this is going to be my fallback bloggy format when the week is too hectic to allow for graceful opening sentences, outstanding summations and of course, punctuation.

• Tuesday: an evening in the city for A Chorus Line. I think the show was great. It was hard to say since I was so uncomfortable in the theater seat. Yes, my ass is big, but it’s not the size that should preclude me from being awed by high kicks and jazz hands. All of my fellow theater-goers, thin and thick alike were moaning and groaning at the end of the show. The evening did however receive Flair & my special ‘mark of excellence’…… we peed ourselves laughing!
• Wednesday: lunch with the ladies. Another NYC day. another stellar adventure. We went to the Bryant Park Cafe which was fabulous. The food was delicious and the ambience even better. They had no problem with us lingering over lunch and even whipping out our knitting as the restaurant slowly emptied. Afterward we went on a divine tour of local button shops and knick-knackeries. ~sigh~ oh, I even brought you guys a souvenier!
• Thursday: SnB with the ladies. Ricki we ever the gracious hostess and we had a lovely time sitting and knitting, and spinning! Peggie Ehlers has joined our group and she has moved her blogging efforts over to typepad. So update your links!
• Today: a small step back to reality. I need to clean this house. but once that is accomplished, I am off to get a hair cut & color and then will be spending the afternoon with D#1. She is heading back to college on Sunday. ~sniff~

pee – eeeew!!!!

let’s see, do I know anyone who lives in New Jersey? near Secaucus?? near the swamps?????

sure they may be blaming the swamps, but I bet it’s just Cara cookin’ up a batch of her 4-alarm chili again. ; )

So here is the story, such as it is. It really isn’t a story at all, but when I posted that cliffhanger of a question it made it seem like there were big things afoot here at the sty. Only little things, I swear!

I joined a local Y a few weeks ago. The full story is, it is a Jewish Y. I am not sure how it fits in with the larger YMCA organization, if at all. But one thing I do know is that it’s close to my house and it has a nice pool. There is a very funny story involving me joining and Cara.

It was a Saturday when I decided to make it official and join. I had gone previously as a guest of Ricki’s and figured I would just take the plunge (ha! pun intended). This is something of a monumental decision given my past gym behaviors. These involve joining gyms and then not going. So to take the steps to join again is to open myself up to copious amounts of ridicule and eyebrow raising.

But let’s get back to Saturday and me joining. I have had the $$ conversation with Boar. Remember that it is right before Christmas and I have a history with gyms. He is a wonderful guy, no matter what I may say or infer, and has no problem.

I pack up my gym bag and head over to the Y. I am quite thrilled with myself. I actually remembered to check their website for the hours since I have this vague recollection that the Saturday hours are a bit screwy. Sure enough, they don’t open until 1:00 pm. Off I go. Only to find out that they don’t accept new memberships on Saturday. I am welcomed to come back on Sunday to join.

WTF? I call Cara from the car.

“Dude, what did you expect, it’s Saturday?!”

“So what it’s Saturday?”

“It’s a part of the Jewish religion that we can’t touch money on the Sabbath. I can’t believe you don’t know that.”

“How would I know that? Ricki never mentioned it. I’ve never heard of this.”

“Ricki’s not a real Jew. A real Jew would know.”

“What are you talking about? She’s born and raised a Jew and has bat/bar mitzvahed both of her children. And what about you Cara? Never once did I hear you say at Rhinebeck ‘oh no, I couldn’t possibly buy any of your fabulous fibers – it’s Saturday’ Cara, I’m only as strong as my weakest Jew.”

But back to the English Channel. I have been swimming a couple of times per week. As I was typing my last post, the thought entered my head that if I knew how wide the English Channel was, and I know how long the pool is (25m) I could figure out how many laps it would take to get me to Calais. Naturally when I looked it up, I read that it is 150 miles wide and when I did the calculations it completely freaked me out. It took me a moment to calm down and realize that 150 miles is at its widest point and that 21 miles is the narrowest.

Now that I can do!

using this site ……

21 miles = 33,796.22 meters

the pool at the Y is 25 meters. So I have to do 1351.85 laps.

That seems like a lot, but in fact isn’t all that bad. There are 52 weeks in a year so I have to do 26 laps per week. I am averaging 12 laps per session. And I’ve been going at least 3 times per week.

the question isn’t if I will swim the channel, but how many times.