farmgurl

Now, that would be sweeeeet

Yeah, it's gonna be a rough ride! Been through it twice one girl and one boy. My ulcers still flare up when I think about it, lol! You've already gotten any advice I could give you. Just thought I'd chime in that it's totally worth it, because if you stick to your guns, they turn out to be people you'd hang with....even if you HADN'T given birth to 'em The hormonal maniac that used to make me want to set my own hair on fire just gave birth to our first grandchild. At the ripe old age of 26, so I guess the teen years COULD have been more challenging. She's really become quite civilized! Hang in there, and good luck!

Pat!! Great to see you're still at it, lady-you're my hero! I've thought about you a lot in the last year or so. Last summer, I went back and did two more tandems. Lol, that's a total of four. I've been torturing myself about whether to go solo for two years now. Sheesh. I'm 100% sure that physically and mentally, hell yes I can do this. Will I sell everything we own and totally neglect my family for it?? Um, I'm not sure Anyway, just wanted to pop in and say "Howdy, and congrats for your 500th. Go, Granny, Go!" Brenda PS. I'm due to be a granny any day now....woo hoo!

Alice Cooper Devil's Food/Black Widow

That's nice to hear. I'll be going for my third tandem this summer. I was much better the second time,but still don't think I'm ready for AFF. Lol, and as long as I don't think I'm ready, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

YAY FOR YOU!! I'm in the "it's going to be a long winter" club, too. It's going to drive me NUTS until I can go again. Looking forward to seeing pics and videos!! Congratulations for taking the leap!

It's all been said, but I had to chime in and say, "Have a GREAT time!" And, get a video

PFD, I'm not ruling out anything. I'll continue to do tandems, and see where it takes me. On the second jump, I was a little better about remembering what I was supposed to do, but still need to build some confidence in my ability to both think and act, especially during freefall. I do know that if I learn to jump solo, I want to be able to have the time to go and spend at least a week at it. Family issues right now just make it the wrong time to do it. We'll see what happens next season. I totally believe in get out there and live. I do not believe, however, that I am a two tandems and jump into AFF person. Lol, while I CAN walk and chew gum at the same time, some days it's a challenge I had a lot of fun playing with video editing software on my second jump video. If you'd like to check it out, here's the link. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozpn-WeKVuQ]

YAY! I went back, got the same instructor, did my second tandem and pulled. They were WICKED busy, but he spent a lot of time talking to me, and seemed really happy to see me back. Sez he'll jump as many tandems with me as I want, and I'll learn something new every time. I didn't know it until after the fact, but he let me do a lot of the steering myself, and I'm pretty sure the landing was a lot me. I say that because we must have slid 60' on our butts, and he laughed and said, "That was a little fast". I had a SPECTACULAR grass stain Anyway, thanks for encouraging me to go back and try again. I enjoyed the second one in a completely different way than the first, and I can't wait for the next!

I was all tweaked last week because I did my first tandem, and didn't pull..thus, didn't skydive. All the nice peeps assured me that I did, indeed skydive. Next time, I'll pull

I've got someone working on getting it on Youtube. My dinosaur computer doesn't know what a DVD is. Best I can do now is a link to the slide show. Lemme see if I can puzzle THAT out http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v400/bshearer/Skydive%20Chicago/?action=view¤t=5019e02a.pbw My son asked to go skydiving for his birthday, so here's the boy who started the whole thing. He wanted to get over his fear of HEIGHTS http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v400/bshearer/Skydive%20Chicago/?action=view¤t=46962420.pbw

I think I figured out how to post a picture. HE knew I wasn't gonna pull

Thanks for being so supportive. I'm not really worried about my age, it's kind of an unhandy TIME to want to get into this as a hobby. I tend to go way overboard when I get into something..addictive personality. I'm helping my DD plan her wedding, it's about time to start harvest, etc. I have a 3-3 1/2 hour drive to the drop zone. I think if I wanted to do the AFF, I'd go camp for a week. and that's gonna have to wait until next year. Lol, I've given this a LOT of thought, and I'm keeping an open mind. If all I ever do is tandems, fine. If I learn to go solo, that'll be awesome. jrmaf-Nah, I wouldn't lump all TI's together. I gotta think that there's a good majority who really enjoy showing someone the sport, especially their first time. My son and I both went, and we both had great instructors and videographers. They made sure we had a good time, and we all had a lot of laughs along the way. Peek, what you're saying is exactly what I want from my next jump. Start where we left off, learn a bit about steering, etc. and see where we go from there. Zig-Zag, I neither arched like a cat nor threw up I did, however pinch my instructors cheeks when we got back on the ground. Face-cheeks, by the way....anything else just seemed like a bit much for our first jump. "Those with family, family first and all that, but remember, your responsibilty towards grandchildren is to spoil them, not support them!" AMEN to that, and I can't WAIT! Lol, Chubba. I had a DEATH grip on my straps when we went out the door of the plane. I'm not sure how I thought that was going to help. Fred, I did exactly what your Dad did. I had NO idea why my arm got shoved in front of my face...I just kept geekin' it up for the camera. I was pretty shocked when the instructor pulled...no way did that feel like a minute of free-fall. Monkey, Grannyinthesky ROCKS! Thanks for the links. stevorino, ain't no way 53 is old. Inside I'm not a day older than I was 30 years ago, the packaging is just a bit worn and frayed, lol! None of the "youngsters" at the DZ batted an eye at my age. Now, some of my young nieces and nephews thought it was really weird for me to make my first jump at my age. It's all good...time goes by pretty fast, and soon enough they'll find out 40 doesn't make you ready for the old folks home. I'm the CRAZY aunt..and I like that just fine. Again, thanks for all the support! I'm all pumped up about scheduling the second jump...and for whatever comes after that!

I believe I'll go skydiving I would have never believed I'd be giving serious thought to whether I should learn to skydive. Most of the last week, I'd either find myself with a big dopey grin on my face, or be lost in thought of the pros and cons of taking it up as a hobby. And I'm one of those people, when I'm into something, I'm INTO it. I had a great guy for an instructor. He really appeared to enjoy his job, and I thought at the time how awesome it would be to be able to give people that experience. My feeling like cargo was all on my part, watching the video, not at all because he acted that way. Lol, I guess I'll do a second tandem jump and worry about the third time later. Thanks to all for taking the time to reply!

I did my first tandem jump a week ago, and loved it. I think I may be a person with the soul of a skydiver, but found out too late. I went into it with the idea of doing it once, and scratching it off the list. I've been consumed with it ever since. After long, hard consideration, I've decided it's just not the responsible thing to take up at this point in my life. The risk isn't worth it to me when I know what can and does happen, compared to my love of family, and anticipation of grandchildren. Had I done my first jump at 19, I'm pretty sure it would be a different story. The sensory overload on my jump was so much that I completely spaced out what I was supposed to be doing, and didn't pull when I was supposed to. Of course, the instructor took care of everything and got me safely to the ground. I just don't want to let it go like that. I'd like to go back, get the same instructor and not be just cargo this time. If you were my instructor, would you dread seeing me come back if I'm..... 46 years old, and likely not going to become a student. Mainly want the satisfaction of pulling the cord, and help steer to the LZ I'm 5'8" 190 lbs. I'm in decent physical shape. Toting extra pounds to be sure, but am also pretty muscular. I've already paid for my second jump, and after I read the thread about fat tandems, started having second thoughts. I don't want to be a story the TI's are laughing about as I drive away. People watch my video and say how brave I was to go skydiving. I feel like shit, because I didn't skydive...my instructor did, and I was along for the ride. And, I know that a second tandem jump doesn't make me a skydiver.