Busy, Busy....Part I

This is a very busy time of year for everyone isn't it?  On top of having my MIL here for almost two weeks and my kitchen still under repair, we are in the midst of our high school swim meet championship season.  There has been stress, let me tell you, big stress.

 This is a picture of my two sons with their Grandmother.  Gracie is 93 years young and still going very, very strong.  They both adore her.  Having her visit with a non working kitchen was a bit of a challenge but we all survived.

 This is the granite that was delivered to my home over two weeks ago.  While very beautiful it is not what I ordered.  You can't tell much from this picture but it has a ton, and I mean a ton of gold in it.  Which would look lovely in a kitchen with dark brown cabinets, but since mine are cherry, this won't do.  This error put off completion of the kitchen another 12 days.

 Here is a view of my empty sink.  For 6 weeks I have washed any dishes we have had in my bathroom sink.  Oh how I have longed for a sink with a garbage disposal!!!!!  When I started this kitchen renovation I was determined to get it done before the end of our high school swim season.  They were supposed to start at the end of August.  Instead they started on October 4, demolition began with dust clouds everywhere.  My oldest son has mild asthma, he is the swimmer so I wanted all dust, glue, paint and mess done before his championship meets.  We are still not finished and his last high school swim season is now over.  So much for my plan.

 As a freshman my son was on a State Championship team.  That is an amazing feat.  He was able to perform at the State level and earn points for his team.  It was an amazing experience for all of us.  A boys swim team had not won states in our county since the early 1940's.  There were only two freshman on the team at that time that contributed, so for my son it was fantastic.  

The hoopla this year was that our boys had a big chance to win again.  Article after article in the paper mentioned it.  Last year they came in second with only 5 boys participating.  This year they had a bit more depth and with 3 seniors that are bigger and stronger they had a great chance.  

The district meet was two weeks ago, they sailed thorough looking strong.  We have one of the hardest districts in the state.  Last Friday we had our Region meet and they looked great, that is except for my son who came in third in both his individual events.  He was tired, sore and very worried.  He was a mess all weekend and felt the weight of the world was on his shoulders.  I don't understand swimming all that much but there is a science to tapering these kids, and if it isn't right they swim horribly at their one shot of success.  He was worried, and so was I.  These boys were under so much stress, so much was expected from them, and of course most of the pressure they were putting on themselves.  This was his last chance as a high school swimmer, it meant a lot to him.  

States was this past Thursday.  Here is a picture of my son's coach putting a medal on my boy for a first place win in the Medley relay (above).  It was the only gold medal they got. 

But my son did really well. Not as good as he wanted but well just the same.  Here he is with his haul.  A gold for the relay, a bronze for the 200 IM, a silver in the 100 breast, a bronze in the 200 free relay and one more a gold for another state title.

What a great experience for him.  Such a hard feat and to do it twice in his high school career is amazing.  

Swimming isn't over, he actually has three whole days off, then it is back to training for Jr. Nationals in Austin, Texas in December.  Then long course season and at the end of that he will depart for The Ohio State University.  Time flies so fast, and they grow up so fast.