Tales from the Shark Tank

Saturday was an absolutely marvelous day. The weather could not have been more cooperative if it had tried: incredibly clear, pleasantly warm and not terribly humid. I met a good friend for breakfast and a meander through the local farmer?s market. We dropped our produce at her house (much closer than mine), concluded that the dress she had did not fit quite properly and couldn?t be reasonably altered in the time available, and went shopping, where she found a marvelous garment that had the additional merits of being on sale and styled in such a fashion that as she loses more weight, I can take it in so she can keep wearing it through another size change. Lunch was followed by further shopping. We found a new shop carrying a style of clothing that both of us greatly like, and haven?t been able to get easily since we left Bloomington. There we found out several things. ?One size? garments fit neither of us. She?s too short; I?m too tall. Straight jumpers make me look like I?m auditioning for a role as a sturdy architectural column. And my friend is wonderful, not that I didn’t already know that. As I was dithering over a dress that really did look spectacular on me due to budgetary constraints, she took both dress and decision out of my hands and got it for me. Did I mention I have wonderful friends? And then I went home and finally put the rest of my perennials in the ground. Eventually we might actually have a garden that even looks intentional!

Sunday my wonderful husband did a yeoman’s job of cleaning in our room, so that I could at long last move my sewing machines back in there. The sewing room was also the guest room, and our housemate is living in there. And no matter how many times she told me to just come in and sew, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It’s her room; my mind wouldn’t encompass the invasion. The end result was that I’d done very little sewing since she moved in. Planned projects, yes. Cut them out, even. But that was all.

So now I can sew again, and I find my mind positiviely teeming with everything from outfits to quilt designs. I’ve a bit more cleanup to accomplish (much of which will result in a major run to the local Goodwill), and then I shall be off and running. Who, me, busy? If I weren’t, it wouldn’t be me!

Last week also saw my young son, my housemate and me swimming at the local indoor waterpark. Indoors is wonderful for the things it lacks: insects, migraine inducing glare, and sun to burn us thoroughly fairskinned types. We had a wonderful time, and now I know exactly how to wear out my 6 year old. Take him swimming for a couple of hours. We two adult types spelled each other off. For me, at least, that meant floating on my back in the adult pool. I?m so buoyant I can cross my arms behind my head, cross my ankles, and just relax. I daresay I could go to sleep, but I think the lifeguards would panic if I did. They certainly check frequently enough when I float for more than a minute or so!

I also took up a twice-weekly water aerobics class at the same facility. I haven?t done that before, and my last venture into an exercise class seemed to provide me more proof of how out of shape I was than assistance in improving the situation. That being the case, I went to the beginning level class. I don?t know if it?s that I?ve been running around more recently or that the class is lower key or both, but the instructor took me aside at the end of class and gently told me that I might want to consider the intermediate class. I had, quite unconsciously, been singing along with the CD she was using. (It was the Beatles Yellow Submarine, ok?) As she so kindly pointed out, if I was actually getting an aerobic workout, I shouldn?t have had enough breath for that. I?m going back tonight. And we?ll just see how it goes!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2004 at 1:48 pm and is filed under Life as I know it. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.