Swimming! I had my first lesson last night. I want to do the individual medley in masters, and I want to be able to do a mile, fast, in open water. Figured my stroke was tweaked, since nobody has ever helped me with it...

So the instructor has me do a lap, and after she tells me, "You're really strong. Your stroke is perfect."

Great. All that money to find I don't need lessons.

Only foolin'.

Everybody needs lessons, in everything.

<img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

GC

Good thing you prefaced that 2uote!

My dirty ol' mind woulda gotten the wrong idea from that one!

gotta went,
-ol' 2long

If you're IMing, how's your fly?

<img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I love fly....till someone forces me to do it....

LMAO!

Had a great swimming analogy today on the idjit thread.

I'm whooped.

I love to watch other people do the butterfly. A good butterfly LOOKs effortless. In point of fact, though, I have always felt as though I was drowning when I attempted it.

A mile in open water, huh Gray? That's cool. Twenty years ago I was swimming three miles a day, but that was in a pool. Now? Now I probably couldn't swim 3 lengths of the pool without pausing for a rest.

If anyone wants to go swimming in my basement, though, you're out of luck. After about 24 continuous hours of effort, I've managed to keep the water to only a minor flow, rather than the 4 feet of water they've got in the basement in some of the Federal Gov't buildings downtown. There have been 7 inches of rain over most of this area in the last 24 hours.

I think I'm gonna calculate how many gallons that is. 'Scuse me for a bit...

J,
Please send some of the rain out here. We get about 8 to 13 inches a year and have been in a slump this year. The air is filled with smoke from the brush fires in the desert.

SS

I think I'm gonna calculate how many gallons that is.

Nerd alert! Which I can say 'cause I can ID.

Kimmy, my fly is rough. More than rough. It's a trainwreck. The freestyle mile is more important, so IM will probably have to wait.

Congratulate me. Floor refinishing is done.

GC

>A good butterfly LOOKs effortless

If you're doing it right, it feels effortless, too.

I love it...for about 2 minutes...then my stomach muscles sue for custody of the rest of my body because to them, I've lost control of the brain.

What should I make for dinner tonight? Criteria:

- Must be able to feed me, four hungry men (two of them teenagers), and a boy.
beans and potato- Must be able to be prepared indoors (because it looks like rain)
- Must be either quick to prepare or something that I can hold for a long while; dinnertime is uncertain

I'm going to go to the grocery store this afternoon, so a real long prep time may not work either.

Here's one of our family favorites.

It's nice to have a few left over baked potatoes to use, but you can microwave some while you are cooking the hamburger. Leave the potatoes undercooked just a tiny bit if you are microwaving them.

Fry some hamburger in a large frying pan.
Put in about one medium sized onion for every lb of burger.
When the burger and onion are mostly cooked -
Add potatoes and warm them too. (pre cooked baked potatoes)
Salt and Pepper to taste - men usually like more than women.
Add a can or green beans and stir until they are hot also.

Serve when beans are hot.

About 1/4 lb burger, and 1 potato for every person eating, but that depends on the person. If the persons are teen boys, it can take a lot more food to make them happy.

About 1 or two cans of green beans for every 1/2 to 1 lb burger. More beans and potatoes if you like less meat. This one can be changed around a great deal and still work.

We like to add a few shakes of Lowry's seasoned salt to spice it up a little bit.

It's really fast, it's easy, cheap, and holds well.
We used it a lot when cooking for Boy Scout trips, and it has become a family favorite too - even when we are not in a hury. It's a good "one pot" meal and is really easy to clean up after.

You can do corn, or carrots, or mixed veggies, or peas (or about anything) but we usually do green beans. Young kids seem to like them best overall.

I know it's way too late to help you, but there will be other times.

It's always good served with bread or rolls.

How are things with you and HoFS?
Life has not been easy this last little while. Is there still joy in the journey?

SS

Congratulate me. Floor refinishing is done.

WOW !
We ought to celebrate.

Party When?

Ss

Washington, DC is 68.25 square miles.

I live in Montgomery County, MD. It's 497 square miles.

Seven inches of rain falling on all that area is 68+ billion (!) gallons of water.

That's more than I can comprehend.

Then again, Lake Michigan contains 1,180 cubic miles of water. Which is more than 1 Quadrillion gallons.

Wow. Water. There's lots and lots of it.

(Yes, I know... that's a deep subject.)

JustJ:

If it'll make you feel any better (or drier), take some consolation in the fact that all the water in the Earths lakes, rivers and streams amounts 2 less than 0.002% of the water in the Earth's oceans.

-ol' 2long

And no, it didn't take me all of that time just to do the calculations. I also made me and DD hot dogs for supper (first time I've eaten a hot dog in, uhhh, well, since the last time I went to a pro baseball game, which was before she was born, so 4 years, I think). We had orange slices, grape tomatoes, and baby carrots with it. She had hot apple cider and I had hot tea. Though it's warm outside, it's cold in the house because I have the AC on trying to dry things out.

SS, you're welcome to all our extra rain. You truly are. Welcome back, by the way. Did you have fun? I wish I'd been able to join you.

HoFS and I have had a couple of really good weekends. There are still all the hard things to face, and yet it seems that the real problem was not so muc that they're hard, but that we weren't talking about them. I forget that HoFS feels like he needs to have a solution before he talks about things -- and he forgets that I need to know that we're working toward a solution whether we have one or not. We're getting better about that, I think.

