Friday 5: banquet, eyes, and I Believe

1. Asher’s swim banquet was Tuesday night.

This was SO well done!! I’ve talked about how lovely other end-of-season sports banquets have been, but this one was maybe even above and beyond.

The food was great (donated from Texas Roadhouse- grilled chicken, BBQ pork, those yummy rolls w/ cinnamon butter, mac n cheese, salad, cookies…so good!).

There was a little parents meeting at the beginning recapping the “business” side of things, reviewing the budget, etc. They also updated volunteer positions for next season, and elected some new people to the Board, including… me. I signed on to be the Member-at-Large Board member.

Our team is small enough that there is no getting out of doing some significant volunteering, so it’s a matter of sort of picking your poison. This year I’m running the Senior Scholarship application and interview process. That position usually goes to a freshman parent, so I needed something new for next year.

I decided I’d rather be on the Board, which seemed more in my wheelhouse than getting stuck heading up the Fundraising Committee (NO) or having to organize the Concessions stand (ALSO HARD NO!).

The coaches speeches were awesome. They talked about every single swimmer, called up by grade. Asher’s coach praised him for being the only one who always sought out feedback and technique tips from the coach. He said Asher always wanted him to watch every race, work on his starts with him, help make little corrections… He said that Asher was really devoted to not just putting in the yards, but also fine tuning the details.

I was so proud to hear that! 🙂

There is a tradition where the Juniors all give a speech about the Seniors, too. These were so awesome!! The Juniors gave such heartfelt, and often funny, speeches. 💗 There’s such a fantastic group of Seniors. I actually felt really sad for this exact group of swimmers to be splitting up next year.

Of course the slideshow at the end is always a tear jerker!! So many amazing moments!!

2. Pink eye

After school on Tuesday, Asher noticed that his left eyelid was swollen. His eye was not red, but his eyelid was just puffy. No drainage, pain, itching… he said it felt bruised. Hmm. I looked at it and it really just looked like he had whacked his eye on something! But he hadn’t.

On Wednesday morning it was even more swollen, and he looked like he’d been in a bar fight. lol. I kept him home from school because I didn’t really know what was going on/ if infectious, and also he looked really funny and was embarrassed to go, anyway.

To be honest, I was just really busy on Wednesday, so I didn’t call the doctor right away, and since his actual eye was not red/itchy, I didn’t think it was pink eye. I actually thought maybe he had like a blocked tear duct or something weird from his tight goggles at the swim meet?! I don’t know! He iced it and alternated some warm packs, but it didn’t change much.

So, Thursday I took him in to the clinic. By now only one side of his eye did actually have some redness, but still no drainage or crusting or itching, and you could only see the redness if he looked way off to one side. But, she said it’s pink eye! And she also noted a little stye, so could sort of be a combo, I guess. She said the treatment is the same anyway (antibiotic drops).

On the plus side, Friday is a no school day anyway. (She had said to keep him home today yet since pink eye is very contagious.) I’m assuming he maybe picked it up at the swim meet? Lots of kids all touching things and then rubbing water out of their eyes, putting on goggles, etc.

3. Reading!

Guess what? I’m about 10 pages away from finishing my 5th book of 2025!!

(Don’t get too excited- the 3 I finished in January are all books I had started in 2024 and needed to wrap up. But still, considering I think I read 7 books TOTAL in 2024, I am on a steep upward trajectory here!)

I finished Harry Potter #1!! I loved it!!! I’ve now moved on to #2 and am now getting really invested in the characters and plot and just everything.

I got an email the other day that we needed to select our House for the Harry Potter tour in London, presumably for some sort of personalized version.

I sent this group text to Ivan and the boys:

Haha. I was like, OOOOH this is fun! I am getting really INTO Harry Potter!!! 🤩 (I feel like I’ve crawled out from under my rock and am finally joining the rest of the world!)

Apparently no one in my family had a super strong House opinion, lol, except Ivan who said, “Gryffindor”.

I mentioned it to a coworker, which led to her telling me about her strong opinion about which House she identifies with. It also led to me taking 2 different quizzes to see which one is for me! 😂 (I got Ravenclaw once, and Slytherin once!! Anyone know of “the best” HP quiz?)

Along with Harry Potter #2, I also picked up this book from the library:

I wasn’t a crazy big Friends fan (I like it a lot, I just never watched like, every episode or anything) but always liked Matthew Perry. I’ve heard good things about his memoir and had it on my list.

4. The sky

I was feeling a little stressed yesterday morning over some things I read online, to the point where my stomach was literally hurting. After a couple comforting and uplifting text exchanges with friends, I looked out the window and saw this beautiful sky. I am such a sucker for a pretty sky, you guys. It like…. INSTANTLY brings me peace.

One of Elisabeth’s interview questions for my gratitude post (which I never got to, but had intended to answer!) was: What’s a simple, everyday moment that always reminds you to be grateful, no matter how busy life gets?

For me, my answer was going to be: a beautiful sky.

Do you know the song “I Believe“? I love that song, and there’s a line in there that talks about the sky. 💗

I believe for every drop of rain that falls
A flower grows
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night
A candle glows
I believe for everyone who goes astray, someone will come
To show the way
I believe, I believe

I believe above the storm the smallest prayers
Will still be heard
I believe that someone in the great somewhere
Hears every word

Every time I hear a newborn baby cry,
Or touch a leaf, or see the sky
Then I know why…. I believe

Here’s a link. Both his voice and the song give me chills, honestly.

5. Inspiration + a laugh

Two final things I liked from this week.

The more serious one:

Love this! I do NOT do this enough. Not meditating, not reading, not listening to something, not talking to someone…. but just…. sitting there. I feel like it actually feels quite weird when I do this, because we’re so accustomed to having to DO something all the time.

And, a silly one that for some unknown reason made me LAUGH OUT LOUD 😂:

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for antibiotic drops for Asher. And that today was already a no school day for him, so at least no further school is being missed.