California Tsunami Advisory

I had to laugh when I saw this sign.


And apparently so did they.

California Tsunami Advisory

Marina Beach, 2 pm, buoys ringing in @ 16 feet.

Fortunately, I had a book club meeting this morning at 10 a.m., meaning I had to surf early or not at all.

I arrived at the beach a little after 7 a.m.

"The ranger said they're going to close the beach at 10:30 a.m. because of the tsunami," says my BFF Cat Woman (Briar's person).

"Oh good, I'll be done by then," I say.

The surf looked mixed up, a bit high tidey. The buoys, hadn't peaked yet, and were around 10 feet, by then. I wasn't too excited. But when I heard the words "tsunami," and "close the beach," my adrenaline started pumping through my veins.

I had an epic session, in fairly poor surf, because I was pumped. I figured I'd be okay, as long as, I made it back to shore before my Mom heard about the tsunami advisory. Otherwise, I'd be in for a long lecture. Tsunamis freak her out, a bit.

No luck there.

Telephone rings back at my house. Hubby answers.

"Where's Wendy?" asks my Mom.

Before he could answer she piped in, "She's surfing! Do you know when she's coming back? Never mind. Did you hear about the tsunami? I call got a call from the east coast saying there's a tsunami."

"Tsunamis on the east coast don't affect us here on the west coast," says Hubby.

"No, no, no, no," says my Mom in frustration. "My friend said there's a tsunami wave heading towards California from Chile.........So where's Wendy?

"Surfing," says Hubby. "But don't worry if there's a tsunami, then the waves will be perfect and she'll be happy."

"So, anyway, did you see Kim Yuna skate, yet?" asks my Mom. Not waiting for Hubby to answer she went on, "I thought Rachel Flatt was amazing!"

Eeny Meeny Miney Moe

Deciding which one of these to read. Hmmmmmm?

The choices are:

Can't Wait To Get To Heaven by Fannie Flagg

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Anyone read any of these books? If yes, please, please, please, leave me a comment. Thanks! :D

Pin Art Impression

I love this face!

Good thing the pins in this pin art toy are made out of plastic, not metal. Phew!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My book club is currently reading, "The Help," by Kathryn Stockett, a white woman born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. I mention her race because, the book's narrative is from the perspective of three women, two of which are African American.


The main story goes something like this: Skeeter, the white girl, is an aspiring writer who gets the great idea to write a book of interviews of African American maids, and what it's like working for white women in Mississippi, in the sixties.

Skeeter, enlists the help, a risky undertaking, of two maids, Minny and Aibileen, who provide the other two narratives in the book. I thought the author did a great job relating the maids' point of view. I connected to the characters with my body and mind, heart and soul.

"Wow, White Girl really has this figured out!" I repeatedly thought to myself, while every so often glancing at her photo in the book jacket.


Look at how white she is, y'all!

But then I remembered, "hey, I'm a white girl, what do I know about being an African American maid in the 60s, in Mississippi?"

Zero.

Uh, huh!

I'm sure the writer did a ton of research, but this story touches the heart. It's authentic.

Then I read the after word, titled "Too little, Too late," when I finished the book, and found the answer to my question.

The author herself, had a mother who travelled frequently. As a result, she was primarily raised by her African American maid, Demetrie.

Aha!

It wasn't that Stockett was particularly conscious of racism as a child. It is as an adult, she learned compassion. Through the characters Minny and Aibileen, the author seamlessly time travels, to her past, catching a glimpse of what life must have been like for the woman that raised her, Demetrie, The Maid.

Some critics have accused the white characters in The Help of being inauthentic, but this book WAS NOT written for white folks.............It was written as a forgotten acknowledgement and thank you to the woman that loved, cared for and raised Stockett.

Amen! It's never too late to say, "Thank you."

I can see Demetrie beaming down from heaven, right now, thinking there's more work to be done, on Earth. Everyone in this country must be granted equal protection of the law. It's unconstitutional to offer a majority of people the right to marry, while excluding the minority from marrying......

Dear John

"Has anyone seen my book, Dear John?" I repeatedly ask my housemates and twitter, for two weeks.......

I normally don't buy books, but I wanted to read, "Dear John," and go see the movie before it left the theater. The library had a waiting list for the book, so I impulsively asked Hubby to pick it up for me.

He did. He's so sweet. But then I lost the book. And it's probably a good thing, because I had yet to read my book club selection for the month, "The Help."

I figured by the time I was finished with "The Help," "Dear John," would turn up.

Wrong.

Well, not the store bought copy, anyways. First, the book on CD was returned to the library and yours truly was next in line. I've listened to half the book in the car.

I now speak, write and tweet with a North Carolinian accent, as a result. But that's ok, my Daddy's from there, y'all.

