All or Nothing

The saga of the swim season sans swimming pool continued this week. The district prelims were scheduled for Thursday, February 5th in Moses Lake (1 hour 45 minutes away) at 5pm. I chose not to attend the prelims, and instead just attend the finals on Saturday at the same location. Soon after the team school bus arrived at Moses Lake High School on Thursday, they were told that the pool facility HVAC system had blown out and the meet was cancelled. So the bus turned around and drove that long winding hour and 45 minutes back to Sunnyside. 

Sunrise from Monday morning (Feb 2nd) because this post needs something pretty. Even the sky was all or nothing this week: all colorful glory or nothing thick smudgy fog.

Over the next 24 hours, athletic directors in our league scrambled to find a new location for the meet. There are only 3 other pools in the league, but none of them were great for hosting a big district meet. Locations further afield were considered, but scheduling was an issue. Eventually, they decided to combine the district prelims and finals all into one meet and hold it at the Wenatchee High School pool (one of the schools in our league), which has no space for spectators. Jeff says the pool deck there barely has room for the teams, let alone spectators. The current operating plan is to have all spectators wait in the gym with a Zoom feed of the meet. Parents of kids swimming in a current race will supposedly be ushered into the overcrowded pool deck and somehow watch their kid swim. All of this could change at any time, so there's no telling what will actually end up happening.

As frustrating as these setbacks and changes are, they totally go with the trend of our Sunnyside High School boys' swim season of broken pool facilities and minimal swimming. It kind of feels like ugly globby icing on the driest cake ever. 

Before I move on, here are some swim pictures:

A sweet lady from our ward made several color copies of this article about our Sunnyside High School boys swim team from the Yakima newspaper. Part of it says:

"The Sunnyside High School swim team practices at a private pool that was never competition ready--until it suffered a mechanical failure this year. There is no alternative pool available to them. In many communities, the response would be, 'Well, that's that. Looks like the universe doesn't want us to have a swim team.' But Sunnyside didn't see it that way. They do dry-land practice Monday through Friday. They still show up to every swim meet, traveling to other communities' pools to compete. There is no team in this state with more heart than the Sunnyside swim team. I know this because I spoke with one of their swimmers last Thursday while I was timing a meet at Lions Pool [in Yakima]. I asked where he practiced... He looked down, a little sheepish and said, 'We practice in the barn.' I replied, 'You're the greatest team of all of us competing today, for more reasons than the fastest time in an event.' So this is why I keep thinking about the Sunnyside swim team: Sunnyside doesn't have a pool--but they have a swim team."

Jeff's parents brought us the original newspaper article tonight.

I loved that article for all of its kind words about the resilience of the boys on our swim team. Our boys have had to dig deep and find patience and grit in the face of so much adversity. The are a great group. The only thing this article doesn't mention is the resilience and ingenuity of our swim coach. Jeff has created something out of nearly nothing and I hope at some point down the line these boys realize just how lucky they were to have such an amazing coach!

Coach White, with his latest dry land swim practice invention. The fitness club pool finally installed a new heater last weekend, and the team was hopeful to practice their final week of the season in actual water. Jeff decided that the number one skill they would work on in the water would be flip turns -- one of their weak points after a season without a pool. But less than 24 hours after the pool heater was installed, it blew out and died. Our boys didn't even catch a glimpse of the water. The last hope of practicing in a pool died. They will end their 12 week season with a total of 4 in-pool practices.

Jeff asked the question no swim coach ever wants to ask: "how can we work on flip turns without a pool?" The answer was a bunch of carefully arranged plyo boxes, some kettle bells, and a medicine ball.

The next four pictures show Jay doing a dry land flip turn with Jeff's invention:

1. Head down in the hole, arms flat at his sides.

2. Bracing on his arms, he lifts his body up...

3. ...and flips over onto his back.

4. Then he straightens his legs out and kicks the medicine ball. This drill was fascinating to watch. The boys got pretty good at it, to the point where Jeff stopped standing in front of the med ball and instead stood off to the side, so he didn't lose his kneecaps to a flying med ball. The boys stood in a line and rotated through rep after rep of dry land flip turns.

Traditional toenail painting the night before the district meet...before we knew the meet was cancelled. I feel bad for the boys who shaved their legs that night too, because they'll probably have to shave them again before the rescheduled district meet that will be 6 days later!

Early season dry land bungee swimming. This picture was taken in December.

End of season dry land swimming (taken Feb 7th/yesterday): using Jeff's homemade Vasa trainers, with pulleys and two by four props. Jeff is amazing.

