It's been a little over a month since my last post and I've been trying to use that time to take a break from all things related to the field before I dive back into working on a presentation I'll be giving with our lead SLP at a conference in the fall. It's made me realize just how little time I've given myself to do things outside of the field since I started graduate school. We all need to give ourselves a break every once in a while or face the consequences of a major burn out.
So.....I decided to learn how to ride a bike. Yes, something that almost every child learns to do and I don't know how to do it. I blame my neighbor's big dog that was determined to knock me off every time I tried as a kid. Pavement hurts. However, I am trying to push myself to go outside of my comfort zone after talking to my social skills group about my struggle this year. I can't ask my students to go outside of their comfort zones if I'm not willing to try. It's been an interesting ride to say the least. My poor husband had to spend two weekends putting the bike together and we're still working on some kinks with the brakes and tires. I've read blogs and articles from other adult learners on tips to get started. They all pretty much say that it's much harder due to the fear that's been allowed to build up for so long. They're right in some ways. I managed to get both of my feet on the pedals today with assistance from my husband before falling over. I've gotten really good at gliding on it though. Baby steps. It's all about taking it one step at a time and I give myself the same pep talks as I give my students. I've got this. I've got this. My goal is to be able to ride a bike in time for our Christmas vacation to the beach.
I've also had the chance to explore some of my state's history. We stayed in NC for our second wedding anniversary instead of going down to Florida for another Disney trip. It was nice to stay closer to home. We explored the lower coastal region and got to see so many neat things. We can now say that we've seen three lighthouses and the foundation of a fourth that was torn down long ago. We rode our first car ferry, touched stingrays and a nurse shark, and visited a battleship and two forts. It's so easy to forget historic sites when you see the shiny steel of roller coasters in commercials all the time. They all had a beauty about them. I think everyone should make it a point to see at least one nearby historic site in their lifetime. You miss out on so much by skipping over them for the flashy stuff.
The summer has had some bumps too. We were in a three car wreck right at the end of June. Thankfully, the damage was minor to the cars and everyone seemed fine. I've been struggling with being able to feel comfortable on the road though. Everyone keeps telling me that it's natural to feel this way. I hope so because I really can't help but be jittery. I'm trying to drive a little bit every day to force myself to regain my confidence. Little by little....that's my theme for the summer.
