Nothing Cute to Wear

My head-strong daughter, the Princess, turned a big ONE earlier this week. One of the nights after work, I hosted a small get-together with a few of my friends. Before my friends arrived, I had given the Princess a bath and was in the middle of trying to dress her, as she squirmed and cried bloody hell. I had a hard time finding something cute and something that did not look like PJs for her to wear; she was, after all, the birthday girl. Every birthday girl needs an outfit. (My husband would disagree.) My husband and I have not had to buy the Princess any clothes because we have been lucky enough to get plenty of gifts and hand-me-downs for her to wear. As I realized that night, we are reaching the point where we were running out of free clothes. A had nothing cute (and clean) to wear!

I joined crew in college during the spring semester, and the summer after my novice semester in college, I was rowing with a small masters team. You must picture an overweight me with the typical novice look in my eye, eager to pull hard with no idea about endurance or technique. I am rather embarrassed to think about it, but I must have looked so pathetic then. I tried really hard that summer to improve my rowing. I got up, every Monday through Friday, at 4AM to bike 45 minutes through the ghettos to be at the boathouse for 5AM practice. After practice, I would bike 35 minutes to work. You must remember that I was not really in-shape at this point in my life and that I had no clue about bikes. Sometimes, I really live in a box and possess no common sense. I had purchased the cheapest mountain bike, which weighed a ton, and was riding it around with NO CLUE about shifting and gears. I always wondered how cyclists went up hills so easily because going up hill for me was a series of agonizing slow-motion pedal strokes. I was so miserable on that bike, but I had to bike because I had no car and because one of my novice coaches had recommended biking as a good way to stay in shape over the summer and to lose weight. And, of course, I had to lose weight because...I rowed on a LIGHTWEIGHT team.

One practice, I was not boated and stayed on land to erg. I was wearing what I usually wore, a random T-shirt and short, short (short like track and field, volleyball short) spandex from REI because that was all the spandex that I could find. I had not discovered JL or Sew Sporty yet. That's how much of a novice I was. After I finished erging, one of the coaches who coached a collegiate men's team and occasionally helped out with the masters team approached me. He was at the boathouse everyday, rowing his own boat, and had seen me come to every practice. He probably finally took pity on me and offered me advice. He said, "If you really want to be serious about rowing and you want other people to take you seriously, you need to be wearing the right gear." Up to that point, I had not realized how ridiculous I must have looked, wearing shorts that were clearly too tight for me. No lie, I was absolutely embarrassed and mortified, especially being a female, but even then, I truly, deeply appreciated that honesty. Nothing beats honesty.

Any rower knows that rowing gear is expensive. JLs, spandex, splash jackets, unis can pretty much make you broke, but if you want to be serious about rowing, you have to have some of the basics--JLs and trou. Look for sales at regattas or online or ask around for hand-me-downs. It might not be your birthday, but you do need something suitable to wear.