Getting Ready to Live a Dream :)

OK, so I'm turning 30 this year (gasp!), and I'm getting to live a dream. Since I was a little girl I've wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo. You are all about to see why...

Home Sweet Away from Home - Weekend in SA

Procrastinator that I've become, I didn't pack until Friday morning, when I was supposed to be leaving. I couldn't believe how much stuff I brought; I used to be rather proud that I could travel efficiently, but I definitely looked like I was moving in with Laurie and Justin by the time I got done packing!

The journey always starts with the packing. Midget is not a fan of my suitcase, because she knows that means 99% of the time I'm leaving, and she's being left behind. Immediately when the suitcase came out of the closet, the whining started, and she was on my heels observing every movement I made with huge eyes.

Once I load up the car and come back in to tell her bye, she turns her head like a little kid and won't look at me - her version of a temper tantrum.

The drive to San Antonio was fabulous with no traffic or events outside of a few scattered showers and some minor traffic in Houston @ I-10 and 59. I got to SA around 3pm. My first stops? Scrapbook Cottage and Scrapbook 911. I mean - if I didn't have access to the Internet, I'd have nothing but the chain hobby stores to feed my expensive past-time! How cruel would that be? Anyway, I had a $10 credit at Scrapbook 911 from my previous exploits that I hadn't redeemed and plenty of time on my hands...which meant I had a bit less money left when I was done shopping.

Laurie and Justin were doing a family birthday celebration with their family for Justin's b-day, so I went to my old favorite Starbucks at the corner of West and NW Military to curl up with a book for a while. (Anyone that's interested, I finished all the Percy Jackson books now and I'm reading "Beautiful in God's Eyes" by Elizabeth George and continuing my Philippa Gregory books.) At 7pm I met up with David (whose Bible study buddies who were coming with us totally bailed on!!!), and we went to Azuca for some amazing food and salsa dancing - which is where we had his birthday party a few years ago. They had updated their menu, and I think it just keeps getting better. If I'd had my camera with me I think I would have taken pics of the food. It feels like a vacation restaurant; they put a lot of effort into the presentation as well. We danced until we were exhausted and couldn't stand the heat (the a/c isn't all that great in the place) and then walked around downtown. How I miss having a 'downtown' for one - and then having a place where you can just walk and stop in places just to see what's going on! I miss you SA!

I got to Laurie's about midnightish - navigating thanks to my iPod. We sat up and talked till about 2am until we had to force ourselves to bed. Poor Justin had drill all weekend so he didn't get to play with us on Saturday morning - which was a shame since we went to float the Guadalupe with Rockin' R. The river was fast and COLD! It was a huge shock getting in after standing in the heat to pay for 45 mins and sweating bullets (and all our sunscreen off). They told us at Rockin' R that we had to wear life vests because the water was moving at 180 cc per minute (or something to that effect where we nodded and said 'OK') or we'd get a fine from the county. Apparently there is a county ordinance when the river is that fast/high.

Well anyway, we survived all the rapids in our toobs without major incident - which is more than we can say for family in a raft that rammed a tree head-on and lost their life jackets and oars in the collision. The little kid in the boat hit something hard when they went down, because she came up screaming with a bloody nose. Fortunately, fellow toobers retrieved the scattered belongings that were floating and paddled to return them. At that point forward, they all wore their 'required' life jackets - which I don't think they had on prior to the collision.

Another interesting note - the cops on the river are mean! When we got to the long stretch between the rapids and the dam, they floated by in their little boat looking for reasons to write tickets to toobers. We asked about the life jackets, since several people weren't wearing them, and no one seemed to be getting ticketed. They said no one had told them to ticket for life jackets - so everyone started taking them off (they were a huge pain and made it very difficult to navigate the toobs - not to mention turn your head or move at all!). Then they proceeded to cite a group for having a cooler that was too big for that particular section of the river - like it's possible to do something about that while you're floating!?!? Rockin' R apparently rented them a cooler that was too big - which didn't seem right that the group could get cited when they thought they were rented an acceptable cooler. I mean, why would anyone question the acceptability of the cooler you were being rented for floating? Oh well. While they were getting ticketed though, the cops' boat decided to ram into Laurie and I - literally! First, he was steering to stick with the drunken cooler people and steered right into me with the motor on the boat - making some rude comment about it not being able to hurt me when I quickly pulled my legs into the toob to avoid contact with the propeller. (Like I wanted to stick my leg out and find out if it would or wouldn't mangle my outstretched appendage!?!) As we're dealing with that, one of the cooler group guys says, "Um, there's a tree" and Laurie barely had time to put her arm out before she rammed hard into the tree. The cop then says, 'Well that might hurt you' referring to the fact that the propeller wouldn't but his inability to navigate a boat with a motor might affect Laurie's consciousness. If she hadn't stuck her hand out, the back of her head would have hit pretty hard. If I'd had a way to report their badge numbers, I would have! They came and apologized about 15 mins later after they ticketed the other group - but never once asked if she was OK after the collision. The cooler people floated by and checked on us though.

