What is it about emptying the dishwasher that makes me loathe it so? I don't mind bathrooms or laundry. I can handle mowing the lawn and washing cars, but emptying the dishwasher is like a terrible punishment.
I've already made a note on the calendar for Lizzy to start teaching Michael how to empty the dishwasher. My goal is for there to be a seamless transition when she leaves for college next year!
Now, if only I could get her to do windows!
I have always been very clear with Lizzy that I am not her friend, I am her mother. "You'll have lots of friends in your life, kiddo, but only one mother and that would be me." Yes, I can be a real 'mother'!
Sometimes, though, that line gets crossed and today was the perfect example.
We've reached the last line-item on the college search list and it was St. Leo's University. Another pre dawn start and we were off, this time heading across state towards Tampa. St. Leo's is a beautiful campus in the rolling hills of Florida and we really enjoyed the ride. Every time I saw a cow, we'd play the same game we've always played: I say "Cow!" and Lizzy says "Moo!"
During a session break, Lizzy and I took a stroll around the campus. It's a Catholic university so there is the obligatory church and this one was beautiful! As I've said, the whole campus was beautiful.
And that's when it happened. That's when the line was crossed. As we were walking near the church, we saw this:
"What is THAT?!" we both said at the same moment. In unison we both replied, "It's where they sacrifice the virgins!"
From there, the day rapidly deteriorated into moments of such laughter that I almost couldn't drive, moments of such silliness that I felt as if I were, not with my daughter, but with my very best friend. I was transported back to those late high school - early college years where everything was funny. And that's when I realized that yes, she is my daughter and I am not her friend because our bond goes so very much deeper than friendship ever could for as passionately as we can fight, we can laugh. We are a part of each other and moments such as we had today will be a part of each of us forever.
Ever since Lizzy was four or five years old, all she wanted to do was swim. When she began swimming competitively at eight, we never imagined it would take us this far.
This morning began, as most swim meet days do, with a pre-dawn start to the day.
The day ended with a dusk drive home.
I honestly feel that swimming has saved Lizzy, kept her on track. Through each of our three moves, there has always been swimming. In each school and each new town there has been a group of kids with the same interest for Lizzy to immediately join and become a part of.
Swimmers are a special sort. They spend hours swimming from point A to point B and back again: miles and miles without getting anywhere. For the most part, these are kids with high GPAs and solid values. They get up at 6:00 am without complaint, swim for an hour and a half, go to school and then swim again in the afternoon.
Swim coaches are extended members of the family. They are the "third parent" who can say "do it until you puke" and the kid does it without question.
Swimming has taken us to Alabama and Virgina. I have met wonderful, caring parents and Lizzy has made lifelong friends.
This is a sport that will carry her through college and beyond. It's a sport that she can participate in no matter how old she is.
I will always be indebted to this sport and no matter how many mornings I see the the sun come up long after we've been on the road, I'll always want my car painted like this car:
From swim meets in the morning...
.to monster trucks in the afternoon!
It's all in a day's work.
Another early wake-up call, another pre-dawn drive, another swim meet. A "more often than not" weekend morning of a swim mom and her swimmer. I never thought I'd say it, but as these trips near their end, I'm going to miss them. Lizzy and I have seen a lot of sunrises from the highway and eaten our fair share of ice cream on the way home. By this time next year she'll be gone to college and riding buses to meets with her new team, creating new routines and swimming in a different realm.
Well, as Bogart said to Bergman, "We'll always have Paris."
Sunday's meet in Daytona followed the same routines as other meets with one exception: There was a celebrity in our midst! The swimmers were a-buzz and t-shirt sales were through the roof as the rumor spread that Ryan Lochte would be on deck signing autographs and showing his medals from the Bejing Olympics.
Seven sleepy swimmers return from the scholar-athlete games in Rhode Island!
Hillary F., Lizzy G., Catherine D., Bobby P., Erik C., Jeremy L. and Brenden B.
this isn't the one I would pick:
It seems, however, that it has picked me because yesterday morning at o'dark thirty, Lizzy and I were off to see college #4: The University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
Please note that our opinions are only our opinions and no one should base theirs on ours. (huh?)
We got to the campus at 8:30 after a 2+ hour drive. We almost left the campus at 8:45.
The presentations weren't due to begin until 9:00 so we decided to take the housing tour while we waited.
Can you say, "Deal killer?" Lizzy could only describe the housing situation as 'a rape scene waiting to happen'. There was no apparent security and all the room doors opened to the outside courtyard. The "study lounge" was a little room in the middle of the courtyard with plastic chairs and tables, a stove and a small window set into the heavy steel access door. It looked like the observation room at an nut house institutional facility.
While the campus was quite pretty (it's a wildlife refuge...wildlife? college campus? same sentence?) and the swimming facility was fantastic, there was nothing anyone could say to get Lizzy past her initial reaction to those dorms.
As with any trip, no matter how long or short it may be, there is always the quote of the trip. The quote for this trip came when Lizzy and I were discussing campus security and comparing what we had seen today with that of other schools. "That's part of the difference between a $5,000/year school and a $50,000/year school." I said. "In that case, I'd rather be in debt than dead." was her response.
No argument here.
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