DM test success!

   I walked into Skin n Scuba at 8:30 this morning, confident that I had studied and prepared myself well for part two of our written exam for dive master certification. What I, and everyone else, didn't realize was that we were also being tested on using old-school dive tables to calculate things like pressure groups and surface intervals. Not a big deal, except that I hadn't even looked at a dive table in over four years, and have always go with the computer to calculate all that for me.

   Math stresses me out. I feel like I am always the last person in the room to "get" it. And I hate being put on the spot when I don't know the answer, and i'm struggling. So this morning was very frustrating. I really had to work to keep my internal tension from being too visible. But, in the end, what Sam always says is correct: he may be crude, but he damn sure can teach scuba! After our review, we took the test, and I got all those dive table questions right.

   I only missed two questions on the test today, and they weren't things that I had studied, so I just had to guess. I had also missed two questions on part one of the exam. The perfectionist in me that I try so hard to keep at bay wants to be frustrated, however, I am thankful that I got 116 out of 120 questions correct!

   Sam shocked us with his story of how a large moray eel nearly took off his middle finger while he was spearing lionfish in Belize. He had nearly 30 stitches in that one finger, and it was still quite swollen several weeks after the accident. He's lucky he still has it!

   In the Caribbean, divers have been spearing lionfish and feeding them to the eels, because lionfish are not indigenous to the area, and they are killing all of the native species. Problem is, the Eagles have started associating the flash of us here with food, and sometimes they strike first and ask questions later. Ouch!

   After the test everyone started packing their things to leave. Wally came in and asked for a volunteer to lead a Scuba refresher session, and no one spoke up. I had expected to be at the shop all afternoon anyway, so I said I'd do it. This was my first refresher course to lead. And the two guys in the class, Monte and Kevin, were great. Though neither had been diving in a few years, they both took right to it again, so it made my job easy. A perfect time for me to practice my teaching skills!

   When all was said and done, I drew a shark on Wally's dive slate, and headed home to enjoy a nice dinner and some champagne to celebrate. Now all I have to do is pass the skin diving exercises, and the open water scuba work, and hopefully by June I will be a Divemaster. Or a mermaid. Or both!

Diving Discoveries

What. A. Day. 

   Jeffrey invited me and Chris to assist with two Discover Scuba classes of Boy Scouts (17 kids!), and then a third class with a mom and her son, and another family of 5 Nigerian kids. The scouts were wonderful of course, and all did a great job. But I got to spend more individual time with and I especially enjoyed the final class of the day.

   The two girls weren't so comfortable in the water, so we had to get over that hurdle before teaching them to dive. At first, their instinct was to grab my arm and hold on for dear life, sometimes dragging me under water in the process, or nearly knocking my regulator out. But over the couple of hours that we were in the pool, I watched their fear melt away.

   By the end of the day, they each took me by the hand and wanted me to jump into the pool with them! Although they never dove in the deep end, it was magic to see them just playing in the water without a trace of fear. One even had me pull up a Rihanna song ("Stay") on my iPhone and the three of us sang it together in the pool as we were swimming around.

   What really impressed upon me about the five siblings was that none of them were especially confident in the water at first. But also, none of them were so fearful that they refused to try. It was like it never entered their mind to not try it--despite their clear trepidation. Their parents weren't here, and they had never met me before. They were in an unfamiliar and potentially risky situation, yet placed all their trust in a stranger. I think that's fairly remarkable for one individual, much less five all at once. It made me wonder about their parents and what amazing people they must be, raising such fun, joyful, confident young adults.

   I just about had tears in my eyes when the two girls came over to me and gave me big smiles and even bigger hugs as we were all getting ready to leave. It is so empowering and so fulfilling to not only have fun together, but also to help them try something they might not have otherwise.

   Cuties Sam and Tia, two naturals in the water!

   I don't know how on earth I had energy left after 5+ hours of diving and kid-wrangling to stop at the grocery store and then to come home and make dinner, but I hadn't eaten anything all day, so it was a good idea. Here's what I whipped up:

   Broiled miso black cod, sautéed brussels sprouts, and spiced, roasted carrots and sweet potatoes. I even cooked up some plain sweet potatoes just for the dogs, and they enjoyed them with a dollop of plain yogurt on top, like a real dessert. As my food was cooking I made up a double batch of Michele's special protein nuggets, which are a great breakfast on the go, or snack, or dessert, or anything you want!

   And you know what I want? To go to sleep!

