Fun with water

I generally like to think of myself as strong, at least for a girl. Especially since I have to take care of things myself by default. I'm not intimidated by moving furniture, or trying to carry all my groceries at once so I only have to make a single trip from my car, or hefting my own suitcases cleanly up and down my apartment stairs even when they're at or over the 50-pound airline check limit. Piece of cake. Yesterday afternoon was another story, or so my muscles are now telling me...

My church didn't have an evening service this week, and Janet, who lives on a lake, invited over anyone who wanted to come enjoy the water in the afternoon. It was really fun! Candi and I took our first spins out on the jet ski together and managed not to maim or throw each other, even when switching drivers several times in the middle of the lake, so I think it was a success. The second person gets a bumpier ride, so Candi wanted to try it with 3 (there are "spots" for 3, but we soon found that would be a bit optimistic), so later Brian, Candi and I took a spin with her on the back and me driving. It was going well for a while until I was feeling a little adventurous with my turning, and we all looked one way at a house and I happened to turn at the same time--the tipping couldn't have happened more cleanly if I'd tried! At least it was a good opportunity to switch drivers. :)

Janet's daughters and their friend thought it would be fun to see what fish they could catch off the dock and enlisted anyone and everyone's help unhooking them every few minutes. I took my turn for a while, but decided I was done when one of them lost his cookies all over (technically the bait was hot dog, but that wasn't all he was tossing onto the deck...). It was hilarious when they caught a gar fish later because they kept shrieking every time it flip flopped, or when Tim held it close to them (with a death grip) for Janet to take a picture. I think a few photos will probably turn out, although from the looks on their faces, you'd think Jaws was being held in front of them!

Somewhere in the middle there, Janet's brother took the boat out to go tubing. (A brief interjection for my parents--this is not the tube kiting which you saw on the news about recent safety warnings). Normally, I have a bit of a fear of water since I can't actually swim, only back float, but for some reason I become exceedingly adventurous with a life jacket, so I thought I'd go out. Of course, I also happily volunteered to not be among the first 3 to take a turn on the tube itself, so I could see if there were any tricks. The first lesson I was taught is when in the boat waiting for riders to get back on the tube, always ask if they're ready to go while they're still trying to climb back on because their panicked "No! No!" is so much funnier that way! Other than that, tubing is pretty much holding on for dear life and laughing between shrieks and water sprays and bouncing over the wake. And another big tip is to wear a life jacket that fits--much easier to keep your head above water when it lifts you, instead of shifting 4 inches above your shoulders (the perfect distance to get a nose full of water). Since I speak from experience on that last point, I'm sure you can already guess that I fell off. Technically that's not an uncommon thing--everyone was falling off left and right, although Chad and Tiffany showed some admirable fortitude.

But finally, I circle around to my original point. Groceries? Easy-peasy. Loaded suitcases? Child's play. Attempting to anchor myself on a bobbing, inflatable apparatus while being pulled across the water, then taking a dunk and trying to float with a shifty life jacket while concentrating on breathing the water out rather than farther in, and then pulling my oh-so-not-petite frame out of the water for both the tubing and jet ski dunkings...that I would put in the more challenging category. Still managed it. Although grace and style points may not have been 10's. So my torso muscles have been chatting with me all day with occasional gripes, but it was such a fun time that I can easily tell them to shush and give them a few days before I demand anything else. I'll feed them a line about it being a learning experience and see what I can coax out of them in the form of improvement next time. You never know!

Mustard (as it relates to the "Catch up" spot)

Another huge perk of my recent northern venture was getting to cuddle with Ian again. Rich and Heather drove out a day early from WI so I got to spend some extra time with my adorable nephew. He's growing so fast! Don't you just love those cheeks? :) More pics to be posted on Ian's page soon!

I also packed in lots of catching up with friends and family, including a fabulous evening downtown with friends attending a really fun musical called Wicked, an alternate back-story to the Wizard of Oz. I actually got to see it in New York as well, and there is simply no comparison to a Broadway event, but it was still very well done and I laughed even harder at all the hilarious parts that touched me the first time around.

The rest of the time, I was working a lot. Funny how there's always more of that to do! But I got to go for a ride in my boss' Mini Cooper (fun!), which was surprisingly roomy, as long as I was sitting in the front seat. And work paid for a rental car, although I accidentally got an upgrade due to a combination of the desk clerk's mumbling and my vacuous smiling and nodding. Although I'll have to pay for it personally, I didn't care once I found out that it would only cost me $9/day and I would get...TA DA!!...a 2006 black Mustang convertible. Yep, had to put the top down and enjoy a bit of a drive around the lakes.

Both were tempting food for future vehicular thought, although I thoroughly love my car and doubt I'll switch it up anytime soon.

Catch up

Does it still count as Saturday night as long as I haven't gone to sleep? I'm gonna go with a yes on that one. It's not like I'm an insomniac or anything--in fact, I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime at the drop of a hat, or really at the sight of a hat or even just knowing that there is a hat in the vicinity--but for some reason I get more active at night and never seem to want to put the day to bed.

It's as good a time as any to catch up here on a few things. It's been so long! I've been to Minnesota for nearly two weeks, and forgot my password so I couldn't update while I was there. Then back in Florida and heigh-ho, it's back to work I go. Although arguably, I never really left because there were very few days in MN that I didn't use my laptop to connect remotely. But it was still a good break.

The main reason I went was for Emily and Kyle's wedding on the 8th. It was so wonderful to be able to be a part of Emily's special day and we even got to catch up like old days, although again it was early morning the day of the wedding by the time we went to sleep. Hmm, seems to be a pattern for me :)

Here's the lovely couple in one of the many many many pictures in the early afternoon before the ceremony.

We, the bridesmaids...

They, the groomsmen...I seem to have no pictures of all together, so Brent is on his own, but the smile alone is worth the shot :)

Brent and I got to walk together, which was a bonus because we've known each other forever. That's important to walking because it can be very tricky, especially with aisles and flowers and formal dresses and tuxes involved. Such complications! Thankfully the walking went off without a hitch, and the dinner conversation was lively as well.