Nashville Nights (and Days)

Last weekend, we all went to Nashville to visit Nicolle's family and attend Nicolle's 10th High School Reunion. It was a weekend that we were looking forward to for a number of months now.

One thing that Clara has started to really enjoy is going to the park and riding the swings. We took her to one in Nashville and as you can see, she really enjoyed herself.

Greg's old roommate, Greg Dibb, lives in Nashville as well. Greg was able to go on a plant tour of the Nissan plant thanks to GDibb and they played soccer together as well. While GDibb showed that he was still better that Greg, Greg claims he only let Greg shine because it was his birthday.

It is kind of funny if you compare some of the similarities between these two guys

Category / Greg Sherwood / Greg Dibb
Favorite Sport / All / All
Last Birthday Party / Played Basketball w/Friends / Played soccer w/Friends
Name / Greg / Greg
College Degree / Supply Chain Management / Engineering
College Degree Translated / Nerd / Nerd
MBA School Attended / UNCG / MIT
Industries worked in / Semiconductor, Automotive / Semiconductor, Automotive

We also got to go to Nicolle's college, Belmont University. Nicolle was able to attend a choir rehearsal of a group that she belonged to. While singing with the choir, Clara and Greg wondered the Belmont campus.

The reunion was fun and Nicolle was able to see some old friends. Luckily for Greg, one of Nicolle's classmates married a guy from AZ who Greg played soccer with. So while the Girls (Nicolle and Marcee) were catching up on old times with their friends, the boys (Greg and Lance) were helping themselves to the "Heavy Appetizers." Nicolle was so excited to see all of her friends she was only able to get one photo of them.

Greg was shocked to learn that someone in TN read our blog, so the whole funny job this was exposed. On a side note, when people asked and I told them that I was a Rubber Buyer, they thought that I was joking anyway.

Identity Crisis

This weekend is Nicolles 10th high school reunion. I am looking for the funniest profession I could claim that I was involved in. Be original, so no sanitation engineers.

Triathlon

On August 25th, Nicolle decided that she wanted to add another title to her ever growing resume. After adding Opera Singer, Mother, Wife, Executive Director, gourmet chef, she felt she needed to add two time triathlete. Nicolle had done a triathlon in AZ with Greg, but she wanted to do one on her own, without drafting off of Greg.

She did something that Greg had never done, and that was before the race even started. No I am not talking about training (although that too would be true), She was a true mother and fed Clara before her swim started.

This Triathlon consisted of a 500 Meter Swim, a 16 mile bike (which somehow was uphill the whole way), and a 5K run. Here is how Nicolle did on each section of the race:

Swim:

Nicolle made the mistake of telling the race officials that she was not a good swimmer. They then put Nicolle at the last starter. This became a problem when Nicolle realized that she was a better swimmer that she had stated. She struggled to pass the really bad swimmers who were doing the survival stroke (Kick, Glide, Pull, Glide, Survival Float and Breathe). However she relied on her trusty flip turn to pass some utah drivers.

Bike:

Another Disadvantage of starting as the last one is Nicolle did not start at a cool 8:30am, but at an increasingly hot 10:30 am. By the time Nicolle started the Bike, it was an almost unbearable 95 degrees, and that was in the shade. The crowd cheered as Nicolle started the 16 miles of uphill riding. Nicolle also was using a Mountain Bike instead of a road bike. For those of you who don’t know the difference, using a Mountain bike on a road race is like running with flip flops in a marathon. Despite these setbacks Nicolle was able to complete this leg of the race looking great.

Run:

This was a piece of cake for Nicolle, she did not even experience the dreaded jello legs that most people get after riding for 16 miles. In a time that most would struggle to get when just doing a 5K, Nicolle ran to the finishing line with a cheering crowd raising pandemonium.

Nicolle did a great job in training and during the race. She was such a trooper that she ran inside, and got ready for a choir rehearsal.

Congratulations Nicolle, Way to Go.