The rest of the adventure went without incident. While we were waiting on the bus to get back to the car after the float, we learned that Rockin' R had lost about 32 of their vehicles in the flooding last month, which explained the long waits between the water exit and the transport back to the car. I guess I didn't realize how bad the river had been when I was hearing about the high water.

We went back to the house and showered. By that time Justin was home, and we decided that he, David, Laurie and I were going to go out to eat @ TGI Fridays and then we went to the movies to see "The A-Team." It was a good movie once I accepted the fact that Mr. T was not there to play his signature character.

Sunday's activities included church @ Castle Hills (and I LOVED having everyone hugging me and telling me 'Welcome Home' - I cried a lot that morning!) . After church, Laurie and I went to Chuy's and Fashion Bug (which could have been named that due to the infestation of crickets that were EVERYWHERE! Even inside the clothes on the racks!) We both bought a few things (they didn't charge for the crickets) and then went home to rest before Bible study. I got to see Devin, Khaliann and Elena (who is definitely up for the cutest girl in the world award) and Jennifer and Curt. After Bible study we ate at Incredible Pizza - and that pretty much ended the night's festivities. We went back to Laurie's and Justin's and sat and talked till late, and then I headed out this morning for a wonderfully quick drive thanks to the lack of early Monday morning traffic.

All in all, an AMAZING weekend! I took this photo on Friday, but it pretty much summed up the awesomeness of the whole weekend - though the photo doesn't do God's artwork justice. Thanks to J & L for letting me stay (and Justin for letting me have his wife for most of the weekend!) - and for everyone else I got to see and catch up with. I'll be back soon SA! Miss you!

The Baby Bird Story

Well, after the massive amounts of rain that we had last week, I awoke Thursday morning to find yet another bird nest in the front yard after the storms. Not unusual; I've lost count of the number of nests that have fallen out of the oak tree out front this summer. It's been a bad summer for bird housing. Midget and I find them all the time on our walks. Usually I leave them unless it'll be awhile before the yard guy comes. This one I had planned to leave, but I did have to walk by it to get the water hose so I could take care of the plants on the porch. I was quite surprised when a very large mouth popped up out of the mangled nest and began chirping away.

This is the first time I've found one of the nests on the ground with the residents still inside! I got closer for a look and started noticing the adult birds up in the trees making awful noises to deter me from eating their young. Turns out there were two little fledglings still in the nest who had amazingly survived the fall. So I had to figure out how to get them off the ground so the neighborhood cats wouldn't eat them. (I didn't want to have to rescue another injured one from a cat.) I'm quite thankful I have those coconut hanging baskets now! I scooped up the babies, nest and all, and put them in the basket, which I then hung in the tree.

I peeked in on them a few times on Thursday afternoon and Friday before I left to go visit Laurie and Justin (another blog entry to come), and the babies were doing great! I named them Icarus and Apollo (fell from the sky and I've been reading the Percy Jackson books).

I got back today and was sad to find an empty nest. I kinda figured they'd died and Mom had disposed of them so the bugs wouldn't be attracted to the yard. But I noticed the birds were still trying to keep me away from the tree, so I started looking in the bushes nearby - and sure enough, one of my babies had feathers on his wings (but was still bald and fuzzy up top) and was perched in the bushes!

I only saw one, but I think that both my babies survived and will fly off! I'm so glad that I had a few more babies survive the summer heat and the weather that has been destroying the nests this year :)

Certification - Check!

Well, the final dives are complete, and the test is taken. All that is left is for me to go to the shop tomorrow and take my pic for my license and sign my folder. Look out fishies - they let me in!

So Smith Lake - visibility stinks! Couldn't see two feet in front of me - even if my goggles hadn't been fogging up! I tried taking some pictures, but as you can see, there's not much use in this lake. This is Melissa just a foot or so from me. Not to mention it's in the midst of a trailer park. The manager came by and fussed cause we were 'all' apparently speeding...I don't think anyone actually was. And we saw a little boy peeing off the side of a cliff. Real classy place. Don't recommend anyone coming here for any reason other than getting certified. But it's true what they say - if you can learn to dive in Smith Lake, you can dive anywhere!

