What an amazing day Saturday was at the Simcoe branch of the Norfolk County Public Library!  I was just blown away by the number of people that showed up!  It’s so nice to see everyone all the time!  I loved reading my couple of pages out of my book…what a weird yet incredible feeling!  The most unbelievable thing though was when Bob Graczyk and his son showed up from the U.S.!  You see, Mr. Graczyk is a Supervisor with the US Dept of Homeland Security and he is working closely with my team to make sure things go right on the other side of the border!  We met the Graczyks at the Rotary International “SlapShot” Youth Conference last year and he offered to help me if I ever did another swim!  Well, here he is and he came all the way to Simcoe to get a signed book Saturday!  Now that is overwhelming to say the least!  As time goes on we will fill everyone in on all the incredible things he has done for us already on the US side of the border!  To say the least, I will be VERY safe from Erie to the border on my swim :) !  Another highlight was having the swimmers I coach at NHAC come and have me sign their books!  I bet I was excited by that as they were!  And don’t kid yourself, these kids are getting VERY good!!!  Thanks to Heather and all her staff for hosting the launch and having me as this year’s ambassador for “Norfolk’s Teens Write For Fun!” contest!  It’s such an honour to represent something that allows us to share or dreams and hopes with others!!  Also, a HUGE thanks to Duane Rutter for playing for me the entire time Saturday!  I hope that warmed you up for the Lake Erie marathon :) ! This week’s events include an appearance on CHCH Morning Live on Friday at 8:20am so I hope you can tune in for that!  Also, I will be hitting Norfolk Library #2 of my Norfolk Library Signing Tour in Port Dover during the Norfolk Authors’ Book Fair!  I will be signing and selling books, as well as some of my Radical Crossing Swag :), from 1 to 3pm Saturday afternoon!  Hope to see you all there at the NEW Port Dover Branch of the NCPL!!  My book is also available at the Annaleise Carr Aquatic Centre, the Simcoe Branch of the NCPL, and the Waterford Museum! Training!  I am really starting to focus and settle in now!  Trent, my coach, has sped me up considerably, and I even feel it when I’m running!  I had an amazing run tonight, after practices before and after school in the pool!  I am now putting 13 to 15 hours in the pool each week plus my running and other exercises!  As well, I’m also trying out for my school’s soccer team, so lots of running there too!  I’m very happy with where I’m at, but I can’t wait for the lake to thaw and warm up!  I just want to get out there soooo bad!!!  Next blog I want to look at my sponsors, as without them, I just can’t do this!  Same with my team!!  They are so dedicated and determined and  they need to be recognized and that’s why very soon you will see a new page on this website that has a short profile on everyone of them! So one last story before I go to bed!  There is a school group that swims before me on Tuesday afternoons and they’ve learned now that I will be showing up after school for my training each week!  So each week there is always something that will happen that’s very cute and very humbling!  This week some of the kids had my book there for me to sign!  I just love doing this for the kids and hope they are encouraged by it and want to help other!  The first half hour of my workout is always kind of funny too as I spend much of it waving at the kids as they stay around to watch me swim!  If any of you are reading this, thank you so much for making me feel so good and making me want to try even harder to be prepared to swim across the lake …for Camp Trillium, and for my home…Norfolk County!!  Good Night EVERYONE! xo