Friday, March 25, 2016

One more drop in the Ocean

Yesterday the ocean kicked my ass... and I cried a little, both in it, aaaaaaand again when I got out...

I just got so frustrated... hell I'm still frustrated!

Like confidence crushing frustrated like "maybe I just can't do this..." and "maybe I should just give up and go in" and "maybe I really didn't use to pick things up naturally, maybe that was just everyone being nice" *sigh* Pairing all that with my natural stubbornness I probably stayed out longer than absolutely necessary before I decided that I really was tired nay exhausted, and that the possibility of getting up  (remote as it had been when I started) was quickly diminishing to a big fat ZERO.

For something that I've done before, and enjoyed up in Tofino... It sure sucks not being able to get up when I can see other people getting up down here, and then on top of that getting stuck in the wave crush zone on the way out so that by the time a nice wave comes in again you're too tired to get up...

Or it flips you over, and rips your board out of your hands... and tugs on your board leash...

Or sucks you under and tumbles you a little bit just for fun... and tugs on your board leash again...

Or it chucks you off face first and forcibly rinses your brain out through your nostrils...

Or gets you all excited like you might actually do it this time, and then just rolls on by...

I'm pretty sure the Ocean was toying with me yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I have salt water in my brain... because I definitely have sand in my ears.


On a lighter note, the sunset was gorgeous... as was the bronzed lifeguard that ran up the pier and jumped off to assist a kite boarder that had managed to get himself tangled up...



Friday, March 04, 2016

A time for every matter under heaven

We all have families we are born into, and some of us are lucky enough to have families that have embraced us and welcomed us into their hearts and their lives.

Tonight the second half of my family is one less. 

Aunt Heather, the one who warned me "Whatever you do, don't tell Don you're a treeplanter"

And welcomed me to the family with "Would you like something to drink? The glasses are over there and you know where the fridge is.  You made your first mistake when you called me Aunt Heather, family serve themselves around here."

And I couldn't have been happier with that, I would much rather blend in and help out where I can than be waited on and be part of the stress of having company over.

I will forever hold her in the highest regard for her ability and aptitude in organizing a kitchen and quickly whipping up meals for any size party. I once witnessed her out-laws show up unannounced 10 minutes to noon in full force. By the time they had pulled around the corner, she was upstairs running through a shower and had me boiling eggs and chopping celery... within 15 minutes we had egg salad sandwiches, some kind of chicken and other odds and ends of just-in-case food laid out in what looked like a well planned lunch. I am still in awe of that to this day, even more so after having planned parties with less people, made shopping lists specifically for the event and still wound up with items missing.

She always had room for one or two more at the table, and we would plan our road trips to coincide with meals at her house. Even on her "bad days" her cooking was something to aspire to, one of my favorites on a particularly bad day was "Mount Vesuvius cake".

My favorite meal never to be duplicated involved putting dinner on, asking Uncle Daddy Herb to stir, driving a friend home, getting the car stuck after singing the praises of just how easy it was to get my chains on, then backing out of a really long driveway in about a foot of snow with said chains on, only to return home and find that the hockey game had gone into overtime and the chicken having not been stirred at all had perfectly caramelized.

She was a force to be reckoned with, a fountain of candid advice, and brutally honest. But she had a heart big enough to match the best breasts to cry on, and an enveloping hug that could close out the world and make everything okay.

I sure could use a hug from her today.

I'm sure going to miss her.



Wicked awesome!

My best friend just took me to see Wicked (the musical) and it was ah.Mazing!


I love love love LOVED IT!

I had heard from a few people that it was good, and if I ever got the chance to go see it, and that I would probably really like it... but none of that prepared me for experiencing it in person, from the edge of the balcony! *grins*


I was in awe of the entire backstory, and how they fit all the pieces together and picked up and wove in all the threads. It is basically the pre-story to Wizard of Oz, and fills in the experiences and circumstances that made the wicked witch wicked, but also brings to light the beginnings of the cowardly lion, the scarecrow and the tin man.

One casualty of the night, was that I lost a whole lot of respect and sympathy for the tin man... but my heart went out to the scare crow, the good witch and the wicked witch.  And it struck a chord with me that despite everything else going on, the friendship between best friends is stronger than love.  The idea that once that bond of true friendship has been forged, there's nothing tearing it apart.

The entire evening was magical *happy sigh* and while I loved the whole new best friends popular scene, my favorite songs were "Defying Gravity" and "For Good".

Couldn't resist, my new favorite hoodie... *squeeeee*