Wow!

I can't believe it...Obama won!  I thought he was a longshot when I first started working for his campaign.  I also donated a lot of money to help him win and it was worth every penny.  I had NEVER worked on a political campaign before and I had NEVER donated money to a political campaign before.  That is why I am so happy he will be our next President.  He inspires us to do more.

Meet Dignan!

Here is a photo of our cute little doggie.

He is so good at home, pretty good at the Dog Park and bad on walks. He's learning, though!

Dignan's thoughts for today...

If you don't have a tail, wag it anyway!

There's nothing better than a walk.

Wait, did you say WALK?

Wedding Woes

Our wedding is this Saturday.  Oh my gosh...I can't believe it is finally here!  I started the whole planning thing in February so how did it get so close to the wire?  I was totally bridezilla last week.  There was just too much left to do and I felt like I was doing everything.  It seemed like every time I crossed something off the list, 3 new things would pop up.  Matthew helped once I started freaking out but there was only so much he could do.

On top of the normal wedding and honeymoon planning, 2 problems arose at the last minute.  First, I had 3 free nights at a Small Luxury Hotel called Echoes.  It is in the Blue Mountains about 2 hours outside of Sydney.  I had planned to visit the Blue Mountains when I went to Sydney in September 2001 but, because of September 11th, my whole trip got pushed back and I wasn't able to get a hotel.  I was really excited to be able to go out there this time, especially for free!  So, last Wednesday, the hotel emailed me and said that there was a miscommunication and they were sold out.  What?!?  I received my confirmation in February.  How could they be telling me 1 week before I left on my trip that I didn't have anywhere to stay.  The worst part is that they just emailed and said they tried to email in July but the email was returned to them.  It never occured to them to CALL ME?!?  I was so mad.  The SLH rep tried to help me out but the hotel is just flaky.  I'm glad I'm not staying there now.  Luckily, there is a nicer hotel, Lilianfels, almost next door.  Lilianfels is an Orient Express property and it is a 5 star hotel.  They gave me a great rate so we're much happier staying there.   Also, the rep from SLH felt bad so he gave me another certificate for free nights somewhere else which Matt and I will use later on.  I guess this dilemma worked out for the best.

2nd problem: I decided 2 weeks before the wedding that I absolutely hated my dress and I could not wear it on my wedding day.  I hadn't really loved it for a while but I was hoping I could fix the problems I had noticed.  I couldn't.  So, August 3rd, I started looking for another dress.  I was in Los Angeles so I called a couple of shops to see if they would sell off the rack.  Unfortunately, most dresses are really fancy and just wouldn't work for Hawaii.  I hit a few stores on the way back to San Diego and ended up at the store where I bought my original dress.  When I was first buying a wedding dress, I had narrowed it down to 2 dresses.  You already know that I hate the one I chose.  Now, I asked them if they still had the other one.  They had sold the one I tried on BUT they had the same dress in white and it had just come in so no one had even tried it on yet.  Perfect...except that it was 2 sizes smaller than I needed.   Could I fit into a size 6?  Doubtful.  I was aided by the fact that the dress has a corset and I knew that we could widen the panel in the back.  As long as I could get the thing over my head, I'd make it work...and I did.  Yes, the lace up in the back is much wider than it should be but I don't care.  It is SOOOO much better than my other dress and it makes my waist look fabulous.  That's all that matters, right?  It is when you're 42 and your waist has been missing for 2 years.

So, I've finally crossed off almost everything on my list.  There are still a few things to do once we get to Hawaii but I'm not stressed about that.  My only concern now is the weather.  All weather reports say it will rain every day EXCEPT our wedding day.  I have my fingers crossed!

Diver Down...Sort Of

I thought I'd give a quick update on the diving certification.  It's on hold for the time being.  I had a different instructor the last time and he freaked me out.  I literally thought he was trying to drown me.  I know it sounds ridiculous but, when you panic, everything becomes distorted.  Anyway, I didn't want to go back under the water with him and my original instructor was a little flaky so I ran out of time.  I have a year to finish though so I'm hoping to pick it up again when we get back.

