Grandma's Kitchen Table

Sunday's Snippets (A Little Late This Week...Oops)

READING:  The Reshaping of Everyday Life 1790-1840 by Jack Larkin.  This is a very good review of the material culture during America's early Republic days.  It reads fast, and even though you might have a good grasp on most of this if you read a lot of history, there was still a lot to learn.  Very enjoyable.

SWIMMING NEWS:  IU Men's Swimming and Diving swim meet this past week was the Big Ten Championships and was hosted/held at the IU pool in Bloomington.  IU came in second to Michigan's first this year...if you know anything about the conference, you know Michigan is hard to beat in Men's Swimming, they have a depth like no other Big Ten team and they are big and strong and fast and numerous and just keep coming at you.  We were very happy with second place.  Standing room only crowd on hand.

      The Wolverines totaled 899 points over the four-day event. Indiana finished second with 664 points and Ohio State was third with 470 points. Minnesota tallied 378 points, while Purdue compiled 328 points to round out the top five in the final team standings.  Wisconsin finished 6th with 277 points, Iowa finished 7th with 245 points, Penn State finished 8th with 212 points, Northwestern finished 9th with 161 points, and Michigan State finished 10th with 126 points.  Illinois and Nebraska do not have Men's Swimming and Diving teams, so in Men's Swimming and Diving at least, the Big Ten is still the Big Ten, meaning there are just ten teams participating.   

      Matt had a very good meet, he swam 50, 100, 200 Freestyles and the 800 Freestyle Relay.   He had a new best time in his 800 free relay leg, a new best time in his 200 Freestyle (finishing in the Top 16 and achieving a B cut for NCAAs), and in his 50 and 100 freestyles he had close to his best times.  His 800 Freestyle Relay broke the school's record and achieved an A cut for the NCAAs later this month.  Matt was awarded an All Big Ten Award for that relay swim (which he was really thrilled with).  His sophomore year ended on a great note.  (Of course he wanted to have new best times in everything, so that's the goal for next year.)  Here's a connect to the meet story from Day 1 from Day 2 from Day 3 from Day 4 and from there you can go to each day's Meet Results. 

      Here are some photos, not all that great because frankly it was very crowded/noisy/nuts and hard to get my camera out/focused/inline with anything remotely resembling a clear shot.

Coach Looze leading the men in the opening cheer.

Enthusiastic yells for the IU swimmers in the water winning the race, taking 1st and 2nd.

The 800 Freestyle Relay lining up to swim the first night of the meet. Eric in red cap ready to get on the block, Matt in black cap, Steve in white Indiana cap, and Jimmie in fourth position with a red cap.

Matt on the block and ready to swim his fastest leg ever in the 800 Freestyle Relay.

And, he's off, swimming as fast as he can trying to beat Michigan.
The school record-breaking Men's 800 Freestyle Relay:  Matt, Eric, Jimmie, and Steve.  Second place finish, enough for All-Big Ten Awards for all four of them (Matt and Eric are holding their awards.) 

Matt's Second Place medal for the 800 Freestyle Relay (Darn that Michigan...lol...first place was theirs!)

Sometimes when you aren't swimming, you have another important task for your teammates who are distance swimmers:  Lap Counter.  Matt putting the board in with the number of laps his teammate is on during the distance swims.  This requires a great deal of focus to be on the correct lap and can be taxing when you are upwards of 38 laps.  Especially if you are a sprinter and 8 laps only seems to be manageable without a counter.

There's always a bit of additional fun when someone you have known your whole life shows up as a student worker at the meet and is assigned to be a timer in the lane you are swimming in...Miss Molly O'Malia with a big smile (Molly is our Godchild and Molly's parents are Matt's Godparents).  They had a good time chatting and cheering...Molly being one of Matt's best cheerleaders always.

This year Mark and I were in charge of the Big Ten Goody Bags for the Men's Swimming and Diving teams.  I vaguely remember volunteering for this in the heat of the moment at last year's Big Tens. lol Anyway, this is the scene in our dining room the week before Big Tens...38 Swimmer/Diver bags, 6 Coach bags, 1 small Secretary Thank You bag, and 1 very large bag for the staff working the meet...all ready for assembly.
All assembled (except for Secretary and Staff bags).  Mark and I did it together and it was actually quite fun.
This was the main gift...a big swim towel individualized with each swimmer or diver's name on it.  The swimmers got Indiana Swimming on theirs and the divers got Indiana Diving on theirs.  The rest of the bag was filled with healthy (and some not so healthy) treats donated by the parents for inclusion in the bags.  Big Ten Goody Bag job, not such a bad deal at all.

COOKING BYTES:   Think I am down to blogging in just one group, Wednesday with Donna Hay, for the time being and then just venturing out on my own with various things as with The Swimmer away at college, we can't dispose of food as easily as has been the case in the past and I am finding that matching all the groups with what is needed/wanted here currently isn't working as well.  So, guess for the time being, my solution is to jump in the groups whenever I can make something work menu-wise, and sit out when I can't.  Except for WwDH, which I can always make fit in around here. 

FAV NEW FIND:  I try to keep this positive, but for this week I will say what my Favorite New Find WAS NOT:  the huge snowfall that appeared out of the west two days ago and dumped several inches of the white stuff covering everything and leaving no blade of grass (or my emerging crocus flowers) in sight.  Spring can't come soon enough.

FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  We were at the Big Tens this past week and it was just a wonderful time.  Although it was in Bloomington (about 72 miles away), we stayed the whole time and made the most of being in B-town.  Matt, Ian, and Steve were required to stay with the entire team at a hotel (so hometown swimmers don't have advantage of being in their own beds, etc.), so Matt offered his house for our lodging and it was great as they have a really nice little house on campus. He was very appreciative that I did all his laundry while I was there.  It was thrilling to watch all our IU swimmers and divers compete in the meet.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Not much going on except the Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships all week, if there were other things happening, I missed them all.

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   If you did not get to see IU Opera's production of Akhnaten when it was in Bloomington, you have another chance as it is guesting at the Indianapolis Opera venue here in Indianapolis at Clowes Hall for this weekend only.  Go see it...it is wonderful!  Historical in content (obviously), stage and sets are fantastic, performances top-notch. Read more about it here.  At the ISO:  Son Lux and Shara Worden, click here for details and Sunday a special Dance to the Music performance, click here for details.

Sunday's Snippets

   READING:  Lighting Out For the Territory:  How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain.  This is a fun read, tells of the time that Mark Twain spent out west in the years of his early manhood.

SWIMMING NEWS:  IU swim meet this past Saturday was a big success.  IU Men prevailed over the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Ohio State Buckeyes, so that was nice.  Matt had a very good meet, he swam 50, 100, 200 Freestyles and the 400 Freestyle Relay.  If you would like to hear what the coach had to say about Matt, click here and listen to the little video.  Go, Matt!  Here are some photos from the meet.
Front Row:  Donovan, Ryan, Murray, Matt, Assistant Coach Ryan; Back Row:  Ian (side view walking), Nolan, Grayson, Daniel showing off the Candy Stripe Swim Trunks, and Seth lining up to cheer on their teammates swimming.
Photo:  Matt poised for action.
Photo:  Matt...off the block and into the race.
Photo:  CANDY STRIPE SWIM TRUNKS!! You've all surely heard about the IU Men's Basketball Team wearing the candy stripe warm up pants since the '70's, so this year the Men's Swimming and Diving Team now wear candy stripe swim trunks.  I love them...they are so much fun.  You might need to be a Hoosier fan to get this, but even if you aren't, what's not to love about these candy stripes?  Left to right:  Eric, Matt, Daniel, Jimmie (red cap), Tanner, and Michael (back to camera).
Photo:  Mike V (friend and former CSC teammate of Matt's) swims for the Hawks these days, so I managed one photo (above) of him walking across the bulkhead and one (below) after the meet where I caught up with Mike, his father, and his brother Jimmie.  Was so fun to see Mike swimming for Iowa!

COOKING BYTES:   Roasting cauliflower has become a passion, cannot believe how many ways one can use roasted cauliflower.

FAV NEW FIND:  Downton Abbey...I am way late to the party (as I am with all matters television), but my friends have all been talking about this for the past couple of years and I was feeling totally left out of the conversations, so I have borrowed the first two seasons and am busily catching up on all things DA.  I'm hooked.  

FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  IU swim meet and Men's Senior Day and Banquet.  I took my camera to the banquet...and promptly forgot to take any pictures.  Oops.  However, here is the poster announcing the meet and Senior Day from this weekend, and yes, the swimmer featured on the poster is Matt, so that was fun to see. 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Besides working, I've been spending a lot of time sorting through things in the house to get ready for the big move later this year...I'm getting better at it as I go along.  I'm almost ready to sort through Vashie's things but not quite, maybe next week.  The silence in the house without the pitter patter of little puppy paws is deafening.   

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Eiteljorg...National Geographic:  Greatest Photographs of the American West, click here for details.  At the ISO:  The "Organ" Symphony, click here for details.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Ulysses S. Grant's Ulysses S. Grant: Personal Memoirs.  Yes, the one that Mark Twain published all those many years ago.  It's a wonderful read, Grant is a very good writer and battle after battle is recounted in a manner that keeps one interested and moving through the pages quickly, as well as the more personal bits.  I know, I know, you aren't going to probably read it, but trust me, it is worthy. I was able to get the movie called The Conspirator, directed by Robert Redford, that was based on the book I was reading last week about Mary Surratt and the assassination of Lincoln...the movie was good but did not follow the book very closely...told from the point of view of someone who was not featured greatly in the book.  The book is much better and truer to fact.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Plane tickets are purchased and swimmers are gearing up for another swim meet in the Grand Prix series with the Olympians, this time in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Matt swam in this meet last year as well, with his high school team, so now he will enter the meet with his college team.  A nice progression.  Until then, I believe they are just working very hard and training long course after all those months (August to March) of short course swimming. 
COOKING BYTES:  Caught up with my Wednesday with Donna Hay group this week...if you have not made any of her recipes, you are truly missing out.  Fresh ingredients, lower in fat and calories for the most part, no fake ingredients, simple, easy, and most of all, delicious.  Check out her website here and make something!  Don't be put off by the metric measurements as you can google: "how many ounces is 200 grams" and have it in a flash.  After doing it over and over you don't even need to google it sooner than you think.
FAV NEW FIND:  Mark cleaned out the mechanical room...I was always afraid to go in there as it was filled with guy stuff and there didn't seem to be any particular order to it, and it all looked scary and unidentifiable most of the time.  Voila...no more...all the old scout projects, home school projects, bits and pieces of project projects (or whatever) have all been hauled out of there and a trip made to the chemical wasteland place made.  Whew.   A favorite new thing around here indeed.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  A dear friend made something very special for me that she knew I would absolutely love and it arrived on my doorstep in a big box of most interesting proportions as she said she was sending me a little something.  It was definitely my favorite thing this past week.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  A busy work week, some fun time this weekend, some working around the house this weekend, time with friends, a nice phone call from Alex who has a new job, and I leave you with a photo of Steve, Kiernan, and Matt at Xavier as Matt and Steve took a drive over to Cincinnati to visit Kiernan this weekend, to see the campus and where Kiernan hangs out these days, etc.  A fine time was had by all. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Indianapolis Children's Museum:  I was talking to someone this week who had no idea that we have a permanent exhibit of the glasswork of Dale Chihuly called Fireworks of Glass, click here for information and go check it out if you haven't...it's all lovely.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Vive la France! click here

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  I didn't quite make it to the library last week to get books by James Fenimore Cooper as the weather was a bit nasty and I contented myself with a new book that was already here...well, new to me, not new as in copyright date as that is 2009...the book is The Big Burn by Timothy Egan.   I happen to be on a late 19th/early 20th Century kick at the moment so this one fit in nicely...about a huge fire out of control in the summer of 1910 in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.  Lots of excitement and people like Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot popping up constantly and the movement for public conservation in the nation with national parks, etc., what's not to love about that?  JFC will need to wait...maybe this is why I have never read JFC before:  I get distracted easily with historical bits.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Matt and the team had no swim meet this past week, which might be good as the boy has had a cold which has been hanging on for a bit too long, so a week of not having a competition meet might have been nicely timed for him.  As of today, he says he is on the mend and almost over it all.  Just in time for the IU/Purdue meet this weekend.  Fingers crossed.
COOKING BYTES:  Caught up a bit last week for the blog-along groups, doing more of it again this week, maybe soon I will feel like I am where I am supposed to be with the rest of the group...although, truth be told, most of the groups are all over the place with where they are in keeping up each week, so I'm actually doing pretty good.   With the exception of the Flavors group, that one may have to be a just read-along participation at this point.  Sigh.
FAV NEW FIND:  Lately my favorite new finds have been people-related instead of material-things-related.  Just as well actually.  This week I came in possession of a photo that just warmed my heart...it's a photo of Daniel's mother and Matt at the Yuletide concert over Christmas break.
It's my favorite new find as in all the years of Matt and Daniel's friendship, I don't think I have a photo of Matt and Kathy like this and Kathy is just such a big part of Matt's swimming years, always so encouraging and always bringing her mother along to the meets to help in that endeavor for the CSC kids...the swimmers always knew they could look up in the stands and get a big smile and thumbs-up from Grandma and Kathy no matter what their time or placing was in the event. Kathy got Matt out to California for Nationals this past year and made sure he got to celebrate his birthday with a nice birthday dinner and little cake with a candle in it since he was away from home that day.  She's just that thoughtful always.  It's a very good photo of the two of them, Kathy as lovely as always and Matt as happy to be included always with Kathy's great plans for the boys over the years.  Kathy is one of those moms who is always looking for ways to brighten the lives of everyone around her and Matt and his CSC swimming buddies have benefited greatly from those ways over the years with invitations to concerts, meals, various house invasions for food, games, movies, hanging out, and trips to their lake house for boating weekends.  Over Christmas break she had all the college swimmers over for breakfast after swim practice on the day before they all had to leave to go back to their schools. Fun times, a fun photo for me to have for Matt's scrapbook. (Below is a photo of the Christmas break breakfast at Kathy's house, this was the dining room group, there was a whole other group eating in the kitchen...unfortunately I only have a photo from the group Matt was sitting with: hint to you swimmers out there who were in that other group, send me a photo of you all for the scrapbook!)
 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  It was a great weekend for watching Big Ten Basketball.  Okay, I know those Hoosiers did not win either of their games this week, and we were a bit disappointed, of course, as that removes us from the top ten in the national rankings, but one was a road game no one thought they would win and every team has growing pains...no one ever thought we would be as far as we are this year, so this didn't particularly devastate anyone.  There were some great games and wonderful surprise endings to a lot of games this week...which is what makes it all terribly exciting.  When it is cold and snowy outside there is always NCAA Basketball to keep one warm and happy. 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  This was a very slow week in printable news around here...a nice week, but nothing particularly noteworthy at all.  Mark and Alex went up to Grandma and Grandpa's to make sure they had everything they needed, help with a few household chores, salt the driveway for them, and have a nice little visit on Sunday.  The guy-time portion of the visit, i.e. ride to and from, went reasonably well, giving them some time to chat together.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking this out because it leaves in February:  Flow: Can you see the river?  It all looks so different in the winter! (click here) at the IMA.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Mozart, Symphony No. 40, here is the calendar for it. 

