Dive Bomb

My parents enrolled me in almost every extracurricular activity they could think of when I was a child:
- skating
- gymnastics
- sewing
- art classes
- horseback riding
- piano
- swimming

Once they recognized that I had no affinity or skill for organized sports, we stuck to things that did not require teammate reliance.  Swimming was a big part of my childhood.  I took lessons up to the Lifesaving levels.  However, after failing Bronze Medallion three times (the prerequisite to taking the lifeguard courses), I finally gave up and accepted that I would never be one of those cool, blonde lifeguards who were always crazy tanned and wore these sunglasses:

These seemed cooler when I was 15 and my dreams were being shattered.

The reason I could never pass Bronze Medallion and why I'm pretty sure I was 'pity passed' in previous levels was because I couldn't dive.  To this day, I still can't dive.  I love swimming and jump at every chance to be in the water, but I always end up with a nose and lung full of water, sputtering up from a belly flop.  I've hated that I can't do this for years, but the older I got the harder it was to try.  Plus, there aren't a lot of deep end pools in which to practice.

But, a big fan of lists and making myself do new things, I created a Summer 2012 To Do List.  It looks like this:

- Watch "All The President's Men"

- Stand in the intersection of Main & Ottawa streets

- Go horseback riding

- Try Priest Burger in Toronto

- Learn how to play dominoes

- Go to Taste of the Danforth

- Learn to dive

I put some of this list on a recent dating profile and received the following email:

"How can you have a car but not know how to drive?  Hyuk, hyuk."  Idiot illiterate.

Anyway, learning to dive has become a priority so at my friend Naomi's birthday party, we spent a beautiful day by a deep end pool and I met the challenge head-on.

Even after what seemed like several hours, this was the best dive.  Sigh.