Awkward & Awesome Thursdays {a fun little group posting}

{above images: Left- My sweet lab, Quilla, lying next to her leash by the back door this AM

  Top Right-my new spice shaker, a gift from my Mom & Dad. Bottom Right- Salt shaker, bought on a trip to Mexico with my hubby}

This week's "Awkward & Awesome" is brought to you by the letter "C"....for coffee. Somehow, despite how "chill" this week's schedule has been for me, {no thanks to Hurrican Irene forcing me to reschedule sessions},  I just can't seem to get enough of it. Maybe it's the effects of a post-adreline rush from the triathlon, but I have been seriously dragging the past couple days! Not cool!

For those of you new to the blog...Welcome! Awkward & Awesome Thursdays is a fun little group posting I do every week with some fellow photographer friends, Heather & Erica. It's a light-hearted little way for us to stay in touch, and for you to get to know us a bit better. This late in the week sometimes you just need a giggle {and it's OK with us that it's at our expense} or a little good news...but be careful, sometimes these postings can have side effects! Erica once blogged about her orange fingers courtesy of a bag of Cheetos...and despite my best efforts to restrain myself I wound up caving to the craving her post created. I think I'm still running that indulgence off at the gym...

Since I didn't get a chance to post last week, this week will focus mostly on my experience competing in my first triathlon!

The Awkward:

• Things you don't want to hear from a fellow racer just seconds before starting the swim portion of a triathlon: "I hope I don't get pinkeye again from this swim. Last time I swam in this lake I got it from the water..." For the first couple minutes I found myself doing a modified version of the breast stroke...I did NOT want to stick my face in that watert...
•  This one would be better with a visual aide, but my "creative problem solving" {I certainly can't call it genius engineering, although it worked - so maybe I can?} to get my bike rack attached securely to my VW Bug Convertible so that it could handle the 11+ hour drive I had to make. 
• I SO love my Mom & appreciate beyond words her undying support, but I still giggle thinking about this: I was home for a couple days before heading to my race and needed to get some of my training in. My rockin' Mom decided to buy a bike so she could ride with me.We did an 18+ mile ride with me on my racing bike...and her on her little "cruiser" - complete with a basket and a little bell that went "cla-ching, cla-ching."  I would ride a few miles, then stop and wait for a while for her to catch up. I'd see her peddling away in her matching turqouise outfit, basket full of "gear," waving to me as she got nearer. She's so darn cute, but that was such a hoot to see! {I love you, Mom!}
• The swim start to the triathlon: I had my "happy place" during the 2 minutes we were treading water before the horn went off. We were all spread out and I was ready to just zoom off ... but apparently my happy place was THE happy place that EVERYONE in my heat wanted to be in. The 10 second countdown began, and all of a sudden everyone seemed to magically get sucked into my foot of water. The horn went off and it was suddenly like this pirana attack of stranger's feet on my face and arms. EEEEW!
• The way your legs feel after you get off the bike to start the run portion of a triathlon...twleve hundred pounds of concrete tied to each leg would be about equal.

 The Awesome:

• My Mom  loving me enough to go buy a bike to ride along with me.
• Getting over my completely irrational fear of riding a bike. Not only did I complete the extremely steep-hilled 17.5 mile bike course, but I rocked it!
• Crossing the finish line.
• Crossing the finish line and having your Mom & Dad literally RIGHT THERE to give you a huge hug.
• The post-race "high" you get :-) I can't wait to do another one!

And here's one hell of an extra special "AWESOME":

• Getting the news that your hubby's latest CT Scan shows NO SIGN OF ANY MORE CANCER! woooo-hoooo!!! We've been waiting for that for over 2 years now....