Confessions of a One-Track Mind

Yesterday, when J and I went to leave the "Please don't tow!" note on my car, there were a dozen pickup trucks with empty boat trailers parked in the nearby lot. I commented that it was a pretty day to be out fishing. J said she wouldn't mind going for a swim.

Bearing in mind that this is Florida and that there are often gators in natural bodies of water, I thought a swimming pool would be a better choice. (Gators as a football team, fine. As a swimming companion, not so much.) What came out of my mouth was, "I prefer chloroform."

Which amused the hell out of J. I think I (not so unconsciously, no pun intended) would like to be swimming in the river of Lethe. Sleep, sleep, sleep---let my problems go far, far away.

I meant to say "chlorine", of course---have I ever mentioned that I almost poisoned myself with bleach as a toddler? My mom had left a cup on top of the washing machine while she was off doing whatever. I saw the cup, picked it up and spilled it, but didn't actually drink it. Mom, however, freaked out, had Uncle Frank drive us to the ER, where it took three orderlies to hold me down while they pumped my stomach.

I took swimming lessons at the Y for a couple years, and generally preferred pools to anything else, with the exception of Lake George, NY, and the Atlantic Ocean. Although after seeing Jaws, I because wary of going in past my knees.

I prefer chlorine.


.

Today has been good. Mb fixed breakfast, so I awoke to the scent of (low sodium) bacon, which wasn't exactly deprivation, sodium junkie tho' I am. Egg, bacon, toast.

Arrival of person delivering medical monitoring device for Ahab. Arrival of physical therapist for Ahab.

I went for a walk; two blocks to the Moo Mart convenience store down the road for a 12-pack of caffeine. Settled in with a can, checked email.

Mb invited me to come swimming with her. This is something of a misnomer: I am the only one who actually swam, although Mb *did* get her suit wet today.

Then some running around with her and Ahab, which ended up at WalMart with me getting a PAYGo cell phone. Yay! (At one point, about 5 years ago, I had a cell I inherited from Kat when she got a better one. This one is much better---it's a flip-phone, AND it has a camera. Yay! I can contribute to thrifthorror and The People of WalMart!)

Stuck the phone on the charger as per instructions. Read for a while and munched on some Goldfish in lieu of lunch.

Engaged in some Oriental taxidermy, namely, we went to the Chinese buffet for dinner and I got stuffed.

Came home and finished setting up the phone. Called J, left a message on her voicemail. She called me, then called me back a few minutes later.

And now, I'm going to go watch Royal Pains.

.

The weather here was lovely today. The temp was around 80F, it was mostly sunny...a few clouds mid-afternoon, but nothing came of it and sunset was quite pretty.

Have I mentioned that Ahab's abode has an in-groud pool out back?

Mb only went in a little past her ankles, but I, mad polar bear of Norwegian decent that I am, ended up treading water in the deep end, submerged to my neck. It took 15 minutes or so to *get* that deep, but when I did, it was delightfully bracing.

Because, you see, the overnight lows over the last week or so...I don't think they've gone above the 50s.

As I said to Mb, I don't have goose bumps, more along the the line of turducken bumps.

But Glorioski, do I feel macho!

.

I heard from Mb a little while ago. She and her SO are going house-sitting in Melbourne over the weekend and have invited me to join them.

There is a pool.

I said YES.

Mind you, I did specify a need to be back for church on Sunday, and that I have to have a dish ready to bring for potluck.

But otherwise? I haven't been swimming since last October and the thought of spending a few hours floating in a lovely private in-ground pool is fabulous. I know exactly where my swimsuit is...I just hope it still fits, as I'm currently about 10 pounds heavier than I was when I got it. To be on the safe side, I may just run my OLD suit through the wash and bring it so I'll have some wiggle room.

Although if it's as private as she says, I'm liable to wind up not-so-skinny-dipping.

Note to self, DON'T FORGET TO PACK SUNSCREEN!


.

Did not sleep well last night---found myself waking at oh-dark-thirty to void my bladder, then instead of going directly back to bed, I slithered into a cold shower for a couple minutes. Since I'd taken a muscle relaxer before bed, it took less time than one might expect for me to fall back to sleep after that, although I was still restless. Fucking heat and humidity....

Did the usual Monday lunch with Kat. Afterward, I *finally* got to christen my new swimsuit. Annoying business that I did not expect from suit---flotation of skirt and middy panel---but what the heck, it's still more comfortable than my old one which was a one-piece-perpetual-wedgie. I had the pool to myself the whole time, which was awesome.

Went by WinnDixie for a couple of things, came home, had dinner, went to CUUPs. We watched a documentary on Maria Giambutas, which was fascinating. She was a Lithuanian-born archaeologist who linked folklore of the region to finds of various sites.

This evening, I need to get prepared to be gone for a week and a half. Yeah, I might stop by on Sunday after church, but that's if I don't skip it...there's something about house-sitting that tends to make me apathetic about pursuing anything optional outside a certain radius. Meaning I need sufficient clothes for...six work days---although some ensembles may be recycled toward the end of the era---plus a couple more outfits for schlepping around in and going back and forth between Casa C and Schnauzerland. And other essentials, like a few books, muscle relaxers, PBOD, etc.

Was that a rumble of thunder I heard?! If so, my next post may be made after being bailed out for public indecency---IE dancing nekkid in the rain.

Pity the poor, insipid mannequin. She doesn't have the curves to rock this like I do:



And tomorrow---weather permitting!---Kat and I will lunch at BK then go christen my new suit. I'm very much looking forward to it!

