Happy Birthday to Me!

OK, so maybe it's a little self-indulgent to wish yourself a Happy Birthday. But since I'm the one in my family who gets the most excited about Birthdays, I figured I better go ahead and send myself a birthday wish. :-)

I have a quiz for you today. Here goes:

Joaquin Phoenix, Julia Roberts, Charlie Daniels, Bill Gates.... so what do they all have in common? OK, I've probably made it too easy... they were all born on Oct. 28th. Just like me. :) I had no idea. Until tonight. I got this idea to go looking for famous people that were born and things that happened on my birthday. Here are some other fun facts:

Harvard College was founded on Oct. 28th in 1636.

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland in 1886.

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO was completed in 1965.

I don't know -- after looking at all of that, I felt just a little more excited about my day tomorrow. ha

But let me add to interesting things about my birthday that happened right in my own family. Most of you may know this story already, but for those who don't, we have some pretty interesting 'coincidences' that have happened on this day in my family. Starting with my Aunt Carolyn who was born on Oct. 28th (a few years before I appeared on the scene). She is my dad's sister and his only girl sibling. Then, on Oct. 28th, 1959, my cousin Sydney was born. She is the oldest daughter of my dad's brother, Jim. Next, I was born, on Oct. 29th, 1963 - the oldest daughter in my family. For years we thought that was a pretty neat trio of birthdays. Then, Sydney's brother Stephen, my cousin, had HIS first daughter. She was due around the 28th, so of course we were hoping.... Well, she couldn't quite wait that long and was born a couple of hours before midnight on... Oct. 27th!! And finally, a few years ago we got the news that my brother's wife was pregnant with their first child, and it was a girl. She was due on, yes, Oct. 28th. Apparently Lena was really, really ready to see the world, though, and came on Oct. 20th.

So there you have it -- the Townsley family birthday trivia and fun facts. :) I think it makes a pretty interesting story. At least it's all written down somewhere for posterity now.

Totally changing gears for a second, I came across a verse that was shared in this Beth Moore Daniel study that I'm doing. I believe that I will adopt it as a verse to really take to heart and build on as I start another year of life... (she encouraged us to 'personalize' this verse, so I've put my name in there):

O [Kay], put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. Ps 130:7

Well, if I don't go to bed soon, it really will be my birthday... Thank you, Father, for another year of life and please help me to continue to put my hope in your unfailing love and full redemption in the year to come. :)

Yay Mackenzie!

Just wanted to brag on my oldest daughter for a moment. :) We received word last week that Mackenzie has been invited to be a part of this years UAH Honor Band Wind Ensemble! She was nominated by her band director at Huntsville High and then chosen by the UAH Music Department to be a part of this band that will be made up of 50 of the best high school musicians from around the city. I'm really proud of her! :) I guess we're not quite sure whether she'll be playing her flute or piccolo just yet, but she's hoping to get to play piccolo - that's really become her favorite of the two.

She will get to be a part of a weekend workshop that will be guest conducted by Col. Thomas Palmatier, Commander and Conductor of the US Army Field Band of Washington DC. That should be an amazing opportunity! I hope it will be a great experience for her and I'm looking forward to the concert at the end of the workshop. :)

Augusta Ironman 70.3

A couple of weekends ago, Jack and I took a trip to Augusta Georgia for the inaugural Augusta Ironman 70.3. If you are unfamiliar with triathlon terminology, an "Ironman" is a race where you swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run a marathon! (26.2 miles) So, you may be asking what an "Ironman 70.3" is.... well, it's a half-ironman. 1.2 (mile swim) + 56 (mile bike) + 13.1 (mile run) = 70.3! And that's what Jack did last weekend while me, my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew chased around Augusta to get glimpses of him along the way.... :)

Getting the bike numbered and ready for the race.

This was a view of the 'transition area' - there were 3,400 people registered for this race -- this picture doesn't really do justice to the sea of bikes that were racked up and ready for their riders.

This was the view on the morning of the race down by the river as athletes were coming in and getting into their wetsuits and lining up for the swim at the start of the race. It was beautiful, but a little bit chilly, on the banks of the Savannah River.

Our support crew. :)

Swimmers in Jack's age group lined up on the dock and ready to start... that's Jack with the arrow pointing to him.

We were caught a little off guard when Jack came out of the swim to bike transition. He had told us that it would take about 45 minutes to do the swim, but he came whizzing by on his bike at around 33 minutes into the race! So, I totally didn't have my camera ready to catch that... so the first time I have any pictures of him in the race is after he got back into town from 56 miles on the bike and stared the run. We waited for him here, at mile marker 3...

Looking good and way ahead of pace at 3 miles!

...and at 6 miles....

Getting a little tired around 10 miles -- I think some cramps were starting to kick in... but still going strong!

Just one mile to go!! Definitely hurting at this point, over 5 1/2 hours into the race... but the finish is just around the corner. Unfortunately, the crowds were so crazy at the finish, I couldn't get to a place where I got a picture of him crossing the finish line. But he did!! :) His finish time was 5 hours and 43 minutes -- 17 minues faster than his goal of doing it in 6 hours. Yay! So he was very pleased with that and it was a great '1st try' at this kind of race.

EPILOGUE:

After making our way through the crowds, we found Jack and he was definitely tired... and a little woozy. So he sat for a minute and seemed OK. We had to walk back to our cars - Tom and Lisa's was closest so we got there, and as Jack was getting into the car, his leg cramped up really, really bad. Well, in the midst of trying to work the cramp out, I think the pain of that and the dehydration got to him and he passed out. (yikes) Fortunately, we realized that was about to happen and Tom and I caught him and hauled him back into the car. SO, we called over an ambulance and they decided to take him into the ER for some fluids and to get his blood pressure stabilized. So, not only did Jack do his first triathlon, but he got to have his first ride in an ambulance! ;-) After a couple of hours at the ER and a liter of fluids, he was much better. We ended up staying an extra night in Augusta (thanks to mom and dad for keeping our girls on a Sunday night and getting them to school the next morning!!) and coming home the next day. And after all that, he's already looking ahead to doing another one! :)