my husband is an ironman

BJ, the dogs and I left the Springs after work on Wednesday nite, arriving in Amarillo about 1:30am. Then got up (left the dogs w/ my parents) Thursday morning and drove to Austin. We stayed with Mark and Pam Notto, Mark is BJ's buddy from MCI/Verizon that also participated in the Longhorn Ironman 70.3 aka The Flat Zac Classic.

The race wasn't until Sunday so we had Thursday evening, Friday and Saturday to hang out and play. I actually ditched BJ on Friday to go spend some time with my college roommates. Chelsea, who lives in Austin and Laurie (and her 3yr old daughter, Meredith) came over from Houston to visit. I'll spare y'all more play-by-play of the weekend and get to what I'm sure you're most interested in...THE RACE.

It started at 7:30 on Sunday morning at Decker Lake. They started in waves so the pros started first, then it went by age. Notto started about 7:35ish and BJ started at 8:30. I was really glad we were able to find BJ in the throng of people before he started...

[please excuse how awesome I look, humidity makes my hair look great - as does getting ready in the dark at 6:00 am][breakfast of champions]
[slight wardrobe malfunction - w/ Scott, Chelsea's husband][after the 1.2 mile swim - getting chicked (a girl passing him)][1st transition from swim to bike - i just like this pic cuz he looks nekkid]
[starting the 56 mile ride]
[cruising thru the 13.1 mile run]
[the home stretch - where notto's wife was ready to hand each of them a flat zac to carry across the finish line]
[and the long-awaited FINISH LINE!]
[a couple of notto]

[my happy, stud muffin after a shower and dinner post-race]

All said and done, BJ finished in 6hrs and 51min. Initially he was pleased just to have finished but now that he's had some time to digest it all and nitpick himself he's disappointed with his time. I say "who cares?" considering I wouldn't even contimplate attempting a race like that! He was surprisingly spry, cheerful and pain free afterward. It's still up in the air if this was his last race or not.....:)

1st birthday

Hunter's birthday is tomorrow, the 12th. I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by...I can't imagine how his parents feel! He walks like a champ, has a several tricks that he'll do on command (if he feels like participating, of course). Here are some pics of the festivities:

the "real" party on saturday - lookin' real proud of himself.
i guess 30 adults clapping for him wasn't enough.

dinner tonite at texas roadhouse for big sister, rachel's, b-day.
(22yrs on 10/16)

the cake rachel made for him - don't count the fingers :)warshin' it all down!

Not only did we have a weekend of birthday stuff, but Brandt, Yoyo and Ty all came thru town from a wedding and stayed with us last nite. It was so nice to have a little time catching up with them and to give BJ other people (besides me) to talk football and show off guns.

this little cutie pie...

...peed on me Friday nite.

oh hail no!

...that's what my flowers were saying last nite. Actually, it was probably more like "hailp us!"

something more fun

hindsight

Maybe I've mentioned before that Zac works at NewSpring so not only is he their chief computer nerd but he's also able to participate in their ministry. This video was shown to a group of middle and high school students that had been challenged to work for today, not someday. They were to write a letter to themselves in the future. Zac wrote a letter to himself in the past...



Just over $2000 for the Flat Zac Classic...spread the word!

flat zac classic

We really don't want to totally cram this down everyone's throats, but...aw forget it, we do want to cram it down your throats. And considering that the people that read my blog are most likely true friends and family [as compared to all the folks on Facebook], I want to take this [brief] opportunity to be the bragging wife of BJ rather than the supporter of the FZC cause. BJ and his friend, Mark Notto, have signed up to take part in this:

[click pic to visit the website]

...as a fundraiser for our friend, Zac Smith, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Yes, he has a job that provides good medical benefits...but we all know that insurance doesn't cover everything. So BJ and his fellow computer nerdy friends have created this website to spread the word.

Back to the bragging part. I'm SO proud of BJ. Not only for seeing the need and taking the initiative to do something about it and for really working hard to develop a plan and a way to "market" it. But especially for making the commitment to an event that will truly challenge him. Sacrificing time to train, physically taxing his body, being open to the possibility of a bruised ego, etc. all with the hope that it will encourage everyone that knows (or knows of) the Smiths to make a small financial sacrifice.

Zac, Mandy, Lizzy, Jake and Luke Smith

* * *

I know BJ will NOT like that I've said all these things about him because he doesn't want that type of recognition, but I don't get the opportunity to sing his praises very often since he generally sucks. KIDDING!