Prepare the way

Another Saturday in December, another aquatic center, and another attempt at multi-tasking. I'm timing today, and half watching the dive meet while I wait for the swim meet to begin. I wouldn't know a good dive from a bad one, but I am dutifully applauding each dive. The judges hold up their score cards the moment the divers surface. I could judge diving if I could watch an instant replay in slow motion. But for now I will stick with swimming. I know something about swimming.

I finally started my Christmas shopping yesterday, after a few nights of my usual anxiety dreams about waking up on December 24 and realizing that I had forgotten completely to shop or clean or decorate or bake or prepare in any way. Aren't you glad you're not me?

As if I'd forget to clean. Ridiculous.

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Remind me to look up "pike position."

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I love timing at swim meets. It’s such a fun job. You get to see the races, you get to cheer, and you don't have to make any decisions. I never have anxiety dreams about timing. Not so for refereeing. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. I don’t have to worry about that today, because I’m just I'm a lady in waiting.

But still. During the pre-meet briefing (yes, there’s a briefing), when the starter asks "Has anyone never timed before?" and not a single hand goes up, then maybe he doesn't need to give a 15-minute seminar covering of the stopwatch and proper recording procedures and the importance of our role as timers. And that part about the thumb being faster than the index finger? I think you made that up so you could keep talking.

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It’s Sunday now, and my house is in temporary disarray, as it’s decorating day. I still have a lot of Christmas shopping to do, and I have no idea what to wear for my company’s holiday party this week, but I do know what pike position is now, and that’s useful knowledge to have. The swim meet went well, even though I wasn’t the one with the clipboard and the whistle. And I’ll finish my shopping and decorating and cooking; but Christmas will happen whether I’m ready for it or not, which is actually a reassuring thought, oddly enough. We wait in hope.