Awww, Asher’s 1st high school swim season is officially over for him now! 😥
He swam at Sectionals yesterday, but as was completely expected, will not be swimming at Division 1 High School State next weekend. Several of the juniors and seniors on his team did qualify (you have to place in the top 24 swimmers out of ALL the other Division 1 Sectionals in the state (there are a lot!), which is not an easy feat.). There are currently some crazy fast freshman phenoms at a couple of schools who are like, setting pool and state records and it’s really something. 😳 Again, to my children, I apologize for your more average gene pool. LOL.
Like I said before though, Asher really had a great season. He worked so hard, he had an absolute blast, he swam REALLY well with huge improvements… it was a complete and utter success of a season on all fronts! He is so sad it’s over. He commented yesterday, Well, 1 year down, 3 to go. (sniff sniff!)
There are six graduating seniors and they have been a huge part in making the team what it is. It definitely will be a really different vibe next year without them. But I guess that’s the way these things go.
They’ve been amazing role models, and I think some have really pushed Asher to dial in his focus on his swimming, too. (PSA to all parents of young kids: Put your kids on swim team! Swim kids are THE BEST!!)
It was a LOT of swim practices, meets, dinners, events, weight training, etc etc…. it’s been a whirlwind since it started in November. But it simultaneously feels like it just started! I honestly feel sad to have it end, too. It’s been so much fun and there is an amazing amazing group of parents on this team, too.
Anyway! In non-swim news, I had a very special and romantic Valentine’s Day. hahaha. It involved cleaning out this file cabinet:
And throwing away bags full of stuff!
I also FORCED myself to go to the gym Friday night, during a snowstorm… which I had zero desire to do.
But once I got there, as is known to happen, I actually perked up and had a great workout! I did upper body in a delightfully empty gym (other people either home hiding from the snow or more likely, doing something with their Valentine…) and then RAN ON THE TREADMILL! For the first time in months and months.
I am not in any kind of running shape but just walked for 4 minutes, then ran 10 minutes at 6.5 mph, then walked for 3 minutes, then ran another 10 minutes, then walked 3 minutes for a total of 30 minutes.
At home I delivered this very exciting Valentine’s gift to the boys:
They were actually kind of disgusting. Haha. They normally like these fluffy sugar cookies (obviously a very low brow dessert option, but whatever), so I grabbed some on my pre-gym grocery store run. But I didn’t realize these had strawberry flavored frosting and it just tasted weird.
And then I ate a salad with chopped up frozen chicken nuggets on top for protein. 😅 A very fancy Valentine’s dinner.
I ended the night reading on the couch snuggling with my littlest love, while half watching the live version Aladdin on TV. (I love this version! I think it’s so funny and cute.)
It was actually a really nice evening. Chatted a bit with the boys and Ethan has been so helpful these last few days doing almost all the snow removal since Ivan’s gone. Asher was in bed early due to the swim meet and I think I actually went to bed before 10, too.
I am noticing that with Ivan gone, I am happily going to bed much earlier than usual! I’ve been in bed by 9:30-10 every night!
I think when he’s home, since he’s such a night owl, I feel bad just going off to bed early, especially on the weekend. So without really realizing it, I end up staying up later than I would on my own, even though it’s not like he asks me to stay up, but I just… do, I guess. I enjoy that quiet later night time, too…
Not sure what my conclusion is here, but something to think about. It has felt kind of delightful to just GO TO BED.
I have been looking forward to today- wide open and should be free to do a variety of things I want/ need to do.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for Asher’s amazing experience during his freshman swim season.
GRATEFUL KAE 
Yay for Friday night at the gym. It’s been forever since I’ve done that, but once upon a time I used to work out at night and I really like Friday nights because the gym would be much less crowded but somehow the people watching was even more fun.
I’m laughing at the “oh I’m not in running shape so I just casually ran for 10 minutes TWICE at a fast speed as one does”. My go to treadmill run/walk is a ladder of 1-2-3-2-1 minutes of running with 2 minute walk break between each run. After one of these workouts I though “huh maybe I’ll do a 4 minute run next time” but by the next time my body talked me out of it.
Is there anything better than snuggling on the couch with the dog? I don’t think so.
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I could totally see making Friday nights a regular gym night if I didn’t prefer to go stuff my face full of chips and salsa on Friday nights instead! hahaha. But I do sometimes go late Saturday afternoons/ early evenings and it’s usually pretty equally dead then! It’s a good time!
lol about the running! I guess I didn’t think about it like that but now you just stoked my ego. HAH! Maybe I’m not in as bad of shape for cardio as I thought, but I definitely don’t feel like I could just go easily run a few miles or anything right now!
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This is my 10-year-old daughter’s first year of club swim and today was the final meet of the season–I am feeling similarly grateful for her improvement this season, her coaches, teammates, and just the general vibe of her team! It is not the most competitive swim team and she’s not the fastest swimmer there is, but she has worked so hard and improved so much and already can’t wait to swim next year (and on our summer swim team). I love to watch how she and her teammates support each other too. At the final meet this weekend she PRed in 4 events! Also, today I volunteered as a timekeeper and I thought of you because you are always talking about swim team parent volunteer duties :). Our swim team is pretty low key and we didn’t host any meets this year (our team is new) so they haven’t required a lot of parent volunteer time as of yet but now I at least know I can do one (easy) volunteer job haha.
