No Whining Allowed

I did not realize that I had left so many of you hanging with my little comment about Mousey’s swim meet going south. I sincerely  apologize.

The meet started out fraught with troubles. They had trouble with the sound system, then they had trouble with the thing that records time. Which, I don’t need to tell you, is mondo important. As a result of that, they kept blaring the annoying start “honk”, trying to get it fixed. Finally, they started.

Mouse was in the first relay, doing her thing, The Fly. They came in third, which I learned later that evening, counts for points. I am a sponge for knowledge.

Her next event was the 100 Fly, alone. After she jumped off the podium (Help me out there Jip), the very first time she surfaced, her goggles flipped back over her head. They did not completely flip off  her head because, as I also learned that evening, the other part of the strap is under the always attractive bathing cap. To prevent just such a tragedy.

She tried to put them back on and continue, but every time she surfaced, they flipped back. She finally just left them off and swam. And promptly ran into the side wall. When she made her turn, Honey and I were shocked to see that she was not that far behind the pack! She tried valiantly to catch up, but evidently, those goggles are important. She fell further behind. But, she finished! And, in something we laughed about later, SHE DID NOT LOSE! She could NOT believe that she came in 5 th out of 6 th. A moment of silence for the 6 th place girl. Bless her heart, real good.

Honey caught it all on film!  For posterity. For all time.

We were watching her like a hawk after that heat. Because we know our Mousey-Girl, and quick recovery is not her strong suit.

Sure enough, she was in distress. But I was proud to see that she was trying to manage it. She then turned into the locker room. I thought that she had probably not been able to avoid the ugly cry, and removed herself from public.

Since I was selling water on the sidelines, and Honey was sitting next to me, because we are married and we  do everything together, I saw one of the girls run up to the assistant coach and watched them both go into the locker room. Honey and I just looked at each other.

Then another swimmy friend ran up to us and said that our little Muggins Q. Mouse was having trouble breathing. That was a long walk, trying to hurry, but not wanting to wipe out on the wet tile. Because, you never know, Honey could have caught that little maneuver on film. For posterity. For all time.

When I got in there, I could tell that she was breathing way too much, way too hard. Since she is not asthmatic, I was pretty sure she was hyperventilating. And crying.

We started her breathing into a bag we found. I suggested she try to slow her breathing on purpose. Basically just talked her down from the ledge. She did a wonderful job following instructions and was finally able to calm down. Then she told me her sad story.

She found out just before she swam that they had been disqualified from the 1 st heat. The one they placed 3 rd place in, for points. Disqualified for some kick that she did. Like, she fluttered when she should have dolphin-ed, or vice versa. Whatever.  She felt terrible about that, and then she had the Great Goggle Fiasco of 09 right after, and knew she would be disqualified again. She gave a Herculean effort to catch up, and was so out of breath, and SO trying not to dissolve into the ugly cry, that it all got the best of her. She snowballed right into the hyperventilation, which she had never had the pleasure of experiencing before.

After she explained her tale of woe, she said she was going to try standing. She was a lightheaded, wobbly little Mouse-tine.

We finally walked out of the locker room to the pool area just as the meet was ending. They had replaced her in her final 3 heats. She wanted to go home.

Thank you all for checking up on her, you Guy’s are the best.

Mousey’s swim meets have begun. For some reason, all of their games are away, except for two.

When I first learned this information, I was bummed. We were spoiled last year. Almost all of the meets were at our pool. Driving all over tarnation was going to be a major drag.

I have decided that this is NOT such a bad thing. I had NO idea that there was such bleacher diversity!

Our bleachers are silver metal with little grooves. Maybe to give your bum traction, I don’t know. They are steady, they don’t jiggle around when you climb them, but they are open underneath. All last year, it was my great fear that I would accidentally kick my purse or our camera bag through the back and have to squeeze through a tiny opening to retrieve them. Or bribe a small child to do it for me. It never happened, but these are the sort of things that occupy my mind. Plus, I don’t like sitting on bleachers. They are uncomfortable. I prefer reclining.

We have been to two meets so far, and I have been very impressed with the other schools bleachers! The Tuesday night school had metal bleachers also. But, they were cleverly angled, so that they were a little higher in front. It gave far superior bum pressure relief. Their metal bleachers were also mounted on cement stairs. No falling purse and camera scenario possible! Far more comfortable than our bleachers, mentally AND physically!

Alas, they were still bleachers, and by the end of the night I was ready to never sit again. Towards the end of the evening I asked Honey if my feet looked puffy to him. Cause I thought that my feet were looking puffy. Maybe it was because  of the way the metal seat was angled and all the blood was somehow stuck down by my feet. Or perhaps it was because we had Taco Bell for dinner. That could have a lot of salt.

BTW, Honey agreed  that he thought my feet looked puffy. Maybe he just agreed with me so I would stop asking him if he thought I had puffy feet. I don’t usually have puffy feet. I think that puffy is a funny word. I am amusing only myself.

On to last night’s meet. It was an old school. I’m sure it had been there for many years. I did not have high hopes for the bleachers. I was pleasantly surprised! Those bleachers were the best of old school AND new school! They were wooden benches on a cement support! Who knew wood would be more comfortable than angled metal? Not me! And once again, no holes to kick the belongings through!

I would never have thought that I, “Cheryl, I.Do.Not.Care”  (NutHatch Dictionary) about  all things sporty, would have had so many opinions about sport seating.

I discovered something else about cement floors last night. They are really nice to put your bare feet on. Since I am as hot as a fox in a box ALL the time lately, it is hard to sit and watch a swim meet for two hours in 120 degree moist heat. I realize the warmth is a courtesy to the swimmers, who are in and out of the cold water all evening, but HEY! I’m roasting over here!!! And I didn’t want to have puffy feet all over again!

I will now tell you about the far more interesting parts of the evenings. How Mousey swam!!! I will explain this to you in my own unknowledgeable terms. It is all I know. I’m pretty sure that I will hear from Jip The Farm Dog telling me I’m telling you all wrong. I am offering a disclaimer, right up front.

Some of the parents have elaborate spread sheets to document their precious Angel Baby’s stats and progress. We used the only paper I could find in my purse. The Ab-Cats oral surgery recheck reminder card.

She seems to swim at least 2 relays per meet. She swims those with 3 other girls, and so far, she has always swam the butterfly. They swim in the race that counts, for points, as opposed to swimming in the races that don’t count  for points. It has a name. It might be a heat. It might not.

Once they came in third, next they came in first (WOO HOO!!!) and then they came in second.

She sometimes swims the 100 yard butterfly. She came in third. The coach told her that she was his “Fly Girl”. I thought that was SO cute!

She also sometimes swims the 50 and 100 yard free style. That’s just regular swimming. She came in fourth and third in those.

We are going to write down her times in a more organized fashion to see how her times improve. They have already improved from her first to her second meet. She’s like a little baby genius! Mainly, I just think she looks adorable in her suit.

This is where I would have liked to post a picture of her looking all adorable, but Honey had turned his laser like attention on getting a movie last night, which was the only night that we remembered to bring the camera. He said he had a pretty good one, but by the time he returned to me, in the comfy wooden bleachers, he had inexplicably deleted it. Oh, we are technological wizards. And, not one of the pictures that he did take were decent.

Maybe next meet.