A Busy Start to a "Normal" Life

Having swum year round since he was 8, Doug has never had much of a so-called "normal" life. He didn't get to go to his high school graduation, any New Year's Eve parties, Spring Breaks, and the like. Since Trials, we have been making up for that lost time. It's been a nice change to do what we want, whenever we want.



In the past three weeks we have been all over the place, living up the summer. We went to Asheville with my home church, FUMC Dothan, and roofed a house with the Youth Group for the day. I got to show Doug what I spent the last eight summers doing. It was as hot as blue blazes, as you imagine it would be on a roof in July. Five of us finished shingling an entire side of the house before lunch and spent the rest of the day painting. Strangely enough, it's always been my favorite summer activity. I tried to talk my dad into letting me roof our house, but didn't get very far with that one.



After that we went to Highlands, NC for the weekend. Highlands is one of my very favorite places in the entire world. I love everything about it. My mom is always scared when I go back because, knock on wood, I have only been to the ER twice in my life, and both times were at Highland-Cashiers Hospital. Once, I fell off a roof on a mission trip, and the other time I fell hiking and broke my butt bone. Sorry Shaws and Lee Ann. I'm trying to keep the ER visits to a minimum, so my mom threatens Doug to keep me safe.



We decided we would go lazy river tubing, well more like floating, all day Saturday. It was like $30 per person, so we bought kids pool tubes at Ace Hardware and sat in the river, which is more like a 6 inch deep creek these days.



We came back home and had a send-off cookout for Jeremy before he left for the Olympics and helped him decorate his classroom, because the day after he gets back from Beijing, he is a 4th grade teacher! Not much time for jet lag.

Last weekend we went to Cary, NC to see The Avett Brothers, a bluegrass-ish band. We have been wanting to see them for so long and lucked out getting tickets and got to go with some friends from Charlotte. The show was amazing. Koka Booth Amphitheatre was a neat venue, outside in the middle of nowhere and a bunch of trees growing up in the middle. Our tickets were 50-yard-line equivalent.



We then went to Raleigh to hang out with one of Doug's friends from growing up, Justin. We hung out in downtown Raleigh until we were practically sleep-walking. We got back late Sunday after having to stop at the outlets in Concord Mills for a while :) and crashed.

Monday night the Counting Crows were playing in Charlotte, so after a sleepy Monday at work, we drove out the the Verizon Amphitheatre and bought tickets from a scalper at the gas station off the exit, got VIP Parking somehow, and got to see another great show. Adam Duritz had a sprained ankle, but kept playing anyway. He'd forget about his ankle, jump during a song and collapse on stage. The brought him out a chair and a cane just in case, but he continued to jump.

We have been staying busy during the week going to American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA) get togethers for Doug to make some contacts, triathlon training (not I), and getting everything ready to go to Spain in October!!! We can't wait!!

Next on the list...

We are moving to Spain!!! Doug and I have been looking for jobs overseas for a few months now in Dublin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Greece, South Korea, among others.

I applied to a million companies online, all over the world, but all of those dead-ended pretty quickly with Visa issues. I still had an email address for a family I almost au paired for, and thought what do I have to lose? So i contacted her and just said we were looking for jobs overseas and she got back to me and said "Good news!!"

Here is the response:

"Hi Kathryn,

I've told with my partner, Dolors and she has said yes! I've sended the conditions for you for this business, if you are agree, you can start inmedietly, well when you will be here. About your boyfriend, yes too! my friend Ramon has said me that he needs a freelance sometimes but of course he knows a lot people that they've Graphic designer business and he can suggest them your boyfriend for to work there. I suggest you and overall your boyfriend, practice spanish!!When you're thinking to come? If you want, I may help you to find apartment in Mollerussa, is a interestint small city, is a good place to live, it's funny for enjoy the week-ends, and there many cities near: Lleida 20min, Barcelona 1'15h, Balaguer 20min, everything is near.

