Terrific day

I have had a really great day today.

Everything flowed well and went smoothly. You know one of those days where the birds are singing and it feels like you have a fairy godmother watching over you.

Okay Okay so I just recently went to see Disney on ice with my husband and lovely daughter so perhaps I have fairy godmothers on my mind!

I was very tired this morning and found it really difficult to wake up and was not expecting to have a good day so I was really pleasantly surprised by how everything turned out.

It started when I took KT to school this morning and we sat down together to read a book (as we always do). A little crowd of interested kids came and sat down with us to listen to the story.... right to the end.

Then I said goodbye to KT and asked her to wish me luck for my first swimming lesson and she said .... "I don't think you are going to have a very good time" .....

bear with me here ....

I asked her why she didn't think I would have a good time and she said when she starts new things she doesn't really enjoy them the first time, but finds them much more fun the next time and the next time and the next time.

"So you are saying I shouldn't worry If I don't like this swimming lesson but that if I keep going and trying it will be better each time?"

"Yes" she beamed and gave me a big hug.

I headed home and headed into the backyard with our bin and was met by our puppy who greeted me with sooooo much joy and affection and then rushed around the yard playing happily with me! She is growing up now and although she usually wants to play she isn't always very responsive and sometimes doesn't feel up to it (possibly pregnancy related ... or phantom pregnancy related????).

Then I got changed into my painting clothes and did 45 minutes of fence painting. I discovered that I couldn't reach the top part of the fence and will attempt to paint those parts tomorrow using a ladder ... stay tuned for further adventures!!!

I headed upstairs to do banking and check my emails .... and inevitably play farm town.

They have made some great new changes to the game that took effect this morning and it is much faster and more fun to play now. They seem to know when I have just about had enough of it and then they add a new element and I am hooked again ... actually now that I come to think of it that may not have been such a good thing ... but today it made me feel great!

Some very positive interaction with Uni (tee hee) won't go into more detail as I got ready for swimming.

The class itself was full on and intense ... Jenni is lovely and I learned more in 30 minutes with her probably than I learned swimming at school.

I can only seem to take in a very small amount of information at a time ... so in the last ten minutes I was feeling tired and a bit frazzled and overwhelmed. Luckily I recorded (mentally) everything she said and have been playing it back to myself all afternoon. Wish I could have videotaped the whole thing so I could see what I did, what she said and what effect it had.

Things I have to remember and practise ...

1. put head down and look at the bottom of the pool instead of up or forwards ... this makes your bottom go up (I have heard this told to KT a million times in the pool so should be easy to remember).
2. Do deliberate slow arm strokes e.g. with kick board hold with both hands, lift right arm for breath, then left arm for bubbles. My arms were going all over the place too fast and not in the right sequence ... Jenni got me to try to move one arm all the way around and then only move the other arm once both were at the front.
3. kicking as if trying to kick off a sock ... not mad fast kicking that would be unsustainable in the long term.
4. Breathe every second arm ... get into a rhythm of breathing some air out and some air in with each arm stroke without trying to get all the air in or all the air out each time. (i am not sure if I breathed out using my nose in the water or just my mouth ... will have to see what i do next time)
5. when lying on my back floating my head is too far back (put chin down more ... as if lying flat on a bed) have head, neck, back, hips and knees in a line .. move feet rather than legs when kicking
6. Knees below the surface of the water but chest above the water (back floating)
7. Roll shoulders for arm movements but torso and rest of body stays straight.
8. Don't swim desperately ... try to be controlled and focused
9. If you are tired or struggling .. don't try to swim faster and harder, try to pace yourself, slow down etc.

I found it really difficult to be aware of what I was actually doing, hear and process what was being said and then remember it and put it into practise!!!

Oh well it was only my first lesson.

I plan to try her evening class next week ... which is 1 hour but has several people in it, some beginners some more experienced. That should allow me to have a bit of tuition time, but also to swim and practice on my own as well ... and perhaps observe and listen while others are being taught. I wonder how cold it will be in the evening ....

She also suggested practising during the week, purchasing goggles (I wonder if I could wear contact lenses with goggles and eliminate the panic associated with not being able to see properly)... and also short flippers rather than long ones.

Overall I feel pretty good about how I went and although I would panic as I started to swim, I found I was able to focus and really try with the breathing and could go further than I expected. I remembered someones recent wise words about not stopping and trying to get into a pattern of breathing ... thanks mum!

I left the pool feeling really happy, really tired and somewhat sore and throughout the afternoon I felt like I was breathing more air in and standing up straighter!!!

Feeling very enthusiastic at the moment.

Was completely ravenous and ate a tasty lunch with Uni and then very soon after went to pick up KT.

We had a good afternoon together, plenty of hugs and kisses and I managed to get dinner made and served on time AND KT asked for seconds!!!

There is a free dress and Crazy hat or crazy hair day for school tomorrow so we made a newspaper hat just before bed.

I have cleaned up the kitchen and am thoroughly exhausted now ... still have school lunches to make for tomorrow and Friday but after that I will collapse in a chair ... and head off to bed early.