Level 10

October is off and running; the schedule tweaks are finally settling down, the work load is back to its normal demand, and any and all "honeymoons" are over. The up side of October has been outside of school, though. I've made it a personal goal this year to be happy and healthy by surrounding myself with positive people and activities. Along with diving into a pilates class with some of my fabulous coworkers, I have reconnected with one of my favorite organizations, Special Olympics.

About five years ago, my former roommate and I got into the "scene" by being partners on the local bocce team. It was easily the most enjoyable lawn bowling I had ever done. I loved my athlete, E, and we even got a gold medal at state (based on her talent more than mine)! After playing bocce for a few years, a different friend and I decided to expand to bowling in the fall. As much as we loved the people, we found indoor bowling just wasn't our sport (bowling on grass is way more entertaining, trust me). Unfortunately, that spring I chose to quit bocce so I could help with the local Relay for Life event. Without a fall sport I enjoyed and the availability in the spring, I was feeling disconnected and without that little extra sunshine in my life. Until this year.

I finally took the initiative to contact the local Special Olympics group and inquire about my favorite sport- swimming. After months of no reply, I almost gave up hope until the coach for the county's swim team contacted me saying she would love to have my support. Sadly, their season was halfway over when I started practicing with them so there weren't any athletes for me to pair with. Come to find out after a couple practices, though, one of the coaches is pregnant and due soon so she passed on her three athletes to me. Today was my first day in the pool with them and I could do nothing but laugh and try not to drown.

My three swimmers are "intermediate," meaning that they will be independently swimming 25 meter races of either backstroke or freestyle at regionals in a couple weeks. Accordingly, our practice today was "intense," or so one of the parents told me when we finished. My swimmers are a fifth, eighth, and ninth grader with varying cognitive impairments and physical abilities who all think swimming is the cat's pajamas.

The eighth grade boy is by far the fastest and was eager to show off for me. Anything short of perfection, though, was blamed on some sort of physical malady, such as his "three broken toes that had been worn down to the bone while walking at the beach yesterday." But don't worry, they grew back spontaneously by the time I went to check them out. He was also the most sarcastic, which always tickles me pink. Every time we practiced our starts, I would say "take your mark, get set, GO" and he would quickly yell, "GO WHERE?!" before diving into the water giggling. By the end of practice, despite being worn down and dog paddling, we were all squealing with laughter as he splashed off.

To top the evening off, as all the athletes were displaying their diving board prowess, I was approached by two of the "advanced" swimmers. They sauntered up and laid down a challenge to me. "You should go after him," one boy said, pointing to the guy with the more swaggertastic grin. Ohhh no, I'd seen him in action. I was no fool. I muttered some excuse about being too awesome, to which they laughed, and then proceeded to prove me wrong. We all watched with mouths agape as he did a perfect back flip into the pool... with barely any splash. The smirk on his face as he popped up was awesome, if not intimidating. Needless to say, these little feet will not be touching that board while their challenge stands.

In the end, LEVEL 10 HAPPINESS ACHIEVED.