Back to School (Shopping, that is...)

August is waning, sports practices have started, my teacher friends on FB are back at school preparing and I just realized Ben doesn't have a decent non-screen printed and faded t-shirt to wear for the first day of school besides the one he wore to "graduation" back in May.  What does this mean?  It means a shopping trip is in order!  I don't think I am unique when I get the urge to back to school shop this time of year, even though it's been eleven years since I left college and eight since I had my last year of grad school.  And no, I didn't exactly school shop the way I did in elementary and high school for college but it is always hard to resist the fall displays and one of my grandmas always send some cash my way for school shopping which was the perfect amount to buy a pair of jeans or shoes. 

School shopping was so fun when I was a child, back when you actually had to buy a full wardrobe of clothes every fall because nothing fit from the year before.  I remember going to JCPenney and loading up my arms with various Arizona Jean Co. brand clothes with some Levis thrown in and hitting the dressing room.  When I started transitioning from the girls department to the juniors sizes there were trips to the "mature" stores Maurices and Vanity.  There was no online shopping, Old Navy or Kohl's and Target and Walmart were a bit too chintzy for school clothes at the time.  Scheels did not yet have its extensive youth sections and only really carried mesh shorts and jerseys. The "mall stores" like Children's Place, American Eagle and Carters were not around yet.  The main choices were JCP, Macy's (aka Dayton's and THE place to get trendy brands like Guess, Tommy Hilfiger, E.N.U.F. and Bum Equipment) and Herbergers.  The school shopping haul, along with some school team clothing, would be the clothes I would wear on a weekly rotation until Christmas came around which was usually when I outgrew my jeans anyway. 

Speaking of those old trendy brands, I tried to find some pictures of E.n.u.f. and BUM Equipment clothes and there isn't much out there on The Googles.  This was the best I could do. 



Even the Internet wants to forget they every happened. 

Anyway, I channeled my shopping urge toward the clearance section Athleta, my favorite expensive workout and athleisure store.  It is so expensive that the only option is the sale section unless you feel like buying $70 workout pants and $100 swimming suits.  My mom had this vest from there that I want so I went searching and came upon this cute swimming suit.

I like plaid and windowpane patterns and I like black suits and this one has the gold standard in slimming swim suite design with the black panels on the sides. It also has a cute keyhole thing in the back.  I would never pay $108.00 for it even if I had the money for such nonsense but the clearance price seemed reasonable since I trust the fit of Athleta.  I scrolled down to the reviews to see if there was any feedback about the fit and the first one seemed promising.  The woman wrote..."I am 5'8" (perfect), 140 pounds (Hmmmm sure, close enough), and 70 years old..." WHAT?  A 70 year old has this suit?  Suddenly I wondered what I was thinking.  I'm only 33 after all.  But I decided to order it anyway.  Free returns, after all.  It probably won't fit anyway.  Shopping for swim wear has descended down a depressing slide from, "Hey, this one's cute!  Oh, it fits!" to being pretty darn close to a "Kathy" cartoon.

Now, the Olympics:

First things first,  Ashton Eaton.

I feel like someone needs to remake "The Ten Commandments" and cast this guy as Pharoah. 

He'd be like Pharoah 2.0.  I'd watch him in a loincloth type garment for the time of a full length feature film for sure.

Next...Did everyone see those three American runners sweep the hurdles last night?

Can you imagine anything better than that?  I can't help but grin every time I see these ladies! I can imagine these three, as the years go by, getting together occasionally and always sharing the bond of winning together at the Olympics in 2016.  And Nia Ali there has a kid.

Whenever I hear about an Olympic athlete who has a kid (and I refer to the women since their body had to actually have the kid...if the men have kids that's great too but it's not the same...) I immediately take an interest in her.  What would that be like? 

I am a Dana Vollmer fan too.  That's a really young baby.  I saw a story about her and he's 17 months old.  There was footage of her swimming with him and I was melting.  It was so cute. 

Syncronized swimming has been shown on TV more now that regular racing swimming is over.  This is a sport we only see on TV once every four years and I forgot how weird it is.

This is on right now as I type.  I don't remember there being a dance routine on the deck of the pool.  Seriously, though, people mock it but I challenge them to tread water upside down with their arms.  I've tried it and I don't see how it's possible and I'm a proven water treader from my lifeguarding days.  I can do it for a long time and with legs only and while holding a weight. Doing it upside down is no easy task.  Synchronized swimming must take some major strength and training.  It's not just about the waterproof makeup and hair pieces.

Only a few more days!  Waaahhh!  At least new TV shows will be starting soon!