Mania

I'm having a weird day.

If I didn't know better, I'd think I was a manic-depressive on a manic high! I have had SO MUCH energy today. I've organized things obsessively. For example, I organized all the sheets and towels in my linen closet. They were all re-folded to uniformity. I straightened out the kid's books by tallest to shortest, the titles facing all the same read-ability direction. As I type this, I want to go into the bathroom and organize the magazines and various other readings alphabetically by current month in front then chronologically back from there. I have just swept the kitch floor where tomorrow I will be on my hands and knees scrubbing the grooves between the white tiles because I don't want food to build up there and attract nasty bugs. I did ALL the laundry and sorted through all the kids clothes and retired that which they can no longer wear, and moved in things they can now wear that were hand me downs. I also sorted their closets by dresses/shirts/pants/capris/shorts, etc by color and sleeve or pant length. I have been purging papers from the filing cabinets all weekend. Shredding, shredding, shredding. Making decisions on crap that seemed so important at one time or another. What the hell was I thinking holding on to the ring catalog of Phi Theta Kappa?? I have gone through our floppy disks, zip files, CDs, etc. to figure out which things we still own and which I need to discard. I must have print drivers for printers that I owned 10 years ago! Ha ha!! It's amazing the crap we horde. Now, I'm freaky-obsessive about stuff. All I wanna do is bury myself in it all until it's complete.

It will *never* be complete.

Sigh.

So -- on to other randomness. My Eldest is an All Star!! I'm proud to announce that she has been selected to the All Star swim meet tomorrow!! She and 3 other kids comprise a team of girls who swim the 25M freestyle relay. They also swim the 25M medley relay, where My Eldest is the butterfly girl. She was selected as an alternate for the 25M individual butterfly. I wish no ill-will on anyone, but I do hope someone doesn't show so that My Mariposa can swim the butterfly event! Let me tell you: this kid has come a looooong way!! There is no way I could relay the accomplishment on this blog, however, I could try to give a little glimpse.

Last summer, we enrolled her in swim lessons with 2 friends. She didn't want to get in the water at first. Then it was time to kick with a kickboard, learn to float, put your face in the water, wear goggles, jump into the deep end from the side of the pool (ack!!), do *different* strokes (whatchyoutalkinboutWillis?), etc. The whole time was like pulling teeth. She kept her heels firmly into the dirt, wrestling each tiny step of progress. She cried, manipulated, feigned illness, pouted, negotiated, and all kinds of other antics in order to keep from going several times. We paid good money for this and it was a commitment which we could not quit and get our money back, therefore, she wasn't going to quit either!

I kept her in the swimming after the summer session and into the fall and following spring. By the time the lessons ended, she had developed into an amazing swimmer all things considered. They were working on doing those flips in the water when you turn at one end of the pool to head toward the other end. She didn't like that too much, so when the lessons ended it was at just the right time. By now, she knew freestyle, breast, butterfly, and backstroke. She was way more than just a little water-treadin' antagonist.

Fast forward to THIS summer. We signed her up at this place that's very near our house. The pool is part of a tennis club and several other things. I think, in fact, they refer to themselves as a sports club. Anyhow, the "lessons" were supposed to be Tuesday through Friday for an hour each morning. Also, on Mondays, there are meets but the meets are optional. It's summer. No school. Sign My Eldest up to keep her busy and keep her skills sharp.

We know another family there, and their daughter was in the same Kindergarten class as mine. They told us about these "lessons". We elect to have My Eldest participate in the meets because our understanding is that they swim to the end of the pool and everyone gets a participation ribbon. I figure that if My Eldest really likes swimming and wants to do this competitively at some point in the future, then this "courtesy" ribbon thingie might just be the stepping stone to that. Plus, this whole time, I thought the swim time was "lessons".

Well...turns out....this is a bonafide swim TEAM and the Tuesday through Friday arrangement is actually PRACTICE and the meets are COMPETITIVE! Wow! Six weeks of competitive swimming. Cool. There were "home" meets and "away" meets against various other Dallas Metroplex teams. I even volunteered as a runner at one (speedy job indeed!).

My Eldest turned out to be one of the fastest freestyle swimmers on that team! She finished 1st or 2nd almost every time. She goofed once and did the butterfly stroke when she should've done the freestyle, but oh well.

Last Thursday, I took a vacation day to watch her compete at the Divisionals. Depending on how you did at the Divisionals, you were invited to the All Stars. So now, my blog comes full circle.

Please say a lil prayer of encouragement for her and her teammates as they make their mark tomorrow! How cool for a six year old to do this, huh? What were YOU doing it at age six in the summer?? Me...I think I was watching cartoons and eating a bag of chips or something lazy-like.

Gear shift.... Did I tell you My Husband and I are having twins?? Yes, My Husband carried two kidney stones to full-term. Last Friday, he had to have them each delivered surgically. They twins were each 8mm in diameter. We are proud parents to three kindey stones (one from when we first met), and two lovely human daughters. My Husband goes back to the doctor for his follow tomorrow. No names as of yet.... but they were both boys!

Off to get the last comforter out of the dryer!

Whoosh!