The best part is that I've lost almost 8 pounds this summer due to all the swimming! Must...keep...exercising! And I have a semi-tan line, that I'm sure will disappear in a few days.

Smith Lake Dive

Pre-Dive:
So due to some scheduling complications, instead of doing our open water dives this coming up weekend, we are doing them today and tomorrow! So in a few minutes I'll be heading out to Smith Lake (which makes me nervous considering the reviews I've read of the residents surrounding the dive site, who have epitomized what people think of when they think of Vidor, Texas - no offense to my family and friends who live there because I know better!) However, apparently this is the shady side of town.

That said, I will actually be deeper than the 'deep end' of the pool with limited visibility, so I'm very nervous. I know the skills and I've gained a lot of confidence in two days, but I still feel very uncoordinated and gangly (if that's the right word to use there). If something ridiculous and avoidable can go wrong, I will be the one to experience it! I'm leaving way early so I have time to make sure I end up at the right place! I'll post after I get back, and tack it on at the bottom. Wish me luck!

Post-Dive:
Well, I didn't drown! Yay for me! Didn't get any pictures, considering we could hardly see each other! We dove to roughly 20 feet, which is pretty much the deepest Smith Lake gets. We went to one of the sunken boats, and I think we interrupted lunch time for two small mouth bass - we swam through a school of minnows. (Of course, my first thought was BAIT!) At the surface we had a perch follow us up while we were talking about lunch - guess he thought he'd join us! We're going to feed them tomorrow with flour tortillas! (Not the Texas Tech kind though!)

Tomorrow is the final dive using the compass and the written test, then, provided I pass, of course, I'll get my C card :) Then it'll be time to find some dive buddies. Anyone in SA up for TrashFest in the Comal in October?

Scuba Day 2

Tomorrow we do our open water dives in Smith Lake - eeekk! I think I'm the dunce of the class - being so uncoordinated and graceless. However, I have not drowned, and I do much better under than above the water anyway, which is the point after all I guess :)

The sunburn cleared up and tanned overnight thanks to some tanning bed lotion which pulled the heat out. So I can claim a 'tan' keeping in mind that my 'tan' is most people's natural color :)

I did much better today. I went early for some 'tutoring' and Anne and Budd (the instructors) helped me work on my weights and buoyancy more. I can't believe how hard it is to sink! But I'm very thankful I've been swimming at the YMCA here in Port Arthur because it's really helped me build a lot of strength under the water. Just wish the chlorine didn't pull all the moisture out of my skin 'cause it feels yucky for a while till I can get hydrated again.

Still, it's fun! We took some pictures today and played in the pool and tomorrow I'll bring the camera to the lake and take some pictures too.

Scuba Lessons Day One

K - so it's hard to remember to breathe underwater at first, but I think I've taken to it somewhat well. It's very dry air - worse than sleeping with your mouth open and finding your throat dry. Not that it can't be fixed with a little saliva, but still takes some getting used to. I have had to add more weight than even some of the larger guys in the class - I somehow float no matter what! Guess that's probably a pretty good thing in an emergency though :) So far we're learning all our skills in the confined dive area (aka - a swimming pool). There are 5 of us in the course - 3 of us are new, 1 is taking the course as a refresher, and another has been on controlled dives at resorts but isn't completely certified. It's a fun group to be with, and we've all hit it off quickly. Anne and Allen, our instructors at Scuba Brothers, are great!

It's also VERY tiring, but I didn't notice I was tired till after I'd showered and dried off at home. (I also didn't notice that my shoulders are the same color as my bright red swimsuit - despite the 4 coatings of SPF 75). Looks like I'll be diving in a shirt tomorrow :) Fortunately it does not hurt at all, so possibly the red will go down a lot. My face hurts yet received no burn - weird.

The course I'm taking, for those who are interested is the PADI Open Water Diver certification, so basically it means that I can dive in the recommended depths as long as I have ready access to the surface (hence open water).

We'll be diving in Smith Lake (in Vidor, where I was a teacher's aide while getting my cert) once we are ready for the open water dives...apparently there will be some interesting things down there. I hope to be able to bring my camera and take some pictures :) I've been told one of the exercises we do is see who can find the most golf balls in the water...interesting... We shall see :)