Is my new leaf still turned?

I received a question from a friend and, evidently, avid Everydayolympian.blogspot.com reader (thanks, Cathy!) She asked if I stuck to my new leaf promise made right before Pan Pacs.

I am proud to say... you're darn tootin' I did.

Now, I'm not claiming to not get nervous at all. Have you ever watched your husband swim in a race that lasts one minute (literally) to secure financial peace for the next year? Well, if not, then no judgement.

So, yes, I did get nervous, but it was an appropriate level of nervousness.

I was cool, calm and collected. I sat with friends during Mark's races (I would never do this before). I chatted, socialized and even took pictures-again, my previous nervous self would have been too nervous-on the verge of vomiting-to even hold a camera, much less a baby and a camera.

This new leaf business is great. I feel good and Mark swims fast. What an amazing combination!Additionally, as soon as I declared the turning of this new leaf, Mark got the sense that stipend and the entire stipend process would be undergoing some changes in the next couple of years (to our benefit--when I say our I mean all elite US swimmers). Oprah's got The Secret, but I've got The New Leaf. Now all I need is a daytime talk show and a couple billion dollars, and I'm in business.

The next thing I hope this new leaf focuses on is the sponsorship situation. I've heard that patience is a virtue, but have not experienced this virtue first hand.

So, if you're thinking about flipping your own leaf, I say "go for it!"

This is Breezy Danger sigining off...

Pan Pacs, etc.

Well, we are all (Mark, Annabelle and I... even Daisy the dog, too) back home and able to reflect on the last week--the last season.

Satisfaction. Relief. Happiness. Pride.

After Mark qualified for the Pan Pacific Games his job was far from complete. Mark went straight from the National Championships to training camp and then to the Pan Pacific Games. A total of 3 weeks and 2 days away from home, even though each leg of this trip was in California.

Annabelle and I, as you know, traveled to Irvine, CA to cheer for our everyday Olympian. Mark's swims at Nationals earned him a spot on the National team and on the Pan Pacific Games team, however Mark had to continue to swim fast at the Pan Pacific Games in order to secure a spot on the short course world championship team and the long course world championship team. He not only accomplished this, but his swims in the 100m breaststroke catapulted him to the top American spot (he was only the second fastest American after Nationals).

Mark looked strong and confident in each race as Annabelle and I (and all of our dear friends) were hot and tired in the stands. This picture epitomizes roughly 6 hours of each day of our trip to California.

Notice the great red, white and blue necklace courtesy of Tyler Clary's mother (see, I told you we were all family up in the stands). All of us were decked out each and every session. Annabelle, however, was the star of the stands. The Lochte Family was Annabelle's biggest fan club. Ryan's aunt made sure to see Annabelle and her outfits each session. Man, do I feel lucky that so many people are good to us.

Back to Mark... Mark raced three times (50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke, and the 400 medley relay) and came home with three medals (silver, bronze, and gold respectively). Mark's performance not only sets him up great for the next two years, but should help with the sponsorship situation, too. He knew what he had to do... and did it (times 3!).


Annabelle and I also cheered for Eric with our dear friend Jeri and her family. Eric also swam well and earned a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke earning himself a spot on the world championship team.


When I look at this picture I think about my conversation with Annabelle in 20 years when I get to say, "Remember when Aunt Jeri and I took you to California to cheer for Dad and Uncle Eric..."

Did you miss Pan Pacs? You can catch up by watching races and interviews here.

Right now Mark and I are catching up on the Mad Men episodes that we missed out on due to our travels. Mark is taking a "break" from swimming now and is looking forward to not seeing the pool this week. This week does, however, begin his crazy clinic schedule. This, I am not looking forward to... but, this is part of the deal. Dream job=sacrifice (no rest, travel, crazy schedules, single parenthood on the weekends).

While Mark is pool hopping across the country, today marked my first day back as a crazy, busy, and exhausted PhD student. I'm not sure how we'll manage this fall, but I'm confident that we'll figure it out. Wish us luck this "season." Swimming fast and watching anxiously is tough... but, the working fall may come close to finishing off this tired swim family. Again, I remind myself: dream job=sacrifice. It's a good thing that both of us love what we do because if we didn't, I'm not sure if it would be worth all of this. Honestly, we wouldn't have it any other way...

Beijing arrest? No thank you.

