My foot has been bothering me, so I went swimming last weekend.  It was the first time I’ve swum laps when not pregnant in easily a decade.  At first, it felt so good!  I just felt so tiny and lithe, undoubtedly since the last time I went swimming I was close to 9 months pregnant.  Slipping through the water just felt so effortless and reminded me of why I love swimming.  (It was, however, much more time-consuming than running because of driving to the pool and changing clothes, and given how little time I have these days, I’m unlikely to do it often.  It also cost $16, which I thought was rather a lot.)  Anyway, the second half felt mainly tiring, and I was sore for days afterwards.  When I swam while pregnant, I always took it easy for obvious reasons.  This time, I just went for it and swam as hard as I was able.  It really is a great whole-body workout.  I hope my kids love the water as much as I do.  Swimming at the hospital always made me appreciate another aspect of the water.  It’s such a great equalizer.  There were always people at the pool who were old, injured, and often massively obese.  It was common for people to get to the pool using canes, walkers, or even occasionally a wheelchair.  And of course, there were the pregnant people, like me.  Once in the water, these handicaps are minimized as the effects of gravity dissipate.

It was interesting to be back at work this morning.  As a mom, I’m surrounded by young children and mostly mothers on the job.  We wear shorts and casual attire, and conversation is rather nontechnical.  Today, I’d say 70% of the attendees at the large meeting I was at wore jeans and a blue shirt (including me).  A daring 20% opted for khakis or a black shirt.  The remaining 10% truly went overboard with options like checks or even a green shirt.  I was the only woman in the room I was in.  Another woman was present in an organizational role in the adjoining room, but did not participate.  It was a real change from my days going to and from the park, the library, and the grocery store.  I have been working there so long, though, that it’s very natural to be back.  It’s effortless to switch back to engineer mode.