Yuletide

Photo:  (back) Scott, Kiernan, Matt; (front) Daniel and Harrison

      Each year Daniel's family treats the boys to the Yuletide Christmas Concert that the Indianapolis Symphony performs making a full evening of it with dinner out, a visit with Santa (this year the photo is taken with a reindeer instead), and the concert.  The boys all look forward to dressing up and going...Nik was sadly missing this year as BU didn't get out for the break in time for him to make it.

Photo:  Kiernan, Matt, and Daniel, with Harrison in the front...so nice to see them all still together enjoying fun times on college breaks.

Might Be Vacation...Might Be

Photo:  Daniel, Matt, Kiernan

      Might Be Vacation...Might Be.  Matt is home for semester break until next Tuesday, at which time he heads back down to IU for two weeks of winter training before classes start again in Janaury, so I am thinking that I probably will not get a lot of posting done for my blog-along groups as I am making all his favorite foods while he is here and doing a whole lot of running around doing Christmas things that we enjoy.  (Posting is probably going to be sparse, then again, I might go on a posting tear if I find myself with some time to spare while he is out running around with his friends, i.e. I have over 20 things made and not posted from the past couple of months.) 

      While he is on break from school, this does not include swimming as he is practicing with his USA team at CSC.  This morning Daniel (Princeton) and Kiernan (Xavier) dropped by for a little breakfast after morning practice.  The kitchen table was laden with yesterday's shopping waiting to be wrapped this morning (couldn't wrap last night as I needed to watch the IU basketball game, and yes, thank you, 11-0 to start the season does feel very nice), but they didn't mind...they just moved it all south and made room for pancakes and bacon (note to self to buy decent maple syrup as I never have that on hand since none of us eat it, I think the rest of the world eats syrup on pancakes). 

      It feels great having them back and seeing them...they are all very much missed.  It's going to be a lovely week.

Pippin (September 24, 2002 - July 15, 2011)

      Matt and Pippin (July 14, 2011) enjoying their last evening together.

      When we lost our cat Sophie in January, that was difficult as we had her with us for 16.5 years and she was just a wonderful addition to the family.  The two Tibetan Spaniels left here with us after her passing seemed to take notice but quickly adjusted to by, oh, let's say, by the end of the next day as they moved into her choice spots of napping and didn't need to take turns at the water bowl waiting patiently (or not) while she ever-so-slowly took her small gentle sips.   (Photo:  The Two Cohorts:  Vash and Pippin)

      When we discovered that Pippin had inoperable cancer last month, we were totally unprepared for the diagnosis and the fact that he would have such a short time left with us.  Pippin was young...he would only be 9 in September, how could we be facing the end of the road with him so soon?  (One very nice thing about Tibbies is that are rarely ill, until the end.)  Neither Pippin nor Vash had even a stumble along the way, each year visiting the vet and getting a big smile of "all clear, all looking great" report, we were feeling very good about those Tibbies.  Until last month.  The vet was as shocked as we were that the diagnosis came so swift and with no chance of intervention.
(Photo:  Pippin in front; Vash at the rear lounging on the deck and making the most of a beautiful summer day.)

      For the past month we have spent extra time enjoying every moment with Pippin (whose name on his fancy paperwork is Pippin Lord of the Rings) and with Pippin and Vash together.  This past week we could see the enjoyable times were coming to an end, his favorite things no longer holding his attention, one by one we noted their disappearance.  It was terribly hard and sad to watch. 

      Pippin had always been my little buddy, so smart, fun, gentle, and sweet, following me around daily, always at my feet when I was still.  Oh how I will miss all of that now. 

      Friday night we said goodbye to the little guy and although it was good to know that he was no longer in any pain, I have been tearful at every turn since.  Can't even begin to guess how long this is going to last.  The guys are missing him and we are all just taking a little extra care with one another trying to cope with the loss.  

      I think the hardest part might be that Vash (photo left) is walking around looking for his buddy, not understanding where he could be and who he can run around like a crazy guy with chasing chipmunks and birds and barking at anyone who even looks like they might step on our grass or touch the fence.  Somehow, it's just not the same and in his eyes there is a great sadness...it's very hard to see that from him, Vash, the original Good Time Dog.  Getting hugs and caresses from us is just not the same as having a brother to tear around and wrestle with, to steal snacks from, and to cuddle up next to for a nap.  Just not the same. 

      Matt posted on his Facebook page, "R.I.P. Pippin, you were the best dog a kid could have. You will be missed very much. :-(" and I don't think I can say it any better than that.  The Best.Dog.Ever.

Pippin, Lord of the Rings (September 24, 2002 - July 15, 2011)

Grad Parties 2011 and Last IYC Performance

      Not a lot of cooking/baking going on over here this weekend due to the first of the high school grad parties...kids (really, kids no more but I still call them the kids) looking forward to seeing some photos, so here are a few (I was surprisingly forgetful with the camera this weekend, will try to do better in the coming weeks).
Harrison and Matt at Harry's party...Harrison heading to Princeton in the fall and will swim for them with Daniel hoping to be back in the water there as well.
Sarah and Katie.  Sarah heading out to Boston University in the fall with Nik already there and Ali going as well.  Katie heading down to IU and rooming with Devon in the fall.
Fun at Reyn's party. Jonathan and Matt in the back. Elizabeth, Rhiannon, Kiernan, Devon, and Reyn in the front.
Matt and Reyn at Reyn's party.  So much fun to meet so many of Reyn's friends, etc.  One thing was very clear:  Reyn is much loved by all who know her...including us!
Rhiannon and Carly at Carly's party...both are Pudue bound, despite our best efforts to encourage the Cream and Crimson path...will enjoy watching them swim for the Black and Gold the next four years.
Our Goddaughter Molly and her cousin and best buddy, Alyssa, at their joint party.  IU bound...Cindy and I will think of lots of reasons to go to Bloomington for lunch next year!
Through the years we have hundreds of photos of Molly and Matt who have grown up together, Molly is our Goddaughter and Molly's parents are Matt's Godparents.  In all the confusion at the party, Matt left to go to another party before we got a photo of the two of them, so Molly posed with her arm around a "pretend Matt who is so much taller" and told me to photoshop him in...I have no clue how to do that but it was a cute photo of Molly covering for the both of them.  They will both be down at IU next year, let the fun continue!
Matt and Lauren at Lauren's party...both swimming for IU next year so this won't be the last we all see of Lauren by a long shot.
The very last IYC performance was today.  Matt's very last performance, after 12 years.  Lots of goodbyes, some tears, some fond memories, some we will see again, some we won't...a lot of lasts this year.  (Matt is the fourth from the left in the top row.)
And the very last time we take a photo of Matt and Ali after a choir performance wearing their choir togs.  No, Ali hasn't suddenly gotten much taller, she's standing on a higher stairstep and enjoying being almost as tall as Matt.  This is a hard one...seeing Ali and Matt singing together for the last time after all these years.  She's headed to Boston University in the fall and there are no plans to lose touch with Ali and her family.  Hopefully plans to go to Boston to see Nik, Ali, and Sarah! 

CSC Annual Awards Banquet

      Each year our swim club has an awards banquet this time of year.  All the families are invited and the swimmers all get a chance to win awards and be recognized for various accomplishments throughout the year, both long course and short course seasons. 

      This was our last banquet...after 12 years, our very last one.  I only cried a little.  I had big plans to get all sorts of photos of everyone and wanted to make sure to capture the moments one last time.  "Had" being the operative word as one of us left the camera on all night, did not notice it until we got to the banquet and had a mere whisper of battery life left so I only have a few photos and I will need to go begging for photos other parents took today.  Here's what I do have...our yearly photo of Matt and Ali:
Our yearly photo of Buddy, Ali, and Laurie...Ali is heading out to Boston University for college next year so Buddy is going to need to head down to IU to watch Matt swim if he wants to continue to cheer for the other half of his favorite swimmers, i.e. Ali is not going to swim in college.
I tried to round up as many of the seniors as I could, but still missed a few key ones...the ones I managed to snag:  Lauren (going to IU next year), Kiernan (going to Xavier next year), Elizabeth (going to Dennison next year), Matt (going to IU next year), Rhiannon (going to Purdue next year), Devon (going to IU next year but not swimming in college), and John (going to the Naval Academy next year).
And, before the battery died, one quick shot of Matt on the podium giving an inspirational talk to the club about all that swimming has meant to him over the years...the bottom line:  "Was it all worth it?  Oh, yeah, it was definitely all worth it!"  We agree, we have gotten way more out of swimming than we ever dreamed possible.  That first year my thoughts were running something like this:  "Great, we have an activity that will allow them to be safe around water, gives them a nice little practice/workout, and they are clean afterward!" It's turned out to be a whole lot more, yes, it has.

CHS Prom 2011

      It's prom time again...where did that year go?  It feels like it was just prom time a few months ago...time flies, doesn't it?  Matt and Kiernan met their dates, Reyn and Devon at Devon's house for some pre-prom photos before going out to dinner...so here we go:

  

      Reyn:  "I have no idea what I am doing. I don't know how to do this!" 

      "Well, yeah, sure, Matt...you have the easier time of this as all  you have is slide it on and there are no pins involved."  And in case you can't see the wrist corsage well enough, here's a close up:

      "Okay, let's get some photos...where do we start?"

      "Funny, folks, now for the real shots...." Matt, Reyn, Devon, and Kiernan

     "Okay, seriously, it is cold out here, let's hurry up!"

     "Just how many photos do we actually need anyway?"

      "Who wanted outside photos?  It's windy and freezing cold out here, look how choppy the water is!  April in Indiana is not the place to be taking outside prom shots!  Are we done yet?  Thumbs up if we are DONE....YEAH!"

      Okay, one last shot before they head out...Reyn and Matt...Senior Prom CHS 2011.

Happy Easter!

      Happy Easter!  We've been in an Easter kind of mood around here this weekend.  It started off with a lovely bouquet of yellow tulips for me from Reyn...not sure which is prettier, the flowers or Reyn, both are gorgeous and such fun to have around.
      Reyn's family does not dye Easter eggs, Matt's family does, so Reyn came on over to help us color the eggs...Matt, Reyn, Mark, and I sat around the table coloring eggs...one is never too old to enjoy coloring eggs.  The first photo is proof that 18 year old boys are sometimes like 8 year old boys...here's a photo of Matt and Reyn holding their eggs up for a photo....
...and here's a photo taken a second later when I heard, "Oh, no, I dropped my egg!"  Some things never change.
      All Mark's siblings were at his parents' house at the same time as that only happens about once a year.  Worthy enough for a photo.  Mark, Philip, Brian, and Alan in the back; Mark's Dad Emil and his mother Dorothy in the front with Nancy and Luke.
      And Grandma and Grandpa with five of the grandkids...Matt, Alex, David, Jonathan in the back with Steven in the front.  It's definitely a guy-oriented family. 

     Easter Goodie Bags and Baskets after Mass.  Reyn was thrilled with a new cupcake cookbook...maybe we will have another guest post soon.         Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and weekend in general.  I can't believe the boys are 18 and next year, although maybe home from college, our little nest will be empty for the most part.  Yikes, time flies.  Kids or not, there will be Easter egg coloring here again next year...it's something I look forward to each year.

Guest Post: Reyn Cooks From Eva's Kitchen

      Matt has the most wonderful girlfriend ever, we just love her.  She's nice, kind, sweet, smart, talented, beautiful, and best of all, she is just so lovely always to Matt.  You can't ask for more than that in a girlfriend.

      Thursday night she had Matt over for dinner after he returned from Spring Break in Boston.  She and her mother had gotten a new cookbook when they were on Spring Break and she was eager to try it out.  

      Matt sent a few photos to me from his phone while they were cooking and I asked Reyn if she would like to guest post her dinner, so here's the result...I think we should give her great reviews for putting together something so photogenic and delicious!   Matt just loved it.  He was so proud of her for making everything from scratch and for making something she knew he would really like.  A big hit.

      So, in Reyn's words:  The recipe was out of Eva Longoria's new cookbook called Eva's Kitchen:  Cooking with Love for Family and Friends. I made chalupas! 