I am trying to figure out exactly what baby 'gear' I should be taking with me to California and to the meet. Should I plan on being allowed to bring the stroller in? Should I ditch the stroller and just plan on using a sling? Baby Bjorn? Moby wrap? Should I attempt to pack our homemade baby food or just bite the bullet and buy baby food there? How should I prepare Annabelle for the time change? I think the hospital forgot to give us the baby manual. Can I borrow yours?

My other minor concern is event tickets for the Pan Pacific Games (Pan Pacs). I just bought my all-session pass for $106 assuming that Annabelle will not need her own ticket. Fair assumption? Fingers crossed. If she does need a ticket, this meet (not including travel expenses) will cost us $212... for a swim meet!

The cost of this trip is slowly but surely creeping up (and up, and up, and up). I thought "Yippee a big international meet right in our own backyard... this is going to be great... and cheap!" Yeah right. Thankfully (kind of), because I never took my trip to France I used my Delta credit to buy my plane ticket to California. Not a bad deal, though I was really hoping to wear a beret this summer. Don't tell me that I could still wear a beret... that's just ridiculous.

I received a question a couple of weeks ago regarding tickets. "Don't athletes' families get free event tickets?" Nope (hence the $106 charge on my credit card). This is not usually an issue; tickets are usually only $10 or $15 a day at most (not cheap, but doesn't totally break the bank) until it comes to the Olympics. USA Swimming reserves 2 tickets per athlete for each day that he or she competes (which we totally appreciate), however, there are a few things about this arrangement that make things difficult. First, the only day athletes are garaunteed to swim are prelims. Then you have to retrieve new tickets for the days of semi-finals and finals. Luckily this has been a problem---in other words, at both Olympic Games Mark has qualified for semi-finals and finals. The second issue occurs when you have so many family members willing to travel around the world to watch you swim (yes, I traveled to China and back--even threw up in the Olympic bushes but that is a whole different story--to watch Mark swim for a total of 3 minutes). In 2008 Mark's mother, father and sister traveled to Beijing as well as my mother and I. One of Mark's dear friends from high school (Go Firestone) and his wife also came to cheer for Mark. Let's do the math... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... less the 2 free tickets. That leaves us with 5. 5 tickets short. Ugh.

We searched ebay, ticket websites (some scams), ticketmaster and other organizations selling tickets. It was a nightmare. Yes, there was an $800 ticket. Yes, we bought it. Before the Beijing Games there was a big scare that there would be no scalping tickets and anyone seen buying or selling tickets outside of the venues would be arrested. I certainly did not want to get arrested in Beijing. This is what led us to our crazy ticket-searching project.

See, in Athens in 2004 you could pretty much find a ticket 10 minutes before just about any event at any venue. Piece of cake. But almost a full year out from the Beijing Games I let people get to me and I let myself get nervous (imagine that).

The reports of ticket scalper arrests scared the mess out of us and scared us into $800 ebay tickets. Of course, once in Beijing we saw plenty of tickets being bought and sold and no arrests. Ugh. Also, dissappointingly, there were empty seats at every venue we visited. They actually had "seat fillers" to make each venue look more crowded for tv.

Note to self: DO NOT BUY EXPENSIVE EVENT TICKETS BEFORE THE NEXT OLYMPICS.

Anyway, Annabelle and I are hanging in there without Mark. Mark, on the other hand, is really seeming to miss us (oh, who am I kidding... he is really missing Annabelle... I guess he is missing me a little bit, too). He says that training camp has been "pretty good." Whatever that means. He got a massage today and said that he certainly enjoyed his 'recovery' day (easy training days that follow a day or two of difficult trianing days to allow your body to recover) today.

When I asked, "Are you getting excited about the meet?!" He said, "Not yet."

This is equivilant to me asking, "How was practice?"

"Fine."

Huh?

Well, we are getting excited.

Please comment to tell Mark good luck and share your support. You are also welcome to email him at everydayolympian@gmail.com.

Red, white and blue tutus and the airport

Red, white and blue tutus and the airport are on my agenda for the weekend. Mark races in four days, so The Gangloff Clan is busy getting ready.

