What -t said.

We've been using swimming at the motive for a long time. It's basically the one thing she needs to be without a trache for. Given how we have lived it's the biggest thing she can't do because of a trache.

Grace in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit showing off her band-aided but naked neck. [link]

Grace! Hope she gets used to the new sensations quickly. Does she have to do pt to clear her throat and whatever? (Toilet under a cabinet-when I first read that, I wondered if some sort of weird autocorrect. I can't quite picture it.) Tell her I can't wait to get to swim with her. And that's a lovely thing for her to find to focus on.

AC installed in the bedroom. I didn't get sweaty this time, but there was a thunderstorm and I had to crawl out on the porch roof during in, so maybe I couldn't tell/was preemptively cooled. Noticeably getting drier in the house.

Interesting pool conversation. Guy next to me asked if I got shoulder pain 'right here.' Um, yes. Ex-competitive swimmer from Cameroon. Hasn't been in training since 2008. Swam in Barcelona. Anyway, he had constructive critiques of my form ("you have to be hurting *here* and *here* when you are not swimming. But not hurting during swimming, yes?") and was all " you just have to focus..." and I started laughing. I swim to zone out . That's why when bad forms creep in I have a helluva time correcting them (hence slower lap creep since 2 years ago. I used to almost do 2 miles in the time it takes me to do my 1.5 on a bad day, uhg.)

Anyway, we had a fun conversation about the difference in mindsets between a competitive swimmer (even an ex) and someone like me. He loves to swim, but on some level, it still feels like a 'job' and he's trying to get away from that and just enjoy the movement. And I'd like to get better, but taking that as a challenge defeats its primary purpose for me. I told him I'd give it some thought and maybe, MAYBE let him help me out a bit. 'But if it gets me mad, I can't have that.' We'll see.

Aw, Grace. She looks so proud!

sara, similar to this [link] but with no toilet paper hanging there.

Swimming sometimes feels like a job to me, but only because some days I just do not feel it.

What a great picture!

That's really interesting, sarameg. You don't find that focusing on your form is useful for getting your mind off of whatever else might be bugging you?

Eta: so the toilet sort of folds out?

Wow, what a huge change that will be for Grace. She really is amazing, amazing Grace.

sarameg, that is awesome! How fun for you to meet someone like that who can challenge you on the swimming.

yep! Freaky toilet on every level! At the hospital, there are no cabinets above it.

Like the toilets in Firefly! She looks so good.

I do math while I swim. Or whatever trivial thought I can sustain while tracking laps by doing math with the count. If I actually think about the motions (different than feeling the sensations, that I'm always aware of) it doesn't go well. I'm one of those people that cannot think about the physical without it all going to hell.

Swimming never feels like a job. Hard and frustrating sometimes, but when I'm done, I feel better no matter how shitty the swim was.