Good news about the tickets. Turns out that the Beijing ticket people haven't even released the Paralympic tickets yet, so we are fine. Thank goodness!!!

Had a great practice today. Made it a lot closer to a hundred arrows, and felt good about the shots. It's getting easier to handle the extra weight, enough so that I don't even think of it that way anymore. (I checked the poundage today with Easton's cool bow scale, and I'm actually up to 34 again, when I thought I was at 33. Ooops. Oh, well, it works for me! All the better to shoot in the wind.)

I really need to set aside a big block of time this weekend for an arrow-fletching party. I'll strip off all the creased, torn, misaligned fletch, clean the arrows, and start applying new ones. I'm thinking holographic red will do quite nicely. My Dorothea arrows, headed straight down the yellow brick road into the bull's-eye.

It's strange to think that whatever I do to my equipment, whatever touch ups I make, whatever I accidentally overlook.... All of it only has to last for the next four weeks. I've been working towards this for FOUR YEARS and all of a sudden, I only have four weeks left until it's over. I feel as if I've spent all this time raising money to buy a theme park ticket, and I've been on the road for so long driving endlessly towards my destination. Now I'm at the door to the theme park, and soon I'll be in line at the biggest, scariest, most exhilarating roller coaster I've ever seen. I know I'll feel a little panicky as I strap in and the machine takes us, chug, chug, chug, slowly up the great hill, chug, chug, chug, and you can feel the wind in your face and see the plummeting distance between you and where you were just moments before.

I won't lie to you. As I generally do on a rollercoaster, I will be having some serious doubts, some big second thoughts, but underneath it all there will be a supreme calm, an acceptance of the fact that I signed up for this crazy ride and whether I like it or not I'm going down that hill at lightning speed. I'll take the curves, I'll lean into the loops and feel the blood rush into my head at dizzyingly unexpected times. All that's left to do is decide how I will let myself experience it. I could cower and close my eyes and shriek in terror. Instead I'd rather admire the view--even if it's up-side down--and enjoy the sensation of my heart racing madly. I'd rather savor the feeling of surreal weightlessness, the sheer joy in the experience. THAT is how to handle these next four weeks.

And why not? In the process of living life, we make memories. Once life is lived, what do we have left? The memories locked away in our hearts and minds. That's why it's so important to make each day as wonderful as possible. Otherwise, what's the point? So--no regrets. No pouting when I could be smiling. No being lazy when I could be working, or doing something fun and interesting. No panic, no worrying about what is or isn't perfect. Just acceptance of the way the world works. And lots of good times. :)