Chalupas

Makes 4 to 8 servings

-1/2 cup vegetable oil 

-8 corn tortillas

-4 cups shredded lettuce

-1 1/2 cups grates cheese

-3/4 cup sour cream

-1 large tomato, diced

-2 avocados, pitted peeled and diced

-2 cups refried beans

-2  cups cooked, shredded chicken

      To start I took 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and put them in a baking pan. I rubbed 2 teaspoons of olive oil on top and sprinkled kosher salt and ground black pepper on top. I baked them for 35 minutes.  After taking them out, I cut them up in bite size pieces.

      I cooked the tortillas by putting olive oil in a pan (on medium temperature) and frying them for a minute of each side. I didn't have to do that, but I think the crunchy made it tastier :)

      I put the beans and chicken on the tortillas and put them in the oven at a low temperature just to keep them warm.

      Matt and my friend Chelsea, who joined us for dinner, chopped up the tomatos and grated the cheese (we bought a block of sharp white cheddar cheese) while I cut the avocado and shredded the lettuce.

      Take the tortillas out of the oven and put on whatever you please :)

 

      Sorry for such a long explanation, but I had so much fun cooking! I think I'm going to start doing it more often :)  I'm thinking about making a cake tomorrow...I might be addicted.

They Did It! State Champs 2011

      The 2011 High School Boys Swimming and Diving Champions - Carmel High School with the Trophy (Matt is top left holding the trophy).

      They did it!  The Carmel High School Boys Swimming and Diving Team won the state swimming championship on Saturday.  

      The kid did well.  Matt got first in the 200 Freestyle, a repeat performance from last year, second in the 100 Freestyle (first in that went to one of his best friends, Harrison), a step up from last year when he finished third in that swim, second in the 200 Freestyle Relay, a repeat performance from last year, and first in the 400 Freestyle Relay, another repeat performance from last year. 

      What a day!  Very very happy boy, team, coaches, and parents.  So proud of each and every single one of these boys who have worked so hard to win this trophy and title...what a way to end the high school swimming years.  Time now for next year's team to step up and carry on the winning streak!  Go Greyhounds! 

CHS Boys State Team - Pre-State Dinner

Photo: (from left around the table) Mark, Max, Vic, John, Mark, Michael, Mitch, Kiernan, Matt, Nate, Mike, Jonathan, Roma, Oneil, Jack, Elliot, and Clayon (Cameron was not able to make it)

      The weeks leading up to swimming sectionals and swimming state find the boys enjoying various activities, meals, and fun times together, each milestone marked with a dwindling number of swimmers as they swim their way toward cut times, some making the cuts while some will try again in the coming years. 

      There are 18 out of the 55 boys going to state with individual swims and/or relay times. Tonight they met to eat a pre-state dinner and to hear encouraging words from one another and the coaches.  As the moms brought in contributions for the dinners, 4 very large lasagnas, three huge salads, 4 large loaves of garlic bread, 2 dozen yeast rolls, cheese, crackers, milk, chocolate milk, apple juice, water bottles, three angel food cakes, a huge container of strawberries, whipped cream, sherbet....I was thinking, "this is a whole lot of food."  How much was left?  I think Matt said maybe one or two slices of cake.  These boys can eat after a practice! 

      Two more days until we cheer them all on at state:  Go Greyhounds!  While they, of course, are hoping for another state title, we are all so proud of each and every one of these guys, and all the rest of the guys who make up the team just for being who they are in or out of the water.  Each of them is already a winner! 

CHS Boys' Turn: Lead-in to State Swimming 2011

      While the CHS girls' swim team has finished their season, the CHS boys' swim team is in the middle of their championship season.  The final high school swimmers' Saturday morning spirit breakfast was held two Saturdays ago to a reduced crowd of hungry boys after morning practice.  I thought we were cooking for the entire roster of 55 but when the boys started coming up after practice, realized that only the sectional swimmers were at practice that day...no matter, the boys were happy to eat up and enjoy what was offered.  

      Sunday the boys met and all dyed their hair blonde...this is a tradition I don't understand, but I go along with it anyway because apparently it is just something they do/have done forever and day, so at this point, it's tradition.  Surprisingly enough, it doesn't take me that long to get used to Matt being a blonde, shocking at first, but by the second day, seems fairly normal.  Don't know what that says.

      On Wednesday the entire roster of 55 boy swimmers showed up for the traditional night before sectionals Spaghetti Dinner and Hair Clipping.
The food line, seniors first...spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and dessert...when one crockpot runs out, there are more waiting in the kitchen to replace it...these boys can eat!
Senior boys get seated first at the senior table:  John, Matt, Mike, Kiernan, Sean, Tyler, Fillipo.
The up and coming classes...I promised Jimmy I would put this photo in of them...Jimmy, Clayton, Elliot, all outstanding CHS swimmers ready to take over when the seniors depart.
Each year the seniors from the previous year send an encouraging letter for the team and the current seniors read these letters aloud, much fun and a great time for the boys.  Letters from Nik,  Daniel, Johnny, Matt F., Cheffy,  and Charles were read by (left to right) Eric, Tyler, Mike, John, Matt, Kiernan, Cameron, Fillipo, and Sean.

      Another tradition.  The senior boys man the hair clippers, giving the underclassmen very strange hair cuts, each unique, different, and without a bit of consent or not from the owner of the hair.  It's tradition.  The Seniors then hand the clippers over to someone they trust to clip their own hair, again, the person clipping gets to choose the new hairstyle.  Matt cut Jonathan's hair and in turn Jonathan cut Matt's hair.  I think you will agree that normally Matt would not let Jonathan anywhere near his head with a pair of clippers.
I knew when they started that nothing good would come of these two being let loose with a pair of clippers on each others' hair. The boys sported these fancy hairdos at school the next day and then to sectional prelims on Thursday last and by Friday morning, the hair was gone, and we have the official state haircut for boy swimmers:  the buzz.          Despite the silly hairdos, the boys were all very serious at sectionals and managed to take first in every event but one, ending up with 21 swims, a large number indeed, with 11 CHS boys going to state. 

      At Sectionals Matt placed 4/4 in first place finishes for his swims so he is looking good going into state this weekend.  All the same, keep the fingers crossed and the thoughts good and positive as we all know:  any swimmer can beat any other swimmer at any pool on any given day.  It happens.  Go, Matt, Go Carmel...looking for another state win for the team this year. Here are some photos from sectionals.  Let the serious busines of swimming begin...Matt getting ready to swim the 200 Freestyle, he won this swim at state last year so this is his goal to win it again this year.

Finished and waiting for the rest of them to swim in...a good start to the meet for Matt and also Kiernan and Peter...finishing 1, 2, and 3.
And the 100 Freestyle, again Matt, Peter, Jonathan finishing 1, 2, and 3, with Max in 6th.  (Although Peter swims for a different high school, he is in the CSC USA Swim Club and he and Matt joined the team at the same time, Matt was 7 and Peter was 6, so although he isn't technically a CHS swimmer, he is still one of "ours" from the swim club.)

And, at this point in the meet, someone just lost track of taking stills during the relays...that would be me.  The CHS 200 freestyle relay (Matt, Jonathan, Vic, and Roma) took first and the CHS 400 freestyle relay (Matt, Kiernan, Jonathan, and Max) also took first.  There should be photos but sometimes one just gets all caught up in the cheering at relay time and picture taking goes by the wayside.  Oops.

      I did get a photo of the guys with the sectional trophy, one very happy team! That would be Matt in the center holding the trophy.

      And, of course, the Lovely Reyn was around to help celebrate...Matt sporting his new Valentine's Day gift shoes from her, very wild and fun Nike customs which he is thrilled with, and because girlfriends are just so thoughtful and sweet, a package with balloons and inspirational messages to be opened one a day for this week leading to state (accompanied by candy kisses)...and Coach Chris, if you are reading this, Matt is saving all that candy for AFTER state...this week it's nutrition at its finest only this week, no candy for the candy-loving kid.  And, thanks for all you have done to get the boys this far...Go Greyhounds, or as my Louisiana friend Margaret says it, "Geaux Greyhounds!"

Girls Report First with their First at State - Silver Anniversary - 25 Consecutive Years!

Congratulations CHS Girls Swim Team!  The final leap into the pool to celebrate the victory...senior girls and head coach in last.

Taken from Maggie's CSC Newsletter Report:

February 11-13^th marked three hallmark days for the ladies of Carmel Swim Club as they swam to great successes both at the IHSAA State Championships and the CSC Time Trial. 

Carmel Swim Club was a dominating force at the Natatorium both in and out of the pool on Friday and Saturday.  The support from CSC families in the stands at the meet was absolutely amazing.  Seventeen CSC girls competed for Carmel High School on our way to winning a national record 25^th consecutive state championship; eight additional CSC swimmers competed at the meet from four neighboring high schools.  We hope all of our swimmers in the stands enjoyed the celebration of all the hard work these young ladies put in to their swimming day in and day out, and are looking forward to their own upcoming championship seasons.

From the outset of the meet, there was no doubt that it would be a great day for Carmel.  The CHS girls started out the meet by setting a new National Public High School Record in the 200 Medley Relay, and senior Rhiannon Sheets broke Olympian Lindsay Benko’s 200 Free State Record.  The Greyhounds continued their excellent run, winning the first four events of the meet and achieving 23 lifetime best times out of 25 swims.  By the conclusion of the meet on Saturday, Carmel Swim Club athletes won nine out of 11 possible state championships and five new school and club records were set:

• 200 Medley Relay – Carmel (Lacey Locke 10, Samantha Shaheen 12, Ariana Bullard 10, Carly Marshall 12), 1:41.42.  CHS/CSC Record, State Meet Record, National Public HS Record
• 200 Freestyle – Rhiannon Sheets, 12, Carmel, 1:47.09.  CHS/CSC Record, State Meet Record
• 200 Individual Medley – Lacey Locke, 10, Carmel, 2:00.71.
•  50 Freestyle – Carly Marshall, 12, Carmel, 23.35.
• 100 Freestyle – Zoe Mattingly, 11, Zionsville, 50.58.
• 500 Freestyle – Lauren Jordan, 12, Carmel, 4:47.69.  CHS/CSC Record
• 200 Freestyle Relay – Carmel (Carly Marshall 12, Lucy Kramer 11, Rhiannon Sheets 12, Lacey Locke 10), 1:34.14.
• 100 Backstroke – Lacey Locke, 10, Carmel, 54.26.  CHS/CSC Record
•  400 Freestyle Relay – Carmel (Rhiannon Sheets 12 – 50.22 lead-off – CSC Record, Lauren Jordan 12, Alexis Bullard 11, Margaret Ramsey 11) 3:25.00.

In addition to our event champions, the following swimmers placed in the top 16 at Saturday’s finals: Summer Brown (200 FR -13^th, 500 FR -13^th); Alexis Bullard (100 FR – 3^rd, 100 BK – 2^nd); Ariana Bullard (50 FR – 7^th); Elizabeth Flaherty (500 FR – 15^th); Lauren Jordan (200 FR – 2^nd); Lucy Kramer (200 IM – 8^th, 100 BR 10^th); Carly Marshall (100 FR – 4^th); Zoe Mattingly (200 FR – 3^rd); Margaret Ramsey (200 FR – 4^th, 500 FR – 5^th); Sam Shaheen (100 BR – 4^th); Keely Simonson (100 BR – 12^th); and Grace VanAllen (200 FR – 10^th).

 Two CSC swimmers achieved their first ever Junior National cuts on Friday evening: Sophomore Ariana Bullard and Senior Carly Marshall.  Carly was also honored with the IHSAA Mental Attitude Award.  We are so proud of her accomplishments both in and out of the pool. 

 As a testament to the dedication and drive these girls all share, they returned to the Carmel Aquatics Center on Sunday afternoon for a time trial.   The girls swam their hearts out once more, and Sunday was a fantastic finish to a great weekend.  The swimmers who competed earned a combined 29 lifetime best times.  Lacey Locke set a new CSC Record in the 200 Backstroke (1:57.64); Caroline Inman achieved her first ever individual Senior State cut in the 100 Backstroke; Carolyn Belford achieved her first individual Senior State cuts in the 400 IM and 200 Breaststroke; and Kayla Fearrin earned a new Senior State cut in the 200 Breaststroke.

 We hope you can all come together to support our CSC boys as they begin their high school championship season at Carmel High School this weekend for Sectionals.  Preliminaries will take place on Thursday at 5:30 PM and finals will start at 1 PM on Saturday. 

Four for Four

Photo:  Matt after the 200 Freestyle win, Gus to his right, Kiernan to his left.  

      It was a high school swim meet day, but with a little extra fun as it was the first time I had gotten to see Reyn (Matt's girlfriend) swim as her school was one of the teams swimming against Matt's school.  She swam the 500 Freestyle and the 100 Breaststroke and did very nicely. 

      Matt won his two individual events (100 Freestyle and 200 Freestyle) and his two relays also won, so he had a great day at the pool. 

      As I was watching all the CHS swimmers I was thinking that this is the last high school season Matt will ever have, next year it will be on to college swimming.  Shock waves still tear through me when I think of it all.  I was watching the other swimmers, some of whom we have been swimming with for 12 years now, and thinking how we have seen them all grow up over the years day by day, because swimming is pretty much a daily thing.  Lots of memories through the years.

      Mark was timing in one of the lanes that Reyn was swimming in so it was fun to see the chatting going on between the two while Reyn waited for her lane to clear for her swim.

      CHS won the meet, the swimmers retired to O'Neil's house for a victory celebration, and everyone is looking forward to swimming a USA meet next weekend because you can't have enough swimming going on...ever. 