EDIT: Stop the presses, here's the dress:

The thing about living in Florida is, spring is subject to be, if you blink, you'll miss it. We're already having temps in the mid-80's. So I'm thinking ahead, and hoping to take advantage of Kat's swimming facilities.
Last night, I found this:



I think it's cute. I usually prefer a tank-style suit, but I think this would cover a multitude of sins (and it's cute). It's available in black and white or blue and white, either of which would work for me, and it's cute. (I know, my one-track mind is showing....) Anyway, it's $40, plus whatever shipping, which isn't as horrendous as most of the prices I've seen, and if I get as much wear out of it as I have my current suit, hey, $4 a year isn't bad. It works out to about $1 per swim, depending on how much swimming I can finagle.

I was just having a discussion about swimsuit deterioration with starhawk2005, which made me think about the history of my swimsuit.

It's a black one-piece, its only embellishment is a silver dragonfly made of little chrome beads fused to the bodice. I got it at a Lane Bryant in Brooklyn in July 1999 when I went up there after my brother died. $25, on sale, and I've definitely gotten my money's worth.

I was seeing HWSNBN at the time, and his folks had a house with a pool. The whole time we knew each other, I was the only one who ever swam in that pool.

The last few years, I've ventured into the pool at Kat's mobile home park---it's one of the more upscale places, with a very nice fenced-in pool---you have to have a key to get in to use it, and Kat is fine with loaning that to me.

My happiest memory, though, is of a weekend in July 2004, when I spent a weekend visiting Dr Bizarre in Sarasota with GK, Kat, and Kat's combined grandkids by GK and BC (Five kids, three adults, two rooms). Both mornings we were there, I woke up early to avoid the pandemonium, got into my suit, and went down to the pool---it was early enough that I had it to myself.

I'd swim for a while, then I'd get out and sit at one of the tables nearby and scribble on my WIP, which at the time was Gemini Descending. I remember being happy and productive, and that's my memory of 2004 in general, when I was writing and nothing slowed me down, not even three hurricanes inside of six weeks.

So, the suit has a lot of memories. Maybe I'll figure out a way to repurpose it and keep the dragonfly....

After church day, I drove over to Kat's, because I haven't been able to get ahold of her all last week, and I was starting to get concerned.

I drove over there on Wednesday, and although no one was home, I saw that her relatives' truck was there: They've moved G'ma to Oklahoma. She's 96, and Kat can't handle her any more. She has enough health issues of her own without having to cope with G'ma's dementia.*

Apparently her phone was misplaced with the ringer off, and she'd just found it, so nothing is wrong. We had a nice visit, and for tomorrow, we're going to meet at the nearby Burger King for lunch, then head back to her place and go for a swim. (The park she's in has a very nice pool, and I'm willing to bet we'll have it to ourselves.) Temps are expected to be in the mid-80s, and it's early enough in the season that the water should be deliciously cool.

I know exactly where my swimsuit is---I laundered it and hung it up a while back---so all I need to do is snag a towel. I'd *like* to go a new swimsuit this year---the one I have turns 10 in July and is starting to make creaking elastic noises---but for now, it's okay.

And now I'm going to see what's on TV. I hear "Say Yes to the Dress" is supposed to feature a wiccan bride tonight!

======================

* She's not violent, but she's gotten very paranoid, accuses Kat of stealing from her, and keeps asking the same questions repeatedly, like: Has So-and-so called? And she goes on about things that happened in dreams she has, which apparently she can no longer tell from waking life, and getting indignant when she's told it didn't happen. Oh, and she keeps trying to cook, but does things like puts pots on the stove, turns it to high and then forgets about it and takes a nap. Twice she's nearly burned the place down. Stuff like that.

This has been a lovely day. Church was pleasant. I returned home, answered emails, went over to Kat's for a brief swim (We'd only been in the water for 20-30 minutes before it started to sprinkle.) which was great, as we've had a bit of rain throughout the week, so the water was a few degrees cooler than the ambient temp, but not freezing.

Went to Publix on the way home, which was good for groceries, as well as for scenery. Gent I followed out to the parking lot was tall, broad-shouldered, my age or a bit older---short shorts and excellent legs, IMO. That he was balding was a bagatelle---I can cite quite a few bald guys I find attractive---I just wish I'd been able to think of a pretext to hit on him.

Just finished a chat with S, trying to instigate a card game for the 4th. It's been a while since we've gotten together, and I wouldn't mind visiting my godchildren the schnauzers.

Maybe I'll finish the day by doing something constructive, like laundry....

The weather today was absolutely gorgeous...bright blue sky with a few puffy clouds, so missybrat and I went swimming in the pool over at Kat's mobile home park. Used sunblock on my top half, but my thighs are pink and tender. Worth it, though.

I love floating; I can do it for-damn-near-ever. Which is why my thighs are in the condition they're in---you can also see some strap marks on my bodice-flesh. The water was tepid, but it felt great when I got out and let the wind cool and dry me. (missybrat was shivering. Wimp!)

My swimsuit dates back to July, 1999, and I noticed as I was pulling it on that the elastic is begining to creak ominously. I think it's time for a new one. Too bad---I like that suit. It's a basic black one-piece with a silver metallic dragonfly highlighting my cleavage.

On the way home, we detoured so I could look at a Camaro at the side of the road. It was a '92, good looking---and 3 grand, which is about a decimal point higher than my budget. Alas!

kukkurkurat and I are collaborating on a fic...and it's not even one of the unfinished ones I mentioned yesterday. On the other hand, it's fun. GK and I used to tag-team stories, back in the day.

***

Last but not least, some vid pimpage. The embedding was disabled, or I'd've posted it as a stand-alone, here and at singer_salvage. It's a video tribute to Bobby, and it's made of awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jQjV8weAo8