Be the pig!

Next month will mark the last 365 days of my 99 list, and there are some BIG TICKET items I've come to realize I just may not achieve. Such as: go sky diving or bungee jumping, donate blood (will probably [hopefully] not gain the 15 pounds needed to be eligible within the next year), rent a mountain house, or travel outside the US.  But who knows, maybe I will decide I have little to lose and will jump out of a plane, realize how fragile life is and self-indulge til I'm 115 lb, and win the lottery with my one ticket that I buy (#93) and spend the money to travel outside of the US AND rent a mountain house with friends.  Likely story!


I have marked off some from my list in the past month though: Stephen and I finished the Charleston sprint tri in record time (personal records that is), I've added a few new beers, learned how to play poker, and I'm currently working my way through 3 books.  I finished my summer classes with good grades (but not without a price, and I'll get to that in a minute) and have just started my LAST semester of actual classes before I can start my practicum and internship!  I'm super excited to start, and especially for next month when I start taking sign language classes!  Not only will this mark another goal off of my list, but will open up the option of working with deaf services for my internship.

So my summer classes really opened my eyes as to the type of person I am.  I've been feeling quite apathetic about school since January and haven't really been putting much effort into my classes.  I've been getting A's by turning in sub-par work, and seeing little incentive to put forth much more effort than that.  Even though I'm making A's in pretty much everything, I was just not "feelin' it" or enjoying the program.  So it raised the question, "What type of person are you when no one's looking?" I was asked the question, "Why put effort in at work and not in school? When no one's watching at work, do I start to slack off?" And my answer was, "There's always someone watching."

Is there?

At 3am when no one's watching, are you the type to stand at an elevator door and push the down button once? Or are you pushing that button 10 times? Are you the type of person who has the self discipline to do the same thing while people are watching, when people aren't?

Well, if there's no one looking, I am that person that's jabbing the button til the elevator door opens! And apparently, I will only perform when there's people watching or when I see an obvious incentive. What happens to me when there's no one to keep after me? No one to jab me in the side to get to work?  At this stage of the game, it's hard to see why I need all the classes I'm taking, therefore hard to see the incentive in absorbing information.  I see now, after a lengthy conference with the faculty that there is a purpose and very good reason for each class I have. I may not see it now, but I will come next year.

My professors told me, "At breakfast, the chicken contributes but the pig commits." Made little sense then, but after mulling on it for a week, I realize that this is my last semester of classes, and I need to BE THE PIG!

Charleston Sprint Triathlon

Stephen and I competed in the Charleston Sprint triathlon this past weekend!

This was Stephen's first, and my second tri. Since Stephen had trained with me every step of the way for Tri Latta, it only seemed right for him to show the fruits of his labor. I was in the transition area before Stephen's wave even began the swim, so I never saw Stephen again until I was finishing up the bike and he was just leaving. I'm glad I didn't see what happened to him during the swim...

Apparently, Stephen's goggles fogged up, and he lost his bearings in the water. Instead of following the colored caps of other people, he followed the buoys. But in doing so, I completely skipped a buoy and swam to the finish line! No one in a kayak stopped him or told him he was going the wrong way, so he made it all the way to the finish before someone told him he had to swim ALL the way back to the last buoy then back to the finish if he didn't want to be disqualified!

So he was dead last out of the water :-/ 

Luckily, this gave him some anger motivation and he was able to pass one person on the bike, and several during the run.  Turns out...his final time was 2 minutes faster than mine!!

my family makes signs for everything :-)