Blessed

I may not have all the riches in the world. But I feel blessed, that on my way home, upon seeing there's going to be an amazing sunset, I can be at the beach in minutes, soaking up heaven's awe inspiring canvas. Now if I could just remember my camera.

Doodling

I haven't surfed in four days! So I've pretty much been sitting around doodling my wet dreams.

Skating Party

It wasn't that I didn't want to take Gio to his first ever roller skating party, at the same rink I skated in, as a kid. No. The problem was, his party would interfere with my ability to sit on the couch, in my pajamas, all day long.

However, guilt got the better part of me, and off to the shower I marched, to get ready for the par-tay. Since Gio had no previous roller skating experience, I assumed the party would be a complete disaster.

We arrived 30 minutes late, about the time, it seemed everyone else showed up, too. Yay! I'm not the only one who follows the rule, "arrive late, leave early," for kid parties.

When we walked into the rink, we were immediately instructed to, "go get skates in the back."

As I laced up his skates, Gio confidently sang, "this is going to be so easy."

"Don't worry kid, I'll peel you up off the floor, when you fall down," I thought to myself.

I offer to hold his hand as we walk over to the practice area, but he insists, "I can do it myself!"

And he could, but we were still on the carpet.

He agreed to hold my hand when we got to the practice area, but only for a three or four passes.

He wasn't exactly gliding on the skates. However, he was happy clunking along the hardwood floor, and therefore, so was I.

At the end of the day he joyously claimed, "I only fell ten times!"

He wasn't bothered one bit by any of the wipe outs, though, on one occasion, he asked, "did you bring my knee pads?"




I, on the other hand, was tormented by the noise. The mobs of happy people, and the mysterious smoke.

"They must be burning frozen pizzas in those toaster ovens," I thought to myself.

"Why is this place so smoky?" I ask another Mom.

"Smoke?" The Mom asks confused. "No, they don't allow smoking here."

"Don't you see the smoke," I say, wondering why she thinks I'm talking about cigarrette smoke?

"Yes............I see it, but I don't smell smoke," The Mom says.

"Well, you probably don't smell smoke because you've gotten used to it," I say.

"Used to it?" The Mom asks perplexed. "Nobody smokes at home."

Again, with the cigarette smoke? I'm talking about toaster oven kitchen smoke, lady. Maybe she's a closet smoker, the way she keeps going back to cigarrettes.

"No, I mean used to smelling smoke, here, for the last 30 minutes," I clarify.

"Oh right," The Mom says and walks away.

"Hmmmm, maybe it isn't smoke, afterall. "Maybe it's mist!"

"Do you think they have a mist machine here?" I ask a Dad feebily.

"Chaaaa, yeah," he says, in the cool sea turtle voice from Finding Nemo.



Upon hearing his words, I could breathe better. My smoke inhalation headache was gone in a flash of, er, mist. I quit fretting over how I would remove the smoke smell from my favorite purple jacket.

"Mom, can we go back to the skating rink tomorrow?" Gio asks.

"Oh no," I say.

Even guilt can't make me do that two days in a row.

Hershey's Chocolate Syrup

"It's yucky!" shouts Gio, from the kitchen.

"Just eat it," says Hubby.

I was eavesdropping from my bathroom hideout. I didn't have to be in the room to know it was time to intervene.

"You tried to give him Silk Soy Nog with his cereal?" I ask walking into the kitchen. "Gross."

"We're out of regular soy milk," explains Hubby.

"Well, I hope you warned him before you gave him soy nog, in his cereal," I say.

"I told him, and that's probably why he wouldn't eat it," Hubby theorizes.

"Oh trust me, he would have known," I say.

But while we were "discussing" the issue, Gio was rummaging through the fridge, searching for an alternative solution.

"Look!" exclaims Gio, licking his lips. "I can have Hersheys with my cereal!"

Confessions Of A Shopaholic

Now on DVD and Netflix Instant Viewing.

Me, laughing out loud.

"Hey what are you watching?" asks Hubby.

"Confessions of a Shopaholic," I say
"It looks funny," says Hubby.

"It is," I say.

"Well, how come we aren't watching it together?" he asks.

"I don't know," I say. "You looked busy?"

"Wait a second," he hesitates. "Are they shopping?

"Yes," I say, hoping to get rid of my interruption.

"Never mind," he says.

Whatever. It isn't as if I like shopping.