Friday's Favorites Fare

PHOTO:  Yearly photo of Matt and Ali at Angels Sing Concert.  The last one...at the end of the school year they graduate and will return to sing with the alumni for their annual yearly number at this concert, but it won't be the same ever again.  A lot of "lasts" this year.  I'm handling it tolerably well.  Sort of.  Okay, I admit, there were a few tears about this when they finished posing.

READING:  Christmas cards and letters!  While many a joke is made over yearly Christmas letters, I have to say, I absolutely love, love, love them.  All of them.   

LISTENING TO:  Christmas Music
SWIMMING NEWS:  Matt has an unprecedented three days off from swim practice...he is enjoying sleeping in and staying up late, a rare treat for him.  Three WHOLE DAYS...I wonder if he will still know how to swim at the end of it.  (Just kidding around about that part.)

COOKING BYTES:  We are officially desserted-out.  This happens every year actually, where the treats don't look like treats anymore.  It will pass, but I am not sure exactly when.  In the meantime, I am making dessert for tonight for Christmas Eve dinner here. 

FAV NEW FIND:  Matt and I went Christmas shopping on Tuesday and I didn't have one single panic attack about the crowds, the parking, the shopping, the whole business of it all.  It was nice to shop with Matt as he is very organized about it:  make a list, check it all off, don't browse around, get out as quick as possible, enjoy the moments, talk Mom into lunch out.

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  Matt's Angels Sing concerts.  Here's a few links for those interested, those who aren't, just skip over all this part.  Matt is in the back row, center (there are two guys standing there, Matt is the one on the right as you face the screen, there is a short girl to his left).  Ali is in the front row, 7th from the left side.  These links are not to the televised version of the concert but rather just from one of the other parents' video camera, so quality is not excellent, but it is nice enough since you couldn't be there and all for the real deal, which was very very nice indeed.  The Shaws focus on their daughter, of course, but Matt is near enough to her that there is quite a bit of him as well.  He looks good in a tux, doesn't he...that huge chest from swimming does wonders for one's ability to sing and hold notes for a long time!  Here are the links to four songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzC50B1oasY&feature=related   O Holy Night; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HBqLFCPWPs&feature=related  Celebrate Chanukah; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADEcg5FBWRk&feature=related  Gloria Fanfare; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1oJn8U89Pc&feature=related  Winter Wonderland

GOING TO:  Celebrate Christmas...we host Christmas Eve dinner, Mark's folks host Christmas Day dinner, etc., and there is Midnight Mass in between the two.  I think the shopping is all complete and wrapped, but going to recheck all the lists this morning just to be sure.  It doesn't matter who has been naughty and who has been nice, it's Christmas and everyone gets gifts!! 

PRAYING FOR:  Safe travel for all those going near and far for the holidays, for First Christmases and Last Christmases, for those serving our country who will not get to see Christmas at home with loved ones, please join me.
Photo is of Reyn (Matt's girlfriend), Matt, and Ali at Angels Sing Concert last Saturday night.  Reyn and Ali had been swimming at a meet for two days straight.  Ali was swimming, singing, and taking finals at school.  Matt was only singing and taking finals.  They are all happy to be on break from school.  Singing is on break until after the holidays.  And, they will all three be back in the water for swimming on Monday.  For all they manage to do, our hats are off to all three of them.  It's a pleasure to know them and follow around in their wakes!

Di's Virtual Cookie Exchange 2010: Candy Cane Peppermint Cookies

       You have all probably participated in an annual Christmas Cookie Exchange somewhere along the line.  Everyone makes scores of one kind of cookie, usually their specialty, and then on a given time and date everyone participating gathers and swaps out cookies so that you get to take home a nice selection of cookies for your Christmas cookie platter and yet you only had to make one kind of cookie.  Fun, and sometimes, a bit taxing this time of year. 

      Enter Di from Di's Kitchen Notebook, one of my online baking buddies who is whipping up tasty treats and breads in her kitchen down in Texas on a daily basis.  Di had an inspiration this year that involved a Virtual Cookie Exchange.  "What is that?" you ask.  Well, I didn't know either, but more than a dozen people jumped on the bandwagon and before you knew it, we had a time, a date, and a cute little badge for our posts designed by Nancy's very talented daughter in Georgia. 

      Let's see, there are people from California, Rhode Island, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Utah, Ohio, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, Germany, and the Netherlands (and I might have forgotten someone, sorry) so far.  It's a rather inspired group.  Here's how it works:  You make a favorite Christmas cookie (or any kind of cookie actually), you post about it today (Monday), and then you send Di a link to your post in her comment section of her post.  In a few days she will do a round up that includes all the cookies and links and you are free to steal any of them and make them at home in your own kitchens.  (If you have a blog and want to participate, just bake and post a cookie and link it on Di's post...this is not an exclusive group, just anyone at all can participate.  Of course, if 500 people do this, Di will no longer be speaking to me for having to link all those cookies, but I am trusting this won't lead to 500 posts.) 

      Without further ado, here is my submission for the Virtual Cookie Exchange:  Candy Cane Peppermint Cookies.
      Originally this recipe came to me from my good friend, Katie, who has a cookie party each and every Epiphany in their home.  She and her family make thousands of cookies, so many kinds to choose from, and I try to fit in one time to go over and help with the sugar cookie decorating, which is no end of fun as Katie has three daughters, each and every one of them able to be talked into fits of giggles about creative decorating. 

      These peppermint cookies are my favorites of all the cookies she makes and finally one year she gifted me the recipe for my birthday.  Try as I might, I could not make that recipe work...sometimes recipes can be like that, one person can make it excellently, and the next cannot.  So I persisted and played around with the recipe until I could get it to turn out like hers but using slightly different measurements (could be my oven, could be the type of butter or flour I use, who knows), so finally, I have it where I can make them perfectly.  Which may not be a good thing as I am always tempted to eat more than one or two, so it's a good thing Matt is here to make sure that they disappear quickly.
      Here is my version of the recipe in all it's melty, crunchy, chewy, candy cane minty goodness.  Bet you can't eat just one.

Candy Cane Peppermint Cookies
1-1/2 sticks (6 ounces) of unsalted butter, room temperature
I cup powdered sugar (measure, then sift)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups of sifted flour (measure, then sift)
1 cup uncooked quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 cup finely crushed peppermint candy canes (crush, then measure)
Extra powdered sugar for rolling dough balls in before baking

Cream the butter.  Add the powdered sugar and cream some more.  Add the vanilla and the salt and cream a little more.  Sift the flour into mixture and mix until flour is all absorbed.  Fold in the quick cooking oats and the crushed candy canes.

 
Form into small balls, about the size of a quarter, roll in the powdered sugar, place on an ungreased baking sheet, and flatten slightly.

Bake at 375 degrees for 14-15 minutes (everyone's oven is different, so keep an eye on them to see the timing for your oven, as they can brown quickly).

Let them cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then place them on cooling racks to finish cooling. 

Makes about 4 dozen small cookies.

CSC Short Course Nationals Men's Relay Team

Matt, John, Coach Chris (and fellow relay swimmer), and Harrison at Short Course USA National Swimming in Ohio at OSU this past weekend.

      Since I wasn't able to be at Nationals, I didn't get my usual round of photos.  Harrison's mother send me a few, so thanks to Crystal, here is a great photo of the CSC boys' relay team at Nationals. 

      This is not just your normal every common day boys' relay team as you might have noticed.  The boys only had three qualify for Nationals with the appropriate time cuts needed, and since a relay needs four men, there was going to be no relay team for the CSC boys National team.  "Was" being the operative word. 

      In USA swimming, as long as you are registered with USA swimming, in good standing, and have the appropriate time cuts, you can swim in USA swim meets.  So, Coach Chris rose to the occasion.  (He's 35, incidentally, and I am allowed to say his age as it is on all the psych sheets from the meet, etc. where they list the swimmers and their ages...public knowledge.)  

      Chris trained, and trained, and trained some more, so that he could qualify to be the fourth man on the relay team.  The guys were loving it. 

      Chris qualified and they had their National relay team!  How wonderful is that?  Pretty wonderful.  The guys were so happy that they were going to get to swim relays because Chris made it possible for them to do so. 

      They did great...their times were really good for where they are all at and each one of them contributed in major ways to the whole team.  I think the three boys spent a good deal of time with their mouths open and their jaws dropping at how well Chris did and what a great swimmer he is...a whole new and deeper respect for hard work and dedication was born. 

      One very fun aspect of this particular relay team is that all the other relay teams were composed of four men, each specializing in their particular swims, all of them sprinters as relay teams are usually made up of guys who can sprint fast to the finish.  In the Freestyle Relays, you will have four really fast freestylers.  In the Medley Relays, you have four really fast sprinters in their swims, i.e. backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle because each leg of the Medley Relay is composed of a different stroke.  

      Because we did not have the appropriate qualifiers for Nationals to make up the relay team, we were operating with three freestyler sprinters (Chris, Harrison, Matt) and one distance (non-sprinter) breaststroker (John).  Try to make that work!!  For the Medley Matt swam backstroke, John his breaststroke, Harrison swam the butterfly, and Coach Chris swam the freestyle. 

      They did good...they didn't finish last and they had a great time...who knew?  It's a well-coached team that can even dream of putting that together.

      Congratulations to a great showing at Nationals, guys!  We are all so proud of you and all your talent and hard work.  And, Chris, Thank You for making it all possible.

Breakfast of Champions

      Each Sunday morning, after the CBS Sunday Morning news show, I make the guys something we call The Big Sunday Breakfast. 

      TBSB consists of things they do not have time to sit and eat of a week day when breakfast is usually portable food in hand as they head out the door so that they can sleep until the last possible moment before rising, dressing, and hitting the road for work, school, swim practice, etc.  Things like pancakes or waffles or scrambled eggs, with an accompanying side of bacon or sausage, and a variety of juice offerings. 

      Harrison's mother took the above photo this morning at the USA Swimming venue at OSU where the boys were having a bite to eat and waiting for their turn to swim time trials.  Matt (left) and Harrison (right) with their buddies in the box (far left). 

      Breakfast of Champions, or at least a bite to tide them over until more appropriate offerings can be scored...and if Mary is reading this, please note that John is not anywhere near that box and is probably off scoring yogurt and fruit and a bit of granola because he is definitely more trustworthy in the realm of scoring non-junk food than are these two! 

Friday's Favorites Fare

READING:  Things on Sam Houston, don't ask...just got on a kick about something, his name came up, and I was off and reading on Sam Houston for some reason. Someone had to do it.   

LISTENING TO:  My friend Nancy doesn't care for some of my taste in music, so in her honor, it's all Mozart all day.  Better than Axl and Def?  Who's to say?

COOKING BYTES:  Tired of making desserts...it happens every year at some point, usually when everyone else is gearing up for lots of holiday desserts, and it has reached that point again this year...thinking this might need to be a dessert-free week or two. 

FAV NEW FIND:  Not necessarily a new find, but I love, love, love having Matt and Mark home for four days in a row...very relaxing and nice.

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  Believe it or not, today we managed to get the house all decorated for the holiday season, so that feels lovely to have all that finished before the busy choir gigs, swimming gigs, and holiday festivities have us all running to and fro.  Matt's friend Reyn came over and helped decorate...photo is Matt and Reyn in front of the tree in the foyer.

GOING TO:  Spend time with family as Mark's family is all in town for the Thanksgiving holiday, so that means some sort of doings each day.  Swim practice and choir practice and Mass serving for Matt as well.  I might get some time to cook/bake.  Lots of Big Ten sports to watch...IU/Purdue tomorrow at noon, the Oaken Bucket game, IU hoops tonight but delayed broadcast until tomorrow, Hawks tonight live.  Might actually do some Christmas shopping.  Going where the wind takes me this weekend.

PRAYING FOR:  Safe travel for everyone on the road this holiday season...yes, especially you...please join me. 

Friday's Favorites Fare: Signed, Sealed, To Be Delivered Next August

READING:  Various pieces on armistice for WWI...it seemed fitting for the week with Veteran's Day and all.

LISTENING TO:  Soundtrack from The Big Chill    

COOKING BYTES:  Getting caught up on various blog-alongs and guys are enjoying the food from it all.  It's my plan that when Matt goes off to college he wants to return home regularly for home cooking.

FAV NEW FIND:  Seven of the senior swimmers have committed to colleges for swimming and signed their letters of intent this week.  In photo at top:  Sam going to University of Kentucky; Lauren and Matt are going to Indiana University; Mike is headed to Iowa; Kiernan is going to swim at Xavier; leaving Rhiannon and Carly to apply their considerable swimming efforts up at Purdue.  I would say The Big Ten is being represented fairly well by this year's class of seniors with 5 of the 7 going to Big Ten schools.  Harrison committed to Princeton, and he is not pictured here as he goes to Brebeuf High School so his official signing was over there this week.  

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  Watching Matt sign his letter of intent committing to Indiana University for college.  The "real" signing took place in our dining room at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the first day of signing...once signed, it was faxed to the IU athletic department, and the original copy was sent to them by US Mail. 

      Then today, Friday, the high school had a "fake" official signing ceremony where the athletes all "signed" a blank piece of paper and have their photos taken as if they were actually signing, etc.  It was fun...the swimmers really enjoyed it.  Now it all seems real.  (Photos below:  The Three Boys: Kiernan, Matt, and Mike at the signing; Matt and Lauren both going to IU.)

GOING TO:  Watch the opening game tonight for IU Basketball season, so we are more than eager to have that getting underway, another game on Sunday, with the IU football game sandwiched between on Saturday at noon.  This time of year when there is both Big Ten Football and Big Ten Basketball going on, we tend to watch a lot of ballgames...no complaints here. 

PRAYING FOR:  Please join me in praying for cancer patients going through chemo and radiation...that all that pain and suffering brings favorable results.