Ok, now for the rest of the week:

Normally I keep posts in the past: I write about what has already happened. But with the exception of Rose's birthday, this week was pretty much defined by a whole bunch of looming trials and changes that were either extensions of ongoing trials or newfound battles.

Shaina's List of Looming Trials:

• The district swim meet got postponed due to facility issues. Season extended, frustration and inconvenience amplified.
• The district swim meet was rescheduled from Saturday in Moses Lake (1.75 hours away) to Wednesday in Wenatchee (2.5 hours away), in a pool facility that has almost no space for spectators. Far away, super late night in the middle of the week, hectic meet, difficult to watch.
• Jeff's health was low all week with autonomic based fatigue and digestive issues. I miss him and everything is harder when he's hanging by a thread. He's amazing at getting through his work and coaching day while battling this fatigue, but it's hard/lonely for me because he doesn't have much left in him by the time he gets home in the evening.
• I substitute taught early morning seminary on Tuesday this week. This one is already done, and it even went relatively well, but let me tell you-- prep and execution frayed me around the edges.
• I have an upcoming women's health appointment that won't be comfortable. IUD insertion to mitigate heavy menstrual flow: nothing fun about this at all.
• Our well pump started having the issues that the pump guy predicted would happen back when he checked our system a few months ago. He's coming to assess and repair tomorrow. Goodbye, $10,000. 
• The driver's ed class that Rose is signed up for requires her to complete 25 hours of practice driving before the end of the three week course. What busy high school student has time for that much driving??
• Since Jeff is so busy and his health is in a slump, guess who gets to be the primary parent in the passenger seat while Rose learns how to drive? I get inordinately anxious in the passenger seat. I am dreading this so much. 6-8 hours per week of student driving for the next month might ruin me.
• The three month grind of track season looms ever closer. I really like coaching and all that, but that doesn't mean track isn't a long draining grind of a season, especially when Jeff is already so fatigued. 
• I have jury duty starting tomorrow. Seriously. What about my doctor appointment? But if I defer (again), I actually don't have any other time that I could do it either...but I might not get called in at all...but if I do...

Journal excerpts:

Sunday, February 1st: Church today. Jay wore Jeff's suit again and it still blows my mind how well it fits him. It also blows my mind that Jay very well could grow out of his father's suit before he graduates from high school. Jay said the prayers for both the bread and the water for the sacrament today, because the other two boys said the Spanish prayers. 

Tonight during the dinner prayer, Amber said "thank thee that we are eating dinner all together for the first time in a while." That sums our week up! Last week was not a week that we managed to have dinner all together. A swim meet, piano lessons, and my fatigue made family meals not happen. 

Tonight after dinner we all stayed in the kitchen and talked for a while. It was sweet family time.

Today after church, I overheard our early morning seminary teacher asking parents to fill in the calendar  to come sit in seminary as the second adult. When I volunteered to go to seminary on Tuesday, she told me that day was more than just coming and sitting in-- she needed a substitute teacher! I swallowed and said ok. Jeff is going to come sit in as the second adult. The Jonah in me was kind of hoping Jeff would teach, haha. I feel a little tense about teaching! I texted Em [my sister who's been a seminary teacher for the past 5 years] and asked her to tell me all her seminary strategies and secrets. She just said not to overthink it and that it's just like teaching youth Sunday school. I feel like it's not quite the same though... I need to let it go for now so I can relax and get some sleep tonight. It's hard to let it go though!! 

Monday, February 2nd: I don't know if I'll be able to write anything about my day, because I'm anxious about teaching seminary tomorrow. This morning I got up and read all the scriptures in the lesson I'm teaching, thought about them, and looked at the seminary manual. Then I typed myself an outline for a "lesson flow." I did my best to think up a variety of ways to read and talk about scriptures and quotes in class. That was where I needed the most preparation. 

I called Mom and she gave me so much encouragement as well as several good ideas for making the lesson more interactive and lively. I'm using a couple of her ideas. 

I know the kids, I have prayed a lot, and I've studied and prepped the lesson, but I'm still anxious. I get anxious every time I do something new. It's just who I am and I don't like it, but I can't help it. Most of all, I'm dreading being up front that early in the morning. My brain feels sluggish at 6am! And it's a whole hour long lesson, from 6:15-7:15am. I also have no clue about timing--how long each part of the lesson will take. (Sleepy teenagers are less interactive, but how much will that affect the clock?) Hence the nervousness. 

Ok, I need to put these little worries in a box and stash it away until tomorrow morning because I need to be able to sleep tonight! Ahhhgg if I can't sleep, teaching seminary will be even worse! Ok, that's all. When I close this journal entry, I will be done thinking about all of my worries. Deep breath.

