Ups and downs

I was like a drunk person last night. The buoyancy belt they gave me at the JCC was insufficient to keep me afloat so I worked my ass off for an hour trying not to drown. When the teacher noticed I was bobbing and sinking, the other lady in the class said, "You've just got too much muscle!" I thought that was the point! The ladies were actually very nice, but at 5'2" and the same weight as me, they were plenty buoyant. I started my workout with a blood sugar of 190 and ended an hour later with a sugar of 62. That's with no insulin for 90 minutes while my pump rested in my locker. I sat on the bench in the locker room, soaking wet and texted Rich, "I'm done but low. Also I'm starving. I have burned approximately a million calories so anything is possible for dinner."

I drank my juice and waited a bit but I still felt out of it the whole way home. I walked in the door, sat down and ate ALL THE THINGS, then went upstairs to put Ian to bed at 8:20pm. I woke up at 10pm to Ian still happily entertaining himself on the iPad. It was in that haze that I pecked out last night's post. It could have all been a dream.

Today was only slightly better in that no one tried to drown me but I ate way too much and have watched my blood sugars ping pong all over.

I have left a message with my doctor to change my birth control prescription in hopes it will even out my blood sugars, weight, energy levels and moods. I am not usually a moody person and it annoys me when I get that way. I was ready to murder all the dogs this evening for very minor infractions. Exercise helps but drowning does not.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for my new prescription and shopping for a new buoyancy belt.

Deep water

I went to the pool today and managed to not drown. But it was close. We tread water for an hour so I felt like an Olympic water polo player. When we were done and got in the heated therapy pool to stretch, the teacher said, "Oy! I feel like a giant matzo ball in this soup!"

I still love the Jewish Community Center.

Shining armor and glass slippers

At Crown Tournament, I took note of the speeches that were given about each combatant and each consort during the procession. Then during court, I noted the scroll texts and some of the flowery speech offered. It all got me thinking. Mind you, not about Our Royal Majesties Ragnarr and Lynette or our newest prince and princess. Just about royalty and rank and ideals. What are the qualities we most want in a king and queen? I started quizzing Rich about this in the car as is our habit for any road trip more than 45 minutes. He argued that the typical Arthurian legend would be of strong, successful knights and fair maidens. But if we're going to be anachronistic about it anyways, shouldn't we broaden the virtues that are praised?

I tried to think of it from the perspective of a child listening to these things (convenient, as we have a child that listens to way more than we think he does). I also wondered how all these things we take for granted might sound to a new member. If I were a child or a new member, would I think that in order to be king I must have prowess above all else? And if I wanted to be queen, would I need to be beautiful in order to earn the praise of scroll text and heralds? I'm probably over thinking this, but I wondered what things I would like to hear during court or on the field.

Rich seemed to think that I wanted these public statements to be more "realistic", but it's not like I want an award scroll to say Given by Our Mighty King Who Wears Sweatpants Under His Tunic*. We don't need to praise promptness or wax poetic about how well Their Majesties can keep track of receipts. That's just silly.

I did, however, spend time in the car (as we thawed out from a very chilly court) wondering what qualities in our monarchs should we all aspire to see and have ourselves. They are, after all, our inspiration.

I want my king to be just, to protect those who cannot protect themselves, to have success but weather adversity with grace. I want my queen to be joyous, patient, kind, and an astute judge of character. Interestingly, these are all things I would also want for my four year old in both the Society and modern life.

It is largely luck that we could have monarchs that perfectly embody all those qualities. But by praising those features we want to see, perhaps that helps make them come true.

* I did note His Majesty's pants on Saturday and found no fault with them. :) Also, I myself would have paid $100 for a pair of sweatpants to have under my dress during evening court once the sun went behind the trees. Don't be hatin'