auraleigh.com

If only I were so lucky! I was lucky enough to be chosen, along with two crazy coworkers, to represent Lanier Technical College at the Gainesville/Hall County Alliance for Literacy 13th Annual Spelling Bee. Part of this dubious honor included writing and performing a 2-minute skit designed to have the judges and audience rolling with laughter. We came up with a shaky parody of the Grammy Awards in which I played Nicole Kidman (yes, she did sing some painful songs in Moulin Rouge!), fellow instructor Kim Randolph as the briefly-wed Britney Spears, and our Public Relations specialist Mary Ann Miller as the guitar-wielding, beer-swilling Wynona Judd. We had the judges rolling, alright, although maybe not with laughter. We did manage to stay in the actual spelling competition until round 3. What on earth does frisnel mean and who knew there was a spare 's' in it? Anyway, we helped to raise $16,000 for to promote literacy. Special thanks to Liza Charlton, who held the audience cue cards, and students Beth, Tracy & Kenneth who all took the blackmail pictures.

Well, after many nights and weekends of classes and pool practice, I am now a Scuba Schools International (SSI) Open Water Certified SCUBA Diver. Yay! This is me - underwater at Ginnie Springs, Florida - waving to the camera. Right behind me you'll see my divemaster and instructor-extraordinaire, Tony Metcalf, of Dive Dive Dive. John has been PADI SCUBA-certified since 1991. He came along on this trip and we both got Nitrox and Diver Stress & Rescue certified and made our first of 2 required night dives for our Night/Limited Visibility certification. We look forward to years of diving together...what a good dive buddy he is! Thank you, Bruce, for the picture.