Friday's Favorites Fare (on Saturday)

Matt and fellow CSC swimmer, Lauren J, during half-time at IU Homecoming football game today.  No, not a date, just good friends, Matt was at game, Lauren was down at IU on swim recruit visit, and the two had a great time at the game with others. 

READING:  The Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather (Quebec 1697-1698) and One of Ours by Willa Cather (WWI 1914-1920).  These are the last two novels of Cathers that our library didn't have available before when I was reading the rest.  I'd read them both in high school, so it was good to revisit them as an adult. 

LISTENING TO:  ...and watching the IU/Arkansas State football game on television, getting ready to watch the Iowa Hawk/Michigan game next.   

COOKING BYTES:  The season is changing...welcoming soup week straight ahead.  I love soup, could exist on that and salad and never be bored.  It's a simple thing, I am a simple person at heart.

FAV NEW FIND:  The changing leaves, the cooler weather, the return of Orion in the night's sky.   

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  We have had a wonderful week enjoying Matt's decision to commit to Indiana University for college swimming.  We tried very carefully not to express our preferences so that it was his decision and not ours.  That was incredibly hard as we are such IU fans.  You would have been proud, and astonished at our ability to display impartiality.  He flew all over the country for recruiting trips, looking at this college and that, getting offers from here and there, but in the end, it was IU who had his heart.  He got off the plane one Sunday and said, "I'm done with recruiting trips, etc. I just want to go to IU and swim there."  Absolutely music to our ears!  He will be going to college 90 minutes away from here and swimming where we can go and watch the meets.  Don't think we aren't excited.  IU's business school is ranked 10th in the nation, he loves the campus, the coaching staff (one of the coaches was coaching at CSC when Matt was 10-11), the team, and the city of Bloomington.  So excited!!!  You will all appreciate this.  We said, "Are you sure?  We want this to be your decision and not ours."  He responded with, "Yes, I'm sure...I tried to have it NOT be IU, I tried to NOT want to go in-state, I tried to have it be somewhere else, but it didn't work, I just love IU and want to go there."  This is the swimmer who won state last year with a swim he didn't want to swim and was determined to go to college out of state like most of his best friends, but in the end, home is where the heart is in this case, and about that swim, coaches can see further down the line than swimmers...we do what we need to do!  He has been just delighted since the decision and we are all looking forward to him being a Hoo down in Hooville.

GOING TO:  October 15th marks the day that NCAA college basketball teams can commence formal practice so Matt and Mark went down to Bloomington for the opening tip of practice, etc. (along with over 13,000 other people who attended) on Friday night, they stayed over for the homecoming game and festivities today, also taking in a swim meet at the IU pool, Matt hanging out with the swimmers and enjoying some friends who are down there this weekend on swimming recruit visits of their own. Besides that, there is choir rehearsal, etc. for Matt and some time for catching up around here with things that need to be done and enjoyed during fall. 

PRAYING FOR:  Please join me in praying for Bill, Margaret's husband, newly diagnosed with cancer who is undergoing all sorts of procedures and treatments now.

Some Traditions One Never Outgrows

Each October we take a little trip to a pumpkin patch/orchard to enjoy the lovely fall weather, to have a chance to be outside the city, and, of course, to score some pumpkins, apples, and fresh cider.  Usually we go along with or meet friends there...whoever is available on that day when the spirit moves. 

Saturday morning my friend Tina and I decided it was the day and after a little back and forth, decided on the time and orchard/pumpkin farm.  Tina has six children of varying ages, all of them more or less ages to really enjoy a trip to the pumpkin farm, to ride on the hayride, go through the corn maze, play on the playground, climb the giant haystack, and accompany wagons to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins to take home.  She expressed concern about Matt being "too old" to enjoy going along, but I assured her that Matt would enjoy the outing as well, could use some family time, and just needed to relax and enjoy part of the day after taking the SAT in the morning. 

I was right, he had a great time, picked out our four pumpkins, took the youngest child, Ben (5), through the corn maze with him, and on the way home we discussed that this was the last pumpkin farm trip together before he heads off to college next year.  We had fun remembering all the Octobers past and I think next year there still may be a trip to the pumpkin patch come October, some traditions are just too much fun to abandon. 

Photo is thanks to Tina who said, "I didn't take any photos!  I don't have a single shot of them, I will get Matt and Caitlin to pose before you leave!"  And, thanks to Tina, here's a photo of Matt and Caitlin resting on the car trunk after picking pumpkins...friends that go back years and years to when they were both little tykes on just such field trips of days past, both high school students now...my how quickly the time passes.

A Week in Irvine - Junior National Swimming

They are back from Junior Nationals out in Irvine, California, some new best times, some records, and some disappointments, about par for any meet we have ever entered.  Matt's 100 Freestyle netted him a new best time, a new CSC club record, and a 19th place nationally.  Not bad considering he was seeded 58th out of 146 swimmers going in.  His 50 Freestyle netted a new best time and a 31st place finish. He went in seeded 63rd out of 118 swimmers.  There are no slow swimmers at this meet, every single swimmer is a champion somewhere, you don't get to this meet without being a champion, fast times! 

Let's see now, the 200 Freestyle I am not allowed to discuss, and the 100 Backstroke was a bit of a bust as he got the big DQ for being completely submerged at the finish...something about the sun and the breeze flipping the flags so he couldn't really see them going in and misjudged the number of strokes to the finish...probably best to forget about that swim as well. 

He did well in the relays and the club did great on the whole.  If not exactly what they all hoped, the best that could be had with illnesses and whatnot.  The important part was that they had a great time and they acted like a unified team.  We are all so proud of each and every one of the 16 swimmers from our club who got the chance to swim at Junior Nationals by qualifying by their stellar swimming skills.  It was on web live stream so we could watch it all, so much fun! 

Of course, it wasn't ALL about the swimming...well, actually it was, but there were some side trips in between the sessions.

San Juan Capistrano (above)...and some swimmers (below).
And the real swimmers, some at breakfast:  Lucy, Kiernan, Matt, and Alexis.

Swimmers packed and ready for the day: Colleen, Margaret, Lacey, and Lauren S. 

And, below, when the swimmers don't have an event, it is a great time to put on some real swim suits and get a tan while cheering on your teammates:  In front: Sam; Middle Row: Lauren S., Matt, Kiernan, Alexis; Back Row:  Rhiannon, Lacey, Lucy, Trish, and Margaret.

Of course, any city with a major baseball team is fair game for a side trip there...Go Angels, they won this night.  

The pool was fantastic, both for swimming and for watching!  What an opportunity for our swimmers to compete here.


Lane 4...Matt almost set and ready to swim.  The pressure was on!
Lunch by the ocean...you can't do this in Indiana!!
Beach bums...at every available opportunity Mark and Matt headed for the beach and walked for miles, because, after all, we don't have this kind of opportunity near enough.  

And, to all the swimmers who did not get a photo on here, you need to remember to tell Mr. Gerth to take photos as he was distracted by historical sites, beaches, ballgames, restaurants, and sometimes by the swimming...he'll do better next time!

Airport Photos Before Junior Nationals

Usually we get a group photo but Saturday morning swimmers were arriving at various times, checking in at various times, and going through security in stages, so this was all I got in the wee hours, i.e. 5:30 a.m.  Left to right:  Colleen, Rhiannon, Trish, Lauren, Mike, John, and Sam...all looking surprisingly wide awake as it is, after all, their usual swim time for morning practices through much of the year.  

Lacey and Margaret ready to roll, and Matt looking tired and eager to get going.  Good luck, Swimmers!  We are so proud of all of you.

Junior National Send-Off Dinner

It's almost here:  time for the 16 CSC swimmers qualified for Junior Nationals to board the plane and head off to California on Saturday for a week of competition and fun.  Before they go, however, Daniel's family hosted a send-off barbecue at their home this evening where the swimmers, their parents, and the coaches had a chance to eat and chat and the swimmers got gifted all sorts of goodies. 

All the time and work they have put into swimming to enable them to compete at a national level...we are so proud of them all!  Best Wishes, Safe Travel, and Fast Times to:  (front table beginning on left) Lucy, Lauren J, Trish, Margaret, Sam, Rhiannon, Lacy, and Lauren S.  (back table beginning on left) Harrison (green shirt), Kiernan, Daniel, John, Colleen, Matt, and Mike. (Alexis wasn't able to stay for the dinner.)

Happy Birthday, Boys!

Happy Birthday, Boys!  Three of the boys had birthdays this week, so I managed to get a photo before the party tonight...Harrison, Matt, Mike, and Nik.  Harry, Matt, and Nik are the three with the birthdays.  Matt is 18 today!

Cincinnati Meet

Certain people were observing (complaining) that I didn't have any photos of the Cincinnati Marlins swim meet the last weekend in June, so to appease them, I have tried to include photos of those doing the observing and hoping to catch a word or two about the wonderful time (if not wonderful swim times, although the swimmer did place first in the 100 Freestyle, and then scratched from finals for some fun at King's Island) that was going on in and out of the pool.  Although Ali made it down for the Friday sessions of the meet, Matt had to leave a bit later and miss the Friday swim sessions, so instead the plan was to meet up with friends and relatives and head over to Rock Bottom for the traditional before-the-Reds-game dinner.Yes, an actual photo of Alex there with Matt...guess it is cool to be seen going to dinner for the "best pizza in the world" and a Reds Game.    Go Reds!  Mark and his brother Brian didn't look so very much alike when they were younger, but now that they are older, sometimes it is difficult to tell one from the other...Alex, Mark, Brian, and Matt.
 And sometimes, most times actually, swim meet weekends are focused on the swimming...Matt in the center spot, no cap, getting ready to swim the 100 Freestyle, he finished first.  This is what swimmers do between their events, stake out a claim for floor space, set up camp, and catch a little rest and relaxation. 

 From the pool to King's Island for a little fun:  Ali, Matt, Alex  This is how I always want to remember Ali and Matt...big smiles, always having a great time wherever they go...oh, yeah, and the other guy is that way, too...Buddy (Ali's Dad) was one of the USA officials at the swim meet, officials need to go to King's Island and have fun, too!  

A parting shot at King's Island:  Alex, Matt, Laurie, Ali, and Buddy.  And, although Buddy kiddingly offered to give Matt a DQ (disqualified) hands up at the meet for the 100 Free so Matt would be able to go to King's Island for some fun, it didn't happen...Matt scratched Sunday night as a family decision to enjoy some family time and head back home early for a busy week and much as he enjoys Matt's company, Buddy can't be bought. 

CSC Spring Fling

Our swim club's annual Spring Fling swim meet was this weekend, Friday through Sunday.  I think they call it a fling because it is our first meet of the Long Course season (April through July) and the coaches use this meet as an opportunity to place the swimmers in swims they don't normally swim, i.e. swims that are not their specialties.  For instance Matt swam the breaststroke...I remember a time in his younger years when it was clear early on that Matt's stroke was not going to be the breaststroke,  Kirsten, his coach at the time, looked at me and said, "You know, I think there are times out there that he is not actually moving forward at all, just sort of treading water with the breaststroke."  Well, times have improved since then and he swims it in the IM, but it still is not anywhere near something he would say that he excels at with any regularity.  The meet saw some new best times, some pretty much even times, and a couple of real stinkers, which is about the way this meet usually goes at the beginning of the season.  The swimmers all fared about the same and all seemed to be having a good time.  The photo at the top is Coach Chris reeling them all in for some instruction and direction during warm-ups.  The photo below is a photo op when they spotted me in the stands with the camera.  The next two below that, more of the same, the kids and coach a blur as they were jumping and carrying on, no way to get a good still of that shot with my camera as it is.

Nik leading the cheers, Matt and Harrison the two tallest boys in the center without caps.  Lots of fun to make a lot of noise for your team!

Mike, Daniel, Matt, and Nik having a good time before their swims.

Charles, Michael (back from college for the summer, Matt, Kiernan, and Harrison, surrounding Charles' mom as she searches through the heat sheets for swims, orders, lanes, etc.  Let the season begin!

IYC Concert: Hear Our Song

Going to let the photos doing the talking for the weekend.

The final IYC concert for the school year was Saturday.  I think it was one of my absolute favorites, the songs were fun and the singers were all obviously having a great time performing them. 

Since it was the last performance, I came prepared with my hankie as the seniors all get introduced and the goodbyes are said, the song "Family" is sung at the end with all the IYC singers, joined by alumni, and staff on stage with their arms all locked together as they sing loud and joyfully, with a touch of sadness that it is the last time they will sing together as a group, part of the IYC family.  I always cry.  I spend the whole month of May crying over goodbyes as the kids all grow up and move on toward college. 

Left:  The yearly photo of Matt and Ali at the concert...they swam at the CSC meet in the morning, dashed out of the pool still wet on their way to Ali's house to don tux and formal dress, head down to the concert an hour away to sing, those two always on the go.  Ali had an art show after the concert, so she was running off for there before heading back to Carmel. 

The other photo is Alea, Cassie, Ali, Matt, and Danielle, the three with the corsages are seniors and moving on...good friends through the years.
 

CHS Prom 2010

It's prom time!  That time of year when the juniors and seniors at the high school decide if, when, and who is going to the prom this year.  Matt doesn't have a steady date, so he and Rhiannon, who is also without a current steady date, decided that they would go to prom as friends and have a great time.  Mission accomplished...they had a great time, and they looked great, carefully coordinating togs, flowers, and jewelry for the evening. 

A group of the swimmers paired up and went to dinner (thanks to Margaret's parents who arranged for them all to have a fancy golf club dinner prior to the dance), to the prom, and to the after-party at Margaret's house, where the chief form of entertainment was...can you even imagine...SWIMMING in Margaret's pool.  You would think in their down time that swimming would not even be on the radar...wrong. 