But I'd give it four out of five surfboards for it's humorous slapstick comedy.

The movie is adapted from the Shopaholic book series by Sophie Kinsella, which I haven't read. The leading lady, Isla Fisher, is charming and physically comical in a Lucille Ball kind of way. A light movie, that is laugh out loud funny, who can go wrong with that? Probably, not even the most macho anti-shoppers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A perfect song, Thankful, by Mary Mary, for the holiday. Music is the meditation.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I'm so glad I don't live in place where it gets really cold because I'm
f-f-f-frezing! I don't think the temperature made it past 50 degrees today, which on paper isn't terribly cold, right?

Surfing wasn't too bad, until I got out of the water. In fact, I kept paddling back out to catch "one more wave," just to avoid the cold while changing out of my wetsuit, into clothes. When the water is in the low 50s, yet feels warmer than the air, I know I'm in hypothermic trouble.

"Is it cold out there?" asks a tourist as I get to my car, dripping wet, hands burning from the cold air.

"Not as cold as it is up here," I answer, through chattering teeth.

"Well, I know it's got to be colder out there," she says to me in disbelief.

"Sure lady," I say to myself.

There wasn't any point in arguing with her, since it wasn't going to make me any warmer.

Lucky Custard

Some lucky surfer has the surf and sunrise all to himself. Until I paddle out, anyways. Good thing I know how to take turns.

T-Shirt War by Rhett and Link

"Blah, blah, blah," says Hubby.

"Uh, huh," I say.

"Well, don't you think it's true?" asks Hubby.

"Yeah, I'm not really listening to you because I'm trying to come up with a blog," I say.

"You should post a Rhett and Link video," suggests Hubby.

"Yeah, but if I post their video then I'm going to have to write about how you have a man crush on them," I warn.

"That's okay, they're video mastermind geniuses!" shouts Hubby.

"Wow, you really do have a man crush on them," I say.

"They even have Rhett and Link shoes that you can buy," says Hubby. "I'm gonna buy a pair."

"Uh, huh," I say.

"Have you seen their latest and greatest pillow video?" says Hubby star struck. "Doo, do you remember back in middle school......" sings Hubby.

"Wait a second, you know the words to their song?" I ask incredulous.

The Bad Girl

The Bad Girl by Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa is a saucy, dysfunctional love story. And honestly, who doesn't love that, especially when it involves someone else's life?

The book starts out in the 60s and spans through the 80s of and on-and-off love affair between the saint-like good boy and the materialistic bad girl, taking place in Peru, Spain, but mainly in Paris.

The novel more than makes up for it's heady Peruvian revolutionary ideas with plenty of sensual love scenes. Though Ricardo, who provides the narrative, goes through a roller coaster ride with the bad girl over decades of her literally cuming and going, I found the story touching and endearing.

Apparently, The Bad Girl, has a similar storyline to Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, which I just download for FREE from Amazon on my kindle app for droid. I am going to read it, to see if The Bad Girl is a blatant rip off of the 1856 novel. The book was considered obscene at the time it came out, so who knows, I may even enjoy it.

While the relationship between Ricardito and the Bad Girl is one, I would never want to be in myself, I highly enjoyed reading about their cyclical attractions and repulsions, which are akin to what it must be like to split an atom.

I found myself talking to the Bad Girl, "Noooooo, don't leeeeeeeeeave. Why can't you be happy with a nice guy? That gangster is just going to make you his sex slave."

But, alas, she never listened to me.

My heart ached and I shed tears for the ever loyal Ricardito, who was the Bad Girl's personal yo-yo. Ricardo never knew what to expect next from the Bad Girl, who reinvented herself, more times than Madonna.

While the Bad Girl is oh so bad, she is likeable, not unlike a stray animal who longs for connection, yet never gets close enough to be touched. She has many redeeming qualities, in and out of the bedroom, though her free spirit causes her to take flight and not necesarily to greener pastures.

Oh Bad Girl, why you gotta be so bad?

Jennifer Nettles Surprises Fan

My friend sent me a text last night:

Jennifer was on the Nate Berkus Show today.

Then I googled, "Jennifer Nettles Nate Berkus watch."

At first I was disappointed with the results, "Jennifer Nettles surprises fan."

"That's not very exciting," I thought to myself.

But being the exceptionally open minded person I am, I watched the video anyways. To my surprise the clip was touching, sweet and it brought tears to my eyes. I love it when people are nice.

