Who Do I Wanna Be? Who Am I Now?

Who Do I Wanna Be?
Loving mom
Loving wife
Beader/Crafter - maybe even earning my own supply cash! Exerciser - to loose my current bulk
Teacher
Musician
Now that you've read past this, I encourage you to read no further unless you are a truly committed and confidential friend. If not, I hope you have locks on your doors....

In reality, here's me, all of me:

Little Amy
Amy Chee
Amy Schindler
Girly Girl
Rage
Shadow
Animal

Maybe someday I'll have the courage to post more details. Being sick is heartbreaking - to the patient - for he/she looses EVERYTHING, themselves, all their loves, hopes and desires; and for the caregiver of the patient - for he/she find him/herself going down this dark cave that's the illness, sapping at their strength, leading them down this dark, dark cavern that's all about the illness, no joy, just insanity.

Cliff Diving

Went cliff diving yesterday. Whoa! :)
Firstly, let's get things straight: I am NOT a swimmer. If I am drowning, I would NOT be able to get myself to safety, let alone keep my head above water. Ok, once we have that out of the way, let me describe this place to you...
White Rock is a park southeast of Indy, in the small tiny town of St. Paul, IN. The place used to be a stone quarry, now filled up with miles and miles of water. There's lots of places allocated to dive into the water, highest height which one can leap off into oblivion before crashing down into deep green waters, being almost 30 ft or more. Wonderful. :) Now that's the quarry site. There's also another quiet pond for fishing, and then there's the river next to these 2 great ponds. The river was flooded the day we got there, so unless we had the skills and equipment to go white water rafting... canoeing was OUT. O well... More time to swim and dive I suppose. :)
The day was warm, sunny, slightly breezy, not too hot or humid. Perfect. We got there around noon, and the water was dark, dark green, warm and inviting. I did sensibly remember that I would not be able to touch the ground with my feet in the water, so I made sure I strapped a life jacket to myself at all times. :) Mostly I strapped the life jacket backwards... ie. legs through the hand holes, buckling at my waist... ala "the diaper" style. NOT very alluring on dry land but VERY EFFECTIVE in water. Think "cork bobbing" and you would get a fine view of what I did most of the time yesterday. :)
The place wasn't too packed, being a Thursday and that was great. Our picnic spot wasn't taken. Everyone dropped their coolers, spread out their blankets marking out their spots and dove into the water. I have to admit I was scared the first time I went into the water. I stubbornly clung onto the side of the pier, despite multiple sweet coaxing from Rod. Cute. I must've looked ridiculous... I had to acclimate myself to the water. Taking baby steps inching myself further and further out into the lake... Of course this "safety first technique" was all in my head... I mean, it's a quarry folks, the water was probably as deep on the edge as it was in the middle... so I do not know what I was kidding myself with. Probably just all in my head as usual...
My life vest was my dearest companion in the water all day. :) Once I felt comfortable in the water I took greater risks first jumping off the pier... then off the kiddie cliff (probably 5 ft off the ground). The pinnacle of my cliff diving experience that day was the 10 ft jump. Thanks Tessa! :) For talking me into it. :) I think I'll do that more... maybe attempt greater heights in future? I dunno... It took me all of 5 hours of soaking in the sun and water to work up to 10 ft. So it might take me another 5 hours to work up to 20 ft? Huh. :P
Rod of course jumped at 10 ft to begin his swim. Then went to the highest cliff - about 3o ft high... just walk up a 3 storey building and look out of the ledge... you'll know what I mean. At then jump off. Yeah. Right. Nope. Not with my skillz. :P So I cheered and hollered like any hooligan and that was it. :)
It was fun. Needless to say today I am red as a shrimp... will probably turn brown as a nut in the next few days... no more crazy sunning for me! Unlike most sun worshippers, I do not relish in tanning my leathery skin away... A bit of color is healthy, beyond that, I'm screaming for my sunscreen and hiding beneath an umbrella... On top of that my arms feel like I've done a gazillion weights and my legs are sore. So much for living like a sloth, then going out swimming like I'm a pro. Hah! As if...
Anyway, here's some pictures of yesterday. Hope you can get a few laughs from it...

Hello world! :)

Hello world... my first ever blog. Who would've thought? My blog's called "la danse sur le ivoires", translation: "dancing on the ivories". Would've opted for the english language except that title was taken. :( Ah well... more chances to use French. Which brings me to the French language. I've always loved French. Took one semester of it in college, fell in love, but like a summer fling, never went back to it. :) O well... So I'm hoping this blog will be well used. I'd like to post pictures of my hobbies, interests and of course, my love... the piano ivories. So be on the lookout for music clips and pictures of my funky jewels, as well as whatever else I throw into the mix! Chao! XOXO