Luckily, Poseidon Dives in Australia has what are called introductory dives.  Four students go out with an instructor.  We only have to do 2 skills...regulatory recovery (no problem) and mask clearing (usually no problem).  After those 2 skills, we get to dive down to a depth of 35 feet which is really about as deep as I'd want to go.  Certified divers, like Matt, can go to a depth of 60 feet.  To be honest, I was a little nervous about going that deep.  I've been to 25 feet already so 35 feet shouldn't be a problem. 

We bought an underwater case for my camera also so I'm hoping we get some cool pictures.  I might give it to Matt for his deep dives and then I'll use it if I snorkel.   We can do up to 3 dives but, if we decide we're too tired for the last dive, we can still snorkel.  We're doing the same thing the next day but the boat will go to 3 different locations.  I think it will be a lot of fun.  I can't wait to find Nemo!

Jammin'

Wow, we have a lot of apricots.  Most of them fall on the ground before we can get to them but we picked a ton off the tree last week and washed them up with the idea of making apricot preserves.  We ended up with a pretty large bowlful and just hoped it would be enough to fill the 12 little jars we had purchased.  I got a recipe off the internet and we tested it tonight.  Guess what?  We only used about 1/4 of the bowlful of apricots.  Oh my gosh!  What are we going to do with the rest?  This doesn't even take into account the hundreds that are still on the tree.

The recipe we used called only for diced apricots, sugar and lemon juice.  Pretty simple for our first time.  I opted for a pectin-free recipe since many that I found did not use it.  Apparently, pectin is used to thicken the jam but maybe it isn't absolutely necessary for a fruit like apricots.  There is nothing wrong with pectin; it's a plant derivative that appears naturally in our diets.  I just liked the idea of fewer ingredients.  Also, it wasn't easily found at the neighborhood grocery.

I had the bright idea of jazzing up the recipe with a little cinnamon and nutmeg.  By the time I added it, the apricot mixture was already boiling on the stove.  There were at least 12 cups worth of stuff in the pot at that point so I sprinkled in some cinnamon.  It looked like a lot sitting on top of the gooey mixture but I stirred it in and it just kind of blended away.  I added only a touch of nutmeg.

The mixture continued to boil and it was supposed to thicken but, since I have never done this before, I wasn't sure how thick it should be before pouring it into the jars.  Matthew's mom said that it always thickens up as it cools.  I guess we'll just see what happens.

When it's ready, you pour the mixture into jars that have been boiled for 10 minutes so they are sterilized.  Then you pop the tops on and screw on the ring before dropping the whole thing back into the boiling water for another 10 minutes.  This will help to seal them so they can be stored.  They were so cute because each little jar "popped" after being pulled from the boiling bath.  Matt took one out and set it on the counter then, a few seconds later, we hear this little "POP".  Some of them popped right away and some took a little longer.  There was one holdout that didn't pop until we were halfway through dinner.

We are waiting now for 12-24 hours and then we'll check the seals to make sure all is well.  We did have one jar worth of extra "jam" but we hadn't sterilized enough jars so we just put the mixture in that one and stuck it in the fridge.  That will be our test subject.  Unfortunately, we tested it already and I'm not sure it's thick enough AND I need to lay off the cinnamon next time.  The stuff tastes like pie filling.  I think we might label this as "Apricot Dessert Topping" because it will be delicious on ice cream or pound cake or even pancakes...or you can just eat it straight out of the jar like I did.  It was yummy but it didn't taste much like apricots.

So, the plan is to try again on Wednesday.  Hopefully, we'll end up with some delicious apricot preserves.  After that...apricot pie!

Kayak Kid

Today, Matthew and I decided to take out one of the kayak's at the La Jolla house...FINALLY.  We have been meaning to do this for years and never seem to have the energy.  It is a little bit of work to get out to the beach but it's worth it.  We loaded the kayak on Matt's truck and then my dad dropped us off and went home.  That really helped because we didn't have to deal with parking and that was a big deal because the beach was absolutely packed today.