Parents were invited to the club before dinner for a photo op of the group, so we took full advantage of making sure we photographed them all in their finery.  This is undoubtedly going to be the longest post that GKT has ever attempted.  It's for the kids...so everyone else can just tune out at will.  We tried to get photos of the couples as they entered, easier said than done.  Here's what I got, in no particular order.  Nik & Taylor, left; Rhiannon & Matt, right.

 

Megan (in black) & Court, Mike & Margaret (in pink).

Elizabeth (in blue print) & Kiernan,  Matt F & Colleen (in blue).

 

Cheffy & Stephanie (in black); Charles & Christina (in teal).

 

John & Beth (in black), left; Scott & Trish (in red).

 

The girls all lined up, and the guys as well.  You can probably guess which group was a bit more cooperative than the other, right?

I should mention that Lauren S. (black & white dress) came to the dinner sans date, who joined her later at the dance.

And, then, of course, there is silliness that just can't be explained.  JUMP is one of them.  I think I was the only parent who actually got them all in air at once!  Matt is fourth from the right.

 

And then, just some nice shots of Matt with some of the seniors, their last prom, the time together is winding down.  Left is Charles, Matt, Scott, so many years of hanging out together, Charles and Scott off to college next fall.  Right is Matt & Stephanie, good friends, Pepperdine has no idea what is coming next year with Steph, such fun!

 

Matt & The Lovely Margaret, hostess for the evening's before and after prom events, left.  Matt & Trish, who is headed off to Florida come fall to wow them all with all her swimming talent...These two, Matt and Trish, were the 2010 Boy and Girl Swimmer of the Year for our county this year.  Good friends, Trish will be much missed.

 

And, last but not least, a fun picture of Matt & Erica, who is alas, but a sophomore, so no prom for her this year, but undoubtedly she will be in the mix for next year. 

 

A fun time was had by all...what a great group of friends.  In less than a month, school will be out, the seniors will move on, and the juniors, oh my word, will be the seniors next year.  Where has all this time gone so quickly? 

 

CSC Spring Awards Banquet

 
Photo:  From the left:  Daniel, Matt, John, Matt F., Kiernan, Jonathan, Nik, and Mike.  

 

The CSC Spring Awards Banquet was this past Sunday.  It's always a big deal.  The swimmers look forward to it, the coaches get a chance to see and be seen in something other than pool togs, and we parents get a chance to see all the swimmers in one place at one time...dry and wearing actual clothes...400 swimmers strong this year. 

 

We had a lot to celebrate...lots of firsts and new best times...lots of fun times and best of all, this year, for the very first time, Carmel Swim Club was named a USA Gold Medal Club, ranked 11th in the nation.  Not bad, especially for a smaller community.  We gladly forfeited our Silver ranking and got a brand new banner for the pool proclaiming the latest feat, the only Gold Medal Swim Club in the state of Indiana.  The swimmers were thrilled with the news. 

 

Matt recieved Most Improved Swimmer Award for his group, much deserved as Matt had a banner year himself, the best year he's ever had with swimming so far. 

 

Through all the celebrating and joyful news bits, there is always, the sad bits...the saying goodbye to the seniors who will be heading off to college in the fall, and to those parents who will no longer be hangin' at the pool because their last swimmer is heading off to college.  Nik and Daniel gave moving and inspiring speeches, so I didn't manage to be dry-eyed through the entire time...I caved when the little memories the two boys were sharing brought it all home that they are now almost grown...and almost gone...and that all these years of sharing so many times with them are almost gone as well.  Yikes.  How is a girl supposed to keep her hanky dry through all of that???

 

Matt also had a choir performance Sunday afternoon and had to skip out a little early...I kept saying, "Are you sure you have enough time to get both of these in today with the travel time and everything?"  He kept assuring me he did.  During the banquet, he realized for the first time that the venue for the choir performance was on the total opposite side of Indianapolis.  He thought 89xx was by St. Luke's on the north side (near where we live), and then realized it was 89xx SOUTH, and had to do some quick calculations about the length of time that was going to take to get clear to the south side of Indy.  He managed to arrive on time, barely.  Ali had skipped the banquet thinking she didn't have time to do both, so she was worried when he didn't show up until the last minute.  My hair is turning more gray by the day. 

 

I only have a few shots from the banquet this year as the swimmers were spread all over the place and it took a bit just to get these guys all sitting in one place at one time.  The girls were everywhere all at once...trying to nail Jello to the wall trying to get decent photos of them, but here's a cute one of Colleen and the guys.  (Mike, Daniel, Matt, Matt F., John, and Colleen.)

USA State Swim Meet - March 12-14, 2010

After high school swimming ends, USA swimming still has a month to go with state and then sectionals for the swimmers who have the times to qualify for those meets before it switches over to long course training for the summer.  State is a little easier to qualify for than sectionals as the sectionals lead to junior nationals, hopefully, for the swimmers who can advance with their times.  Matt already has junior national times in the 100 and 200 Freestyle and the 100 Backstroke, so he is swimming with the hopes of getting a junior national cut time in the 50 Freestyle also.  We shall see. 

 

The USA state meet was one of just getting back in the water to competitively swim some of the swims that went by the wayside during the high school season, i.e. in high school one just gets to swim 2 events, so Matt's concentration was on the 100 Freestyle (he placed third in that in high school state) and the 200 Freestyle (he placed first in that).  He also swims the backstroke, so he was entered in that and the 50 Free, the 200 IM, and the 100 Butterfly (which he and his coach agreed was not a stellar performance so although he made finals for that, he decided to scratch).   

 

The Wall at meets is always a gathering place for the swimmers, checking their times, their placings, their competition, etc.  It also includes the various time standards for the high powered meets, so the guys are always checking those times against their own times to see what they qualify for...I can tell by the way Matt is pointing in this photo that he is checking out the National times at the very top.  The dream.   

 

Harrison has always been slightly smaller and slightly less in stature than Matt, but this year the growth spurt has evened them out!  We've known Harrison since the first grade, so as I look at them standing together, my heart sort of seizes up remembering all the years between then and now and knowing that sooner than I can imagine, they will head off to different colleges, swim for different teams, etc.  Like Scarlet, "I'll think about that tomorrow."   

 

Some kicking back time up in the stands having a drink and checking out the psych sheets...you can tell this is a more relaxed meet as the boys are kicking back in the stands and not down on deck focusing and gearing up for serious swims.  They have their junior national cuts, so now they can relax a bit more.

 

Matt, Harrison, Jack, and Charles down on deck posing for a shot for the blog...the swimmers like to see themselves here on the blog, so I try to get shots that are usable, i.e. wearing the longer swim trunks and not the tiny little Speedos. 

 

With the re-entry into USA swimming, comes re-entry into swimming with the college kids, etc.  High school swimming is just that, high school aged swimmers.  USA is different in that once you hit age 15, you swim with all the swimmers over the age of 15, meaning a lot of college kids.  Even then, Matt pretty much holds his own, so after four months of not swimming the 100 backstroke much, he still placed 5th and Harrison still placed 8th.    

1st and 2nd places went to Purdue college kids, 3rd and 4th went to the same old contenders that Matt has faced in that swim since early on ever since he has been swimming USA since he was seven years old, so no real surprises there.

 

The swimmers have all known each other for all these years, so it is fun for them to get to state and compete with each other each year.

 

 
When it comes to relay swimming, it is difficult to beat a CSC relay team. 
CSC had two relay teams, placing 1st (Nick, Daniel, Jonathan, and Matt) and 3rd (Mike, Kiernan, Harrison, and Charles).  The winning team supplies the person handing out the awards, so for our team, it was Roch for this race, always nice to have Roch around.

 

Matt tied for 7th in the 50 Free, and for the life of me, I cannot remember how he placed in the 200 IM, not one of his usual swims.  It was good to be back as a USA team with Daniel and Harrison being able to swim on the team again now that the high school season has ended. 

They Celebrated

State swimming wrap-up.  At State, after each of the swims there is a little break where the swimmers in that heat get to swim a victory lap before they assemble everyone on the podium for awards, medals, and photos.  (Photo is Matt's victory lap after his 200 Freestyle, that smile says it all!) 
I know that I have talked about this before, but the friendships made through swimming are a wonderful thing.  The swimmers who swim on Matt's USA team are the elite swimmers on the high school team as that is just the way it goes, a good swimmer who does not swim USA club cannot possibly hold his own in the high school realm against those who all swim high school and USA club...that year 'round training makes the swimmers ready to compete at the highest levels.  Most of the CSC USA club swimmers go to Carmel High School, but there are a few who attend private schools, like Matt did with Guerin the previous two years, and Daniel does with Park Tudor, Harrison and Ali at Brebeuf, etc. 

 

This year Daniel was the only swimmer from his high school team to qualify for state, so the CHS swimmers just sort of incorporated Daniel into their space, warming up in the pool, etc., as after all, Daniel was "one of them" no matter what high school he went to, just like they did for Matt when he was at Guerin.  When it came time at the end for the celebratory podium jump into the water for a victory swim, the CHS swimmers all urged Daniel to get up on the podium with them and swim as well.  Daniel had second and third place finishes in his swims (no relay swims as he was the only qualifier from his team), which was fantastic and the boys wanted him to jump with them in celebration.  Daniel, bless his heart, stood on the podium at the very end, shown in the photo above, (the podium shows seniors at the top, followed by juniors, etc. down to the end), but the swimmers all encouraged Daniel to get up to the top with the rest of the seniors and the photo shows Matt motioning and urging Daniel to come up higher to be with the seniors, the same seniors Daniel swims with in the CSC USA team. 
It was heartwarming and special that in all the chaos of the win, others were not forgotten.  Daniel moved up, took his place with the seniors and jumped with glee.  It was one of those moments that made the day that much more special.
(Photo:  The Jump into the diving well at the pool...freshman, sophomores, juniors, seniors, coaches...in that order...everyone in!)

  

Afterward there was a party to celebrate with lots of pasta and a cake or two.  

 

The guys were all in great spirits, the coached talked about the day, the year, the swimmers, and the future. 

 

The seniors talked and then the juniors spoke of the commitment to bring home another trophy next year.
(Photo:  The Juniors now in charge:  Mike, John, Sean, Fillipo, Kiernan, Cameron, Matt, and Tyler.) 

 

(Photo:  Matt and his head coach for high school as well as his CSC USA team, Chris.  I think Chris still has an inch or so on him, but there will come the day, that Matt will catch up in height.)  

 

 

And did I get a photo of my son with the trophy?  Somehow he and Nik scooted out of there on their way to Stephanie's post-post-state party before I could suggest such a thing, but fortunately, Mike was still available and happy to pose with the trophy he had a big hand in winning for the team. 

 

A final photo of the guys just kicking back and having a good time excited for their high school season to have such a great ending and ready to move on to the nationals with their USA state and sectionals competitions coming up in the next couple of weeks.  And who will their opponents be?  All the same kids they battled at high school state in the finals.  After 11 years of swimming with all these same swimmers in Indiana, it's just as much fun for the parents to go and watch those swimmers and see their accomplishments as it is our own team.  Well, maybe we cheer a little harder for our own team, but it is exciting to see Kyle breaking all the records and whether or not Matt can finally beat Kevin in something...yep, pretty darn exciting all the way around. 

(Photo:  Nik, Jonathan, Matt, Mike, Kiernan)  

They Did It! CHS Boys Swimming and Diving Win State

(Photo:  Trophy Time...Matt is sitting on the podium, fourth from the left in his CHS warm up suit.  Roch is first coach on left with Chris, the head coach, beside him.) 

 

They did it...the CHS boys swimming and diving team won the State Championship on Saturday.  I have the worst pictures imaginable because I was just too excited, nervous, distracted, etc. to take photos...fortunately there were photos from others and the professional ones to mark the occasion.  Here's some of what I have, be kind.
(Photo:  200 Freestyle race, Matt leading with Ethan not far behind and Daniel (Matt's good friend from CSC swimming who swims for Park Tudor) in third.  A very exciting race right down to the touchpad.  Most importantly for Matt, he managed to get in first against very tough competion!)  
 Matt had the allotted four swims, two individual (200 Freestyle and the 100 Freestyle), and two relays (200 Freestyle Relay and the 400 Freestyle Relay).  He placed first in the 200 Freestyle...sorry, no photo of him on the podium, I was absolutely in awe that he won that race and got first, let alone have the presence of mind to get a photo of the occasion.

 

(Photo:  For the finals, the top 8 get an escort to the starting blocks before they swim, Matt is fourth back and Jonathan is in this race as well further back.) 
He placed third in the 100 Freestyle, which is just where he really was this year as he went into the weekend seeded fourth in that event, Harrison's goggle malfunction knocking him out of the first seed, and Nathan and Tyler really have pretty much owned that swim all year, although Matt did beat each of them prior to this, it finished right where it should have so he was happy with his swim.
(Photo:  400 Freestyle Relay, Matt swimming anchor and in to a big finish against the Munster team, a very tight race right to the end, sealing the deal of a CHS victory over Munster for the state title this year.) 
The 200 Freestyle Relay finished second and the 400 Freestyle Relay, the last event of the meet, finished first.  Happy Happy Boy, Happy Happy Team!
(Photo:  It's a celebration...all swimmers and coaches in the pool!)

  

Tradition holds that at the end of the meet, the first place team and their coaches gather on the podium for a final jump into the water in a wave of celebration. 

 

It was quite a weekend.  Matt ended up with 2 firsts, a second, and a third and had scored the most points for his winning team.  Not bad for a junior.  What's next?  State finals for USA in two weeks, followed by Sectionals for USA at the end of the month.  Then I think we have a week off before long course training.  I think.