Then the book came in last Saturday, but I was too lazy to pick it up, thinking "The Help," would tide me over until the library reopened on Tuesday.

Wrong, again

I finished "The Help," late Saturday night. (Book review tomorrow)

I found myself bookless again, and calling through the house, "has anyone seen my book, "Dear John?"

Anyways, it's Tuesday and I picked up the library copy of "Dear John," today. I'm excited to finish reading it. The story is so good! John is a surfer. I love surfing!

Now for the moral of the story, good thing I didn't lose a library book.........Phew!

Me Surfing

Blurry surfing video of me on a mushy day via Briar's person.

When I first met Hubby, before we were married, I took him to a fairly large family gathering. He fit in pretty well, I guess. He's still here, right?

Anyways, at one point during the party, he was eavesdropping on a conversation between a couple of my uncles.

"Wendy is a really great surfer," says Uncle #1.

"Yep, she sure is," says the other Uncle.

Hubby, always eager to participate, joined the conversation.

"Have either of you ever seen Wendy surf?" asks Hubby.

"Nope," they both answered. "But she's real good."

I guess they both figured with as much as I surf, I must be pretty good. Gotta love family.

Anyways, I'm not the best surfer in the world, or the worst. But most of time, I'm the surfer having the most fun. And to someone who has a lot of yellow in her aura, fun is the most important thing, ever. Weeeeeeee!

And while fun, isn't making me any money, it does help lighten up some of the atmospheric pressure, down here on Planet Earth, making the world a lighter place to live.

I do what I can..........

Getting Organized.....

Some people are gifted in the skill of organizing. They say things like, "it makes me happy when everything is organized," or "I actually like doing it."

I like doing it, too, just not when it comes to organizing........

The problem, for me, with organizing is, where do I start? There are so many areas in the house, the car, etc, that are in disarray, I get overwhelmed, scattered, and I end up organizing, nothing.

But last week, I decided I can't go on living in this clutter, and I've made a serious commitment. Internet, are you ready to hear what it is?

Okay, then.

I'm committing a whopping five minutes a day to tidying up around the house, aside from laundry, dishes, and bathing, except for lazy days.

Now five minutes, probably doesn't sound like much to the Queen of Clean, but once I get going I seem to last a lot longer, than five minutes.

Wide Open Sugarland

Sugarland made "Wide Open," for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I've watch quite a bit of the Olympics this year, but somehow I missed this song. Good thing I have youtube! Video on demand.

Sticky Bumps Day Glo Wax

Art work by Briar's person using day glo surf wax. Impressive!

There's is nothing like a fresh coat of wax, to make an old surfboard feel like new, again. But a wax job with day glo wax, makes an old board, unreal!

Table For One

"Waiter, I'm ready to order," says Penny Pelican.

Vicious

As if Gio's word, "No!" wasn't enough to get his point across to me, he made sure to spell it out in crayon. Today's 4 year olds have an advanced degree in stubborness.

Kelly Slater

Tonto and Kelly Slater

Tonto knows a giant yellow aura when he sees one. By the way, dogs love people with yellow auras cause they're so fun!

Fixing the Bed

Knock, knock, knock raps a sleepy Gio on our bedroom door.

"Daddy what are you doing in there?" asks Gio.

"Fixing the bed," says Hubby. "What does it sound like?"

"Sounds like you're jumping on the bed," laughs Gio.

Thank goodness for locks.............

Surfing With Kelly Slater

1st time I saw Kelly Slater surf, Trestles, California, 1990.
He was mind blowing!


Eight days ago I tweeted this:

Last year I interviewed Kelly Slater http://bit.ly/6LODbS @ the AT&T at Pebble Beach. This year it'd be fun to surf with him in the ocean
9:38 AM Feb 5th from web

So, this morning when I heard Kelly Slater himself, surfed my home break last night I was mad, and then sad. Apparently, none of my friends thought to call me.

Or if they did, "it was too good to get out of the water to call you, sorry."

Now I have to live vicariously through those who got to surf with him.

"Slater paddled straight out through impact zone, instead of paddling out in the channel," says my friend.

My friend went on, "Then, when he got out to the lineup, Slater said, 'That was a hard paddle out.'"

"Then a crazy wave came right to him, he took off, and got barreled," says my friend. "When Slater paddled back out he says 'I just got a sick barrel,'"

My other friend commented on Slater's barrel, "it was the best barrel I've ever seen ridden here."

Apparently, Slater took off on a seemingly, unmakeable wave, pulled into the barrel, pumped several times through a close-out section, and magically came out.

Somehow I'm not surprised, and a little disappointed I didn't get to see it with my own eyes...........

