Tonight's Sunset

Defying Gravity Wicked

"Defying Gravity," from the smash-hit Broadway musical Wicked, is one of the most inspiring songs, ever.

And it isn't too late to catch the production in San Francisco at the Orpheum. I've been twice and I'd go again, and again, and again. Yes, it's that good.

Anyways back to the song. For me, this song is about being imperfectly ME, listening to and following my inner voice, playing by my own rules. After all, I am the only one who can be imperfectly ME, , without being some cheap imitation.

Cheap imitations are ok for purses and wallets, but for people, well, you're the only YOU the world has got, so what are YOU waiting for? Close your eyes and leap.

Warning: This isn't the easiest path and definitely not for wimps or the faint of heart.

Motto: What others think of me, is none of my business. (I'm not talking about being rude, I'm talking about BEING REAL.)

Hmmmmm, this sounds so familiar? Have I said this before? Oh well, I guess I need to hear it again, and again, and again...........

Some choice lyrics from "Defying Gravity":

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!

"Ev'ryone deserves the chance to fly!"
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I'm flying high
Defying gravity

Sunset For My Tweeps

Lovin' me some Color Purple.

My Posse

Every surfer girl needs a little back up.

Thankful

Thanksgiving holiday was awesome. We accomplished loads of Pajama time. My hubby finally solved the Rubik's cube.

"I solved it in 4 minutes and 32 seconds!" exclaims Stefan.

"Um, didn't a six-year-old solve it in 37 seconds?" I ask.

I've nearly solved my new phone. I can send picture messages now, that only took three days. And a back up battery is in the mail.

Our Saturday beach outing (pictured) was our first trip out of the house since Wednesday, unless I count my hours spent on the phone with Verizon Wireless. I was somewhere ELSE when I was talking to them, namely in cell phone hell.

"Thank you honey!"

Anyways, as usual Vinny did not want to leave the house but by the looks of it, he needed to get out of the house as badly as the rest of us.

Sun Setting

I'll be here if you need me.

Slow Down

Briar Kitty and Me.


A few days ago, at the beach, I saved my friend's dog from getting hit by a car with my scream.

Yes, I have skills, though in fairness it was a team effort. We screamed in unison, the driver heard us, hit the brakes and barely missed her dog.

"Phew!"

He. Never. Saw. The. Dog.

So, a week later, when Surfer Dude was speeding down the road, I couldn't help but say something. Yes, I have a severe case of SUS, also known as SpeakUp Syndrome.

"I hate to start the day off with a lecture, but Briar is running around here somewhere, would ya mind driving slower," I plead.

"Oh yeah, what's up with that cat does he live at the beach?" asks Surfer Dude.

"No his person brings him to the beach, when she surfs," I say.

"Hey look there he is now!" says Surfer Dude, pointing under my car.

Briar Kitty has purrfect timing.

Reclining Ovation

My first standing, er, reclining, ovation.

Black and White

I took my first photography class in high school. It was black and white photography. I remember I couldn't wait to advance to color photography. Though now that I'm wiser (read older) I can see black and white has it's own unique beauty.

For a high school we had a great dark room set up, better than the one at our local junior college, back then anyways. But I don't miss those dark room days, of dodging and burning, trial and error.

That's right Internet I heart technology. With a push of a button I can shoot in color, click the button, and go back to black and white.

And that reminds me of one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs:

A Card For My Tweeps

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

Happy Thanksgiving Internet!

I have a lot to be thankful for:

My wonderful life.

My Rock Star Hubby.

Family.

Friends (virtual and real life).

Surfing.

My hardcore dedication to the truth and being me.

Me time.

My Intuition.

Yes, all of those things, help me get through each and every day. But today what I'm most thankful for, is my boys.

I'm not going to make you barf in your mouth here and say, "I love being a Mom it's the best job in the world!"

Every Mom knows, sometimes, being a Mom SUCKS. Being a Mom is the hardest thing I've ever been.

BUT I it's made me realize, what's most important in life, LOVE.

Sully's Live Crab Monterey Bay, Moss Landing

Located on the island (just before you cross the bridge) in Moss Landing, California A-Dock, Fishing Vessel Gardenia

Today we ate the best, melt in your mouth, fresh crab. Yes, Internet, I had a foodgasm. It was that gooooooood.

