Remember when I wrote this post? And I whined and complained, and then whined and complained some more. And then at the end, I said there was more to the story, but didn't want to bore you? Well, now there is even MORE to the story.
Yesterday Miss 15 was ill, so didn't coach swimming. So Miss 10 had to be in Sally's swim group. Sally's group is just half a level above the one Miss 10 is normally in. Well, as of yesterday Sally has decided that Miss 10 should be in her group. So, irony.... you got me again!
In my world, I stress. I stress about ridiculous and minuscule things. I stress about all the big things, and all the medium things in between. I stress about the kids grades, hubby's job, pretty much anything that can be stressed about no matter how tiny, I stress about it. I'm not sure if it's an inherited issue, although it doesn't feel like I grew up with anyone as anxious as I am, but there are days when I even drive myself crazy.
Lately my days have been full, Hubby's days have been full, and our lives have been swamped. Because of that, my stress level has been (self imposed, I know) high. My neck and shoulders pay the price for all that tension and eventually I head to the chiropractor for a little help. Today was one of those days. I headed over and listened as my neck and back cracked to all high heaven and I was very grateful. Where as Hubby and Mr 18 whine like crazy about how incredibly painful the chiro is, I love it. It's a great relief when I leave, and it's never painful during an adjustment.
I headed for groceries, carried heavy bags and put things away on high shelves. I stretched under counters, into cabinets and behind things that I was too lazy to move. I think I just shot any of the progress the adjustment would have made. Then I looked at my to do list, and I stressed, then I looked in the fridge and there on the shelf next to the milk is a bottle of limoncello. Do you think it's too early in the day to start drinking?
Our weekend was supposed to be incredibly productive. Friday night Hubby and I made a list of things to accomplish. (yes, I'm one of those people!) Then Saturday came, and I spent half the day doing Miss 15's hair and makeup for a formal dance, I had to whip up an appetizer for her to take along and we had to go to mass where Miss 10 served. Then a big mix up caused Miss 10's plans for Saturday evening to fall through, and her heart was broken. So instead of working on my list, Hubby and I played games with Miss 10 all evening. Sunday morning I woke up early to get started on that list. I got a few things done when we had a guest arrive unexpectedly and stay for 2 hours. At 3:00 we had a banquet to attend that lasted over 2 hours. So that list, yup, you guessed it, it's still not done, or close to done. I'm going to tear my hair out!
So when you see a hairless woman walking down the street, all hunched over with a dazed look in her eyes, that would be me, stressed, drunk, and in need of an adjustment.
Miss 15 is a swim coach. She is not the head coach, she is just a coach, she is also a swimmer, meaning when she is done coaching she goes straight to swim with her group.
Here is where I'm having some "issues" that I'm hoping someone can give me a little perspective on:
Every day I take Miss 15 to the pool about 3:10. She is always the first coach there so she sets up both pools, meaning she puts out 4 lane ropes minimum in each pool, she puts up two sets of backstroke flags across each pool including moving the very heavy poles (8 total) to their spots and then stretching flags. As other coaches arrive some of them help, but generally Miss 15 has at least half the work done, if not all of it. The Assistant Head Coach, Sally, never arrives in time to help set up. I know this, because she is at the same place I am at that time, picking up her kids from school and bringing them to the pool. She walks out at the last minute just in time to start coaching her group. Meanwhile the pool is set up, and Miss 15 and the other young coaches have been in charge of all the early arrivals of swimmers and watching them, keeping them safe, helping put on caps and goggles etc.
In spite of all the work Miss 15 does before hand, Sally always has some smart mouthed remark at the end of Miss 15's coaching duties. Yesterday she complained, loudly, about Miss 15 releasing her students too early from practice. (She did not, another coach has previously told her her group should be done at that time. However, it was not the head coach) In fact, Sally made Miss 15's swimmers stay with her group for the extra 15 minutes until she thought practice should be done. Miss 15 went and swam with her group. Sally then made it a point to complain LOUDLY as Miss 15 was swimming that Miss 15 hadn't taken down the lane ropes she had used, even though Sally's group was still in the water and using them. So Miss 15 hopped out of her swim time, and went and took down lane ropes.