Diving Day

   Scuba Power! Christy snapped this goofball photo of me after our two Discover sessions. We had 18 more adventurers dive in, and several seem interested in becoming certified. Yay! I LOVE seeing people take to this amazing sport. That makes 45 people that Christy & I have brought in so far.

   Time to hop in! The water may look warm, but even with the new heater, it's only 77 degrees so far (better than 68 last time!). It really is amazing how much difference a few degrees makes. Water absorbs heat 20x faster than air, which explains why.

Remember these important rules:

Scott demonstrates deep-water entry for divers in a refresher class:

Time to walk on water!

   I'm still trying to get over this ridiculous sinus infection, so I only spent an hour shivering in the pool before I got out, showered and changed, and sat to observe and draw fishies. (See earlier post.) It was SO hard to resist staying in the pool longer, but I'm trying to fulfill my Divemaster code by knowing when to say when. I could not, however, resist having dinner and a Blue Moon with orange slice afterwards. Vitamin C is good for you, right?
   Then I headed home to watch the men's slopestyle finals and equally torture myself with wanting to be on a mountain again. NOW.

Drawing time: Three wetsuits

   I mentioned in an earlier post that the swimming pool was a scant 69° on Saturday while we were diving. So I actually wore three wetsuits: a full-length 3mm, and then two 3mm shorties on top of it. I felt like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! It looked a little something like this:

   I messed up my eyes in that first drawing where I am dipping my toe in the pool. I also meant to further exaggerate my size while wearing three wetsuits, for comic effect. That's the problem with drawing with pens, you can't erase. ;)

   This is the advantage to drawing old-school rather than on the computer. Sometimes things don't come out quite right, but often you surprise yourself with something you wouldn't have done in digital form, armed with the opportunity to make easy changes.

Drawing time: Shark and platypus

   Couple of new pieces to share: I drew myself diving with a friendly whale shark on Scott's dive slate while we were waiting for a couple of novice divers to finish up in the pool. (The funny thing is it's not at all to scale… I would be much, much smaller compared to a real-life whale shark, as I found out firsthand in 2012.)

   And let me just say, a sport that combines my love of swimming & my love of animals… & the ability to draw pictures underwater… Like, up to 100 feet underwater? Awesomest. Thing. Ever.

   I drew this guy for my friend/coworker, Charlie, because he's very unique--both in his personality and in his incategorizable role at work. So I call Charlie "the platypus". He's one of several true creative geniuses with whom I've had the pleasure of working. Our partner Amy is brilliant as well. I don't have a colorful nickname for her… Yet. (Unless she is simply the "tiny pies girl")  ;)

    I really enjoy experimenting by drawing with different instruments, like a pencil on a dive slate versus a nearly worn out Sharpie marker. It gives the finished pieces a totally different quality, and it also challenges me to draw differently to suit the media. Are the magic of the iPhone, I can crop and add filters to, to give them yet another dimension. (Ha! I just made myself think of "Intergalactic" by the beastie boys. "Another dimension, another dimension…")

Diving Day!

Dive Posse!

   It was COLD in the pool today. The shop's heater has been malfunctioning, so it was a crisp 69 degrees for our 6-hour rescue-diving pool session. There is a new heater on site, waiting to be installed, but that didn't help us. What DID help us was that Chris graciously ran out to buy hot chocolate for everyone! She single-handedly saved us all.

   We went through a ton of skills, including practicing demonstration-quality: removal, replacement and clearing of mask underwater, fin pivots, hovering for 30 seconds underwater, CESA, and breathing from a free-flowing reg. We did skin-diving skills using a snorkel to dive down without scuba gear, and clearing it at the surface. We led each other in swimming underwater with no mask, down the pool and back.

   Rescue skills included helping a panicked diver at the surface regain buoyancy while avoiding having them tow you underwater with them, helping a panicked diver underwater, providing a spare reg to a diver out of air, rescuing an unconscious diver at the bottom of the 10' pool and taking them to the surface, rescue breathing for an unconscious diver at the surface. Nick signed up to do his "tired diver tow" and pushed me around the pool for 5 or 6 minutes by my fins while I kicked back.