Overall, the guys had a great time surfing with him. Lucky sons of guns.

Sandboarding

Californians are resourceful and they like to have fun. These kids were on the beach one evening, having a blast. And we had a great time watching!

No snow, no problem!

Kelly Slater AT&T 2010 Pro/Am Pebble Beach

We didn't find 9 time world surfing champ Kelly Slater, at the 2010 AT&T Pro/Am in Pebble Beach, yesterday.  Mainly, because I went surfing and we arrived after he finished golfing.   

But on the bright side, we did find this amazing tide pool, went on a few bus rides, and ate a churro!  All in all, a successful day, especially since Mama surfed.

After all, it wasn't a hard choice, deciding between surfing and watching a surfer play golf.

Princess and the Pea

I feel something hard in my bed, and I can't get to sleep," says Nadia the Dog.

Perfect Lineup

With a perfect set up like this, it's no wonder everyone in Santa Cruz, surfs .

Surfers Don't Watch Football?

"Hey, let's go to Santa Cruz and surf, while everyone is watching the Superbowl," I say to my surfing bff.

"Okeeeeeee!" she says.

"It's gonna be soooooooooooo goooooooooooooooooood, and no one is gonna be there," I say.

Too bad everyone else had the same idea.............Oh well, we still managed to get some fun waves. Woot!

Wheelchair Fun

I felt like a spy taking this picture.

Vinny's Ankle Update: The radiologist saw "something" on the xray, that's probably "nothing," but could still be something. Our amazing pediatrician is getting us into an orthopedic doc on Monday, to be sure.

Love, love, love that woman! And not just cause she's an awesome doctor, makes us laugh, looks in my ears, beats me in ping pong, and gives us treats.

As for how Vinny is feeling, he's laying low per his pediatrician's instructions, which were "stay off the ankle, watch tons of TV and play loads of video games."

She gave Vinny crutches, which he is getting around on pretty well. Though he was sad he couldn't bring the wheelchair home.

Honestly, I'm a little sad about that, too. It would have been fun to try the wheelchair at the skatepark.....

Sunset for my Tweeps

Look who I bumped into on my way to the grocery store. The sunset. Imagine that!

Lazy Saturday

I was the last one out of bed on Saturday. And this is the perfect scene I got up to. Love that my boys are readers.

On The Bench

Nay Nay Love good for the soul, good for the ankle.

After eight straight years of bouncing off the walls, Vinny injured his ankle. It's a wonder this didn't happen sooner?

He even passed up Friday morning breakfast at the Wagon Wheel to stay home because his ankle, "hurt too much to walk." I know he's not faking it, when he skips his weekly restaurant treat with Hubby and his buddies.

Luckily, I have Nay Nay the Cat to help out with all my doctor duties. She's a real healer with a lot more patience than I. She's truly amazing! Trust me anyone who can sit between Vinny and Gio, at foot level, for more than a few minutes, has the tolerance of a saint.

Oh and as for Gio, he wasn't about to pass up a chance to stay home and have a T.V. day.

"I feel a little sick," feigns Gio.

Believing Is Seeing

"Hey check out that rainbow!" I say to another surfer.

"What?" he asks. "I don't see any rainbow."

"Right there, it's kind of hard to see, but it's there," I say.

"Wendy are you on something?" he wonders not seeing the rainbow.

"No, I'm not on anything," I say. "But you probably don't see auras or energy fields around people either, so don't feel too bad."

Perception Is 9/10ths of My Reality

I find my life flows much easier when I focus on the three legs I do have, rather than the one leg that is missing.

Sunset for my Tweeps

The sun went awol behind the clouds, again. He really has commitment issues.

The Lovely Bones

My movie club, went to see The Lovely Bones this past weekend. The movie is based on Alice Sebold's novel, of the same title.

Fortunately, one of the movie club members inspired me to re-read the book before seeing the movie. Thank goodness! I remembered all of three things from the book, two of which could be learnt from the back cover.

If ya haven't read the book, and enjoy reading, I highly recommend it. It's a powerful story and suggests there is a life after death. And the life after death is dictated by the choices we make, which sounds just like the life before death, right?

But onto the movie. I thought they did an awesome job staying true to the novel! Yes, some parts were left out and the time line was different, but many details were exactly the same.

That said, I don't feel as if I would have understood and appreciated, the movie as well, if I hadn't read the book. Many of the details from the book were, but subtleties in the movie.

Overall, the movie nailed the book!

Oh and as for the movie club, which I haven't mentioned before, since it was just created. We have one rule, if there isn't a movie for the book we can't read it. Though, maybe we can get our hands on the script?

Sunset

The sun was playing hard to get tonight, hiding behind some clouds. But I still got me a little somethin', somethin'.