Diving in

When last we spoke I went on at some length about this whole swimming thing. Since I've failed to post anything here between now and then -- although I have been busy elsewhere -- I thought it was time for an update.

We haven't started formal swimming lessons yet. Already by the end of May the classes that worked with our schedules were full for the first summer sessions. We're looking at end of July. In the meantime, we've been to various pools around town a few times, and things are going, well, swimmingly.

Mimi started out clinging to me or our friend Kate, whose apartment complex pool we've visited a couple of times. It's a perfect pool for the kids -- not busy, not huge, and the deepest point is five feet. And gradually, with the realization that she was not in fact drowning  -- and the fact that she was being shown up by her five-year-old sister, who splashes around in her floaty yelling "look at me! I'm in the deep end! I can do it by myself!" -- Mimi has lost much of her fear.

There was a lot of this the first time we went, over Memorial Day weekend. And I'll admit I spent a lot of time sitting on the side of the pool "getting used to it," as I told the girls, myself. Eventually Mimi got in and let Kate tow her across the pool and back, and proclaimed that it wasn't so bad. 

We went back this past Saturday. The girls were impressed that I hopped right in -- well, the water wasn't nearly as cold this time, and it was about a hundred degrees, so that does make a difference -- and they both got in readily. Mimi did spend the first five minutes or so clinging to my neck. Then she let me disentangle her and take her by the hands to tow her around. I gradually let go of her hands and before she knew it she was floating all on her own. Well, with the floaty, but that's a minor point. 

I practiced too -- I managed to float on my back all the way across the pool, and do a modified doggy paddle back. I even put my head underwater for a few seconds, because watching Mimi be brave made me feel a little ridiculous about freaking out for getting water up my nose. I didn't enjoy it, but I did it.

And then, almost before I knew it:

Yup. That's my girl who a month ago was terrified of water, happily ducking her head under. She did it about fourteen more times, and once she did it, Boo had to try it too. Boo wasn't as enthusiastic about it, but she wasn't squeamish, either. They paddled around underwater, poking each other and coming up spluttering, for a good twenty minutes.

So Mimi is now Boss of the Pool, and has happily declared that when she takes swimming lessons it will be awesome because she ALREADY KNOWS HOW TO PUT HER HEAD UNDER and maybe she'll even be a swimming racer someday! (We watched some of the Olympic trials.) 

Frightfully busy

The last few weeks have been just a little busy. I fully acknowledge that I've been losing what little cool I had left on a semi-regular basis since early April, and I sincerely hope that now I will start to pull it together a little bit. I've weathered spring break, three craft shows, and the start of Mimi's soccer season, with only the rest of soccer, the end of the school year, Boo's gymnastics extravaganza, a weekend trip to NYC and a week-long trip to California to go before the end of June.

Oh, is that all?

Mimi's soccer team is the third-grade-girls' powerhouse, undefeated after four games. I feel a little sad for the teams that have to play them, to be honest. They've shut out two of their last three opponents. I know they are old enough to deal with losing and all, but I still find myself wanting them to at least score one time. This is why I am not a very good soccer mom. No competitiveness whatsoever.

Mimi in action

I had three spring craft shows in quick succession, all of which were mildly successful although not quite as much as I'd hoped. I have a lot of idea about how to fix the problems I discovered, however -- at least the ones within my control; being tucked in a back corner behind a large display of carved wood items at the last show was not within my control, and definitely hurt my sales. These things happen. 

I came up with some new items, as per usual with some suggestions by the lovely Kate of Chicaloo Photography. I'm always looking for new ideas, even though I have more than I could ever finish already in my head -- after all, I want to make what people actually want. So if you have any flashes of "someone should crochet THIS!" brilliance, do let me know.

I started making smaller octopi, and added keychain findings to make them useful. If you happen to really need an octopus keychain -- I mean, who doesn't -- the first one is listed in my etsy store here. I added mini coffee cups, strawberries, and ice cream cones for the most recent show, and they proved quite popular -- particularly among middle-school girls, unsurprisingly.

I made Captain Picard ("make it sew!" Hah. Groan.) quite by accident. And then I made a Viking, because, why not. 

A lot of people commented on my fried egg headbands, but sadly no one purchased any. Cowards. 

Everyone who picks up the ice cream cone pretends to lick it. Without exception. 

This is me. This is my table, and my sign, and my craft goods. And my boobs. 

What else? Going to work, hauling kids to soccer and gymnastics practice, the occasional date or social outing. It's been a mostly rainy, dreary spring ever since that one spectacular sunny week we had in March, and that has kept me feeling kind of blah. I haven't had much time to myself, and that hasn't helped. I keep hoping that the sun will come out and things will start looking up. It's not bad, right now, it just could be better. 

Oh, and I started a new tumblr. Meet Cute Animals. Bad Dates. I needed to do something with all the horrific online dating profiles I run across.

Now For Something Completely Different

Last week I took my kids to Walt Disney World. The Happiest Place on Earth (tm). We were accompanied by my mom and dad, because I might be foolish enough to take my kids to Disney but I'm not fool enough to try to do it by myself.

I used a chunk of last year's tax refund to fund this trip. I'm only sharing this information because the fact that I have struggled financially before and since my divorce is no secret, and I heartily dislike when people question my actions on the basis of "can you really afford that?" because they think they know what my situation is. The information anyone has out there in cyberland about my finances is limited and incomplete, and all you really need to know is that I am able to pay my bills these days, so no worries. I've never taken my kids on vacation before, and this was an opportunity I may not have again for a long time, so I took it. Irresponsible, a little, maybe, but worth it.