Catch-up

It's been a bit since our last entry (oops), but instead of writing about details of the past three weeks, we're going to just cut straight to the best parts-- our vacations! (For this entry, you get to hear, and see, about my trip home. Another entry will be about Philip's trip to Iowa).

Last weekend, I went to CO for my brother's college graduation. Man I miss Colorado and all of its beauty! But, for the four days that I was there, it was full of seeing old friends, going on my first 'brew tour' at New Belgium Brewery (picture is after we got free samples of their new beer 'Skinny Dip), watching Tom hug the Interim President of his college as he passed the stage (mind you, he had never met the guy!) and just having fun with family. Like always, the days passed too quickly, but I came away with some great photos and some even better memories (so cliche, I know).

I got into town on Friday and was greeted by some special ladies. My mom, my Aunt Mag and Nana Kay all came to Denver to pick me up. After a delicious lunch at Red Robin (yum!), we spent a few hours at the malls on the way home and then I went to see my old co-workers and some participants at the Out on the Town Dance that they have every month. Saturday, we left the Springs to head up to Ft. Collins to get the graduation festivities started. We had lunch at Tom's house, then went on the most amazing brewery tour. After a quick early dinner, everyone was in speed mode to get ready for graduation. Two hours later, we were once again ready to party and headed to a restaurant for a late-night snack and more celebrating. Sunday morning, we went to church, visited Horsetooth Reservoir and then headed home. The boys and Nana Kay went straight home while Mag, Mom and I took another shopping detour :) After getting home, Tom and I went to a restaurant with his girlfriend, Laura, and best friend, Chris. Wonderful evening :)

Sadly, Monday morning, I said my good-byes to everyone and headed back to Midland.

Since coming back, it's been a pretty stressful week at work, but I know it's going to get better. There were some changes at work, and while it didn't affect my position too much, I now work Saturday afternoon. So, my days off are Thursday and Sunday. The best part is that I don't work holidays, so today I have off! Happy Memorial Day!

Tri, tri some more

Last weekend was my first Olympic Distance triathlon. It consisted of a 1 mile swim, 40K bike and 10K run and while I thought it was tough for me, poor Phil had to wait all those hours in order for me to finish :) He's such a good husband, great cheerleader and amazing photographer though, so I think he had a little bit of fun. We left Midland Saturday morning and drove to Austin to pick up my race packet and settle in for the evening. Then early Sunday morning, we were off to Pace Bend Park for race day! My age group was the last wave to start the swim, so I started 33 minutes after the first wave left. Thankfully, swimming is my strong area, so I was able to catch up to the pack and gain some ground. Unfortunately, I don't know how to bike, so I definitely got passed my everyone during that part. But, I ended strong and I didn't walk during the run portion, so I ended with a huge smile. I don't foresee any other triathlons in my future, but I am really debating with becoming my father's daughter and doing some long-distance runs... we'll see about that however. If we lived closer to open water, I would love to do more open water races, but seeing as how we live in a desert, I'm not sure that will happen soon.

Funny story of race preparations though... Phil and I decided to join a group and go riding a couple days before my race. We leave our apartment and realize I need to fill up one of my tires. We walk to an air pump and make it just in time to leave with the group. Less than 2 miles into the ride, that same tire goes completely flat. Thankfully, one of the other riders went back to the shop and got me a spare. Instead of waiting, Phil and I start to head back to the store. The man helps fix my tire and we start our ride again. But wait, there goes Katie's other tire! I had 2 flat tires in a matter of minutes. The nice man was thinking and had brought two spares with him, so he just went to work on the other tire. We ended up only riding about 8 miles or so, so in total, Phil and I figured that we walked about 3 miles and biked 8 miles-- all in a day's work :)

Phil has been interviewing candidates for the open agent positions, so once we got back from our vacation to Austin, he was back in the office to prepare for the upcoming interviews. The airport is also preparing for a Certification Inspection, which means that the FAA comes to the airport and makes sure that everything is running efficiently and up to standards. They will come for 3-4 days in order to make sure that everything is up to code. It's a pretty stressful time because if they fail, the airport could get in major trouble. So needless to say, they are making sure that everything is in its place.

As for my job, it's continuing to be a bit stressful, but in a good way. Each day is a new adventure and I know it will take years before I fully understand all the documentation, rules, trainings, regulations and everything else. Just like Phil, we are preparing for State to come and survey all the houses. The house that I am in charge of is expected to be first and it could be anytime in the month of May, starting on Monday. So this week, we have had a lot of people from the office come to look at the house to make sure it is up to code and I have had to do a lot of extra preparations, just to make sure I really do know everything in the house. The staff at the house is great, so there should be no problem with the care of the clients-- I'm just worried about documentation and charting that happened before I was there. I think Phil and I will definitely celebrate after all inspections are done!

Both of us are very anxious for our upcoming trips. Phil leaves for Iowa on the 14th and I leave for CO on the 15th. Then, only a few weeks until Nick and Kayley's wedding!