Nate Berkus is such a cutie. And by now, I believe everyone knows how I feel about Little Miss Nettles, who is shockingly taller than Nate.

Carry On My Wayward Son Kansas

Gio and I are singing along to "Carry On My Wayward, Son."

"Don't you cry, don't you cry no moooooore," we sing.

Then Gio gets creative and starts ad libbing his own lyrics, which, unfortunately, were autobiographical only five minutes before.

"Don't you cry no more, like I was," sings Gio.

Isn't that the great thing about kids? One minute, they're driving us crazy, and the next minute they're cracking us up, which I'm sure accounts for the survival of our species.

Mishka The Talking Dog

Meet Mishka the talking Husky, you're gonna love her.

Dancing With The Stars Conspiracy

For years, I've been hearing my Mom rave about Dancing With The Stars.
How so and so is the best dancer ever, and on and on and on.

Just Tuesday night she was text message voting. She voted five times.

"Mom you text message vote for contestants on Dancing With The Stars?" I ask incredulous.

"Yes, all the time," she says. "I want them to win."

Then, Wednesday, My Mom says, "I'm boycotting Dancing With The Stars."

"What?" I ask in shock. "Did Jennifer Grey get voted off? I ask.

No," says My Mom. "Brandi! That Bristol Palin should have been the one to go. Sarah Palin is never going to win the election now. People are going to be mad."

Uh, right Mom because you were going to vote for Sarah Palin until the
Dancing With The Stars fiasco? I don't think so. There's only one group who can be blamed for this injustice. The tea baggers!

Then I ask a revealing question, "Mom, who did you vote for?"

"Kyle Massey and Jennifer Grey," she answers. "Brandi was so good, I didn't think she needed my vote," she says with regret.

Mom, don't worry it's not your fault the best dancer is off the show, it's the blind, achoooTEABAGoooooo voters.

And that Internet is the exact reason I boycott American Idol, the wrong people get voted off the show, and that just isn't right. But the real question is, will my Mom watch the Dancing With The Stars finale?????? My money says she won't be able to resist.

Though I don't want to be in the room if "white girl who can't dance," wins.

Da da da. Stay tuned.

Surf Laundry Detergent

This almost makes me want to do laundry.

Like A Dream

I can't remember how the waves were on this dawn patrol surf morning. Lately, I've been surfing so much, 26 out of the last 30 days, all my surf sessions are blending together.

It's actually easier to remember the days I haven't surfed. Woot! :)

Gwenyth Paltrow On Glee

Hollywood is going crazy with it's marketing schemes, again. First, Gwenyth Paltrow goes country on last week's Country Music Awards with the song, "Country Strong," from the movie of the same title. And she sounded pretty good live, with some help from Vince Gill, which is more than I can say for some folks. "Country Strong," doesn't come out until January 7, 2011, so it looks like they're ahead of schedule.

Next, Paltrow is appearing on this week's episode of Glee as a substitute teacher, Holly Holiday, for Will Schuester. Paltrow trades the twang for some teeny bop pop, performing Cee-Lo's "F*&k You," cleaned up to, "Forget You," sounds the same right?

Here's a sneak peak of her upcoming performance.

I love the following lines from the upcoming Glee episode:

"Excuse me, what would you know about Cee-Lo cause you're like 40," quips Santana.

"Top forty, sweet cheeks," retorts Holly Holiday (Paltrow).

Turns out 40 is pretty hot, I know I'm loving my forties. However, Paltrow is a ripe young 38-year-old in real life.

Who knew Paltrow would have the ability to make me get up and dance?! I guess being married to the Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, is rubbing off on her. She probably isn't going to win a grammy, but she's entertaining.

If you're only going to watch one video watch the one below, y'all, it's full of fun.

Oil Change

After.

Look at my new surfboard, Internet! Er, uh, wait a second. That's not a new surfboard, it's a new coat of wax on an old board. There's nothing like a new wax job, to make an old surfboard look and feel brand new.


Before.

There must have been five pounds of wax on my board. Oh my goodness, it's going to feel so light and fast tomorrow morning. I hope there's waves? Pant, pant. :p


Base Coat Beads of Glory.

Your Stuff Is My Stuff Too

"Mom, can I wear your glasses?" asks Gio.

"Sure," I say.

5 Minutes Later.

"Thanks for giving me these glasses FOREVER," says Gio. "I love how they make everything pink!"

