That's Better!

I lied. I did care that the toes didn't match with my Nemesis socks. I kind of knew as I wrote it that I didn't really believe that I was happy just to be finished. Since these socks were the first knitted gift I've ever given my friend Sara, who knows that I've been knitting since high school, I couldn't stand the thought that she might conclude that I'm just a mediocre knitter after all of these years! So, even though I enjoyed reading Caffeine Girl's post about seeing Sally Melville and how she said, "Don't let the process get in the way of progress," I unraveled about two inches on my socks and re-knit the toe and am now completely satisfied and truly ready to gift them.

Kai spent most of yesterday--I'm talking until eight o'clock last night--at the Valley Swim Meet at Cal State Bakersfield, which is about thirty-five minutes away from us. He lost his goggles in the Fly, so he didn't qualify for the finals individually, but both of his relays made it. Since the meet didn't begin until eleven, Russ and I decided to take the opportunity to go for a ride on the Kern River Bike Trail .  Russ has been telling me about all of the baby ducks he had seen earlier in the week, so I was excited to go. It was a beautiful ride, and we did see quite a few little ducklings, but they disappeared into the brush when we got too close. Smart babies since we also saw several hawks.

I had a great conversation a week or so with a friend at work about how many parents "live" through their kids. There can be a fine line sometimes, I think, between interest in your kids' activities and  becoming too wrapped up in them. I have lots of other interests besides my kids, but I have to admit that I can't stay away if they're competing in anything, especially swimming. One of the reasons that I always liked swimming was that there seemed to be fewer "Little League" parents involved, not that there aren't always some loud jerks over-zealous parents in the stands. Kai's team took seventh today, which may not sound impressive, but it was enough to medal, and if you saw their competition, you'd understand why that was exciting. It was a little bittersweet too because Kai is the only junior on his relay. His team mates will graduate next week, and that will be an end of a era. Oh, and, I also enjoyed today because....I got to sit in the stands and KNIT!