They Are Off to a Great Start

(Photo:  Matt swimming to the end of the 200 Freestyle and winning that race with a new best time for himself.) 
Preliminaries Friday were a good thing.  Always nervous when he goes in seeded so high that having two good weekends in a row for meets will just not be there, but Friday the times were there.   

 

(Photo: 100 Freestyle was quite the race, he was seeded 4th in that and ended up winning it with a new best time.)

 

 

He got a new best time in both his individual events, the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Freestyle, and now has Junior National Times in both those events. 
Harrison, unfortunately, had a goggle malfunction in the 100 Freestyle that cost him his first place seeding in the 100 Freestyle on Friday, which was really unfortunate. 

 

(Photo:  Matt and Harrison stepping up to the block before the 100 Freestyle, and before the goggle misfunction costing Harrison precious seconds.  Matt always steps up and makes The Sign of the Cross before he swims, just happened to catch him mid action with that in this photo.)   

 

Harrison goes to another high school but has been swimming with Matt in USA swimming for too many years to count, maybe like 10, and is one of Matt's best friends, so while Matt was excited to get the first place seeding for Saturday, he was also disappointed for Harrison because the malfunction slowed Harrison down and cost him a top heat seeding.  Very disappointing for a swimmer of Harrison's caliber.

 

(Photo:  The relay team getting ready to defend their first seeded position, Mike, Nik, Jonathan, and Matt.  The boys are sporting special new state swim caps, gray with a blue greyhound on them, instead of their traditional blue with the large yellow "C" on them.  Quite fancy.)

 

Matt's relays did well, they were both seeded first Friday night but the 200 Freestyle Relay ended up seeded second going into Saturday, Matt swam a 20.9 on his 50 leg, which might have been one of his best in that, so they were hoping to get back into the groove of that one and take first again.  The 400 Freestyle Relay went in seeded first and came out seeded first.   All in all a great day for Matt.  Will it continue?  We shall see. 

They Are Off To State!

Photo:  (Back, left to right)  Matt G, Scott, Cheffy, Mike, Jonathan, Matt F, Johnny, Kiernan, Elliot, Mark; (Front, left to right) Roma, Vic, Michael, Charles, Eric (the diver), Nik, and John.  

 

And, as in the past two years, Matt and Roch, off to State together, neither knew it would work out this way, but indeed it has...something of Providence in it all I guess.  Mother Guerin was big on Providence.  

 

It's The Day.  State prelims for boys swimming are today at the Nat in Indianapolis.  Top 16 contenders get to advance to finals tomorrow.

 

Excitement is running high as the CHS boys have a real shot at winning the state title this year.  We are sending 17 boys wearing the blue and gold.  17 very excited young men who have worked long and hard for a chance at the state title.  We shall see, by tomorrow's eve we will know if the dreams have become reality. 

 

The boys were dismissed from school at 11:30 and hopped on two small CHS buses for transport to a special lunch for them, followed by a team meeting at Mike's house, and then transported downtown Indy to the Nat (about 15 miles). 

 

Some of the parents met up at the school to wish them well, exchange school backpacks for swim backpacks, and hold a banner across the drive so that the bus could plow through it, which it did, but apparently banners tend to stick to the bus, and Matt hopped out to gather it up to free the driver's vision, etc.  Off they go...keep the good thoughts going for them.  Go Greyhounds!

Four Firsts For Matt

If you are here for the swimming news, here's a bit of it.  Thursday and Saturday were high school boys' swimming sectionals here in Indiana.  For sectionals you can qualify with appropriate swim times for 2 individual events and 2 relay events maximum.  The events Matt's coach picked for him were the 100 Freestyle and the 200 Freestyle individual events and the 200 Freestyle Relay (lead position) and the 400 Freestyle Relay (anchor position).  Matt placed first in all his events, even got a new best time for the 200 Freestyle, taking off 2 seconds from his old time, qualifying him for Junior Nationals in that swim, and breaking the sectional record.  Whew, what a great swim that was, for sure.  His two relays also broke the sectional record at this meet.(Photo: Matt F, Jonathan, Jesse, Mike, Matt G, Nik, and Charles sporting their sectional locks.)   Before all that, last Sunday, Valentine's Day, the boys all met at Cheffy's house and dyed their hair either blonde or blue (blue and gold being the school colors).  Matt opted for blonde.
(Photo: The Seniors (only 6/7ths of them shown) get to go first through the line, followed by the juniors, etc.)   Wednesdaynight the team had their pre-sectional spaghetti dinner in the basement of the Masonic Lodge (not just any place will agree to let 50 boys come and shave their hair in their facilities dontchaknow).
 (The senior table, left to right:  Nik, Jesse, Charles, Scott, Johnny, Cheffy, Matt F.)
(Photo:  Ali, Matt, Mike.  Because she swims for a different high school during the high school season, but is still part of the guys USA team, Ali dropped by to wish the guys luck.)
(Photo:  CHS girls' swim team shows up for a little Risky Business entertainment.)   Eats, speeches, fun, and most of all, the shaving of the heads of hair.  Well, sort of.  The senior guys get to shave the younger guys in any manner they wish...so you can imagine some of the configurations.  Nik shaved Matt and gave Matt a nice mohawk haircut.
 (Photo:  Scott shearing Jonathan; Nik giving Matt a Mohawk; Matt F giving Jack a cross shield, and Johnny giving John a much shorter version with "I Love Beth" carved into it.)
(Photo:  At Noblesville for Sectionals, warm-up time, Matt in back row with thumbs up salute.)  Thursday night the guys sported the fancy "do"s at preliminaries, but by Friday, the hair was all shaven and by finals on Saturday all the guys were bald and will remain so until after state this week.  A strange little tradition, but the guys all seem to have a lot of fun with it.
(Photo:  200 Freestyle:  Matt, first; Jonathan 2nd; Kiernan 5th.)
(Photo:  100 Freestyle: Coach Plumb reaches down to congratulate Matt, Jonathan, Charles for Placing 1,2,3.)
(Photo:  Never did get a decent shot of the three of them up there, they were so happy to place 1,2,3 in the 100 Freestyle swim, all going to state with their times.)
(Photo:  200 Freestyle Relay first place winners:  Matt and Charles up on the podium with Roma and Jonathan standing in front.)
(Photo:  First place 400 Freestyle Relay:  Matt and Jonathan in back, Nik and Charles in front.)    

(Last Photo:  Matt and Nik holding the CHS Sectional Trophy, both boys managed to get first in every event they swam in sectionals.)

 

Where do we stand going into state?  Matt is seeded first in the 200 Freestyle (but Jonathan and Daniel are right behind him) and fourth in the 100 Freestyle (with Harrison seeded ahead of him).  Both his relays are seeded first for state.  It should be an exciting upcoming weekend.  While all this is well and good, any swimmer can beat any other swimmer on any given day, so one enters optimistically excited, but realistically prepared for just another swim in just another meet where anything can happen.  There is a lot of very fierce competition with a lot of hungry swimmers scheduled to show up at state, all with their A Game.  There are no slow swimmers at state.  We shall see.

It's a Win, a Win, a Win, a Win, and a Win!

The CHS boys with their trophy after the meet.  Matt is in last row, far right.  Very exciting for all of them to win the trophy for the school.

 

Another great swim meet for Matt yesterday.  CHS hosted the MIC Championships, so there were eight teams competing.  Carmel boys & girls team won the meet.  Swimmers can swim up to 4 events (2 individual events; 2 relays or 1 individual event; 3 relays, which is what Matt swam yesterday).  All three of his relays came in first by quite a good margin.(Photo shows Matt finished and waiting for Gus to come in for the 200 Freestyle.)

   
He won his 200 Freestyle hands down against an old friendly foe from NCIN, Gus, who he has been swimming against since he was seven years old in USA swimming.  A formidable foe indeed.   Matt went in at 1:44.55 and came out with a new best time of 1:42.07, which might, with the exception of Kyle W who is Olympic bound, make him the fastest in the 200 Free in the state at this particular moment.  If not, he is very close. 

 

He and Gus were laughing afterward as Gus said, "My coach said, 'Get in there, all you have to do is beat Gerth, you can take him, you've done it before,' and I thought, 'Yeah, I can do it.'  Then when you came out like a shot out of a cannon, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to to catch you within the first ten seconds!"  Usually Matt and Gus are very close on times.  Yep, the boy had a great meet and was all smiles all the time.  They were all having a great time.   

And, another fun shot, this one of father and daughter goofing at the intermission:  The Judge was officiating and The Swimmer/Singer came to support her USA teammates since she goes to Brebeuf and not CHS and swims for them from October-February.  Laurie was also there, eager to go home and finish the Ellie soup I made this week as Ali decided to go to the meet after Laurie was already in prep for the soup.  Great to see them all, since during the high school season, Ali is not allowed to swim with her CSC team, high school rules, so other than choir, sightings of her around the pool are rare.   

 

 

 

And sometimes, when you have four boy swimmers, this IS date night...so cute seeing Ron and Sue (Mike's parents) spending time timing together at the meet.  They are one busy family with four boys swimming in four different groups and sometimes different meets on the same weekends in different states...I don't know how they do it! 

 

IU had a great first half against the Illini last night, but the youngsters just cannot seem to play a great 40 minutes total...we are patient, their time will come, who would have thought they would be this good this year?  Yep, we are the patient sort when it comes to good team building. 

 

It's another cold day.  Matt is off to choir rehearsal this afternoon and it is still up in the air whether I can move Mark into a museum visit this afternoon or not.  It might just be a day for hanging out staying warm and cozy at home. 

 

Taking all the Christmas decor down and packing it away until after Thanksgiving.  Each year I think that sounds like forever, and each year it comes sooner than I can ever imagine.  Have a great week.

Moving Along...

Everyone is sleeping in this morning around here...well, except me, of course.  I have a difficult time sleeping in...am a morning person (not that I am as much of a morning person as I used to be when I had all those years of getting up at 4:35 a.m. to get Matt to morning swim practice), and am enjoying some quiet time before the rush of the day begins. 

 

One nice thing about having parties at your house is that the house is always extra clean and sparkly and I love that!  Here are a few photos from a few random things that were happening things from this past week, as you can see, things are moving along.   

On the 19th, we went to the last evening of the Angels Sing Christmas concert, always a wonderful time, here is the traditional yearly photo of Matt and Ali in front of the Christmas trees at the concert.   

 

 Another fun shot of the two of them in their formal wear sitting on the floor waiting for their choir performance...they look like bag people, don't they?   

 

And another fun shot of Matt with a bunch of the girls, Ali on his shoulder not quite dressed for the concert, but still in on all the fun.  

 

On the 21st, CHS had a swim meet and Matt placed first in both of his individual events and both his relays placed first.  There were four teams at the meet and CHS won, winning 9 of the 11 events and all the relays, so the guys were all really happy about that.    Photo of Roch and Chris, Matt's two high school coaches, Roch now being at CHS coaching, so that is nice that Matt still gets to see his Guerin coach for the past two years continue on for hopefully his last two years of high school swimming.  Two better coaches I cannot think there are.   

The scoreboard from Matt's 200 Freestyle swim...he was in lane 5 of the top heat and finished first by quite a nice margin.  Always fun to see a swimmer just own the swim and finish so far ahead at a meet.  Even more fun when it is your swimmer.  Yes, the boy is still swimming with a bandaged hand, but hopefully this will come off on Monday and the only thing left to do is schedule the pin to be removed between short course and long course swim seasons so he doesn't miss any time in the water.  It makes him easy to spot with the bandaged hand, I will say that.
And, how else do you spot your swimmer in the melee of swimmers down on deck at a swim meet?
Well, it helps immensely if he happens to always be the tallest swimmer around.  You can pan the crowd and just search for the highest peak. 
On the 23nd, Matt went up to Elwood to help Grandpa put up their Christmas tree as he has done for years and years.  It's a special thing they do together and Matt enjoys it each year.  He was really busy this year, but determined to find time to go up and do this with Grandpa, it's a tradition with him, and he is very big on tradition.   

 

That evening Matt was invited to go with Daniel and his family, as well as Nik this year, out for dinner and to the Yuletide Concent downtown Indianapolis, where they had a visit with Santa, etc.   Dan and Kathy have their children each pick a friend to go with them and this year Brooke and Daniel got to pick two friends each, so it was a lot of fun for Matt to get to go to this again...they all get dressed up and have six hours of a really great time.  The photo on the right is the Three Amigos in front of the S & S Monument decorated for Christmas, Matt being the more serious of the three...Nik and Daniel sporting fashionable (to silly 17/18 year old boys at least) headgear.  All three are swimmers.  Nik is headed off to Boston College next year to swim and Daniel will grace the Princeton pool next year.
Do young men still have time for Santa?  Apparently so, Nik behind, Matt and Daniel no longer fitting on Santa's lap.  And, a nice shot of the six of them, Brooke on the right with her two friends included as well. 
And, the last shot is just in case anyone had any ideas where Matt's loyalty lies and where he might perhaps be thinking of attending college. 
Just in case you were wondering and all.  The shirt was a gift from Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Phil up in Elwood yesterday and was requested by Matt on his Christmas Wish List. Too early to tell, and we are carefully saying nothing too much in the way of encouragement....yet.  We shall see, we shall see.  Speaking of "we shall see," Alex has agreed to appear in a photo "sometime this week," so it's just possible that such will appear.  A rare occasion indeed.  Too early to tell, but we shall see. 

Pull Up a Chair: Catching Up Around the Table

Well, well, well, look who is actually posting this week.  It's been busy around here, I have been working a lot, and the posts have just not been as forthcoming as usual. We'll see if I can do better this week. 

 

So, what's been going on around here...bits and pieces in photos from times I, or someone in my family, actually remembered to have camera in hand, or I should say, managed to have camera in hand and actually took photos with it.