"Hold up," I say. "I said you could wear them, not have them."

"But you have two pairs!" whines Gio. (Insert moderate tantrum.)

5 Minutes Later.

He then proceeds to offer me a deal, "Here's two quarters, now you have to give me some kind of glasses."

5 Minutes Later.

My Mom gets in the car, eyes the sunglasses, and says, "Hey, those are cute glasses!"

"Uh huh," I say.

"Let me try them on," says my Mom.

5 Minutes Later.

We're driving down the road, to drop my Mom off at home, and she says, "I like these glasses, can I have them?"

"Yeah, sure," I say, though I was nervous Gio was going to freak out that I wouldn't give him the sunglasses.

I hoped he wouldn't notice her getting out of the car with the sunglasses on, but he never misses even the smallest detail.

"Uh, Nana, you forgot to take off the glasses," says Gio.

"No, I'm keeping them," says My Mom.

I thought he'd start screaming his head off, about the injustice of it all, and how life isn't fair, but all he said was, "Okay."

I Heart My Vet

If someone had told me 20 years ago that I'd be married to a United States Army Veteran, I would have said, a host of things, and none of them nice.

I was fairly liberal back in my college days, and I still am. I demand love not war. When I met Hubby, not only was I un-impressed he graduated from West Point, I didn't even know what West Point was.

Though, in my mind I envisioned a reeling left- hand point break wave, peeling for miles. And I probably lost interest in the West Point topic after he answered my question of, "Any surf at West Point? " with a disappointing, "No. "

Now while I knew nothing about West Point, I have to say everyone else did. They all thought it was a pretty big deal, and this helped Hubby's courting case A LOT. People, whether I knew them or not, liked to tell me about how hard it was, "Just to get into that school!"

"He had to get recommended by a Member of Congress, you know," they would all tell me.

The notion that he might have to kill people, somehow, did not stop me from falling madly in love with Mr. Officer, who was also a fine gentlemen, indeed. I was so crazy about him I even went out in public one day wearing his sweatshirt, just to feel close to him while we were apart.

"Oh my goodness," says a lady in line at the bank. "Did your husband go to USMA (pronounced use-ma)? So did mine!"

Where would she get an idea like that I wondered? And why does she think I have a husband? (We were not married at the time.)

"No, " I say slowly. "Then I spew out, full of pride, "he went to West Point, " which I was sure had to be waaaaaay better than Use-Ma, whatever that was?

"Hmphf, " she says looking straight down her nose, shooting laser beams through her eyes. "Use-Ma IS West Point, " she says while pointing at the letters on his sweatshirt, I was wearing.

U-S-M-A. Short for United States Military Academy, pronounced Use-Ma, also known as West Point.

Oooops.

Happy Birthday Love!

Birthdays should fall on the weekend,  or other non-work days.   Today is Stefan's birthday, so at least he has tomorrow off.   We could totally stay up and party all night.

But we're both ready for bed,  so that's probably not going to happen.   Besides,  I'm sure King Neptune will be serving up some tasty nuggets bright and early tomorrow morning. 

And. Ocean knows I wouldn't want Hubby to miss great waves the day after his birthday. It must be rough being married to a dedicated surfer girl, who's always dreaming of her next ride.

Happy birthday Stefan.  I love you!  

Stayin' Alive Sugarland

I would say Jennifer Nettle's yellow aura is stayin' alive in a bright and shiny kind of way. Nettles doesn't take herself too seriously, and she obviously knows how to have fun. A girl after my own heart!

I think my disco Mama is going to like this one.

Hair Pottys

"Gio why is your hair wet?" I ask.

"Because Dad wiped his hands on me, after we went potty," explains Gio.

Well, all righty, then. If I was on the fence about the whole "Dads parent different than Moms," issue I'm not anymore.

I would only resort to that tactic, if, I ran out of hair products. Which due to my addiction to gel, hairspray, molding paste, and the like, would never happen.

And speaking of hair products check out this video that says castor oil doubles hair growth, is cheaper than the hair growth pills and will make you smell like a car salesman. #random

Normal Beer

We are sitting around the table, the boys are eating ice cream post-dinner.

"We need root beer!" shrieks Vinny. "If we had root beer we could make root beer floats!"

"Do you even like root beer?" I ask, knowing his historic distaste for soda of any kind.