Nadia Droid

This is the first picture, taken in low light, with my new Motorola Droid camera, phone, pocket computer. I only sent the picture to my email four times. Yes, this phone will take some getting used to.

Ugh.

On a brighter note I CAN WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEOS. Oh my gosh!!!!!!

As The Tide Turns

"Oh I've got a few stories to share as the tide turns, gather round," says the Firepit in a raspy voice.


If I ever write a soap opera it will be titled, "As The Tide Turns."

It would, of course, involve surfers, the ocean, promote environmental awareness, and illustrate proper surfing etiquette.

The drama could include:

Axe wielding vigilantes

Bat wielding retaliators

The trophy boulder that was thrown completely in one window and out the other of thieves car

Armed park rangers and sheriffs

Trespassing (to surf should NOT be illegal)

Colorful nicknames such as Chum, and BoBoHead

Confiscated and consequently smashed surfboards

Broken boards and broken bones

Capsized boats

People being saved at sea by surfers

Narking

People being thrown into fire pits

Gang-like territorial disputes

Camera confiscation followed by explosion

Heckling by sea life and humans, sharks and the like.

And the irony is I wouldn't have to make up any of the material. But I might exaggerate the truth, for humor's sake, though it probably wouldn't be necessary.

Tonight's Sunset

Big Universe 1 Month Free Premium Membership

Note: Use this code: BU112909 at this link , no credit card needed. Once account is created, click on My Account then click on Apply Promo Code. Code expires November 29, 2009


It's an early Merry Christmas at areyoubreathing.com. That's right, Internet, I have a present for y'all. It's one month's premium membership to biguniverse.com for FREE!!!!!!

We've been using it for a few days and WE LOVE IT.

Big Universe is an online site, where kids can read fiction and non-fiction picture books from today's publishers, and take online quizzes afterwards. Not only that, but kids can write and publish their own printable books on the site, as well.

Our 8-year-old loved reading the graphic novels, Hamlet, War of the Worlds and Christmas Carol.

Our 4-year-old loved having "I Don't Want To," read to him. But he was ecstatic over writing his first book with some help from Daddy, his big brother, and the site's great clip art (7000+ images).

Here's what my hubby, Mr. Rock Star Middle School Teacher, had to say about the site.

It's a fun, interactive way to read with your child. In this day and age where technology competes for kids' attention and time, it's nice to see technology support reading.

But don't take our words for it, find out for yourself with the month long free membership. Here it is again. Let me know what you think, please.

Use this code: BU112909 at this link , no credit card needed. Once account is created, click on My Account then click on Apply Promo Code. Code expires November 29, 2009

The Nanny

If Nay Nay the Cat can put the kid to sleep, I don't care how or where she does it.

The Inside Cat

Nay Nay the Cat is an inside cat. Lucky for her we have an atrium, open air room, where she can still enjoy the great outdoors.

Flu Season: Preventing Dehydration

"I don't feel very good," says Vinny.

One Hour Later

Intermittent vomit, from 7-10 pm.

My biggest worry when my kids get the stomach flu, besides being vomited on, or barf missing the bucket, isn't the flu itself, but rather dehydration.

Several stomach flu's ago a pediatric nurse gave me this advice and it seems to work quite well for us:

Give child one sip of water. If he keeps it down for 15 minutes have child take two sips of water. After another 15 minutes have child take three sips of water. And so on. If child vomits then go back to number of sips child kept down previously. For example, if child kept down 2 sips of water, but vomited after 3 sips, go back to 2 sips.

One of my main parenting goals is, avoiding late night emergency room visits. So I set a timer on an old cell phone (with an age appropriate ring tone: theme from Scooby Doo) to go off every 15 minutes.

The alarm tends to have a Pavlovian effect on the kids, after it goes off five or six times.

"Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?"

"Time to drink water," says Gio in a raspy voice when he hears the alarm.

Glee Lean On Me

This week on Glee, the cast performed, "Lean On Me," their most inspiring performance to date, in my opinion.

