Almost spring break, lifeguarding + luck and the Chinese farmer

Almost spring break:

We are now ~10 days out from spring break (!!!). We had a really chill weekend, and I’m so glad.

The past ~5 years or so Asher has always had the State swim meet the weekend right before (or very close) to when we’ve left for spring break. I remember being out of town from Thursday- Sunday for swimming in 2023 and then leaving for our Costa Rica trip on the following Friday.

It was fine in the end, but I recall it just being really, really hectic. Trying to get packed with no days off, run errands, clean the house, clean out the fridge, WORK…. it’s too much!

The 11-14 State swim meet was this past weekend, but obviously Asher is 15 now and was not at it! I saw some updates on Facebook and while those were very fun meets in past years and happy memories, I was relieved to just be at home. Ha.

My parents came overnight Friday- Saturday, mostly just because we hadn’t seen them in a few weeks and I wanted to run through a few final London itinerary thoughts with them. I booked a couple other things (Westminster Abbey!) and I think we are pretty much set now.

Lifeguarding!

Asher took a lifeguarding certification course out in Verona (FAR side of town from us) from Friday- Sunday. It’s a ton of hours! He had to be there from 5-9 pm Friday, 8-6 Saturday and 8-6 Sunday (it ended early on Sunday though). My parents arrived by 3:30 on Friday and rode along with me to drop him off (it’s a good ~35+ minute drive).

Ivan’s cousin and family live not far from there, so lucky for us, Asher was able to just stay with them for the weekend! (Otherwise it would have been a LOT of back and forth driving for us.)

His cousin picked him up at 9 pm and then drove him to and from class on Saturday and Sunday, too. This particular cousin of Ivan’s is the NICEST guy you’ll ever meet. If you ever need a favor, he’s your guy. Seriously. So nice.

(There are lifeguard certification courses closer to us, but the dates just didn’t really line up between Asher’s swim season and our trip… Asher wants to quit McDonald’s and start lifeguarding ASAP after spring break. He already has a job lined up at the high school pool and is also planning to guard at the outdoor community pool all summer.)

He passed the course and is all official now! He’s CPR certified too and (hopefully) has all the knowledge he’d need to save someone. 😬 Makes me a little nervous. I mean, I’m not particularly worried about the high school pool- odds of needing to do a rescue during a club team practice are very low! But still, unexpected things can happen. And there definitely have been rescues needed at the community pool. It’s kind of a mob scene there of little kids on hot days….

The lifeguard jobs pay REALLY well for a 15 year old though- significantly higher than McDonald’s. I personally think it looks incredibly boring, and to be honest, even though I understand it’s a huge responsibility if something goes wrong, obviously most of the time he will just be….sitting there. I don’t know.

I guess I’m glad that he’s at least had over a year of customer service “hustle” work at McDonald’s already, because in terms of learning work ethic and actual “on-the-job” skills, I feel like fast food teaches more! Not to diminish the importance of lifeguards and those important skills; I am truly glad he’s had the first aid/ CPR training and all of that. Anyway, hopefully you know what I mean.

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We’re getting the SPRING weather that probably many of you are also getting… seems many places are experiencing a big warm up this week. I am here for it!!

So is Charlie:

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The Story of the Chinese Farmer

I just want to stick this in here at the end, because I’ve randomly heard reference to this parable twice in the past week. Although I’ve heard it before, it still struck me as ironic. It really is such a good parable, and I don’t believe I’ve ever shared it on my blog before, so I wanted to share it today:

Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate luck.”

The farmer said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.”

The next day, the horse came back, bringing back seven wild horses with it. In the evening, everyone came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky! What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!”

Again, the farmer said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.”

The following day, his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer replied, “Maybe yes, maybe no”.

The next day officers came around to enlist young men into the army, but they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.”

I love this story. It’s so thought provoking. It makes me remember that we never really know how one event will play out in the future. Things that seem good can be bad, and things that seem bad can be good. We just never really know…I guess it’s one of the great mysteries of life.

Anyway, enjoy the warm weather this week if you’re getting some!! 🌞🌞

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for sunglasses.