Here is my dilemma. Do I interfere? Do I talk to Sally, or the head coach and find out exactly what they want from Miss 15 and her group. Or do I keep my mouth shut and let what happens to Miss 15 and her job just happen and let her deal with it on her own. The head coach has never said anything to Miss 15. But, Sally, already has issues with Miss 15 in other areas of life, in general, she just doesn't like her. Sally and I don't necessarily get along all that well, in case you hadn't guessed. I feel like Miss 15 gets bad mouthed by Sally at every opportunity in spite of all the hard work she does. Sally also has been known to interfere with Miss 15's coaching when what she really should be doing is coaching her own group. I won't start with Sally's aversion to Miss 10 and her irresponsibility in that area. I'll save that for another post.
What's the consensus?
We returned from our State Swim trip on Saturday evening. It was good to walk in the door knowing that was the last trip for high school swimming for a little while. It's not that I don't love watching Miss 15 swim, because I do. I like seeing her in the water and having fun outside of the water as well. What stresses me out is knowing that there is a chance she will have another heart spell and that stresses her out.
We've started her on medication again. After her ablation we thought the problem would be taken care of, but alas it was not to be. She suffers from supra ventricular tachycardia and lately we have been trying hard to get her meds straightened out to prevent any episodes at all. We were able to go a full two weeks without an episode that lasted more than a few seconds, so we thought we were on the right path.
On Friday, during the warm ups for the state meet, Miss 15 had a "heart spell." She got out of the water and worked on controlling it, and her coach helped as well, but by the time I got to the meet and the coach found me, Miss 15 was completely wiped out. Her heart races so fast that to her body it feels like she has ran for miles. We had her lay down and attempted to keep her warm. In spite of all we can do for her, we can't make her recovery time any shorter and she had to scratch one of her events. She was devastated. All year her only goal was to swim at the state meet, and now she was being denied one of her events. She was heartbroken, and I was for her. She was able to participate in the Parade of Athletes, though. Fortunately a couple of her team mates put their arms around either side of her and practically carried her through it. We were very grateful for her friends at that point. Luckily Miss 15 was able to recover a bit by the time her next race came around, and she was swam her backstroke event. Although not her best time, Hubby and I were so happy that she finished the race and was able to get out of the water on her own. Miss 15 was upset, naturally, but eventually realized that it was all ok.
Later that evening, along with the other team mates who didn't make finals, Miss 15 enjoyed cheesecake for dessert, a big meal of chicken alfredo, Cheetos and soda, all things that she had given up for swim season.
Overall the season was trying, rough at times, but successful. Miss 15 improved considerably this year, and she learned how to work really hard. We are thankful for a coach who understands her limitations, but doesn't penalize her for them. And we are glad it's done....
BUT... today starts another season, this one includes both girls on a USA swim team. Miss 15 is coaching for 2 hours a day and swimming for 1. Miss 10 swims for two hours a day. Guess who Miss 10 is being coached by. You got it, Miss 15. I may have to wear a referee uniform and stand nearby at every practice.
I've never forgotten before. In all the years we have been married, I've never forgotten the anniversary of our first date. I've nearly always planned a special meal or at least a small token of time together to celebrate. But this year, the date simply passed by and it never crossed my mind. I was standing in front of the washing machine sorting clothes and thinking about the many hundreds of times I had done the exact same thing, and for how many years I had been doing it. Suddenly my brain caught an inkling of a thought that had flitted through my mind. I stopped and tried to catch it. I knew it had something to do with November. But what was it?
You know when you have a certain thought that just tugs at you, and you know it's something you are supposed to remember, but it's just out of reach? I spent time this morning trying hard to figure it out. Finally I just sat down, actually sat still and it came to me.
Twenty years. I have now been with Hubby for 20 years of my life. That is half of my life. It's hard to fathom, but it's also hard to imagine life without him.
