Gliding & Swinging Through Life: Gliding and Swinging

I've been thinking about changing the title of my blog...'Gliding and Swinging Through Life' just seems a little too long to me now...but, I do like that it alludes to figure skating (gliding) and golf (swinging), two things I really enjoy....however, I'm often posting about travel related stuff, so maybe that should have been incorporated into the title?!?

Anyway, I don't think I'll change it because I don't want my four readers to have trouble finding my blog ;)

And, this post is going to be all about gliding and swinging, so the title is still appropriate.

GLIDING:

It's official, I am no longer a coach with Quinte Figure Skating Club.

It has been a decision I have been struggling with over the last few months, and I've been waiting to hear about my job before finalizing anything. I finally approached my boss a few weeks ago and tried to get an idea as to whether or not I will get another contract - and, last week she informed me that although she couldn't say officially, it is very likely that I will be extended until at least the end of December. And, she mentioned that during that time they will likely post the job, and I could apply and actually get a 'real' (longer) contract.

When I started last fall, I already had all of my skating commitments in place, so, my employer agreed to work around my skating schedule. However, they can't be as flexible this season, and if I want to have a chance at an extended contract, I need to give a little as well.

I am very thankful that I will be able to continue coaching with Tweed & District Figure Skating Club - I don't know what I would have done if I had to give coaching up altogether.

In terms of deciding which club to leave, it was a pretty easy decision. First of all, Quinte was two nights a week, which means it conflicted with two work days...Tweed is one night a week, and Saturdays, so it only conflicts with one work day. Also, I only had three private skaters in Quinte...I will have at least eight private skaters in Tweed this season. And finally, the overall club atmosphere is a lot nicer in Tweed, it's a really small club, so it's easy to get to know all of the families involved, and everyone (skaters, parents, coaches and executive) really work well together.

So, although I am confident in my decision, it's still hard to say good-bye.

SWINGING:

I have played a lot of golf in the last week...which is great, because we go on vacation soon, so hopefully all the practice will pay off and I will play well in front of my dad :)

Last Sunday, we played 18 holes at Black Bear Ridge with our neighbour George, and his son Teegan.

Tuesday night, I played 9 holes at Trillium as a spare for Curt's league team.

Friday night, another 9 holes at Trillium with our church league (a league that Curt has tried to organize for the past three years, unfortunately, we still only have four or five people show up each week).

And then yesterday, Curt and I played 18 holes at Bay of Quinte (the course I worked at for five years). I was pretty excited to play BQ, it was the first time this season, so I finally got to see how all the course changes turned out...and, the course looks really good. It was actually the first round of Club Championships too, so I got to see a lot of members, which was fun.

So, after playing 36 holes in one week, I'm all practiced up and can't wait to play in Branson next week!

And, just because I don't like a post without pictures...here are a few pics I took with my phone on the course on Friday evening.

Playing the seventh hole, we spotted a deer. This is the first picture I took, so I was about 100 yards away from it.

The camera on my phone doesn't have zoom, so I knew it would be hard to see the deer in the picture. So I decided to see how close I could get to it...