Goodbye 8 hours of sleep...

I (kinda) played tennis one year on my high school team.  Our varsity team had more than one nationally-ranked player.  Our "B" team was better than most other varsity teams.  Our "JV" team.... well, we were relegated to playing the teams that hardly even had a place to practice.  I played matches where there were (rather large) tufts of grass growing up through the cracks in the court.  Practices were very low-key and the only commitment has pretty much - "Hey, wanna skip your 8th period class and take a long bus ride to some podunk little town?"  My answer was, of course, a resounding YES.

Why am I telling you this tale of Country Club Tennis Goliath handily beats the Davids of the Colorado high school tennis world?  Because I'm setting the stage for my lack of understanding of high school sports and the commitment they demand of their athletes, that's why.

C had her first high school swim practice on Friday.  It was after school and the workout (compared to the workouts on her club team, from which she is on hiatus for the remainder of the season) was fairly mild.  Tomorrow morning, however, early morning practices begin.  This means that she (and I) have to be up, ready, and across town at the pool in time for her to be in the water by 5:15.  This means that she has to shower quickly, get dressed, and get driven (by me) directly from the pool to school to make her first class.  This will be our MTW routine for the next 3 months (Thursday and Friday practices are after school... a fact that has thoroughly screwed our afternoon schedules as well). 

It's no laughing matter to get C out of bed on a regular day (alarm goes off at 6) and I've got my doubts about the likelihood of me making it to the end of this week with all of my phalanges intact.  Wish me well.

In addition to swimming, C is in 2 school bands (jazz and "winds"), percussion ensemble, youth orchestra, an outside-of-school band being developed by some of the upperclassmen at her high school (she was psyched to be asked to play keys), taking private jazz piano and percussion lessons, and taking a full load of classes - with hopes of straight A's and a desire to challenge herself academically. 

May the force be with us all....