   I volunteered to play the victim as much as I could because it gives me a chance to keep improving my comfort in the water. Especially considering there's a good chance you'll get splashed or dunked a bit when your eyes are closed. That stuff used to FREAK ME OUT. And now... ?  Nope. :)

   Another wacky drill that I didn't even know I was going to have to do would have paralyzed me a year ago. We had to get a buddy and sit at 10', then exchange all our gear—everything but the wet suits. Poor Nick got to work with me because we were the closest in size... and Nick is 6' tall. We started by exchanging our regulators and BCDs, then weights, then fins, then masks. Even with all the extra weight I was wearing to compensate for my extra buoyancy (not one but THREE neoprene wetsuits because I was so cold!!!), Nick struggled to stay on the bottom. My BCD, which was tight on me, barely fit over one of his arms, much less two. He could scarcely get his toes in my fins. I was, pardon the pun, swimming in his BCD and spent half the time with my legs over my head, kicking to stay down. And... Our masks fit each other like a glove. (So at least we could see!) Good laughs all around.
   Today was the first day I can truly say that I wasn't even a little scared or nervous about doing all this. Not even the mask removal... and that part went slowwwwly. I was so intently focused on how on earth we'd accomplish this, and working so hard to get it done, and I had no fear. None. BEST. FEELING. EVER.
   Who knows what the rest of my life will hold and whether or not I'll ever use these skills professionally. What I do know is that now, more than ever, I feel like a mermaid. I LOVE diving. And if on my travels I ever run across a diver in trouble, I am this much more prepared to help them.

Divemaster class + DSD!

   We started Divemaster class bright and early, in the classroom with Sam talking through physics and mathematics. Guess who hasn't taken those courses since high school… I'm surprised how well I'm getting it. The science and physiology is very interesting to me; the math, not so much. But they say that which does not kill you makes you stronger, right?

   Today was also my first "real" Scuba instruction experience as a PADI Divemaster candidate! Christy helped me fill up two more classes, and I knew I'd be assisting. But when I arrived, Dan asked me if I would teach… Of course I had him and all of my fellow dive master candidates around me, but I led both sessions. I was a bit nervous of course, but it went really well. Everyone did great and really seemed to take to diving.

   As I've gotten older I've realized that one of my greatest joys in life is teaching someone something new--particularly if it's something they never envisioned themselves doing. Scuba is perfect for that. It's hard to believe that next month will be my fourth anniversary of becoming certified myself. I still only have 40 open water dives under my belt, and am excited by the possibilities to come…

Diving with a hot Frenchman?

Mais oui!

What's that you say? How were the fish?
What fish? I didn't notice any fish... ;)

Seriously, though, Stefan couldn't be a better dive master! He & his whole crew were a blast.

House hunting

   Just before going up for my safety stop, I spied this crab, inspecting a potential new conch-house! How I wish I could hang out longer under the sea, and observe all the fascinating creatures longer...

Party at City Bitty Farm

   Jen, who sits across from me at work, loves to trade naughty dog stories with me. She has 3 mixed breeds, Crockett and the girls: Banzai and Ninja. With names like that, you should know they spell trouble. (Can you say, dog climbed up on the car & onto the roof of the garage? Or got lost at Shawnee Mission Park for over 5 hours?) We vowed that our dogs should never meet, lest they trade ideas to take their badness to new heights!
   Alas, Ninja and Banzai were celebrating their second birthday this weekend, and she invited us all over, and I couldn't pass it up. I'm glad I didn't... the dogs were *miraculously* well-behaved together, and it was a gorgeous afternoon to spend lounging outside under big shady trees, with our feet dangling in the dogs' kiddie pool. Greg showed us his green house full of cute lil' plants and they sent me home with an aloe plant (for my Warrior Dash sunburn) and a ton of micro-green mixes. Not to mention goody bags for the pups! We're totally spoiled now!!!

Ninja & Banzai can't wait!

Bruce & Aki

Taylor quickly locates the people food... but then chooses affection:

He gets a little too fresh...

And Bruce attempts to reclaim his lady!

Jennifer & Crockett

Fresh microgreens: mizuna, peas, radish, pac choi, red cabbage, mustard greens and more!

   Then Greg brought out the cake from Three Dog Bakery, and suddenly he was the most popular guy in the yard...

WE CAN HAZ CAKE TOO?

Will levitate for cake.

And then the Warrior hat came out...

Crockett always looks so happy!

Ninja too!

Banzai looks appropriately embarrassed...

Time for a swim!

EWWW!!! THIS WATER IS *WET*!

The "you'll pay for this" face

Stay down, Bruce—NOOOOOO

More posts to come...

'Til then, check out Greg & Jen on this urban farm site!