In addition to the good weekends between him and me, we've had several good weekends with his boys and DD around. We're slowly figuring out how to have quality time for ourselves without taking time away from our kids. The hardest is when DD is with me overnight, though. She's still so young that she needs a lot of attention.

Thanks for the recipe, though I have a feeling I may not ever use it. But there are usually those ingredients around, so someday when I'm desperate I'll come back to page 320 on this thread and look for it.

Friday night we ended up going out to eat. I had grilled salmon over orzo with goat cheese and asparagus. HoFS had scallops and shrimp over... couscous? I think? in a wonderfully light and creamy curry sauce. The two older boys each had filet mignon, which they declared to be the best meat they'd ever eaten. They also liked the au gratin potatotes. The roasted tomatoes and sauteed spinach were (literally) harder to swallow. The youngest had chicken tenders and french fries with lots of catsup. He was happy with it.

And we shared a couple of hot fudge sundaes afterwards.

It was a good evening. And that's only the beginning of it, but y'all will just have to imagine the rest. I'm not telling. (She said, looking happy as a kitten who's had a bowl of cream and is now fast asleep in a warm patch of sun.)

I'll take the extra rain - and maybe Gray can figure out how to transport it here? By now there should be a way.

The recipe does not sound exciting at all - and it's not, but people seem to try it and eat a lot of it and remark that it "seems to hit the spot.'

It's also really good with spicy sausage and we do a vegetarian version too. We just go to the garden, pick something and add in whatever we have the most of. Bell peppers, tomatoes, squash and we try different spices. I don't think I make it the same two times in a row.
A little olive oil helps it out a lot.


I think I am seeing joy in the journey. Thanks, I tend to worry.

Weaver has been quiet, and she can be that way when doing really well, or really bad. I hope it's because she's doing really well.

Faithful is kind of keeping to the shadows too. I suspect there will still be storms across her path in the near future, but they won't stop progress.

2long is so strong we sometimes take him for granted - believing he can always handle it. I am hoping his strength increasinly comes from unity.

Kimmy seems happy these days. Even with all the troubles. One of these days I'll get to Texas and say "HI" in person.

And there is Graycloud.
Seeped in the pain of many months of doubt.
Strengthed by overcoming most of his fears.
Bent but not broken by a long ways.
And of course - finished sanding his floors.

Sometimes I wonder if Gray sings "I am a rock, I am an Island" and knows it doesn't work that way.
Metaphorically speaking, of course.

I can't mention everyone - but I wish I could.

J,
We had a wonderful time. All of our children except for one son (who lives in CA) came with us, and we had all 5 of our grandchildren including 7 week old Cooper who is now a certified camper.

We talked, laughed, played games, saw the sights, told stories, and had a really good time. The grand kids loved it - playing out side every day for nearly all day. They don't get to do that at home. Their boundaries were such that they didn't bump up against them much. Freedom felt good to them.

It felt good to me too.

SS

GC, congrats on finishing the floors! I agree it is time to break in your floor with a party.

Hi J, Weaver, FAR, SS and anyone else that is hovering around the fire. It is too hot here to be close to the fire but I will be glad to crack open a beer with someone.

SS, After a really bad spell recently I think I am coming out of the right side finally. Thank you for always keeping me in your thoughts, it is good to be missed. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

SS, you didn't mention your DW, though I suspect that's because she is as she always is. Please, give her my regards. She's a special lady and I hope to meet her (and you, of course) someday.

I'm gonna tell you all a secret: When it rains so hard that the basement starts to leak, make sure you have a good bucket. It'll do you wonders.

And another secret: When your whole body hurts the next day, remind yourself that this is just how you used to feel when you worked out with weights. And therefore, the answer is to lift weights when it's sunny and bail water when it rains.

<img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

And yes, it stopped raining before 10pm last night, so at least I got to sleep some of it off. There's nothing like the deep sleep of physical exhaustion.

Oh, and there's supposed to be another set of storms that will drop torrential rains on the region again today. 2 inches per hour. My gutters can't take it. Good thing the bucket system is in place. *sigh*

I hate the butterfly. I always feel like I am drowning when doing it. Coach always made me do the 500yd freestyle. I got pretty good at it.

I went from a 90 lb freshman to a 130 lb sophomore b/c of swimming. (Asthmatic, and all.)

HI! FAITH!!! (waving spastically)

How are ya?




This whole being divorced business is wierd. I have had a new set of nights, waking at 2 or 3am, laying, staring at the ceiling, thinking all kinds of profound thoughts. For hours. Then I fall asleep when it is time to get going.

I miss my wife. But she is gone.

Ho hum.

Still praying for the next one.

Wondering if Harley Sr.'s comment "you will have a better chance in 5 years" is prophetic. About xw.

I am not interested in her any more. Well, maybe for SF. But I am afraid of that. But it would be best for my kids for M&D to work it out. And God can do crazy things.

JJ - how is the novel coming along?

How do you accurately calculate water in a lake, when the bottom half is probably only a third the size of the top half? When the lake (Ray Hubbard is the one I spent time on) is down 2 or 3 feet, is that MOST of the water?

What is the average wind speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

(no - have not had a drink in several weeks...)

What is the average wind speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

You mean one that is not carrying a coconut?

African swallow or Europen swallow?

SS

I, too, want to know what kind of swallow. Got a few biologists and birders here that might be able to answer.

Home study today.

Kimmy,
The anaheim peppers are startting to come off. About 6 or 7 inches long.

I think it might be chile relleno week at our house.
Saturday night, about 6.

SS