 

We winterized the yard and plants, Alex's favorite peppers being the last to go, Matt hauling the big pots from deck to winter storage in garage, not exactly his favorite thing as storing all the big pots, and there are several, makes it harder for him to navigate in the garage from car to door.

  

The swimmers hanging out in Men's Den, always a popular activity.  (Janos, Mike, Daniel, Harrison, Kiernan, etc.)  Playing video games and watching movies ranks high on the list of things to do out of the water. 
The Knights had their yearly campout down in Brown County at the CYO camp.  Photos of some of my favorites upon return. 
Colin, Stephen, Matt, Jack, and Chas.  Matt is President this year of the Indiana Chapter of Knights as well as his own chapter, so he got to be Master of Ceremonies for the new initiates, and plan the retreat, etc.   Photo of my three favorite tall guys, Matt, Stuart, and Spencer.  As you can see, Matt at almost 6'4" is the shortest of the three. 

 

Some of the girls on Twitter had a bit of fun with Secret Baker, organized by three of them, where we each had a randomly selected participating member of the group to bake a little something for and send it to them.  Tracey got my name and I got a very nice package from Tracey that included Spiced Biscotti and Cranberry Bread, enjoyed by all.   I got Kerri's name, a girl I had yet to meet, so that was fun, and I sent her two kinds of cookies and some pumpkin bread.  Next month the Secret Baker group is sending Christmas cookies as the baked goods.   

 

Matt managed to break his hand on a Saturday night and have surgery on the following Tuesday, which was Alex's birthday.  Three and a half weeks from Short Course Senior Nationals and he was out of the water for a week, but back in after that week with a swimming cast, figuring out that one can swim with a broken hand after all.   

 

Alex turned 17 and had the candles to prove it.  His main wish is that he would be 18 instead...ah, the young, so eager to be adults and out on their own.

 

Friday Taylor came over and she and Matt did some seasonal holiday decorating, putting up the tree in the foyer (seen here with the stable underneath waiting for the appearance of the Nativity pieces bit by bit), the living room tree, the little sideboard tree in the dining room, and the greenery on the banister.  

 

We definitely have guy decorations, as Taylor described her family's decorations and her mother's collection of ornaments.  I was thinking Taylor was a good sport to help out with our mishmash of ornaments, lackadaisical manner of decorating, and hearing Matt say, "Oops, I broke one," in his yearly attempts at handling the little ornaments with those great big hands of his.  They had to leave before putting up the family room tree, but hey, they did a huge amount of work between morning swim practice and afternoon swim practice!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday the CSC fathers hosted the yearly tradition called The Dads' Day Breakfast for the Senior Group boys (high schoolers, Nik and Matt shown here, actually they were last in line Matt having to re-tape his regular splint cast after swimming in his swim splint cast) in their Dads' Day style, i.e. campout fare and fun. 
The guys loved it.  The menu consisted of Pancakes, Waffles, Sausages, Bacon, and I think they throw fruit and juice in there somewhere as I have never actually been to this, so I am only going by what I see in the photos.  Mark was assigned bacon and sausages (pre-cooked at home, so you can guess who did the pre-cooking at home as, although Mark offered to do it, I figured it would just be far easier to do it myself, however, now that I am thinking back, I could have sent him outside to grill those sausages...next year's plan).
Photo: Going clockwise starting with Jesse's back, Nik, Kiernan, Matt, JJ (home for the holidays from OSU where he swims now but happy to practice with his old team), and Charles.  

 

It's sort of a giggle with the boys as the girls' mothers host a similar breakfast for the girls on a separate day, which is quite a bit different:  more like hotel brunch style with linens and dishware, napkins, centerpieces, "girl food," and such.  Matt's comment:  "Oh, the boys' breakfast is much better, we just lined up, filled our plates, and ate without having to worry about a lot of girl things and manners and such."  There you have it.  Raising boys is definitely an education. 

 

Did I remember to take photos at Thanksgiving?  Nope...always busy, always a lot of people, and thoughts of camera and picture taking went by the wayside this year.  So now that there has been a bit of a catch-up around the Table, I hope to get back to posting for my baking/cooking groups this week.  Have a great week...it's going to be December already!

Matt & Ali at Homecoming: The Couple That Isn't

   The Couple That Isn't.  Homecoming dating isn't what it was in my day.  In my day, you had a date for Homecoming, or you sat home.   Now, with the swimmers at least, they all tend to go informal, and go in one large group.  At the dance, they dance with everyone. 

 

Oh, sure, there are a few couples, like Beth and John, who are an automatic assumption when it comes to dating and events like Homecoming, etc., but by and large, there aren't a lot of couples in Matt's group of friends. 

 

Ali and Matt have been friends for years and years.  They swim together with CSC, they grew up through the years in ICC/IYC choir, have done countless swim meets, sang in countless musical performances, traveled in Italy together with the choir, etc., and there is just a certain amount of closeness that develops from those shared interests and times together. 

 

They are like an old married couple together.  One looks out for the other, each having their own ways of just motoring about together.  So it was that Matt took Ali to Homecoming...literally:  he picked her up, took her to the party, took her to the dance, took her to Stephanie's party afterward, and then took her home.  But it wasn't a date.  They weren't going to Homecoming together.  It was just Ali and Matt motoring about in their usual style.   

 

A nicer friend Matt could not find.  Are they dating?  Absolutely not.  Are they secretly hoping to date?  Absolutely not.  They are The Couple That Isn't.  They are just Matt and Ali.  And they had a great time at Homecoming!

 

Trying to get a photo of the two at Margaret's party...both on their cell phones chatting away with others, Ali trying to get her mom to hurry up and get to the party to take photos, etc., and Matt trying to talk Taylor into coming along to the party and having a good time.  Taylor had plans with girlfriends, but Laurie I did get to see.

 

Nearly Time To Go (One Sentence Blogging Week)

   Early Saturday morning last once again found me on an airport run for Matt, with Mike also in tow this time, to meet up with their CSC swim teammates so they could head off to Junior Nationals near Seattle, Washington, for 8 days of swimming competition and fun: reading from left to right would be Matt, Mike, Nik, Rhiannon, Jessie, and Lauren, a few of the swimmers heading west, all with happy smiles and excited voices, even after a 5:30 a.m. practice and arrival at the airport around 7:30 a.m.

Seasonal Sectionals - Day One

      Day One of Sectionals started off quite well for Matt.  He had the 50 Freestyle this morning and got a new best time of 24.59, qualifying him for finals tonight.  He did not best that time tonight, so gets to keep the 24.59 from this morning as his new best time.  A good way to start a meet, so he was happy.  

      CSC swimmers are doing great, some with new best OPEN times, which is better than Jr. or Sr. National times, so Congrats to them!

      Photo is Matt and Stevie after they finished their swims this evening, happy to have something to show for Day One.  Keep those good thoughts going, tomorrow he swims the 200 Freestyle, Wednesday the 100 Backstroke, and Thursday the 100 Freestyle. 

 

Seasonal Sectionals

      Josh, Matt, Harrison, Mike V., Michael G., Daniel, and Peter eager to get started on the trip...didn't manage to get all the guys as they were arriving in dribs and drabs and I was lucky to get this many in one place at one time. 

      Harrison and Matt heading out to duel it out over the freestyles and backstroke. 

      Sarah and Lauren all smiles and ready to swim fast this week. 

      It's that time of year already, USA swimming Sectionals for the swimmers. 

      Summer has just flown by this year.  This morning the Sectional qualifiers loaded onto a bus and headed east for Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. 

      Charles packing his bags into the bus trunk.  Bags were checked. 

      The swimmers loaded onto the bus.  Lisa checked off all her trip lists making sure they were all set for the trip, and they headed off with hugs and waves from parents as they drove off, excited to be together and going off on a road trip for swimming. 

      Carly and Megan going for new best times and new good times! 

      Back to front:  Matt F., Michael, Trish, Rhiannon, and Elizabeth all seated and ready for a week of fast swimming and new best times! 

      And, because the silliness is never just limited to the antics of the swimmers, here's one of Carly's dad and Josh and Lauren's Dad goofing on the kids a bit.  Carly refused to hug her dad goodbye a second time because "he's all sweaty from working in the yard!"  So that Rick wouldn't feel rebuffed by his 16 year old, Larry ran over and gave him a big hug, with Carly dodging "corny embarrassing parents" by running for the bus!  We all laughed...some kids will still hug at the bus steps, and some won't...they are all growing up way too fast!

      Road trips: always fun to see the swimmers heading off to compete for those coveted spots at Nationals, fun to be a part of the excitement, the hopes, the dreams, the incredible work ethic this team has for their love of swimming and always, always, going for that new best time, that sense of achievement, the payoff for all the hard work. 

      Best of wishes, CSC Sectional Swimmers...we'll all be here for hugs and congratulations when you return!  We are so proud of each and every single one of you...we stand in awe every single day of what you do and what you have achieved.  We could not be happier than we are right now, so have fun, swim fast, and know that we appreciate all the efforts you put into swimming each and every day.  Go CSC!

Friday's Favorites Fare

READING:

Last week I received quite a few suggestions for novel reading, so I am gathering those and going in on those next week while we have a lot of swim meet time and I can read!  In the meantime, now, I am finishing up odds and ends and some magazine articles I have put aside to read.

PHOTOS:  Swimming Lessons with Matt (1) Dominic (2) Jacinta (3) Luke (4) Monica...all having a great time learning to swim! So cute!  

LISTENING TO:  Billy Joel and Elton John...how large are those concerts??!

COOKING THROUGH:  Le Cordon Bleu at Home (Le Cordon Bleu School of Cooking), this week's assignment is Velouté Du Barry (Cream of Cauliflower Soup), pages 419-420; Baking:  From My Home to Yours (Dorie Greenspan), this week's recipe is Blanc Manger on pages 398-399; The Bread Baker's Apprentice (Peter Reinhart), this week's recipe is Challah on pages 133-134; The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking(Marcella Hazan), this week's recipe is La Florentine Grilled T-Bone on page 385.  You can cook/bake along, too! 

FAV NEW FIND:  Matt's rankings in the Psych Sheets for upcoming Sectional Meet...pretty good for a 16 year old, yep, pretty good!  Actually, they are pretty good no matter the age since he swims Open (15 and older) these days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAV THING TODAY:

Okay, yesterday...dinner at the Hamilton County Fair...a charcoal grilled ribeye sandwich and a lemon shakeup!  I get one every single year...it's a tradition for the past 30 years.   

GOING TO:  Celebrate birthdays...Mark's Dad's was yesterday, Mark's is Sunday, and Matt's is the 31st, so we will head up to Elwood and celebrate with the three of them together.  The fair is going on, so we will be in and out of there looking at various projects our kid and our friends' kids have entered.  Getting Matt ready for sending off to the Sectional Meet on Sunday morning.

PRAYING FOR:  Safe travel...a lot of people vacationing and going various places...please join me.

Seasoned Conditioning

      Well, the World Championship Swimming Meet here in Indianapolis at the Nat has finished.  All those well-seasoned conditioned swimmers roaming our streets and the Nat now a thing of the past.  Don't know if you got to see any of it on tv, but the swimmers are poetry, grace, and power in the water at that level of swimming.  We had two girls from our club swimming in the meet, and what a thrill it was for them to compete at that level! 

      Our club officially had Saturday as our volunteer day to work at the meet and while the kids all got to see various swimmers, the adults were pretty busy working.  Mark was taking tickets yesterday when Mrs. Phelps came through the line, so he got to see her up close and personal...we all think that Mrs. Phelps is as much of a celebrity as her son, Michael.  She asked Mark if it would be possible to switch sides to sit on as she wanted to sit with another swim mom and Mark told her that she could give it a try with the ushers.  He said, "I was figuring if anyone could do it, she should be able to." 

      Matt, Daniel, and Stevie (compliments of the Haslers) got to have VIP tickets the night Michael broke the 200 Fly record, so they were thrilled with that, and the fact that they were sitting in the VIP section in front of Mrs. Phelps (seen in photo at left behind them in light blue shirt), so that when Michael was awarded flowers each time for winning an event, he would bring them to his mother in the stands and they got to see Michael a few times.  They were on television as when the cameras panned to that, the boys were right there front and center, so friends were texting them saying, "We just saw you all on TV!"  That was, however, as close as they got to actually meeting Michael. 

      Aaron Piersol broke the world 100 Backstroke record last night...one of Matt's major swims, so that was a good and exciting way to end the run.  A lot of fast swimming and fun times for the CSC swimmers (and their families) over the week. 

      Ali and Sarah got to attend a World Swimming Championship kick-off breakfast with Cullen Jones (Olympic medal winner and one of the first African-Americans to be so in swimming), so here is a fun photo of them at the Make a Splash breakfast, compliments of Buddy and Laurie.

      Sectional swimming starts week after this at Miami and Matt is entered in four events for that, hoping that if he gets the cuts he wants in that meet, that he won't need to swim Senior State, making his next meet be Junior Nationals in Washington State and having that week of Senior State Swimming as a bit of a break.  Keep your fingers crossed as it would be nice to have that all in place earlier rather than later. 

Seasons In The Sun

      Sometimes you don't need a lot of words, the photos tell the story.  Here are some fun shots of the swimming lessons Matt teaches in the summer. 

      I remember when he was this small...now he is 6'4" tall and these little ones just seem so little and that time so very long ago. 

      Truly wonderful children, all of them, so polite and respectful, and having so much fun learning how to swim. 

      And all those little pink swim suits, towels, cover-ups, and sandals...I certainly hope I get some girly grandchildren along the way!  Buying blue and green all the time was okay, but I am ready to shop on the pink side of the store occasionally!