3athletejen

1) Sandi and I with our jell-o. 2) The start of the 100 IM. Just trying not to fall off the block. 3) Awards. 4) BF and I at bonfire after the meet. Baileys and decaf post-meet hits the spot. I was attacked by a locker vulture this morning. Where I swim, the locker room is shaped like two U's pushed together (basically, an E) with probably 50 lockers. While I will take any locker, usually one on the end is available because I get there so early. Today was no exception. This continually frustrates a woman who shows up for water aerobics 10 minutes before I'm done. Water aerobics woman (WAW) does not like this. Though there are 47 other lockers available, she waits for mine. I spent some time organizing my gym bag before leaving and this did not go over well. She stood holding her stuff - audibly sighing (wheezing?) - waiting for me to finish. Really, WAW? Is your day ruined if you don't have this exact locker? Is this what you want to play your rude card on? I was there fir...

I love to read. I love books. So one might assume I have a longterm relationship with libraries. But the truth is, I dumped libraries after college; trading up for bookstores. B & N. Borders. Even Rainy Day Books, when I wanted to support the little guy. But books are expensive and I never walked out with less than four. The math wasn't pretty. Then my friend mentioned checking out library books and I had an epiphany. I, too, was welcome at the library. I, too, could read books for free. Eureka! So I visited my neighborhood branch and in a few minutes, I was an official library card toting reader again. Thing is, some things are different now. Card catalogs are obsolete. Learning the Dewey Decimal System as a kid wasn't necessary. Most computers have teenagers checking Facebook. And the whole be quiet in the library rule has disappeared. But the library does have some advantages. Primarily, I can check out books on a whim. If it's not a good read, who cares? I can expan...

No Halloween photos. (Sorry, Becca.) When costumes are marked down 50 percent, there's a reason. In this case, we would've looked like Star Trek pop tents. While my stepmom graciously offered to alter them, it just felt like too much effort. So the party on Saturday was skipped. We did, however, attend a Harry Potter party on Sunday. BF picked up lovely matching capes at CVS and a witch hat for me. Hmmm. What does that mean? Oh well. We made cauldron cakes (look it up if you're not a HP fan) and joined in the festivities, even though I'm probably the last person on the planet who hasn't read a HP book. Five days until the swim meet. I've upped my swims from 2x to 4x per week. It's amazing how the fear of embarrassment is incredibly motivating. I was feeling pretty good about myself after this morning's workout. Then I checked the master's national qualifying times and my ego deflated. A 2:36.60 for the 200 IM. Uh, right. Or maybe a 32.07 for the 50 f...