Soooo the good news is that I'm pretty sure I did really well on my PE exam. God-willing, in three months or so, I will be a licensed engineer with all kinds of new liability insurance needs. The bad news is that I may have forgotten to bubble my name in. Oh well, some things you just can't study for.

So now that Part I is complete, here comes Part II. On thursday, I leave for California to go compete in the AVIA Wildflower Triathlon. After a night in San Diego, Tyler, Liz and I will drive to Paso Robles in central california and pick up our registration kits for Sunday's race. Apparently this is a pretty big event, with something like 7,500 athletes competing on Saturday and Sunday. I even read somewhere that two of the couples from the reality show Biggest Loser will be competing in the long course.

When I started this whole adventure, the swim seemed kind of ridiculous. I mean, I didn't really know how to swim in October. I've jumped in a pool as a kid, but actually knowing the technique is something that requires real coaching. The first couple of trips to the pool were pretty discouraging. How are you supposed to swim a mile when your heart is pounding and you are coughing water after 25 meters? There just seemed to be a huge reality gap between where I was and where I wanted to be. People tell you that hard work and determination will get you there, but i think a pair of floaties and flippers would have been my first choice. But then I remembered something I learned from building racecars with blocks of metal and an engineering textbook: you take on a huge goal by breaking it down into smaller ones. AND you trust that with enough time and patience, you will get there. I stopped thinking about the mile. All I needed to do was to swim 25 meters. That was my finish line, nothing more and nothing less. Confession: it took me about 2 months before I could do it consistently. It took me another month before I could do 50 meter laps consistently. And the sad part is that I was training 3 or 4 times a week! But 50 became 100, and 100 became 200, and 200 became 500. This past weekend was the first time I've swam the full 1500 meters. And when I was done, I wasn't coughing water. (I also couldn't feel my shoulders.)

A lot of people think these kind of events are for crazy type-A personalities, but it's because they are only looking at the end result. For me most of the adventure and reward has been in the journey to this point. The race will be a ton of fun I'm sure, but it was the winter nights I spent swallowing pool water where I learned the most valuable lessons. More to come this week .... ;-)

I should be reported to Blog Protective Services

I agree.. It's ridiculous. I mean, why start a blog if you are going to treat it with utter neglect, and wait a MONTH! between posts. I sincerely apologize to my two readers. Mom and Dad, i promise to write more ;-)

Ok so wow, lots to catch up on. In the utter chaos that now roughly resembles my life, a lot can happen in a month. Truth be told, I was working on this huge "special edition" South By Southwest (SXSW) blog post that was going to blow everyone away... I briefly had visions of a Pulitzer.... but it never really materialized. And after awhile, it just seemed, like, oh hell, the moment has passed... you know? Long story short, it was an amazing time, it was a loud time, it was a naked-people-in-the-apartment-pool-at-3-a.m. time (no, I was not involved), it was a climb-onto-the-roof-of-the-apartment-building-to-see-Ben Harper-and-Third-Eye-Blind time (I was very much involved), and it was a let's-take-Sunday-to-reset-body-chemistry and get some sleep time. I really haven't had that kind of crazy, toeing the line sort of fun since college.

It was also at SXSW that I met someone whom I briefly dated for a couple of weeks. I won't go into details, because I don't do that kind of thing over the internet. But the experience did teach me alot. I think it has become quite clear to the people around me that I have healed pretty well from the pain I went through last year. Originally, I had thought that once I had moved on, I would be ready to start seeing other women again... However, I'm quickly learning that I kinda like where I am right now. I think God is giving me a little time to just be me. I enjoy the freedom Emma and I have to pretty much set our own schedule. I like hanging out with all the new friends I have made. And honestly, I'm just not in a rush to find someone new... I'll go out on dates, but I'm not forcing anything. Closing in on 28, that might sound silly to my family - after all, almost every cousin within 3 years of me is married with at least 1 child. But I'm holding out for that deepest kind of love again. And I'll know when it comes, whether it's tomorrow or years from now.

Speaking of such things, Andy Hogg, a college buddy of mine, just got married last weekend. I flew to North Carolina to help him celebrate the occasion and was able to see a lot of old friends. It's great when you can just pick up where you left off with certain people. It's like you never really leave that place, and that person has just been waiting for you to come back. I've always felt this way about my car team brethren. Even though we've now been apart longer than we were together, no one lets go of the friendships.

Ok, I'm done chatting for now. I have to get back to studying. My PE exam is a week from today! And the triathlon is the weekend after that! Come May 4th, I'm not going to know what to do with my time anymore ;-)