They are so uplifting, I highly recommend watching it, NOW. It's free "I feel better already" therapy, y'all! I couldn't embed the video, so to watch the clip from this week's episode of Glee "Lean On Me," click here

Or if you just want to listen, here's the song by the cast. I'm gonna do both, at least, 5 times each, to start the day.

A Hunting We Will Go

"Hark, who goes there? Could it be my breakfast?"

Bird Rock

I was freezing all day and I didn't even surf. Go figure. Anyways, the temperature never even hit 60 today, but that didn't stop the birds from sunning it up.

Glee Somebody To Love Me

There are a lot of great cover songs on the Glee soundtrack, disc 1. But this here is my favorite, and applicable to the passing of my Aunt into the hereafter. Sometimes, for some people, the body can be a prison.

But today, I know my Aunt is free. Free from the physical pain of her body. And it was an honor for me to listen in on her conversation with angels, before she passed. Godspeed.

"I just got to get out of this prison cell, someday I'm gonna be free, Lord."

Lines

"Back in the days, when I was an only child, there wasn't a line for the heater vent," says Nay Nay the Cat.

Was SUP?

Click on the picture to enlarge.

First sight of a fin in Northern California waters, always gives a surfer an immediate feeling of panic, accompanied by the thought, "what is that fin attached to?"

Not to worry, today, that's just a dolphin trailing the surfer.

Note to non-surfers: SUP stands for, stand up paddleboard, and refers to board the surfer is riding (notice he's holding a paddle and standing up). Hence the play on acronyms Was SUP? Get it?

Purple Clouds

I took this shot before I paddled out for a quick surf. As I was surfing, I was freaking out over the purple hue of the clouds, and my lack of a water camera. Oh well, this is better than nothing.

And if Prince were there, he would have been singing along with me, "Purple clouds, purple clouds, I only wanted to see you underneath the purple clouds........"

Then, again, Darius Rucker would be fine too.

Glee

The soundtrack to Glee, a Fox musical comedy television series, just came in the mail. Yipeeeee!

"Glee?" asks the Internet. "What's that?"

Think High School Musical made for TV, minus Disney, with a dark comedy edge. All the characters have talent, charisma, and are inspiring.

The cast is a hodge podge of characters representative of our own little U S of A melting pot, including cheerleaders, jocks, a gay, a disabled boy, Asians, Jewish folks, African Americans, even some white people (weird I know). Yes, Glee has something for everyone. Did I mention they're all cute?

I don't think there has been a musical comedy this funny, or inspiring since Ally McBeal. Plus, Glee has a lot more music, BONUS!

The soundtrack of cover songs is a mix of oldies and newer songs. Gotta go dance, y'all.

Watch Glee on hulu click here, but Hulu can only host six episodes of the current season.

Sleeping With One Eye Open

Nay Nay the Cat lives with three boys and one annoying dog, I guess she has to sleep with one eye open. At least I know there's someone in the world who always has my back, or in this case my leg.

They Look Cute..........

Saw these two dogs on a walk today. The white dog was barking ferociously. Nadia the Dog wanted to take them, but fortunately, she was on a leash, and they were behind the gate. Phew!

Gone Fishing

"If I ride the fish, the board itself may attract a nice, juicy, halibut or rocky cod. Nom, nom, nom."

Note to non-surfers: A fish is a shorter, wider surfboard that resembles a fish. A fish performs best in small, powerless waves. The surfboard Briar is sitting on is, that's right Internet, a fish.

Fluffy Clouds of White

I'm ready for a nap in the clouds.

Lost Not Found

Someone needs to make a GPS locator device for jackets, or my son is going to have a cold, cold winter.

My hubby picks Vinny up from school, so, he is the one hunting for Vinny's lost jackets on a daily basis. Not only are all the lost coats sad and lonely, but they're also disgustingly damp, leaving the lost and found rummager in need of a Clorox shower, afterwards.

Oddly, the two jackets Vinny lost this year didn't even turn up in the lost and found. One jacket was found buried under wood chips on the playground. The other was found sitting happily on a bench in the auditorium, waiting to be found for nearly a month. (Both were found by my ROCK STAR Hubby!)

Which leaves me wondering where, on school grounds, are the two jackets Vinny lost last year???