Tuesday, February 3rd: I did it! I taught seminary this morning for the first time ever! It's such a relief to be done and to set down that mental burden. I jolted wide awake the minute my alarm went off at 5:15am, so I wasn't groggy like I worried about. The lesson went well. Class goes from 6:15-7:15am, and I managed to time the lesson almost right. We ended 7 minutes early, but it was a natural ending and we had covered everything plus I added a few thoughts, so it was time. I don't believe in beating dead horses. The activities and interactive scripture reading I planned all worked. Mom's ideas worked. My dozens of desperate prayers for peace and poise worked. And... it was kind of fun! Those are words only for my journal, haha. Jeff was the second adult (and tech support). 

Tonight at dinnertime, I asked Jay and Rose to be honest and tell me how seminary was today. They both said it was a good lesson. Jay liked how I kept everyone moving and engaged. Jeff piped up facetiously and started to ask "who is a better teacher..." whereupon I cut him off and said that wasn't what I was asking and it wasn't a fair question. I can't stand feeling dull up there so I kept everyone interacting. I'm glad they liked it. Nobody fell asleep today! Two of the main sleepers were absent, but still. 17 kids were present by the end of class!

Whew!

When I came home from seminary around 7:40am, I hugged Amber and asked her what it was like waking up in an empty house. She said in her matter-of-fact Amber style, "it was fine because I'm used to being alone." That about broke my heart! I hugged her more and said I missed her and I want to be there for her. 

After I took Amber to school and put dinner in the slow cooker, I took it easy for the rest of the day. I didn't exercise, but I did play the piano. I took a nap and watched a show. This afternoon I took Rose to Best Driving Academy and registered her for Driver's Ed for $600. Gag. They said she has to drive for 25 hours during the 3 week driver's ed course! Not counting the 5 hours of driving with the instructor! Rose and I sat down and crunched the numbers till we figured out how to make it work. It's not going to be easy. I can't believe they require half of the total driving hours required to get a license to be done in 3 weeks. Half of that 50 hours has to be completed in 3 weeks? That's crazy. I'm not looking forward to it because I get so anxious in the passenger seat. 

When we got home from the driving school, Rose and Amber went on a run together. Rose didn't run for most of January, so she's working on getting back into shape starting this week. She told Amber they were going to run 20 minutes. Amber indignantly said "No! Not 20 minutes!" Then when they got back, Rose said that they jogged a 10-minute mile on the way out, and then on the way back Amber sped up and ran a minute faster coming home. Rose said it was hard to keep up with Amber! 

Jeff started feeling his post covid energy slump and vagus nerve-centric dysautonomia symptoms yesterday, and he was so tired today from going to work with all that inside his body. I really hope he can come out of this soon. 

Wednesday, February 4th: On my run today, my lungs felt better than they have since I got sick 2+ weeks ago. I'm still not 100%, but it was nice to feel a bit more like myself. 

Chiropractor this morning. Mortal bodies require so much maintenance.

Tomorrow is day one of the district swim meet. At the end of practice today, most of the boys who made it to District painted their toenails in school colors: red and black, with a bit of silver sparkles every now and then. It's their funny team tradition. Several boys, including Jay, decided to shave their legs for the meet too. They're such a cute group of guys.

The large priest quorum came over for their Wednesday night activity tonight. They each brought a food item and then figured out something to cook only using what they had brought. Hot Cheetos, spaghetti noodles, ground beef, olives, etc... it was a very interesting meal. They crushed the hot Cheetos and mixed then with the ground beef to make meatballs that didn't stay together. Jay made a creamy sauce for the pasta. They also put cookies, peanut butter, and marshmallows in a pan and baked it for dessert. I stayed in my room mostly during the activity, but I went out there at the beginning and the end. Since Jay was at home, and Jeff is in a major fatigue slump, I drove the girls to and from the church. Yay cold dark winter fog driving.

Thursday, February 5th: I lifted weights with my friend Danae this morning and then ran 3 miles on my own afterwards. My right Achilles started hurting halfway through my run, possibly thanks to the lumpy dried mud I was running on. Sigh. Mortality is hard some days. 

Jeff is so fatigued, he's a shell of his normal vibrant self. That weighs on me. I worry about him and miss him and feel lonely and less supported. It's hard.

Since Jeff, Jay, and Rose were going to be at a swim meet tonight, I decided to make a fun dinner with Amber. We made baked french toast together. She cracked the eggs and I cut the bread. It baked up so sweet and crispy, filling our house with a cinnamon vanilla aroma. I also fried up some sausage patties on the stove to go with it. Normally I'm not a huge breakfast-for-dinner fan because it's generally super sugary, but it really hit the spot tonight. I even took a lactase pill so I could use real milk in the french toast. 