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Awww! That’s awesome! It really is such a fun sport. Especially when they have new growth and development- those phases of getting tons of PRs is a lot more exciting than the inevitable “plateaus” that also come with the sport, but hey. You have to enjoy the ups and the downs! Timing is not so bad, is it? I think it goes by fast and is exciting to be right there on the deck. The only negative is that it makes it hard to really watch the whole meet. For our big Conference meet recently I didn’t sign up to time because I wanted to be able to see other teammates’ swims etc and while timing I can’t really do that!
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I also love kids that swim and truly enjoy watching them perform so “professionally”. Sometimes I am surprise that they are my kids, how did they learn to swim so well. I love the team part of it too. When they train with other kids, older kids, they do put more effort.
My husband usually goes to bed later than me, I can’t help but to go as I literally fall asleep by 8:30pm the latest. If I am at home alone, I suspect I may go to bed even earlier.
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It’s amazing how fast some of the kids are!! I think it’s really impressive too! There’s so much that goes into swimming technique- not just the stroke, but the starts, turns, finishes, underwater, etc… It’s a lot to think about it! Impresses me too how the young kids can keep all that straight and do it all so well.
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Paul has expressed interest in joining a swim team! That is years off for him as he needs to learn more strokes/become a more confident swimmer but it seems like a great sport. I hear great things about cross country teams, too!! They attract great kids!!
It’s nice to be on your own schedule for a bit. I know Ivan works a bit later so I can see how those later hours are important to you. Phil and I are together starting around 5; when we carpool we are together starting at 4:15. Granted most of that time together is around the kids. We get 30 min before I go up to read but that gives him time to watch shows I am not into. We were both single for so many years so value that alone time. But it’s a balancing act to get enough alone time + family time + couple time.
We all had leftovers on V day. We were supposed to go out with my brother and SIL last night but there was a water main break at the restaurant and the restaurant flooded!! But it was for the best – if we had gone out, my nephew was going to watch the boys and then he would have been exposed to the stomach bug Paul got.
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Yes, cross-country is similar! Asher did that briefly in middle school and ultimately decided he is not a “land animal” LOL and does best in water. Hahaha. But they’re both great! I hope Paul might consider it! It’s nice because it’s just really you vs you (I mean, it’s not, but ultimately, it is.) And, it’s not a contact sport, which is good for our little guys 😉
Bummer about the V-Day plans falling through!! But yes, good point about the silver lining + Paul’s stomach bug… ugh.
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Swim team sounds great! What an amazing team dynamic, and I bet it made the transition to high school so much easier.
T was away with my parents for spring break, so we went to a nearby city for the night. And went to this corporate trendy restaurant that I HATED (it was the only thing that had a 7:30 reservation which was when I our train arrived). But we had a nice brunch the next AM, went to a cool 19th century ship, and a cool art museum. T is back home now, and I’m quite sad to be leaving him for work city for 2 days, he came home and gave us a cuddle, and then went to his room to do lego.
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T had spring break already?!? In February? That’s so early!! I’m late responding to this comment, so hopefully you’ve gone and are back already now? Or maybe not quite yet?
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I had a friend that LOVED those cookies (maybe not with strawberry frosting, admittedly). They were her favourite go-to treat. I haven’t had one in YEARS. She’s now a fancy lawyer who loves to prep super elaborate meals and cares about using the best ingredients, but I bet those cookies are still her fav!
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Haha- I actually think they’re tasty too! But with the vanilla frosting. 😉
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Yay Asher! But I’m sad for him that swim has ended. Is he going to do another sport to fill in the gap till swim starts again? Or does he continue to swim on his own? Kid’s sports are an unknown territory to me.
I already commented on this, but it sounds like we had equally unromantic Valentine’s Days. Sounds like it was a great time to hit the gym! I’ll bet you felt good after that run : )
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So here high school swim season goes November-February. He is back now with his Club team this week and will join in for the big Regionals meet with them this upcoming weekend (the girls + all non-high school aged kids have been doing Club swim all winter). Then everyone goes on a break in March, and then Club starts back up end of March through July. Then they break in August, and then Club swim will go again Sept- Nov (unless he does volleyball again next fall, in which case he would take fall session of Club swim off). So basically swim is year round, but the high school season (his now favorite!) only lasts from November- February.
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I used to stay up with my husband because he’s a night owl, but I was never getting enough sleep since I get up an hour or two before he does. So now I just go to bed when I want to.
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Yes, that is smart! I do still usually go to bed before him, but I just find that I often stay up a little later than I should… It’s my fault though. I just need to go in and go to bed!
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I love Friday nights at the gym! So peaceful and you never have to wait to use equipment, ha. Monday nights at the gym are the WORST. It’s always sooo busy.
I’m glad your kids are having such a positive experience with swim team. That’s amazing!
Hooray for early bedtimes, at least for a little while! 😉
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