Problem solved

Tuesday: It's very very hot today and unusually, I am not happy about the tropical heat because the pool is closed.

Yes, let that sink in for a moment. The pool is closed. THE POOL IS CLOSED.

It's the day after Memorial Day and I came home from work and folded laundry and put away groceries and put on a bathing suit and walked to the pool, only to learn that a pump malfunction had necessitated an early closure. I'm a little devastated.

Honestly, I wasn't even really looking forward to getting in the water, because overnight rain that persisted through the morning likely meant that the already-cold water would be even colder. But I was looking forward to BEING in the water. Getting in and being in? Two entirely different things.

So, here I am. Instead of swimming laps, I'm writing about not swimming laps.

*****
It's Wednesday now, and I'm still not swimming laps because the pool remains closed. It's supposed to re-open tomorrow. Hope springs eternal.

Pool status notwithstanding, it's swim team season--season of early Saturday mornings and Friday night pasta parties and weekly emails. And officiating, of course. I was born to wear a whistle and carry a clipboard. My authori-tay will not be questioned.

*****
Thursday, and the first world problems continue to pile up. Yes, the pool is open finally, but it's a terrible swimming day, and so I went walking instead. And then I yelled at my kids because they are both infected with an end-of-the-school-year laziness virus that I had to nip in the bud. I don't yell at my kids very often. I don't even really raise my voice to them. So on the rare occasions when I do need to read the proverbial riot act, it makes an impression. They're tiptoeing around me right now as though I might bite. And you never know. I might.

*****
Friday afternoon, and I'm finished with work and trying to decide if I should grocery shop or do swim team work or just hang around.

Do you see this? I can't even just hang around without stopping to write about it.

My husband and kids are better than I am at just hanging around. During the lovely few days when we had no FiOS, they started on a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, which is about 80% finished. As a person with absolutely no spatial relations ability, I find jigsaw puzzles to be among the least fun things that a person can do. I'd no sooner choose to do a jigsaw puzzle than dig ditches or mine coal.

OK, I guess that's an exaggeration. But I'm really terrible at puzzles. The very sight of all of those tiny pieces, all of which look alike to me; and the very idea of trying to distinguish one from another and then trying to fit them together, just stresses me out. So as much as I'd like to have this mess off my dining room table, I'm not going to actually try to put the rest of it together.

Actually, it's not a mess at all. It looks rather nice. Nonetheless, I am ruling out puzzle-doing as an option for the rest of the afternoon. The house is clean, but it could always be cleaner. And I really should go grocery shopping. But the sun is out and the pool is open. I think I'll go swimming instead.