Wahoo!!!! The big race is over! He actually ADDED 3 seconds! Not the direction he was hoping for, but it is hard to take the wind out of your sails when you are at the Olympic Trials! I was so hoping he wouldn't be so terribly disappointed with his swim that it would color his overall experience. And he wasn't -he was great. So overwhelmed by the incredible experience that he really didn't mind not having a great swim. My wonderful son-in-law is a fabulous photographer and came with all his equipment, so I was able to just sit back and enjoy. I was more nervous than I thought I'd be. DS said when they walked out, they all felt so important -there are special lights on you, and of course they are announcing your name from time to time, etc. The mom seated next to us had a son in the next heat, so we cheered for them, and they cheered for us. DS actually got his OT cut at a meet in North Carolina, and he stayed with a teammate's family during that time. They are here too, and we've met them and had lunch with them, and ohmygosh, they're such wonderful people. This entire experience has been over the top. The volunteers are so patient and positive. Swim moms will love this: when i was walking in the morning, a volunteer is yelling, "Heat Sheets over here..." When I walked over to her to buy one, I said, "Wahoo, my baby boy's name is in there!" So she says, "Are you a swim mom?!?!?" When I said "Of course!", she turned around and said, "Well, sign the back of my shirt please!" And she had the entire back of her shirt covered in mom signatures! So cute....

Sorry I'm chiming in so late. My dad passed away 3 weeks ago just after finding out that his prostate cancer had just moved into his liver. He'd been in the hospital getting ready to start chemo, was getting better, sent home and he died the next evening with most of his family in his home. Bittersweet. I'm executrix & am very overwhelmed with all the stuff I need to do altho not very complicated. I am 58 yo and keep trying to figure out was 60 looks like. I've seen some "older looking" 60 somethings & some that look like I feel. (None of you GW'ers fit that older look!) I was born & raised in W. Michigan; then lived in and taught in Costa Rica where I met my dh. We moved to NC 29 years ago with a 1 year old son. My dh is Materials Mgr in a chemical co. My oldest is now 30 and a research chemist; 27yo dd is a bench chemist; youngest is a business major with a minor in...chemistry. I was a pioneer in homeschooling & hs'ed my own from K-12th grade. I was a hs curriculum rep for NC/SC & worked the bookfairs. (NC's is one of the top 5 in the country) I got involved in hs co-ops where I taught high school/middle school Spanish. I just "knew" it was time to quit at the end of last semester. Dh & I buy run-down houses, fix them up and rent them out. We weren't sure Social Security would be around by the time we retire--and our 401K has been having its ups & downs. Our real estate venture has done well; we were 2 blocks from a local university & rented to students until the U decided to make a 1-mile rule that students had to live farther than 1 mile off campus. Last fall we sold 2 to the U & made a handy profit. In this venture, I've redone 2 gut job kitchens, done some simple remodeling with painting & new counters & selvaging cabinets we found in the basement. All get dishwashers--it's the first thing the women(and students) notice. There is another one that we have done a partial remodel on--the base cabinets. Between the next renters we'll go to Part B, taking out a huge unused chimney that's on a non-supporting wall & redoing the uppers for this house from the 1920's with a chopped up-floor plan. Actually, I thought we would be building our retirement house right now. In 96 we bought a lot in the NC mountains; it's a 1/2 acre lot that overlooks a small lake in an older gated community. It's my "Still Waters", where I go to restore my soul. We were close to having the plan done & working on the kitchen plan when I discovered GW--the plan I originally wanted wouldn't work when we actually put it on paper & looked at it 3D--not enough upper cabs. I was about ready to post it for comments, but alas, with my dad's hospitalizations, I've not had the time. We're close to blueprints & I'm tweaking the rest of the design with an interior decorator friend. Worth the $$$. At my own home, a 70's ranch, we'll update the kitchen that we remodeled in 92 from a country look w/honey oak cabinets with granite & a new backsplash. We put in wood floors 4 years ago. So I don't know what project comes first. We've just completed our biggest fixer ever and the renter comes in next weekend. What will we ever do with all that spare time? We have a severely leaky shower in the master bath--we think we'll need to gut it to fix it. I think it will be sooner rather than later. I like camping, Bible study, travel, photography & scrapbooking. I enjoy going to crops & doing my scrapbooks with other women--it's creative, and for the most part I get to relive all those wonderful experiences I have captured on camera. I've read everyone's storied and have found it enjoyable. This board relaxes me in the evenings. Thanks all.

Girl...where have YOU been? I knew from the moment you posted about him, that you had a new baby (even if you didn't want to admiot it.lol) I hope you have many years of enjoyment with him!

Finished Steve Jobs, and I highly recommend it. It was one of the best liked books my book club has read, right up there with Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Now that may be in part because everything in the book is so familiar to residents of Steve Jobs's home turf. One member even remembers him from high school! We found ourselves wondering if people from other parts of the country would find it as fascinating as we did. Fascinating or not, I'm confident that any reader would find it to be well written. Now I have moved on to American Eden by Wade Graham. I like this too but suspect you would have to have some interest in gardening or landscaping to want to read it. Perhaps not; an interest in cultural history might be enough. The author examines how trends in what people do with their gardens reflects what they think about themselves and the society they live in. Again, it is well written. It reminds me how much a clumsy style or dreary pedantry can throw a barrier between a reader and even a topic that intrigues him. Fortunately neither of these books has that problem. Finally, as a quick light read, I re-read Elisabeth Ogilvie's Dancer in Yellow. I like most of Ogilvie's books, though not so much the Bennet Island series. Perhaps that is because I could never keep the family relationships straight. This one I enjoyed. Rosefolly