Happy Veterans' Day

Just a quick blog to thank all the veterans and their families for serving our country. My hubby is veteran himself. I remember just the thought of him being sent to a war zone was nerve racking for me. I can't imagine having it happen. Angel blessings.

Unfortunately, we didn't plan anything for today, so the boys came up with their own way to celebrate. Somehow, I think, they've missed the point.

Happy Birthday Stefan!

It's Hubby's birthday today. I know it's sad for him because he can no longer claim, "ha, ha you're 41 and I'm only 40."

But in six months, he'll be back to, "ha, ha, your 42 and I'm only 41."

And it wouldn't be bother me at all if he had say one or 3,000 grey hairs, right? But he doesn't have any grey hair, trust me Internet, I've looked.

There are a lot of great things I could say about him:

He's a great Dad.

He's handy.

He's heroic.

He's from another planet.

He's inspiring.

He's brilliant.

He lets me, be me.

He's handsome.

He does his fair share around the house.

He's famous in certain parts of the world.

He also has yellow and violet in his aura (like me), which means we are more alike than different.

He doesn't guilt me for surfing, A LOT.

He doesn't drive like a maniac or complain about my dislike of being next to any other cars on the highway.

He is the best Dad in the universe.

He is a great teacher.

He makes a difference in the world: in my life, our kids' lives and many, many others.

He is really cute.

I could go on and on, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I did. He is a man, after all, and they love hearing these sorts of things.

But my favorite two things about him are he makes me laugh and he let's me cry.

Happy Birthday Honey I Love You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chillin'

Briar chillin' in the bushes at the beach.

Swell

When surfers look like ants, it means the waves are big.

The surf on Saturday was big and lumpy. The scene at the beach was even larger than the surf.

I was surfed out from the week, so I took the day off.




Many spectators, few takers.

Sunrise on the Harbor

Sunrise, in case you slept in today.

Drummer Boy

Gio and I have performed five Sugarland songs (he's Kristian Bush, I'm Jennifer Nettles) I'm ready for bed he's ready for another set.

"Not that song, it's too slow," says Gio.

Sunset Saturday

I had to sneak in, the out gate, to get this shot. Totally worth it. And I didn't get a ticket from the park ranger who was right behind me. Phew!

Big Wave Casualty

One board, two pieces.

Alkalol Nasal Rinse

Every time I surf Asilomar Beach, especially for two or three days in a row, I feel like bugs are crawling around and multiplying in my sinus cavities. NOT A GOOD FEELING. Anyways, last time I had this problem I knocked those amoebas to outer space with ALKALOL, da da da da!

ALKALOL is strong, like a super hero, so I only use a cap full in about 5 oz of warm bottled water.

Monterey Peninsula

The view is inspiring me to get a car mounted camera with remote viewer. Everyday, as I drive around my lovely town, my mind is constantly taking pictures.

"Click, click, click," says the camera in my mind.

Rats with Wings

"So this is health food!" squawks the Seagull.

Anywhere, within a mile or two of the California coast, if you leave your food laying around in the open, seagulls will swipe it every time. But, by the looks of the contents of this bag, I'd say that bird did some kid a favor.

Offshore

Offshore winds create the bridal veil effect on a wave.

Capri Pants

"Those are Gio's pants," I say to Vinny.

"No they're not," argues Vinny.

"They don't fit you," I say. "And they're size 5. You're eight."

"They fit me," he says.

And then I challenged his position, with a dare.

"Well, if they fit you so well, can I take a picture and put it on the blog?" I ask.

"Sure," he answers.

Within an hour he had changed pants. But hey I got my picture, and he got the point.

Surfin' Birds

An unknown surfer wabashing the lip of the wave! The birds, surfing right along with him, don't seem to mind.

"Don't Worry They're Not Real"

"Mommy can I wear my pretend teeth in the store?" asks Gio.

"Sure," I say.

As soon as we enter the store Gio finds a friend, a girl around 4ish.

"Don't worry they aren't real," Gio says to the girl. "They're just pretend teeth."

She put her hand over her mouth and giggled, completely amused, and not the least bit frightened.

Chef Tell 2

He made his own breakfast AND HIS DAD'S TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His secret ingredient: BUTTER!