Things I Haven’t Mentioned

I have been very focused on my new home improvements lately. Between driving back and forth to Clermont, laying flooring, shopping at Lowes, painting walls, driving home late at night, and sleeping soundly to the next day, I haven't been able to blog about too much else. This has been a bit misleading because news-worthy events in my life have been occurring almost daily.

Let me start with my location right now. I'm typing away in a United plane, somewhere between Orlando and San Francisco. I was awake at 4:30am to load up my bike and drive to the airport for my 7:07am flight. Luckily, I was able to use some upgrade certificates and I'm relaxing in First Class after eating a yummy breakfast (I guess they still serve food if you are flying long enough and close enough to the front of the plane:).

My trip to California will end in San Luis Obispo (SLO) where I am meeting up with Matty Reed for his pre-Olympic training camp. I had the amazing honor and privilege of being invited for a week of training to help Matty get ready for the race in August! I guess I'm just supposed to kick his butt in the pool for a few key sessions...because, honestly, what else am I going to be able to do…break away on a bike ride? Out run him at the track? He's a medal contender in this sport! The Reed's rented a house in SLO as our training base from today (July 25^th) until August 3^rd…that is when Matt will head to Palo Alto to check in for Olympic processing.

I'll be flying back to Florida that same day…and getting back to work on my home improvement 'Project'. My last trip to the Carroll Street house was yesterday afternoon. First, I was in the Orlando area to see a foot/ankle specialist (that is a story that might be covered in a future blog). From the doctor's offices, I drove to downtown Orlando and found the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies. This is where the Gnirss/Parks twins are staying until weigh enough to warrant their release from the hospital and get the 'ok' to go home for the first time. I got to see the beautiful babies and rock Madyson in my arms for a few minutes until she need to go back to her crib and rest with her sister, Paeton.

From the hospital, it was just a few more minutes down the E/W Expressway to C-mont (thanks, Koren, for the abbreviation). I had a meeting scheduled with the amazing Tom Z. about a job at the National Training Center. Yes, you heard me, a J-O-B! For Sara McLarty…I know, you thought you'd never see the day:). Anyways, since I'm going to be a Clermont resident and hope to use the NTC facilities for my training, I thought I would ask about what services I could provide in exchange for a free/cheaper membership rate. Well, discussions turned to the newly departed Master's Swim Coach, the lack of a unified Triathlon clinic organizer, and some other options that were presented. So, not only will I be able to workout in the gym and train with the swim team, I'm also going to be employed! It's all very exciting and promising…I will keep you posted on my hiring process.

Now, if one J-O-B wasn't exciting enough, I have also failed to mention that I have been going through the process of becoming a certified Lake County substitute teacher for the upcoming school year. It was all really easy to research and complete online. I submitted an online application. I took an online class. I have ordered my UF transcript and sent off for letters of recommendation. The only remaining hoops I have to jump through are to get fingerprinted by the county and pass the background check (surprisingly, I don't see any problems there). I think Dustin and my Mom came up with this great idea a few weeks ago…I mean, I live 100 feet from the back side of the local elementary school, how convenient could this be!

So, do you think that is all that I have left out? Nope, during the few, rare moments between flooring and painting, I called our friend Sally to randomly ask if she might have any openings at the end of this season for a swamper on one of her Grand Canyon trips. Talk about coinky-dinky, that morning her husband, Jimmy, had to back out of a trip next month…and guess who has no commitments and volunteered to fill in?!?! MOI! Without any hesitations! I'm going rafting down the Grand Canyon for my third time. My first trip was with Sally, my second was with Irv exactly four years ago (after I missed qualifying for the '04 Olympics), and now I'm going with Sally again (during the '08 Games:). I'm flying to Vegas on the 13^th to meet up with Sal, drive to Kanab to pack the boats, and then I will be on the river from the 16^th to the 24^th of August! I booked my return flight from Vegas a day later (the 25^th) so that I can have a chance to see a show and maybe play some slots before returning home.

And now, I have finally finished filling you in on all the latest and greatest events that are occurring in my life. It's going to be very busy soon but I will always find time to write. Along with this being a simpler way of letting all my friends know what I am up to, it's fun for me to go back over the years and remember my past adventures. One thing I realized, during my last dip back in my archives, was that this blog was started after my last trip through the Canyon. I am looking forward to writing about my trip for the public for the first time (no longer just a photo album for myself).

Ahhh, my battery is running low, a perfect sign to conclude my post and say adios!