catch and release

this morning i spent some time with leah and neal at the pool during their swimming lesson ~ leah swam and dove and gave herself a george washington hairdo while neal and i marched around like a choo choo train and pretended to fish in the kiddie pool ~ there are turtles painted on the concrete surrounding the pool, and neal very patiently instructed me to pet them, pick them up, and release them gently into the water ~ i'm exhausted from having gotten up at 5:30 to work a few hours before taking the pool break, but it was worth it

the band has been asked to play a gig at the high note in downtown birmingham, but it's the week before sam gets married, so she's out ~ i asked my brother if he would be our stand-in guitar player ~ i'm really hoping it works out ~ i miss playing live, and the length of my fingernails is a shameful indication of how long it's been since i've picked up my guitar