I am working today (that is, of course, when I am not blogging), tomorrow Annabelle and I will take Mark and fellow Auburn breaststroker Adam to the Atlanta airport and tomorrow afternoon will be dedicated to finishing the red, white and blue tutu that Annabelle will wear to cheer for her Daddy (again, I am a craft project kind of gal-I can't sit still). Sunday, Annabelle and I will drive to the Montgomery (Alabama) airport to pick up my parents (the babysitters). And, Monday, my parents and Annabelle will take me back to the Montgomery airport so that I can fly out to meet Mark at Nationals. Phew. I told you that this weekend includes red, white and blue tutus and the airport. Ah, the life of the wife of an Olympian... thrilling.

Last night Mark and I went on a date (go ahead, roll your eyes). We even got a little dressed up. Mark wore a pair of "pointy" shoes he bought in France. During dinner I looked at him and said, "I think this is going to be a pretty huge summer," to which he replied, "You said that last year." Well, excuse me. Wasn't last summer a pretty huge summer? That's what I thought.

After dinner I laid on the sofa in a complete haze (yesterday I turned in a big research proposal that I had been working on all summer and felt as though my brain no longer worked) and watched Project Runway (I am reality show obsessed). Mark got his ipod ready for the big trip.

If you can remember, Mark and I are big tightwads and never had things like ipods before last summer. Don't get the wrong idea, we are very fortunate and have a lot of things, but an ipod was not one of the them... until last summer. Last summer after Mark made the World Championships and was en route to Rome he called and asked me to buy him and ipod and send it to Rome with our friend who was leaving the next day. I bought him a bright orange one (Auburn orange, duh!). It made it to Mark in Rome the next day. This is one of those small and seemingly insignificant things that makes me feel as though I am contributing to his races.

Anyway, last night Mark prepped his bright orange ipod. Today we will finish up laundry (okay, he will finish up laundry--I HATE laundry), cook a big dinner, pack up and relax. Tonight is Mark's last night at home for (hopefully) almost four weeks (Nationals + Pan Pacific Games).

Knock on wood

Every summer I either (a) pay way to much for last minute travel arrangements or (b) miss out on the best trips. Why, you ask. Well, I am a bit superstitious.

It stems from my own childhood and athletic career. Now, remember, I was a diver. I was pretty darn good, too. Well, I was pretty darn good at the end of my career I should say. Early in my career I was perpetually the girl that didn't qualify. See, in the diving world you qualify for each meet (Zones, Nationals and international competition) by earning a very specific place at qualifying meets. For example, in my day (I'm not that old, but diving has changed a lot), to qualify for zones you had to earn a 12th place finish or better at Regionals. Typically, if you had to get 12th, I got 13th and when you had to get 5th, I got 6th--do you see the trend? Qualifying meets usually took place a week or two before the next meet. So, parents would either go ahead and make travel plans under the assumption that their child will qualify or they would wait and pay an arm and a leg for last minute flights, hotel rooms, etc.

This past full of qualifying meet disappointment has created a superstition that I just can't shake. I never (with the exception of Beijing) have made travel arrangements to go watch Mark at a meet until after he qualifies. I know, I know, Mark typically qualifies (knock on wood), but I truly believe this is partially because I have NOT purchased plane tickets yet. Stupid? Maybe.

So, here is my dilemma. Mark will be swimming at Nationals in Irvine, CA this summer (two weeks from today to be exact--ugh, I have the sudden urge to bit my finger nails). This summer's Nationals serves as the qualifying meet for the Pan Pacific Games (double ugh... now I have a belly ache). The Pan Pacific Games will be held in late August in Irvine as well. This is huge. Typically Mark is flying half way around the world a few days after Nationals to attend Pan Pacs and this year they are not only in the same location as Nationals, but in this country and easy to attend!

This doesn't really sound like a dilemma, huh? Sounds perfect, right? It is, or, I guess, will be as soon as he qualifies. But until then I am just sitting here twiddling my thumbs not making travel arrangements.

I have friends who will be attending Pan Pacs; I get calls and emails asking what my plans are. I DON'T HAVE PLANS YET. I can't bring myself to buy a ticket (yet). I am paralyzed by my superstition.

This nervous paralysis has cost me a lot of fantastic trips. Last year I didn't make plans to attend the World Championship in Rome (you heard me... ROME!). And, once Mark qualified, tickets were too expensive.

So, here I am. Surfing the internet for great airline deals only to not buy one. I can't. I would love to go to Pan Pacs, but Mark has to qualify first. Honestly, I can't even believe I am talking about this. Now, I have to go knock on every piece of wood in the house. Let's just pretend I didn't even bring it up.