Goodbye Vancouver. Hello Toronto!

I’m flying to Toronto tomorrow. I think I’m ready. I’ve watered the plants, taken out the garbage and returned the stack of way overdue movies sitting on my coffee table (a flagrant abuse of Blockbuster’s "no more late fees" policy).

My bags are packed. Well, technically my bag is packed but that doesn’t quite flow as smoothly. I’ve crammed everything I need for the next week and a half into one carry-on suitcase. Which is basically a couple of swimsuits and a lot of hair products.

I expect to get a few raised eyebrows from the security people at the airport when they put my suitcase through the x-ray. There’s something not quite right about someone bringing nothing but a bunch of swimsuits and expensive shampoo to Toronto in May.

How do I explain that I am voluntarily spending the long weekend inside a pool? In Etobicoke? I don’t think normal people get giddy and excited about flying across the country to spend four days at a swim meet. But that’s okay. Because I’ll be surrounded by about 1,000 other geeks from across Canada who do get it.

It’s going to be a fun time. Nationals is the super bowl of the masters swimming world. By the way, "masters" is just a nice way of saying "old and slow."

There are five of us from my swim club who are flying out to swim at nationals, two of whom will be staying with me at my parents’ house. Plus my dad is racing too. It will be the first time I have swam at a swim meet with my dad and I’m looking forward to some father-daughter bonding.

It’s funny how things change. In high school, I banned my parents from coming to watch my swim meets because it was soooo uncool to have your parents cheer for you. Now my dad is racing at the same meet as me and I’m begging the rest of the family to come cheer us on.

Anyway, the meet starts Friday and ends on Monday evening. Then I’ll be sticking around Toronto for an extra week, which is already packed with activities. Having dinner with Larysa. Dancing in the living room with Rommel (it’s a long story). Eating ice cream with Bill. Hanging out with my sisters. Catching up with my New Brunswick friends at a BBQ. Playing chess with my brother. Drinking wine with my mom.

It will give me something to look forward to when I don’t win any medals at the meet. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s not about winning, it’s about having fun. But that’s like sandpaper against my competitive grain. (Is that the right expression? Does that even make sense?)

I’ll be updating my blog from Toronto regularly. More to come later. Right now I just need to get a nice long sleep. If I can sleep at all, that is.