I've Got My Groove Back

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The most recent session (No.3) was even better than the last two.

I learned some going up/going down the stairs techniques with the cane.

I still had a problem with my start up. No, not like a person who doesn’t know how to use a standard stick-shift vehicle, but I tend to take a big step with my left foot and swing too far to the right. That made me “off-beat”. (Now, now, be nice. I know what you're thinking- that I’m a little off-beat anyway…) Talk about starting off on the wrong foot…wait...I take that back, I DO start off on the right foot (actually, it's the left foot, but I degress), but I have to work on my first three steps. Hopefully, that’ll be worked out asap. I was also afraid to tap the cane too hard. I need to loosen up more, too.

I was encouraged to walk faster if that would help me stay in sync. It did. At the beginning, I still couldn’t tell when I was out of step. I was concentrating on my leg moving to the opposite direction of my swing, but I couldn’t focus on that. I was told that when my left foot landed, the cane should tap on the right side and visa versa. Suddenly, it clicked. It was easier to focus on my left foot landing at the same time the cane tapped on the other side. Whoo-hoo. (Patting myself on the back.)

I've got rhythm; I've got the groove. I'm marching to my own beat. Like I said before, just a little but of work on the first three steps. I'm hoping to fix that before the next session.

The instructor took me to an intersection that had 4-way stop signs. We worked on crossing the street. (Yikes, I don’t want to think about crossing the street with street lights yet. I know the day will come and I hope I don’t freak out. LOL.

I got to keep the cane this time. That must be a real good sign, eh? I practiced it on the upstairs/downstairs techniques so they’d stay fresh on my mind. I haven’t really gone outside to practice yet. I like to walk the dog(s) and it would be difficult to simultaneously walk the dog and cane (it sounds weird, but I’m trying to use the word “cane” as a verb.) at the same time. I guess I just have to go without them.

On the home front: Not a whole lot of news at this point. (This mom needs to get a life. LOL).

Both girls are so looking forward to the end of the school year. This mom is, too. All those papers they bring home!! I am not talking about homework, either…aacckk. I’ll be glad to get a break from that. But it also means another step up the school ladder, another year, another grade….it just seems the older the girls get, the faster time flies. (No, I will not go there…you know, the older they get, the older I get…)

But summer break also means finding a replacement driver for Angel. The driver who currently picks her up from school won’t have a need to go there anymore because her daughter will be moving on to the high school. (Sad face). I’ll look through Angel’s yearbook and start calling other parents. Some kids stay after school for extracurricular activities so it narrows down my choices. (And I really appreciate the driver making an extra trip to the school after school because her daughter was active in afterschool activities. That was super nice of her.)

Now that the weather’s been nice lately (with no on-again, off-again winter surprises), Flare’s been riding her bike to and from school again. She can do that at the beginning of school in the fall. Hopefully, by the time winter (oh no, that "w" word again) rolls around, a neighbor kid will acquire his driver’s license and she can start riding with him. I’ll have to worry about her getting rides home during football and basketball season, though. (Note: She can take driver's ed this fall, but she won't be 16 till the summer of 2010.

I’ll be getting my 9-month map for my CI (cochlear implant) next week. (I can’t believe it’s been nine months already!!) At this point, I don’t think I need any tweaking done on the CI, but maybe it’s subtle and I don’t know it. Kind of like the RP progression: It’s subtle at times and by the time I notice a drop in vision, I’ve adjusted to it somehow. I do remember a lot of things I used to see well, like stars and fireflies. Speaking of which, they will be out soon. I can just see Angel squealing with delight over the bugs with built-in light bulbs, and I will just live vicariously through that moment with her. :)

Speaking of marching to a beat I mentioned earlier, Flare looked at my cane and wanted to try it out. I told her how to grip it and-without even getting into the “n’sync” chorographic details, she took off like a natural. I couldn’t believe it. She was “in step”. Of course, she’s a color guard in Vanguard. She knows how to march and follow the beat. She knows a thing or two about “footwork”.

That’s it for now. I don’t want to make this post a long one (like the other one), which I could have made into two separate posts. Oh, well.

Talk to you later.