dinsdag 30 september 2008

Swimming suits and study books!

Yes, right it has been quite some time ago that you have been able to read something new. It seemed like I was quitting with this blog thingy. The truth is a bit more complicated. For the moment my life can be called rather normal. No tabloids headlines out there where I am! Okay the stockmarket is crashing and our government is still out there on the play ground. And yes, I am still at work in my little school where the grass is still green (the new football field looks magnificent) and the pupils still have stormy days.

About a month ago I seem to have a hard time to guarantee the best entertainment. Five weeks further and it seems like I had never second thaughts. Many collegues were relieved to see me again where I belong (according to them) and most of the pupils seem to count on me. It is bussiness as usual and in two weeks I will be writting my first report card of the year!

But when you take a closer look at my life it has changed. A few months ago I mentioned the chocolate box full of new tastes. Chocolate wise I am a very picky eater! So making up my mind took a while but ........

1. I am back at the gym and the swimming pool!
Once to three times a week I try to create sweaty and smelly clothes by doing a work out.
When Mika his 'Big girls are beautiful' comes out of the speakers I have a bit of a hard time. But no pain no gain! In the morning getting out of bed looks rather like a circus act. All signs that I am rather getting older.

Sporty Spice that I am,the swimming pool of Overijse is also one of the spots where I try to leave behind some calories! Michael Phelps won't consider me a threat but I try to hit the magic number 100. Hurdles that I have to take in order to get there: older ladies in colorful bathingsuits that have their weekly tea in the pool, the Michael Phelps clones who think that they own a lane, the young lovers who even hold hands while swimming and screaming school kids!

DOES IT HELP? yes and no. I feel much better mentally, don't run out of breath as fast BUT my waist still doesn't seem to respond. Patience my dear!!! At least I don't gain any weight and that is a good start.

2. I am back at the university!
15 years ago I went there as well! It took me some courage to go back. Last Friday I had my first classes. Sitting out there in one of these big auditoria was a bit of surrealistic. When some fellow students behind me where planning their girl's scouting weekend I started to feel rather a bit out of place. It all changed when I saw of these ladies that I try to tackle in the swimming pool enter. Relief!!! There are students with more wrinkles then I have!

And yes, I will be doing exams (perhaps even failing the first time), skipping classes (I have to attend the weekly class board meetings!), taking notes (TOLEDO is the newest invention of the university and so now you can find your courses are digital and you have to print them out!) and I will have a student pass to get a discount at the movies but now I even have a car to drive to classes (this also means that I have to find a parking spot)!!!

For me these are two major changes in my rather normal life. It takes some planning and some organisation. A and P do now many more things without me. But the time that we now spend together is even more precious. A is rather funny about it and P very down to earth! Most important is the fact that I have many people out there that support me. I hope that I won't let them down! When I fail then at least I tried. What I already can sense for sure: Mens sane in corpore sano! It only would come in handy if I would be able to study while swimming but then those tea ladies would spill their cups of tea on my notes! Perhaps the safest and closest I will get is studying in my swimming outfit!

2 opmerkingen:

Inge zei

Hey Stallie,
Ik hoop dat jet de eerste les toch goed doorstaan hebt, tussen alle scoutsmeisjes :-)
Ik vind het ongelooflijk knap dat je dit doet, ik zou het zelf niet kunnen. Ten eerste is de universiteit te hoog gegrepen voor me, en ten tweede zou ik moedeloos worden van de tijd die ik achter de boeken moet doorbrengen en moet zwoegen en zweten aan de cursussen.
Neem het van mij aan, het is alweer een serieuze stap die je daar onderneemt, maar ik ben ervan overtuigd dat je dit kan. En inderdaad, lukt het niet, dan heb je het toch tenminste geprobeerd.
Succes!!!

Inge zei

Net gaan zwemmen en helemaal aan jou gedacht. Kan jij me uitleggen waarom iedereen altijd net op die baan moet gaan zwemmen waar ik bezig ben, en dat terwijl de rest van het zwembad nog leeg is? Of waarom ik steeds van links naar rechts zwem om iedereen te ontwijken en al die anderen gewoon halsstarrig rechtdoor zwemmen en me desnoods opzij meppen?
Maar goed, na lange tijd ben ik weer gestart en ik heb zowaar mijn 80 baantjes netjes in 1 uur kunnen afwerken. Dat wordt spierpijn morgen!!