Oh the stress! So that led to some tears and the two of us getting back out of the car to go and see if we could find what the book called a 'race belt'. Well, we did and no thanks to the race coordinators outside the store, we figured out how it worked and all was well...until 4am on Sunday morning. At that point I was thinking the triathlon was a really bad idea. Not only was it early, but I was going to have to swim in the lake. I do not like to be in lakes, I do not like to not be able to see my feet, I do not like to put my face in the water, and I hadn't swam the freestyle since my last swimming lesson in elementary school. We practiced in a lake on Saturday and it was disgusting! We looked rediculous by the way. We go out in our swim gear complete with swim cap and goggles (Jason is doing this with me to see if there is any possible way he can make it through the race with no pain) and I don't last 10 minutes. There was seaweed attacking me and with the water being dirty it would be right in your face before you knew it!
Anyway, Sunday arrives and I am really nervous! Jason told me he had never seen me like that before and he felt bad because there was nothing he could do to make me feel better. He was great the whole day though. He was so patient with me and so proud of me when I finished. We got there at about 6:15am and the first thing I had to do was get 'body marked' where they write your race number on both of your arms and thighs and then they write your age on your calf. Then I put my race number on my bike and take all my stuff into the transition area. There were about 1000 participants in this particular race so there were bikes everywhere. I found my spot and set out all my stuff. Jason wasn't allowed to go in that area with me, so when I was finished setting up I took a picture and then showed him to make sure I wasn't forgettting anything. After that, we went and got my time chip that I wore around my ankle and then it was standing in line at the bathroom. I did a practice swim at around 7:30am, managed to get down some energy goo (it is disgusting) after that and then the race started at 8:00am sharp! They released you in flights by age so my flight was about five from the beginning. They count down from 10 for each flight and then a horn goes off and everyone takes off! The swim was really annoying. First of all the water smelled really bad. Second, people were in my way. At one point early on in the race I was just getting into a rythm when I bumped into something. When I popped my head up I was staring the face of another competitor. What's wrong with this picture? Hmm...she was just taking her dear sweet time and BACKSTROKING her way through the water. Now, I'm an awful swimmer, but I'm still competitive and I was annoyed. People were just in the way. I finally gave up and just ran over people. You can't see anything in that water and I was running out of energy. I was never so happy to get out of the water. Then on to the bike ride and the run. Out of 1000 participants I finished 259th and my time for all three events was 1 hour and 9 minutes. Not too bad for a rookie. I had a good time and I will definately do it again.

2 days and counting...

Well, the triathlon is almost here. When I stop and think about it, I get butterflies. I will be starting the race at 8:18am on Sunday morning. Sad news, I will be doing the race by myself. Jason got hurt on Sunday and has seperated the cartlidge from his ribs and is in a lot of pain. The doctor told him doing the triathlon would not be a wise idea. Bummer! So, he'll be there to cheer me on. One swim tonight, a run in the morning, a short bike and run on Saturday and that's it!
We had my parents visit two weekends ago and we had a great time! I am so blessed to have the parents I do. The guys played golf and my mom and I went shopping and got manicures and pedicures together. Then on Monday my mom and dad came to school with me and got to meet all my kids and see what I do every day. My dad left at lunch time to head further south to visit his dad and my mom stayed the entire day. My dad was in the housekeeping center being coaxed into pretending to eat a carrot and I believe the quote of the day was, "It's only 10:30am?" "It feels like the day should be over by now." I really enjoyed having them there to watch me do what I love to do because they played a huge part in me being where I am today.
School is keeping me VERY busy! I don't think it will stop until June 3rd when school is over! I had two new kids start over the past two weeks and they are wearing me out. I forget how clueless they are when they are just starting. I've been very spoiled by how 'trained' they all are. I don't know how I make it through the beginning of the year when they are all like that.
I'll let everyone know how the race goes. Pray for me! I'm sure I'll have some great stories about all the things I forget to do, but it is sure to be quite the experience. Have a great weekend!