Swim Lessons

I have never been fond of the idea of swimming. Ever since I was a kid I just didn't quite trust being completely enveloped by water to then emerge alive and breathing.
As you can imagine, I was teased considerably (mostly be my siblings) for never learning how to swim. When I say I don't know how to swim, let me clarify that I dont know how to swim. I can't do the doggy paddle, the floating in water thing or really being submerged at all. It just plain terrifies me. I decided it might be a good idea to conquer a fear and build upon my self-esteem a little bit. After many hours of "shopping around" I signed up for swim lessons. I know... terrifying right?
Today was my first day at 7:45 on a Saturday morning! Now that's dedication! When I first got there, I'll admit I kinda questioned what I was thinking. I was first instructed to put my face under water and blow bubbles. I was pretty pleased with myself until my instructor, Ezra, said, "Let's try to go a little longer, about 10 seconds worth." Is he crazy?! I can't even say how unnatural "breathing" under water is. ::shudder:: Once I kinda got use to that, I was surprised how quickly I was able to progress. During that 1 hour I was able to float on my stomach while blowing bubbles in the water. With the assistance of a kick board I could swim on my belly blowing bubbles once again. At the very end of the lesson I was full on swimming on my back! I swam about 5 laps on my back until the session was over.
Dude, I rock! I am so proud of myself and can hardly believe it. If anyone would have told me a year ago what I would have accomplished today in such a short session I would have laughed... LAUGHED right in thier face.
So I have additional swim lessons over the next few Saturdays and I am very excited about it... although I still hope I don't die. That would be a major bummer.