Counting down the weeks til I'm through with swimming

I can't remember when I started officiating swim meets. I remember how we got involved in swimming. My dear friend, Toni Z., signed my kids up for the Coronado Country Club summer league swim team when we were out of town. She had tried to get us to sign up the year before, but I never got around to it. Spaces filled up fast and we wouldn't have made it in that year either, but for Toni. Drew was 11 and extremely shy. He almost quit after that first day, but bravely kept at it and became a very fast swimmer that the coaches counted on. Hayley was 8 and Michelle 6. Their coach was Jeff, who is still a swim coach on their club team today. We love him!
So 11 years ago last summer we entered the swimming world. Eventually we started swimming year-round with a club team (Aqua Posse) and then when the kids entered high school they swam for their school team. By then, each had progressed to a level where they were very good and a great addition to their teams. Mike even joined them when he was a senior and turned out to be a naturally talented swimmer who could have been amazing if he'd started sooner and really cared. :)
I became a swimming official about seven or eight years ago for USA swimming and because I enjoyed it and was good at it, worked up to becoming a referee, the highest official. For the last three years I've been in charge of all the officials for UIL high school swimming for the three school districts in our town. Not all of it has been enjoyable, but I'm glad I did it. I'm also glad that it's almost over. Michelle is a senior and swim season is one month from being over. District championships were held for three days this past week and I spent long hours at the pool, but, it's over now and I'll never see that pool again (although life holds no guarantees). In two weeks we'll travel to Lubbock for Regionals. Michelle qualified in all four of her events. If things go well, we should be going to state (in Austin) two weeks later. The two relays Michelle swam on made new meet record times. And, Michelle was sick all week and on antibiotics. They should do even better in Lubbock. Here are a few pictures from the meet.

The crowd at Tigua

Michelle and her team on the winners' block

Michelle's high school girls' team won District Champs.
These are the seniors holding the trophy.

My favorite picture! Between the morning and afternoon sessions on Saturday I got my own personal foot massage from one of the other referees, Jim.  What a guy! Of course later he called me a princess, but if the glass slipper fits, well...

Nutty Putty Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we were short six people: two of our sons and their wives and two grandkids.  But, we gained four through a happy circumstance.  Matt's wife's sister is friends with two young men who are bicycling the width of the country from Huntington Beach, Virginia to San Diego, California, with two other friends.  It just so happened that their path led through El Paso and that they would arrive the afternoon before Thanksgiving.  We happily offered them rooms and Thanksgiving dinner with us.

I knew they would be interesting to talk to, but they surpassed my expectations.  Dan, Eric, Jon and Oliver are four of the nicest young men you could ever wish to meet.  They are all BYU students, but they have taken off a semester to do this ride for the adventure and for charity.  Dan's sister, Emily, was widowed a year ago yesterday when her husband was stuck upside down while exploring a cave and died.  She was left with a 13 month old daughter and pregnant.  Dan wanted to help his sister so that she could go back to school, but she told him people had already been so generous in helping her that she hoped he could help other widows with young children. So, they signed up with the Liz Logelin Foundation and they have raised over $7000 already.

They are called the Nutty Putty Cyclists because it was the Nutty Putty cave where Dan's brother-in-law died. They have a website at http://nuttyputtycyclers.com/. If you click on this link and then click on the word blog you can read about their adventures. There is also a map showing their trail and you can even donate to their worthy cause.

These guys had ridden across empty West Texas before arriving in El Paso and had ridden 110 miles the day before.  Yet, they got up early and ran in a Thanksgiving 5K race here in El Paso and one of them came in 2nd in their age group.  After they came home from that they went with Bill and Chelsea and helped clean up after the annual Thanksgiving parade which is what our stake does every year.

The next morning, since they were only going to Las Cruces and spend the night with some people there, they left at 11am and Bill and I rode with them.  We rode a little over 9 miles with them when Bill got a flat tire.  They fixed it for us, they're quite expert by this time, and although we had considered riding all the way to Cruces, I had talked to our kids and everyone had gathered again for left-overs so we decided to turn back and spend time with the family. 

Later we took Emma to see "Tangled" at the movies.

I hated to see those boys go.  They were so incredibly nice and helpful and polite and thoughtful.  It was a pleasure to be with them and I look forward to reading about their further adventures.

Good people

In the backyard, behind our rock wall, on the irrigation ditch side, weeds grow tall and dense. I have hired people to clean it out, had sons chop them down, and burned them. But, they always grow back and are a nuisance.

Last year daughter #3 played on a volleyball team with a young lady who lives not too far from us. We carpooled to practices and games. Her parents are some of the nicest people I've ever met. Our girls now go to the same school and occasionally the mom and I have called each other for last minute help in getting our daughters home from school. But, one of the kindest things by far that they have done for us is that every now and then, without a word, the dad, George, shows up with his tractor and mows the weeds behind our wall. He never asks for anything in return, in fact, won't accept anything and brushes off our thanks.

There are good people in the world. I'm privileged to know many. They help me want to be more thoughtful and giving. God bless George and his family.

Am I back? Hi, Mom

I am totally surprised that I still have access to this blog, but as I attempted to create a new blog that would be linked to my Google page (so that I wouldn't forget to write on it) I discovered that my old blog was still active, so here I am.

My precious daughter-in-law, Courtney, has a beautiful blog. It is always so well written and illustrated. I have never understood how she could possibly have the time with all of her school and work commitments to blog at all, much less such an impessive and professional looking blog. I know her mother, Sue, agrees. It's such a treat to read.

Then, my friend, Jen, has a professional blog. She even has advertisers and gets paid to blog. Wow! Her articles are always so well informed and helpful. I know she has a large readership.

I, on the other hand, doubt my ability to string together two sentences that make sense, much less make any difference. However, I have been so impressed by Courtney and Jen and have thought it would be a good way to communicate with my mother and other family and old friends. So, with out further explanation, I am back. Hi, Mom!