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Random Wednesday - My Brush With Fame Edition

Since I posted Marc and Kellie. . .

Two years ago, we dedicated the Paul Coverdell Building in honor of the late Georgia senator. His good friend George Bush spoke at the event. It was a BIG day, and a couple of very important people got their picture made with the former president. I was not on that list, but he insisted - said I worked so hard on this event that I deserved a photo. And I did! :-)

Marc's Brush With Fame

I mentioned last week that Marc would be busy, and one of the busy nights was a concert at UGA featuring former American Idol and country music artist Kellie Pickler. I skipped the concert (to recover from one dedication and to prepare for two more the next day) but Marc said it went really well. And after the concert, he got to hang on one of the tour buses with the road manager and musicians. (Miss Pickler has her own bus.)

Before the show, he had a picture made with our friends Bob and Bobby. Aww - three boys with a crush!

Happy Hour!

Last Friday, the Thompsons had a Friday night happy hour on their deck. It's really the best way to spend an evening in Athens - everyone bring something to eat or drink and hang out with friends.

And to celebrate the fact that my terrible, horrible week was over, Anne had a cake made just for me by the lovely ladies at the Ingles bakery.

We Are Not the Best Dog Parents

We love our girls more than most people love their dogs. We feed them and give plenty of treats and belly rubs. And we have fun dog toys and comfy dog beds.

BUT. . .

We have had Lullabelle for more than a year and haven't taken her to the beach. She's gone to St. Simons and Pensacola with us, but we've never actually taken her to the oceanfront. We didn't want to mess with the sand and the water and the necessary cleaning after the beach.

So we're not so much bad as lazy.



But this time, after the triathalon and dinner and much needed naps, we took the girls to the beach. And they didn't really care about the sand and the water. They were more interested in the other people and dogs. So our laziness was not depriving the dogs of anything. Whew!

2009 Sprint Tri, Part Five - Finished!

Marc finished the sprint in a little more than one hour, nine minutes.

Not his fastest time, but not bad at all considering he had back surgery five months ago!

And not bad considering the weather. By the time he was finished, it was close to 90 with high humidity.

He's back, and has the bug to do more, faster. Watch out triathlons, here comes Marc!

2009 Sprint Tri, Part Four - The Run

So after a very good bike ride, Marc's run got off to a rough start. His legs - not used to being on a bike - were a bit like jelly.

While he was in the transition area putting on the running shoes, I asked how he was doing. The answer? "Not too good." So I was a little worried. But he was off and looked to be in good form.

The run was 3 miles, and with the not too good comment, I expected Marc to finish the run in no less than 30 minutes - a 10 minute pace for each mile.

So I was quite surprised that Marc was headed for the finish line in under 27 minutes. I almost missed taking pictures!

2009 Sprint Tri, Part Three - The Bike

After the swim, Marc had to go into the transition area, put on all the bicycle paraphernalia and do the 10 mile bike ride - 5 miles out and 5 back.

I thought he looked great in his new bike helmet. And I know only I care about this, but it matched the tri suit so well!

This was Marc's first time on a bicycle since Ironman. While he has continued to run and swim, he hasn't taken a spin class or a bike ride in almost a year. For this sprint, the ride went very well, but the transition from the bike to the run was a little rough.

What Was I Thinking??

I interrupt your reading about Marc's triathalon to let you know I've gone nuts. It's official.

Next week school starts, and I have three campus dedications (Tate Student Center Expansion, Greek Park and Ramsey Weight Room Expansion) and Marc has two late night programs (The Dan Band and Kellie Pickler.) So it's gonna be a very busy one for all of the McMottes.

This weekend should be one where we take it easy. Sit around. Do nothing. Clean out our DVR.

So what did I do? Bought 12 plants at Lowes. Sunday will be a busy one!

2009 Sprint Tri, Part Two - The Swim

As usual with the Jax tri series, the swim is a 400 meter swim in the ocean. It's a short one for Marc - he swims a mile or more a couple of times a week. (For me, a 1 meter swim anywhere is too much.)


Fernandina Beach had some decent size waves that day, but they had the buoys set in the calmest part of the water. And once Marc swam a little and tested the water, he thought it would be just fine.

The participants swim in waves, as designated by the color of the swim caps.

Marc was in the 4th wave, which consisted of relay swimmers, Athenas (women over a certain weight) and Clydesdales (Marc's division, men over 200 lbs.) You may notice the C on Marc's leg in some pictures - it's his division.

Marc did the swim in 7 and a half minutes and was pleased with that time. Up next, the bike ride.

2009 Sprint Tri, Part One

Instead of one long blog post, I'm going to break Marc's triathlon into four or five parts, so you can be amused throughout the week. Also, I used my new camera and took 230 shots of Marc and the tri. Don't worry - I won't post them all. Just most ;-)

This time, last week, Marc had finished the tri and we were already back in SSI. That day, we woke up EARLY - 4am! Early any day, but a weekend day at the beach? Painful! But we had to get up that early so that we could be in Fernandina Beach by 6:30 so Marc could prepare with 400 of his fellow triathlon crazies and get psyched up for the race.

It was a very festive atmosphere, with lots of spectators and folks in glider-type things flying overhead.

This was the third year that Marc has participated in a Jacksonville Sprint Tri, but it was the first time at this location, and we both liked it a lot. It was easier to access and the parking was MUCH better, closer and free.

And as I mentioned in the last post, this was the first time Marc wore his tri suit. He is a member of a local triathlon club here in Athens, and it is the club suit. He really liked it for a sprint like this!

Tri Time

I've had a rough week - a terrible, horrible, awful week. And it's only Tuesday! So I won't be able to blog about last weekend for a while.

But it was a good one! We went to St. Simons, and on Saturday Marc participated in a sprint triathlon at Fernandina Beach. It was a series of firsts for Marc - the first tri since his surgery, his first outing in his Athens tri suit, his first time wearing his new helmet. And I will write all about it - later.

For now, here's some pictures:

Before the Tri

The Swim

The Bike

The Run

Finished!

Let's Play

The Mall also has a little playground, so the boys played while we waited on Michael and Cheri (who were enjoying a little child-free shopping time!) Bowen really had fun showing Police Bear the ins and outs of the play area.

Fit-Pitchin'

Arbor Place Mall has a smart store planner - right across from Build-A-Bear is the Disney Store. Show the right cartoon at the movie theatre in between them and you've got a Kiddie Bermuda Triangle.

So after we built the bears, we had to walk through the Disney Store, of course. And Mama Dot had to tell Bowen to stop pushing the stroller over other people's feet. He did not want to hear that, so he decided to show us! There were no screams or cries or yells - it was more of a silent protest. But it took up a lot or room.

Mama said this picture should be titled "Mad at Grandma Dot."

We Built Bears

I had a meeting in Atlanta this morning, so after it was finished I went over to Douglasville and met my nephews at the local mall for lunch and some bear building. We had a great time together, and I am pleased to introduce the two newest members of the McDonald family:

Police Bear McDonald

Spidey Bear McDonald

Huddy knew exactly what he wanted - he is really into Spiderman now. He almost changed his mind when he saw the police bear clothes, though. But it all worked out when Bowen chose that outfit. Hudson and Bowen were so excited about the new bears - can you tell?

I wish Douglasville and Athens were closer together so we could do this more often!

For My Flamingo Ladies

I recently had a wonderfully yummy drink that included blueberry vodka, and I decided to try and make it at home. I had not heard of blueberry vodka before, and didn't realize that there would be so many choices at my local liquor store. So which one did I choose? The one with the flamingo on the bottle, of course!

Lullabelle Got a New Toy