Looking forward to the 2028 Olympics

It's hard when you have a child not to project your delusions of grandeur on them.

My lovely boy is 3 and already had shown us that he is a natural at not one, but two sports. He can control a soccer ball at full speed and also swim like a fish. Neither one was brought on by any lessons, but just a natural ability. Really.

Sure, we took him to a mommy and me swim class where he launched himself into the pool despite not knowing how to float. It was interesting when all the other 1 year olds were screaming as their parents dipped them into the water. Our boy cried when we took him out. A swimmer myself, I not so secretly was ecstatic. I learned to swim at 3, and pretty much lived in the water as much as possible. I raced in my youth, and as an adult joined a Masters swim team for a short bit. Even when I asked if he wanted to be a swimmer or diver and he said diver I did not cringe or cry. Hey, diving looks more fun. I get that. Last week was a big week for us. Or the week before, it's summer and I just finished up working a bunch of gigs so I really have no concept of time right now. But after seeing our friend's video of their daughter--age 5--going off a spring board, I decided to see if my boy could do it. I convinced the lifeguard to let my son go off at our local pool and into the dive well. Even though there is no way he could pass the swim test (25 yard swim, tread water for 1 minute), the lifeguards had seen my boy swim a lot and belly flop continuously into the pool for months. Since there was no one else in the pool (indoor pool, beautiful day) they agreed to let him go off once. ONCE. I drilled this into D's head just in case he loved it and decided to throw a huge tantrum if he couldn't do it again.

I went off first, to show him it wasn't that bad. Too bad I forgot that I'm scared of heights. One reason I never tried out for the diving team. And spring boards are really springy. It sounds stupid, but the competition ones (which this ones was) really move when you are on them. It's not just a plank like you may have in your inground pool. (By the way, I hate you if you have an inground pool.) But I went in, and then urged my little boy out onto the board, which was about 6 feet over the water.

Side note: please do not call DSS, my son was more than willing, can swim, and we had the lifeguard's permission.

So, the lifeguard kept reminding my boy that he could always just go back down the ladder, no big deal. I also said this, but urged him to jump in. After two minutes of considering it, he launched himself into the air and jumped in. It was awesome. He popped up smiling and swam over to the ladder, pushing me away when I tried to help. He said, just once to the lifeguard and then took a running leap back into the pool.

Of course, proud mamma bear that I am called my husband and told him immediately. Then I picked up a diving team brochure (2 years to go before he can join!). At home, in our Intext 8 foot pool, where we splash away our summer, D was happily swimming around, diving under the foam noodles. When my husband got home from work, D asked, "hey daddy, wanna see me back flip?"  Thinking that D was just going to spin around going "whooooosh!" like most kids (I know I still do a round off back handspring back tuck like that) he didn't pay much attention, but said sure. Why not. Then D did a back flip in the water. He had just figured it out. At this point, I'm looking up private schools with 1st grade swim teams, but also trying not to push him.

Especially because he is the same way with soccer. I have never kicked a soccer ball in a real game--gym glass maybe. But husband played all his life and still is part of a team today. We go and watch and D runs on the field and plays during warm up. Except he is warming up with the team. With them. Kicking balls, doing fancy footwork stuff (see how much I know about soccer--stuff). But the team keeps saying to us...wow.

Of course the boy is 3. Maybe he's peaking. God I hope not, because I've already begun to campaign for Boston to host the Olympic summer games in 2028. D will be 18 and I think he has a shot.

Twitter speak

I just went to Twitter to post a bunch of things then remembered. I sort of have a blog.

So here are a few things in my head this morning.

1. It was really hard for me to leave my house this morning. I just wanted to stay home. I ended up running back into the house two times for my water bottle and phone and got to walk (sprint) through the back door area where all the herbs are in pots waiting to be put into the ground. The lilac and dogwoods are blooming. It was a cloudless, blue, May sky and the sun was rising. I could smell spring and my trowel and gardening gloves were laying on my gardening bench waiting for me.

2. Even though I ended up leaving fairly late (I hate that 6:55 AM is late) I got my free parking spot at the station. This is a always a sign of a good day.

3. This week I began walking from North Station to my office in Chinatown. It's just over 1 3/4 miles, so I end up walking about 3 miles total there and back. I get to see a lot of Boston I forgot was there, discover new things, and just look up in awe at the truly uniqueness of the city's architecture. I mean, 300 year old buildings next to giant glass skyscrapers. Pretty cool.

4. This is the season of birthdays. Friday is my father's 71st birthday and Sunday is my nephew's 7th birthday. I got them the same gift. Amazon.com gift cards. The future is weird.

5. I went to the bostonglobe.com and tried to read two articles that caught my eye. I couldn't because I don't subscribe. I thought about purchasing an online subscription, but it's pretty pricey for online only. Sure, the first four weeks are $0.99 a week, but after that it's $4 a week! $16 dollars a month is more than double what I pay for unlimited movies streamed directly into my TV per month. It's half the price of my gym membership. And about 4 lattes. hmmm. Perhaps I should reconsider.

6. I am in a month of meetings making me feel very hectic. However, last week the stress transformed into a "can't control it, screw it" mentality and I am no longer a person who rushes around. Or has much memory for details. Or can plan more than 48 hours in advance. Which is why we still have no concrete plans in our house to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary this weekend. Although I think we may have a babysitter. I'm not sure. If all else fails, we are invited to a BBQ Saturday evening where we can just relax. Our tentative plans are dinner at a steak house and seeing the new Star Trek movie. I am pretty excited about it. It's like...a date!

New Year, new adventure!

Happy New Year! I hope your holiday season was less stressful than mine. I hope next year I remember I don't really like the holidays anymore and book a flight to St. Martin or something for Christmas. It's hard being Santa. That's all I will say about that.

But this new year brings a new adventure for me. My first winter vacation. This weekend we are headed to the Rocky Mountains for a full week of winter sports. Dog sledding, snowmobiling, ice skating, and the never-more-to-be-dreaded skiing. I will finally try out skiing in the west, and see if it is better than East Coast. I am hoping for the sake of my vacation that it is much, much better. As in don't throw my back out better.

Usually we hit the beach in the winter, but I'm very pale and can't really do that too much. I've never seen the Rockies, and am excited to see Vail and Boulder. I hope the little guy is excited too!

So far we've spent more than the price of our flights on gear. New jackets, snowpants, boots, long underwear, hats, gloves, socks. If I were going to the beach it would just be a bikini and cover up. Winter vacations are expensive!

But this is the year for new things. On New Year's Day I jumped into the freezing Atlantic Ocean to celebrate this. Yes, it was cold. And no, the air temperature did not make the water seem warmer than it was. I think that is just a giant freaking lie. The sand was the worst part. I don't have water shoes and the sand was like tiny, extra-sharp knives digging into my soft winter feet. The polar plunge was after I ran a 10K (under an hour, half hungover!) so I can confidently say 2013 is the year it all changes for me.

Adventure awaits!