The rest of the family ended up being home to share the tasty toasty sweet dinner with Amber and me: Day 1 of the district swim meet was scheduled for tonight in Moses Lake, but when the team arrived there (after nearly 2 hours on the school bus), they were informed that the HVAC system at the ML pool had blown out and they couldn't hold the meet today. WHAT IS UP WITH THIS SWIM SEASON?? Instead of swimming, they turned around and came home by 5:15pm. 

Friday, February 6th: Today I started weeding along the back fence. The owners of the lot behind us said they would move their fence so all of their land is on their side of the fence, but they haven't yet in the past year, and the weeds that grow in the 6-8 foot wide strip of land between our yard and their fence get so thick and tall every summer. They spread and encroach onto our grass as they get thicker. The tall tick woody canes of the weeds also tip over onto our grass and make it hard to mow. I want to get ahead of these awful thick weeds so we can keep them under control with the mower this summer. They are all dead now during winter so I was able to pull them out with relative ease today. From the south end of the fence, I weeded the length between 3 fence posts today, plus another similar length past the end of the fence, in 50 minutes. If it takes me 12 minutes to weed between each fence post, then it will take me 6.4 hours to go the length of the entire back fence. Probably a little less since the weeds get thinner farther north along the fence. I could potentially finish this project in a week! 

I felt hormonal and and stressed this morning, so I chose this winter weeding project to work out some of the angst. It helped! Accomplishing a measurable task with my own two hands felt therapeutic. 

Why was/am I stressed? It looks like our well pump needs to be replaced. For $10,000+. Our water pressure dropped this morning so I went out to the well house to check, and the pump was doing exactly what Ivan the pump guy predicted/warned might happen when he inspected it a few months ago. So I sent him a message, eventually talked to him on the phone, and he is coming on Monday. Sigh. Maybe it won't end up costing the full $10k. At times like this, it feels crazy that I don't have a job. Blah. I'm not going down the job spiral rabbit hole today. Basically, life and houses are expensive. 

Saturday, February 7th: Happy birthday to Rose! She's 15! [I'm doing a separate blog post for Rose's birthday so my sweet mellow middle child doesn't get lost in the middle of this heavy life post.]

Jay had his friends Noah and Shaun over to make fried chicken from scratch--something they've talked about for a long time. They are such budding foodies! They carefully looked up what to do online and followed instructional videos on how to cut up a whole chicken. I made them deep fry their chicken on the back porch with a hot plate to avoid smelling up our house like oil. All 3 boys as well as Rose (who watched them work and asked for a birthday gift of a piece of fried chicken) said it turned out well and tasted very good.

[end journal entries]

More pictures, from the rest of the week:

Rose's hair, right before I trimmed off about 2 inches. It's getting long!

I didn't give Amber a haircut, but she has been using a new shampoo specifically for curly hair, and it is helping tame her wilderness. She has also committed to doing her best to shower every single day now. All kinds of growth happening!

How sweet is it when an 11 year old girl feels pretty?

Another view of Monday morning's sunrise. It was pretty much foggy and gray the rest of the week, so I was extra thankful for this sky.

Once the seminary class left, I took a commemorative selfie of my first time teaching seminary.

Garmin doesn't lie: my stress levels were quite high between 6am and 7am when I was teaching seminary on Tuesday! Look at those red spikes!

Amber came back to running this week, and it is so good for that strong energetic girl to get out and MOVE.

Our kitchen sink was a trickle at full power on Friday. Thankfully the water pressure hasn't been that bad consistently over the weekend, but it definitely needs help.

Gloomy winter backyard pictures of my hack-job weeding. It was very satisfying to clear these weeds away. They always bug me when I look out our back windows. I stacked the pulled weeds neatly, up against the fence.

I found our property corner marker! (it's that wood stake in the clearing) The reason the neighbors' fence is in the wrong place is because the previous owners of our house also owned the ten acre lot behind us. Now different people own that lot, but the previous owners had already put this fence slightly behind where our house lot line runs.

There's nothing like rage-weeding someone else's land! Haha.

Rose and Amber went on a second 20 minute sister run on Friday. They are so cute. Rose said Amber sped up so much at the end that Rose couldn't keep up.

Whipping each other into shape: what are sisters for?

Jay, Noah, and Shaun: carefully cutting up their chicken. I did intervene once with a small tidbit of advice: they were looking for the wishbone on the wrong end of the chicken, so I suggested turning it around. These boys are so earnest and interested in cooking! Somehow our house still smelled like cooking oil even though they deep fried the chicken on the back porch. There's also a ring of oil splatters on the back porch. Oh well, houses are for living in!