I Just Need Something to Do

Okay, okay Mom, I know it's been forever since I've posted. Work's been killing me, the kids and their homework, activities and neediness has been killing me, combined with my other interests that lately take priority over writing, like knitting and reading and watching Angel on DVD. I guess there's just not enough time in the day, dammit.

So since so much time has passed, a few holidays have come and gone and while I have been having some fun lately with new and old friends, there are still many moments when I just don't feel like I belong in the Midwest. Or maybe it's just the suburbs where I don't belong. Or maybe it's just in an almost 4o year-old body. I'd much prefer to stay in my 20 year-old body and mind.

So an example of how sometimes I say to myself, "What the fuck?" happened the other night at swim practice. As I've mentioned before, last spring I joined a master's swim team and swim 2-3 times a week (okay, maybe it's more like 1-2) at the local high school. I thought I was fast, but man some of these other 40-somethings can blaze across the pool about a mile a minute without even taking a breath. It's very motivating to swim with such great athletes. This year I've ended up swimming with a small group of women who are slightly older than me and a heck of a lot faster. But I do my best to keep up without hyperventilating. On some nights, but not very recently, I share a lane with a dark-haired women, I'll call her Elaine. She and I are very compatible swimmers and I always have fun swimming with her - we push each other to swim at faster intervals and do a few more laps then the workout requires. She lives in the suburb next to mine which is well-known to be a little richer, a little whiter and a little snootier than mine. But whatever, she's nice enough. A while back she asked where I lived and I told her the name of my town. She asked, "Oh, do you know the _____'s?" "Sure," I responded, "Nina goes to school with their kids". "We used to own their house", she explains, "but we outgrew it". Now I've been to said house and it looked plenty big and beautiful to me.

So over the past few weeks "Elaine" hasn't been showing up for practice. Then one night last week she shows up, announcing she's been busy because she's just sold her house. "Wow - that was fast!", we all exclaimed. I immediately assumed that she's having financial trouble - I mean, the country is in a recession and all and perhaps her husband lost his job? "Why did you sell your house so quickly?" I pried, being my usual nosy self. "Oh, I don't know. It's really big and we fixed it up so perfectly and now it's done. We may just move to _____(neighboring and even richer and snottier suburb), or we may build something". Then she obliviously says, "I need something to do".

Gulp. Not to sound judgmental here but, honey, there's plenty to do besides spend money on yourself. Have you heard of that small earthquake that just devastated a place called Haiti? How about these people known as 'homeless' right next to your community? And, okay, if your not in the mood for a mitzvah, how about using your love of interior design working in the field? But life coach I am not, so I just simply stare at this woman with shock, dive in to the cool pool water and start swimming. I think I may have broken some personal records that night.