Balance

20 lengths again this morning, four with a kickboard. Still solidly "medium": I lapped one guy twice, meaning I actually had to pass him once, and I was just about exactly the speed of another guy. I was pleased to see another woman pile into the medium lane near the end of my workout (the first other woman I've seen in medium), although she turned out to be pretty slow. I was fortunate enough to be done by the time I would have had to pass her and pass the first guy again.

I have looked briefly at some swimming technique sites, and I have picked the first thing to work on: go through the water horizontally. (Pretty basic, huh? Yet it's clear I wasn't truly doing it. Who knew?) I've seen this described as balancing somewhere along your sternum. It also feels to me like trying to keep my hips high. This sinks my head down farther into the water, which is fine; on my sort-of-breaststroke I have natural opportunities to pop my face up to breathe and to look where I'm going. Balancing this way doesn't feel natural, so clearly I need to practice it.

Can I be a "y"uppie at age 39?

I just got mail: "Your Sterling Vineyards Club merchandise has shipped."

Yes indeedy, last time I was in Napa Valley (a coupla weeks ago) I joined a wine club. I had always been certain that wine clubs were for other people. You know the type: the people who get "box seats" or tile their entryways in marble or can find decent-looking clothing that fits. THOSE people. Suddenly, now I are one. This is very weird.

(The fact that joining gave me 20% off on the case I bought that day had nothing to do with my decision. Really! The deciding factor was that I can't buy that one specific wine anywhere but the winery... UNLESS I join their club. If I'm a member I can have 'em ship it to me.)

Of course I promptly forgot all about it. Now I'm reminded that the primary symptom of being a wine club member is that wine starts showing up at your house on a regular basis.

Now I want clothing that fits.