Friday, July 12, 2013

10 tidbits of randomness ...

1. I hate the YMCA in the Summer. Since J is traveling constantly, I can't get up at 5 a.m. to get my swims in. Instead, I have to wait until Child Watch opens. During the school year, Child Watch is a lifesaver. But, in the summer, it totally messes with my schedule. The 8 a.m. opening forces my swim to coincide with a multitude of other activities in the pool. Between water aerobics, swim lessons and Summer camp, I find myself getting really cozy with my fellow lap swimmers in the single lane left open in the pool. I just can't understand why the Y can't follow the schedule it developed for lap swimming. There are always supposed to be two lap lanes, yet somehow every time I swim after 8 a.m. there is only one. You make the stupid rules, just follow them.

2. Speaking of lap lanes, they are designed for CONTINOUS ENDURANCE SWIMMING. Not for floating with a noodle, for following along with the water aerobics class or for walking. That's what open swim is for. Check the schedule and come at the correct time.

3. I'm convinced there is nothing more difficult in the world than putting on a sports bra when you have just gotten out of the pool. However, putting on bike shorts after swimming is probably a close second.

4. My training is going remarkable well. I am not sure if it's the fact that I am controlling my blood sugar quite well or if it's my "just get to the finish line" training plan, but I am feeling strong and recovering quickly.

5. The girls and I went to the dentist on Tuesday and as usual, I have issues. Although I have no apparent cavities, I am packing food between two fillings causing me to floss about 287 times a day. Since this will eventually lead to a problem, I have to go have those filling replaced. It's epic.

6. Doodle also had quite an eventful visit. She walked in for a cleaning and left with two missing teeth. Apparently the "shark teeth" that were growing behind her baby teeth had forced them into a position where they were unable to fall out on their own. So, rather than wait and possibly damage the shark teeth, a.k.a. adult teeth, she had them pulled out.


She was such a trooper and she made bank with the tooth fairy.

7. We are heading to Hawaii in 99 days. Not that I'm counting.

8. I'm 99.9% sure that we will not be homeschooling the girls next year. They have been protesting since the beginning of June, so we have been doing a test run ever since. Dizzle is in full on freak out mode. (Doodle is better than Dizzle, but still ...) Most of our lessons end in tears and hyperventilating. I just can't do that to her. I'm not going to subject her to mental trauma just because she's crazy bored at school. Instead, J and I are just going to supplement her learning when she's not at school. But, this little experiment, however brief, has taught me some things. First of all, Dizzle is just as, if not more, stubborn than I am. That does not make for a good learning environment. Second, I am so black and white with things that I don't understand how people can get stuck in the gray for so long. This adds an enormous amount of tension in our lessons. And lastly, all this work my kids have done (and will continue to do) is going to put them even further ahead, which may compound the problem we already had.

9. Summer vacation is like 40% over. I'm totally bummed about this.

10. Yesterday, Dizzle asked me what "Lost time is never found" means. I told her that it meant that you only get one chance to live every moment to the fullest and if you waste your time getting caught up in drama and things that don't matter to you, it's like losing that time and you can never get it back. And although it reminded me to take stock and evaluate how I'm living my life, she just turned to me and said, "So, it's kind of how I'll never get the time I spent asking you this back? Oh man." Exactly, glad to have enlightened you, Dizzle.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

#3- Preach it.

#8- So interesting. I'm at my parents' this week (and since my mom loves you) this was a fun topic of conversation for us this morning. As was #10.

I'm so glad your training is going well. And I hate the Y pool on Sunday mornings when they shut down lanes for swimming lessons, lifeguard lessons and other unimportant (to me) things.

Unknown said...

The pool at my gym was bananas today...thought I was being water boarded from the waves.

I use powder when I get out of the pool or you can just do what I did today...forgot the darn bra (and underwear) at home!

Glad you are feeling strong again. Love following your blog :-)

Unknown said...

I seriously can't stand when people float in the pool during lap swim. I once had to share a lane with a woman floating up and down with a noodle that would yell at me anytime I made any splash because I would get her hair wet. Seriously people? That is not a workout!

Unknown said...

Sports bras: it's even a challenge to take them off when you're wet. Your kids sound wiser than their years; enjoy that.

Katie said...

I must have missed the fact that you were even considering homeschooling in the first place. We homeschool, but always have and the boys do not know any different. So, I imagine it would be a huge adjustment. I know families that have done it, and, once they have made it through the first few months of adjustment, it goes well.

The only other thing I will say about homeschooling is this . . . it can be hard, it can be frustrating but you grow and learn patience as you go. I NEVER thought I would homeschool, nor did I think I had the patience for it, but you kind of learn to adjust with each kid as you go. All that I am trying to say, is that it is not always going to be as hard as the first few months. If there is a part of you that thinks it may be the best thing for the girls, than give it more time and see if the other concerns change over time.

Good Luck!

Kurt @ Becoming An Ironman said...

#2. That's one reason I'm surprised I'm still allowed to go to the pool. There are always 2-3 people doing their walking or aqua aerobics in the pool and they all decide they need their own lane. That is until I splash them away from me. I'm sure I've had complaints! Why not say something to the staff. They should be able to monitor the activity or say something to the other people.

#3. I'm glad I don't know what that's like, but I agree with the bike shorts and raise you to putting on a wet wetsuit.

#8. Supplement her learning and even ask the school if there's a way to do something extra or different. My parents felt the same about me in middle-school, that I wasn't challenged and worried I would slack and get complacent. I was the only 8th grader I knew taking college courses at the local community college in the evenings. It certainly kept me interesting in learning.

#10. I've lost 10 minutes of sleep in order to read your post and respond, but I'm ok with that. Haven't been keeping up with you as much as I'd like to. Glad to see things are coming along.

Anonymous said...

Katie is right. It does get easier over time. My first few years of homeschooling were not pleasant, but we felt that's what's best for our kids and stuck to our guns. My oldest tried everything to get out of it. She had a taste of public school. meaning preschool and K. lol But that was enough for her to fight me for a very long time. Once she knew this was how it was going to be, she stopped fighting. Now almost all of out school days are enjoyable. I don't know how long you have been homeschooling but if it's only been a short time,I would give it more time. It's normal to have things get worse for awhile but it does get better. Just my two cents on it. Whatever works for you guys is what's best. :-)