This past Monday, I FINALLY dragged myself to the pool to begin my months-long program of getting back into shape. Hey, if I am going to have another baby I better get myself ready. ‘Tis no easy thing to carry and bear a child! Back to swimming.
As I got ready to put my goggles on I saw an old MIT fellow swimmer in the fast lane. “NATHAAAAAN!” I gave him an awkward hug from the deck while he was in the pool and said hello. “So you gonna swim in the fast lane with me?” HA! Thank you, Nathan, for trying to make me feel like I was still in college (and young) but really. Unfortunately, I had to hop into the “slow” lane because sleep is still an issue with me and after multiple warnings of, “Don’t push yourself, Andrea,” I didn’t think I should take any risks. 🙂
And what the heck does this have to do with Lea?? Well, wouldn’t you know it. Lea visited just a few days earlier and we were talking about Nathan. We all swam together and I thought he still lived around here but we just didn’t have time to explore that fact. So, lo and behold… but okay, I digress.
The swim team Seniors 2002
My very good friend, Lea, came out to meet little Tomcsi and say goodbye before heading to the Land Down Under (Can you hear, can you hear the Thunder? Ye-ahhhh). I really need to dedicate an entire post to this woman as she was my roommate for 4 years@mit.edu. We woke up together, swam together, ate dinner together, partied together, traveled together, danced together, grew together and almost every night said “good night” to each other. And gosh darnit, she was a huge part in the making of yours truly, me, as you know her today. Ahhhhh, yes, so after seeing her and then Nathan, well, I almost felt like a giddy little kid again. (College kids ARE still kids.)
Lea and Thomas
We still fondly remember how we met. It was in a circle during orientation and we had to say what our interests are, etc. Her turn came up and she said she likes to swim and does the breaststroke. Well, if you can imagine, I thought she meant recreational swimming and didn’t think much of [it]. LOL. Oh, Andrea. We didn’t talk then, but after one of the upperclass swimmers told me to hang out with her because she wasn’t having fun I pretty much stalked her and tried to make her talk to me. Well, she thought I thought I was too cool and I thought she thought she was too cool… oh, yes… so it took a while. Next thing you know, we decide to ditch some programs together, explore Harvard Square and become roommates after some dude who wrote the dorm algorithm tells us the trick to make sure we BOTH get into our #1 choice. Funny, we had to make our #1 choice our 2nd of 3rd choice and blah, blah, blah, okay, not so exciting.
Lea and Andrea ...and Thomas!
Then we swam our hearts out together for the swim team. What love. Since I swam the butterfly and she swam the breaststroke I always jumped in after her in relays. Knowing your partner’s rhythm is important, so good thing we knew everything about each other (almost!), right? Gosh, we even cried together when it was all done.
We were in a hostel in Spain. There was a strike in Grenada so we had some time to kill and laid in our beds reminiscing about swimming: the team; the coach; the races; our dreams. Then there was this silence. And then the tears flowed, practically at the same time. We cried like babies. It must have been hilarious.
Two VIPs (the children are a given!)
One of my favorite memories is a time when I was upset with her. I was pouty and silent. “Andrea, are you mad at me?” “No,” I said. “Would you like some of my chocolate?” “No,” I said. “Well, then I know you are mad at me. You would never refuse chocolate.” Smart girl.
And I just love how we think the same. She’s probably even more fearless about stating her opinions then I am.
Lea and her little panda
Not to cut it short, but it’s time for sleep. I will continue this thread another time. Until then, “good night.”
Oh, but first, can you tell? We went to the San Diego Zoo! We had a grand ole time. Lea enjoyed it, too, despite having gone on a safari in South Africa that totally blows any zoo away.
See you on the other side of the world!
On our way to see the pandas
Notes: Thomas slept 9 hours two days in a row!! Please don’t be a fluke, please don’t be a fluke.
Thomas started sucking his lower lip yesterday. Sooooooo cute, I gotta capture it. He is also in the swipe phase. Keep all important objects out of his arm-radius!
Isabel, Isabel… I think we have a different kind of terrible twos. Not so much throwing tantrums as having quite the ‘TUDE. “Don’t bother me while I’m in the bathroom, aw-right?!”
Her favorite word this week has been, “aw-right?!” I understand she may misuse it every now and then, but part of me still thinks she knows! She also throws out a lot of “I want”s and “I need”s, without the “may I”s and “please”s thank you very much.
She tries to pick Thomas up now. Dangerous.
She loves dinosaurs. They are always after us. Let’s HIDE!
And she likes to talk on the phone. When she feels alone she climbs behind the couch cushion, grabs a tiny remote and calls Cali, my friend Britten’s daughter. Once she even called Daddy when he was in SB and asked him to “come back.” Heart wrenching.
The End.