I'm waiting your answer soon. Kisses."

My mom's reply:

"kathryn cara,

I for suggest this may exciting sound you for and you boyfriend as well. I think funny that it she suggest you for practice you spanish. I am sure that will for be very good idea because it seem like for that English may somewhat be for difficulties for she. Her maybe partner as well also who she told with.

It is all very exciting, mi carido. Te voy a echar de menos.

Adios~ Mami"

Funny lady, my mom.

In the past week, Doug has downloaded Rosetta stone and has learned how to say "The horse under the airplane. The dog on top of the car. The woman on top of the horse." Needless to say, we have a long way to go, but are so excited about the adventure!

So we will be living in Mollerussa, in Lleida in Northern Spain near Barcelona. Everything else is pretty much up in the air, but that's what makes it so much fun!

I am expecting visitors...

US Olympic Swimming Trials 2008

This Independence Day was spent in Omaha, NE for the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials. I have to admit, going into it, I wasn't very excited about Omaha or about watching swimming all day, every day for seven days, but excited to see Doug swim, of course. It far exceeded my expectations to say the least.

My mom and Doug's parents picked me up at the Eppley Airport, which allowed us to mark Iowa off of our list, as it is right across the border. We headed to the pool which was right across from our hotel. Calling it the pool is a severe understatement. It was a huge arena that they built a temporary pool in just for the trails. It is nearly impossible to believe this was a temporary pool. They had a "fan zone" which was like a hall of fame museum of swimming, along with games, autograph sessions, a store, and tons of other things.

They had life-sized posters of some of the previous Olympians with their faces cut out so kids could go stick their faces in and look like an Olympic swimmer. We walked by it and said, "Hey! There's Mark!" There was one of our friend, Mark Gangloff, (who made the 2008 team this year!!!) was on the 2004 team in Athens. I, of course, ran to have my picture made in it.

We had a large cheering crowd of my mom and dad, Doug's mom and grandmom, his dad and stepmom, and his aunt and uncle. Between me screaming and his stepmom, Tama's whistle, there was no way you could miss us.

The first race we saw of the meet was the Men's 400 Individual Medley. Phelps broke his first World Record of the week in an absolutely incredible race. It definitely set the standard for the Trials.


Doug competed in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke and had best times in three out of the four events he swam. Each event has preliminaries, semi-finals and finals. This requires a great deal of mental preparedness to go into training regiments as well, as these swimmers have to know whether to save something for their later swims or take it all out at once. It is a tiring thing just to watch.

My favorite thing about the whole week was the water wall they had that announced the upcoming races and the names of those who made the team. It was computer generated and timed to drop down water in the shape of words. It was amazing. I'm easily entertained, I know. But seriously...

The week was full of laughter, stress, cheers, tears, excitement, heartbreak, and about any other emotion you could think of. We had many friends who competed in this years Trials, which on its own, is an amazing feat. The athletes of course don't see it this way, or they wouldn't have the ambition and drive to have made it this far. The times that would have been awarded medals at the 2004 games didn't even make finals in many events at the U.S. Trials.

It's tough representing a country like ours. We have, bar none, the best swimmers in the world. Many foreign athletes come here to train, then return to their home countries to represent them in the Olympic Games.


We had many friends who competed in the Trials and many who will make up the Olympic team in Beijing!

MECKLENBURG AQUATIC CLUB

Here are some of the people to look out for in the Olympics!


Jeremy Knowles will be representing the Bahamas. He swam at Auburn and trains at MAC (Mecklenburg Aquatic Club in Charlotte) with Doug. He lives here in Charlotte. This is his third Olympics and comes from a great lineage of Bahamian Olympians. He and his wife, Heather, will have an entire team of little Knowles swimmers before too long :)

Mark Gangloff will be swimming the 100 breaststroke in Beijing. He, too, swam at Auburn and trains at MAC. He is an Olympic Gold medalist from the 2004 games, so we will be hoping to see more where that came from!

