Friday, January 17, 2003:
Drew and I drive to Logan for a swim meet. She sleeps most of the way up. When we arrive at the pool some Springville mother invites us to sit with the rest of the team. No way! I’m not going to squander intensive parent/child time by engaging in idle chit-chat with strangers.
Drew and I chat, eat, play solitaire. When the time comes for her first race she situates me at the end of her lane. “Keep watching. I’m just a couple of races away.” I stare faithfully. I see nothing. Several heats later there’s a voice at my elbow. “Uh, actually, I was in the other end lane. Did you see me?” No, but a 1.9 second improvement on a previous best time is almost as good as being there.
Somehow the registration for her second race fell through, so that was us for the night. We go driving around, looking for a wind-down place. Drew has a theory. All those pre-race snacks might have adversely affected her outcome. We go to the IHOP. The service was awfully slow, but that wasn’t really the primary point. What a nice child! Interesting, knowledgeable, personable—separate her from her sister and she positively blossoms.