Yesterday Miss 10 was teasing us, Hubby kissed me after he got home from a long journey and she was all grossed out by the sight. Hubby asked her why that was bad, why he couldn't kiss me, and told her that I loved him, it was ok, why did she think I married him anyway? Her reply, "Well apparently someone knocked her over the head and made her think you were some hot guy that she liked!" We laughed, sometimes she's just so funny and quick.
But the truth is no one had to knock me over the head. No one could be more spoiled then I have been for the last 20 years. I am lucky and I'm hoping for at least triple that many more years... Happy 20 years of being together Hubby!
Happy Love Thursday everyone.
There are things you do for your kids, and you wonder why... For instance:
Over the past weekend Miss 15 was swimming in her regional swim meet. It's a pretty big deal, but not life changing. Also last week, we had a major snowstorm in parts of our state, not where we live, but where we are traveling through to get to said swim meet. The interstate was closed in places along with smaller highways and various areas of no travel advised. The swim team left the day after the storm was on it's way out of the state, and only hours after the interstate had been opened up again.
Hubby, Miss 10 and I hopped in the car on Friday night and started out for the swim meet as well. The roads in our part of the state are perfect, but after about 110 miles they turned into a mess. We debated continuing on, but persevered anyway. Miss 15 and her team had made it, so we really felt we should be there to cheer her on in her quest.
Mr 18 on the other hand decided that he had to come home for the weekend. There was hunting to be done and nothing was going to stop him from that enjoyment. He traveled completely across the state to come home and make a mess of my house. On the way they got stuck once in front of his grandparents house when they were making a quick pitstop. By the time they arrived in their hometown his car was encased in ice and slop.
Hubby, Miss 10 and I watched Miss 15 in her swim meet, sitting in the pool area for 3 plus hours before we hopped back in the van to drive home. We had a total of eight and a half hours in the car that day, plus all the sitting at the pool. My tailbone was raising a protest with the rest of my body by the time we arrived home on Saturday night. Why do we drive on horrible roads to watch Miss 15 swim for all of 6.5 minutes? Because apparently we are insane! And because we got to watch Miss 15, as a sophomore, swim one of the top 50 free times in our region.
I added up the total miles we all managed over the weekend driving from town to town in three different vehicles. Between all of us, we put in 2,264 miles. What is wrong with us?
I don't listen to a lot of music, I can't really find my niche. I like a little of everything, and not a lot of anything. Hubby says I'm just hard to please.
I can't remember when I first heard it, a song by Trace Adkins called Then They Do.
It is one of those songs that makes me literally sob. So beware before you click on that link. It just about kills me to think of being in this house, and the kids all gone.
What made me think of this at this moment? The election. Yup, one small point in time has my mind reeling with the possibilities. Mr 18 got to vote for the first time. Although I'm nearly certain we had opposing opinions I was so proud that he took time to cast his ballot. Then on Tuesday night Miss 10 had an assignment dealing with the election. Nothing unusual for a 5th grader, but her avid interest in the election has blown me away. In the weeks preceding the election we discussed the candidates, the issues, the reasons people feel certain ways about a person, etc. She had and still has the most insightful questions. There were times as the states were being "given" to a certain candidate that she could spit out the number of electoral college votes that particular state had. I was floored. I was also sad, because it's a mere 3 years until Miss 15 can vote and only 8 until Miss 10 does, and by the time they can vote, they have gone, and my job is over. It's sad and exciting to think about that.
In the small theme of songs that can make you cry, here's another one. Where it does make me sad, it brings Hubby to his knees, Nate, I bet it will for you as well. Grab a tissue.
And this one... reminds me of my grandparents. And my grandfather who has been gone much longer now than I care to think about, and if my memory is right, it was on this date that he had a stroke that he never recovered from. He was probably my favorite person in the world when I was a child. I miss you, Papa! (Mom, don't even click there!)
What songs get to you? And Borgen girls... what is your favorite memory of Papa B? I remember being chased around the kitchen table with his dirty face, and his teeth out, squealing with glee. I also remember riding in the tractor or combine with J.J. and getting in trouble 'cause we laughed... A LOT!