Cullen Jones has been here in Charlotte training with MAC for a few months and made the team in the 100 freestyle. He is such a nice guy and an incredible athlete. It'll be fun to watch him compete.

Margaret Hoelzer swam for Auburn and for MAC over the last year. She set a new World Record in the 100 back at Trials this year and undoubtedly will have some great swims in Beijing.

Eric Shanteau swam at Auburn as well and now trains at Texas. He will be representing the U.S. in the 200 breast. He had a great swim at trials and has as much heart as anyone. We will all be cheering for Eric!

Over 1200 athletes competed at trials, each who worked and sacrificed and hurt as much as the next. They all deserve to be proud of themselves and have accomplished great things thus far.

Good luck in Beijing, Olympians! Go team U.S.A.!! (and Jeremy!)

Ahh the Queen City

I moved to Charlotte, NC in April as soon as I got back from Verona, Italy. It's a great city with a lot to offer, including museums, concerts, great restaurants, boring jobs and car trouble. Less than a week after I moved here, Doug left for the World Championships in Manchester, England where he did great and even set a World Record in the 4x100 freestyle relay! I was so much fun to watch. Of course I had many an issue getting lost in the "big city," as each street changes names about five times along the way.

I threatened Doug a few times and he was sweet enough (and wise enough) to get me a GPS, I fondly refer to as Karen, for my birthday.

I started my new job, got Karen, and Doug had returned home all about the same time. We went out to dinner my third day on the job to celebrate nothing in particular, because that's what we do. With Doug driving, Karen, Simon & Garfunkel and I were happily poking down the road, and I was on the phone with my mom. A crazy lady ran a stop sign and mashed into my side of the car. I shrieked and the line went dead and my mom was left hanging. It was a long few minutes for her until she heard back from me again. We were all OK and were very very lucky.

In the meantime, we climbed out of the car, removed the car parts from the road and flagged down a police car nearby. The policeman wouldn't do anything as he is "concerned only with guns and drugs."

After an hour and a half later of sitting in front of "Maxx Tirez," or something to that effect, another policeman showed up, and we were cleaning out my car so it could be towed away. The officer questioned the witness and told her she can leave. We were so thankful for this witness, because crazy lady who hit us was trying to blame it on us, until the witness showed up. We waved her off and thanked her again.

Then we heard crunchcrunchcrunch and I just turned around and laid down on the pavement and couldn't say a word. The witness had run over the pile of stuff we have gotten from my car, such as my GPS, my IPod touch, my tennis racket, et al. Meanwhile crazy lady is saying "I really need to get home and go to bed. Can I just leave?" No. You may not, crazy lady.

Anyway, my car was totalled and I was blessed enough to get insurance money to buy a new one about three weeks ago!
It's cute and little and gets good gas mileage, which is a plus as I now commute to work.





Last week I was taking Doug to the airport to fly out for Olympic Trials before I went to work. Off to Dunkin Donuts we went. Doug, again driving, turns into a parking space and somehow flattens my tire. Great start. So I said let's hurry and swap out the cars before it gets worse and we will take your car. He went and left my car at his house while I waited with the food. My instructions: Do not park under the possessed tree that keeps dropping branches on cars.
After he parks my car under the branch he comes back and I take his car to work. I get to work and check my email and see "FYI" in the subject line from Doug's roommate...
"I just got home and there appears to be a pretty hefty branch that fell on KK's new car... If the damage is indeed minimal, it'd be pretty amazing, because it's a pretty solid branch that is like draped all over her car." PLUS a parking ticket.
Thank goodness it wasn't too bad, but I almost lost it and was going to move home that very second. Hopefully that's it for a while.

Things are great and these things are so small and insignificant in the big scheme of things, but I can't help to think my stroke of insignificant luck is coming to balance it out. I'm going to win the lottery.