Counting down to the end, part one

The last week of classes is always the hardest. Your brain is done. Done. But there are final papers, lab exams, presentations, problem sets. Did I mention my brain is done?

One item off the list at a time. And time to start looking forward and planning life post-academia.

On the list? SCUBA!! This January I will start the e-learning portion of the PADI open water dive certification. Then off to a dive shop - no easy task when one is landlocked in the middle of the province - and the certification portion. Woot! Altitude diving, National Geographic Diver, ah, it's a long wish list.

Mount Baker!! One of my best friends from high school is planning on an ascent of Mount Baker in July and has invited me along. Will be a great chance to catch up, won't tell you how many years it's been other than to say the last time we chatted in person her son was "knee high to a grasshopper" and now he towers over me. It will also be my first summit, which is exciting for many reasons.

When I was initially diagnosed with UC and then with AS (when they thought it was AS) I remember watching a program about a woman from Calgary who had been diagnosed with a female specific cancer - cervical/ovarian - and a major focus of her recovery was exercise and a summit of Aconcagua. When her cancer was declared in remission she went on her quest to summit Aconcagua and completed her dream. I remember vividly the shot of her on top of that mountain and her speaking to how climbing Aconcagua symbolized her conquering cancer - she had reached that summit. I remember at the time thinking, I've been diagnosed with two incurable diseases, I will never reach that summit. I can climb that mountain, but I will never reach that summit. There will always be a bit of mountain left I cannot conquer.

The day I found out I'd been misdiagnosed I remember waking up at 1:30 in the morning thinking "I can climb Aconcagua! I can make that summit!" Mount Baker could very well be the first of many summits.

BOSS - The Boulder Outdoor Survival School in Boulder, Utah. Yes, Utah. Not Colorado, Utah. My goal at BOSS is the two week primitive living skills course at the end of August. Seven days of intensive hands on training in fire making, hunting, lithics, living alone in the wilderness, walking lightly on this planet. Oh, and no tent, no stove, no matches, no toilet paper, no dehydrated food (unless you count things like lentils), no phone, no GPS, no Gore-Tex, no SPOT, no worries. Solo. Alone. Wilderness. Me. Alone. Three or four days. Alone. Me. Wilderness. Can't wait!

Also looking forward to meeting friends. Planning on spending as much time as possible in Utah exploring, SCUBA diving (yes, in Utah), checking out the incredible landscape, taking photos and getting some Utah sunshine.

But first I must finish this semester and next.

Did I mention it's 60 days until I carry the Olympic flame? Excited!!

See you on the trails,
Barb