Thilled To Be CAE

I secretly hoped and prayed that I might pass the CAE exam, but told everyone else -- and myself -- that I didn't think I would pass. But I passed the test!!!! I keep reading the notification letter over and over, just to confirm.

I am thilled to be CAE. This is a major career accomplishment.

Fast Fish

I've joined the master's swim team. This is my first formal foray into swimming since the high school swim team more than 25 years ago!!

It's very different for me because previously I've done all of my training alone and it's very different swimming with a group of people. At my other pool, there was one person to a lane, or at most two, and very little splashing. Once, I accidentally touched someone and she looked offended and found another lane.

This group is the complete opposite. There's about six lanes to the pool and about five or so people in each lane. An older gentleman behind me tapped my feet several times when he got too close. Definitely a high-contact group. It was all I could do to keep up with the frothy kick-foam of the swimmer ahead of me. It's challenging because I'd prefer to do the drills slower than they're swimming them so that I can focus on the stroke details. I'm also weak at just about every stroke except freestyle, as I haven't really practiced these a lot in the last few months. Overall, I'm a reasonable swimmer -- and I've met my match.

I really like the challenge. They have different groups: A (fastest; longer workout), B+ and B (faster; longer workout), and C (slower; shorter workout). The first night I swam with the B group. These fishies are fast!! I was so very glad that I'd worked up to swimming 2,000 yards in close to an hour because that is what the B group seemed to do. The second night I swam with the C group, just to try it out. I was the fastest swimmer in that group. But it also seemed like a good fit because I'm only used to swimming once a week and I didn't want to suddenly double my swim yardage. So, for the next several weeks, I plan on swimming with both the B and C groups on alternating days.

I was really nervous before each practice. I worried that ... I'd suddenly forget how to swim. Or, I'd sink to the bottom of the pool. Sort of like my first job when I was worried that I'd walk into the office without any clothes on!! Each day for the first year or so, I'd check to see that I had clothes on before I walked into the office. At the pool, once I got into the water everything was fine.

Another big concern was my hearing loss. I told the coaches that I'm deaf. I felt that if the coaches provided leadership in demonstrating acceptance, than others would follow the lead. Before I joined the team, I had a strange premonition that one of the coaches would know sign language. This turned out to be true! One of the coaches is a certified perofessional interpreter. He signs really fast, and my comprehension is not that great. I have a very vague idea of what we'll be doing next, and then I try to follow along. I worried that my speechreading skills would not be that great, since I don't rely on speechreading that much now that I have the implant. This also turned out to be an unfounded worry. I was able to speechread my teammates discussing the upcoming exercise and in conversation. Not only will I be able to improve my swimming skills, I'll be able to improve my communication skills.

I was also a little worried about the cochlear implant. It looks like a hearing aid, but then there's the magnet that sticks to the side of the head over the swim cap, which is quite a different look. I decided that I was going to wear the cochlear implant around others right away so that they could get used to seeing it. This didn't seem to overtly faze anyone. I'll be trying to experiment with ways that I can get to know other people and converse with them while I have my implant on, since it's much easier to follow a conversation.

I pray that everything continues to go well.

My So Called Scarf

Although I stopped knitting for much of 2007, this scarf is the result of my vacation knitting. I began this last year around this time and finished it a year later. Be sure to click on the photo for a larger picture of the really beautiful stitch. It is knit with ImagiKnit Manos del Uruguay yarn that is variated in both color and thickness using a pattern for My So Called Scarf. I originally got the idea from the International Scarf Exchange which has a list of links on the right-hand side for some truely beautiful scarf patterns. I knit this straight from the pattern, but after I finished the scarf, I realized that YouTube has a helpful video for mastering this stitch. Would have been nice to have this when I started!

People have commented that the bindoff allows the scarf to flare out at the ends. With this in mind, I cast on tightly. For the bindoff, I got some of the smallest knitting needles I could find, about a size 4, and knit one row of the pattern stitch and then did a bindoff stitch. It worked perfectly and I have a nice tight bindoff.

Right now, I'm working on a very simple knit-while-you-watch-TV pattern using really thick yarn that had been sitting in my stash. As soon as I saw the pattern, I knew this was the perfect yarn to use. Soon, I'll have a thick and warm warp around the neck scarf, perfect for winter mornings. More knitting projects to come!

Acceptance Letters

After weekends of filling out college applications and follow-up phone calls, standing over my son and making dire threats about what would happen if he didn't complete his essays, and all those worries that he wouldn't get into any college ... Ryan was accepted at Frostburg State University, Western State College of Colorado, and McDaniel College (which surprised me because I didn't even think I had completed that application!!!). I have no idea which school he'll ultimately pick, but I'm so gratified that he has a choice of schools to attend. Acceptance letters mean a lot to parents.

And now FAFSA season begins.

Dare I Dream?

When I wrote the "Rebuilding" post back in November, I wasn't feeling positive about running and wanted to quit. So I started to play mind games with myself. One trick was to write a blog post that was positive to give myself positive throughts to rally around. Another strategy was based on what Jenny Hadfield wrote:

"Follow the three-week rule. Practice patience. Being a runner takes time. It takes 21 days to create a new habit. Running regularly will become a habit over time. A body that is active, will want to stay active. A body that is inactive will want to stay inactive. The first 3 weeks is the most challenging."

After reading this, I decided to wait 21 days before I quit running to get in the habit again and rebuild. If I felt like quitting, I could write that in my log -- in big bold letters if need be. Of course, if there was anything actually enjoyable about the run, I had to write that. Pretty soon, there were more entries about enjoyable moments than not.

As the result, I didn't give up and I didn't quit. It's still challenging around this time of year to go out on cold, dark, windy days and watch the steam rise from my breath in the light of my headlamp. Some days my motivation seems to be gone with the daylight. I'm truely just getting back into running and have an itty bitty teeny weeny very small recreational base from which to build. Swimming is going along well, and I'm swimming 1,000 yards to a mile. Cycling is still my weakest link and I can barely spin in lowest gear for any length of time.

Dare I dream?

Photo courtesy of Steven Glass, Colorado Runner

It's Over

We were all told that nobody knows how they did at the end of the exam, and I certainly find this to be true. I can see that I'll have fun tormenting myself about this over in the coming weeks as I remember questions and my responses and wonder if I answered them correctly. I'm not expecting to pass. 'Twas the weeks before Christmas and visions of scantron sheets with red slashes dance through my mind. My mentor for the exam suggested that if I didn't pass, I should hit the books and try again during the next exam, stating that the material would still be fresh in my mind. If I choose that option, I'll take this goal underground.

I keep a running long, and I almost wish I'd kept a studying log because I'm curious as to just how many hours I've spent studying in preparation for this exam. The one good thing is that it's over.

Farewell to 10801 in Pictures

Farewell graffiti

Outside of building

Packing crates piled high

My desk

Trees

Courtyard