"Yeah, I like it," answers Vinny. "Er, wait, I've never tried it."

"What about you, Gio, have you ever tried root beer?" I ask innocently.

"Well," he says holding up his hands, "I've tried normal beer."

Kelly Slater Wins 10th World Surfing Title

I remember the first time I saw Kelly Slater surf in person. He was pulling into barrels, and pulling off airs at Trestles in 1990. Slater was blowing and inspiring minds on the beach.

Twenty years later, he's still doing the same thing, at 38 years young. Some people say he isn't the best surfer in the world, but when I think about it, who else comes close to this freak of nature?

He's surfing better than ever, and have you seen his body lately? Hotty boom ba lotty. The dude is fit and flexible. A winning combination, apparently.

Congratulations to the champ on his 10th World Surfing Title. And even in all his greatness he's pretty humble and still has time to high five little kids, and say hello to a dog.

Updated: Saturday November 6, 10:45 a.m.

Kelly Slater on winning his 10th World Title:

"I just want to send my condolences to Andy's (Irons) family. If it wasn't for him (spurring me on competitively) I wouldn't be here, right now. I want to dedicate this win to Andy."

Surf, Surf, Surf

I have a feeling, these people (in the video) would sing for free. Which is exactly how I feel about surfing. I would totally surf for free. Uh, Wait a second. Actually, I already do surf for free, so never mind.

When I tell people, I surf, pretty much everyday, waves and schedule willing, the response I get is, "do you compete or something?"

"No," I say. "I don't even like contests. All that waiting around to surf, avoiding over surfing, so my arms don't turn to jell-o mid-heat. I'd rather just go surf, until my arms fall off."

I love surfing as much today, as the first time I caught a wave over 24 years ago. And even though it may never make me rich, it makes me happy. Though it may send me to rehab, for the more I surf, the more I want to surf. Surfing is my crack.

Surfing gets me in my body, and in the moment. Surfing is my workout and my meditation. Without waves, life on this planet would be so much harder for me. I feel blessed to have surfing and lucky to have the TIME, and live in a place that allows me to dance on water daily.

I know surfing isn't for everyone. But if I could have one wish it would be for everyone to have their own version of surfing, whether it be music, acting, art, gardening, they can escape to on a regular basis.

Everyone deserves to play everyday. Having fun isn't just for kids, and it may be the true fountain of youth. An activity shouldn't have to bring a person monetary gain, to have value and importance.

0:-)

There's An App For That

Sure there's an app for that. But is there an app that will clean my house, and do the laundry, while I surf?

Andy Irons R.I.P 1978-2010

Yesterday 4:12 p.m. I receive a text message:

"Sucks, A.I. just died."

"Andy Irons?" I reply.

"Yeah."

At first I thought it was just one of those Internet death rumors. But when I read online at tmz.com Andy Irons passed away from dengue fever, a viral infection, in a hotel in Dallas, Texas far away from any ocean, I figured it was true. Any rumor would have romanticized his death in giant surf, not alone in some inland hotel.

Andy Irons, 32, 3x World Surfing Champion, lion heart competitor, and the only one who ever gave Kelly Slater any real competition has left Planet Earth prematurely. Andy leaves behind a pregnant wife, Lyndie, a child he will never know, parents, a brother, friends, and countless fans.

In 2010, Andy was granted a wild card for the surfing world tour. He even won The Tahiti Pro in September of this year. He was making a successful comeback.

My impression of Andy in a recent magazine interview was, he was working on coming to terms with himself. An honorable endeavor, in my opinion, and never an easy one.

I hope he has found peace. God bless all the loved ones he leaves behind, much too soon, especially the child who will never know his father.

Election Day November 2, 2010

"Honey, can I use a purple pen on my absentee ballot?" I ask.

"Nooooooooooooo, you cannot use a purple pen," answers Hubby laughing. "Here's a black pen."

Sure, ruin all the fun. Purple is my favorite color. Who made up that rule, anyways? A grown up who forgot how to have fun, probably. And the same person who said, "this is serious kids."

Yeah, right, we all know politics is the oldest game in the world.

Giants Win 2010 World Series

Gio, as Brian Wilson, aka, Fear The Beard.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!" screams Hubby. "THE GIANTS WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

This is the first world series win for the Giants in San Francisco. Good job guys. Though I was hoping for a closer series. Love me some Giants torture. Check out this Giants tribute video. It's hilarious and inspiring.