I got in the kayak when the water wasn't too deep and then Matt pushed it out further before jumping in.  Of course, that meant that I got to sit in the front of the kayak as we steered straight into the waves and they crashed right over me...and it was cold!  I got used to it after the 4th or 5th dousing.

Once we were past the waves, we headed towards the caves, along with 100 other kayakers.  I'm telling you it was crazy out there today.  Luckily, the ocean is pretty big so we were never crowded out except when we got right over by the caves.  Even then, it wasn't so bad.  There were sea lions over there sunning themselves on a rock and we all took turns getting close.  A few were in a little protected area of the water swimming around but the rest were laying out.  They were adorable!  We wanted to go in some caves but only saw one that looked like we could actually go somewhere.  It was an opening that led through to an opposite opening which opened to a little protected beach.  Unfortunately, there were a ton of snorkelers in there so we moved on and decided to come back later.

We tooled around the cove for a while and then headed back to that one cave.  We had to wait for some oblivious snorkelers to clear the area before we could go in.  When I say oblivious, I mean that there was a family of four swimming through and then they stopped right at the mouth of the cave.  Despite the fact that several kayaks were poised to go into the cave and were obviously waiting for them to clear the area, they sat there treading water and having a conversation about where to go next.  The mother, meanwhile, was floating right into our kayak.  Her husband was watching it happen but never said a word.  I finally had to yell, "Watch out", to which she turned and seemed perturbed at me.  Whatever. 

Of course, this meant that 2 other kayakers snuck into the cave before us but that was okay because there was a tour guide with them so it was nice to just follow.  Unfortunately, once we got in the cave, there were 2 other oblivious snorkelers inside.  Keep in mind that the cave isn't huge and there were 3 other kayaks in there with us by that time.  The other kayaks kind of made a u-turn to the right so they could go up another cave and exit back out to the cove instead of going through to the little inlet/beach area.  I soon realized that this was probably because it was rocky on the other side.  Already, I could see rocks jutting up from the bottom.  About the time we needed to u-turn, however, the mensa snorkelers decided to swim right into our kayak....literally.  I've been snorkelling before and I think I would notice a bright yellow thing sitting right in front of me.  Anyway, we kept trying to get out of their way and, in doing so, we ended up way to the left of the cave.  All of a sudden, I felt a huge wave just pick us up and hurl us forward.  We were heading straight for the rocks!  I just hung on for dear life, praying that we wouldn't tip because I knew then that the wave would just slam us into the rocks.  We skated over several rocks and then the waved petered out and the front of our kayak hit one of the rocks, stopping us.  We hadn't tipped.  Hurray!  Matt jumped out and steered us out of the cave to the little inlet and we kayaked out of there.  It was our mini-whitewater kayaking adventure...and I have to say it was kind of fun.  I might not be saying that if we had tipped but we didn't.

We kayaked around a little more before heading in.  I didn't really want to stop because it was really nice out there.  The weather was perfect and we didn't feel tired at all.  I thought my arms would get fatigued but they didn't.  Matt's back hurt a little bit but that was all.  We both had a really good time and we are definitely going out again next weekend if we can.  

Do you know that I still haven't done my last 3 ocean dives?  Our instructor is busy teaching a class now and she doesn't have time to take us out.  There is only one more weekend Matt can go so I really don't know what we're doing to do.  I'm going to have to get ghetto on Ocean Enterprises tomorrow because the instructor isn't even returning our calls!  We paid a lot of money for the private class so we could get it done in time for our trip and now the deadline is approaching and I'm still not certified.  Ugh...as if I don't have enough to do before the wedding!

Crazy Weekend

This is just a quick note about last weekend, starting with July 4th.  My whole family was in La Jolla for the weekend, as were Matt's parents.  We had 2 full houses.  It was nice to see Will, Donnie and Raquel but it was even nicer to see my little niece, Chloe.  She is just so cute!  I found it hard not to stare at her constantly.

So, July 4th, we just hung out at the house and had dinner, illegal fireworks and then watched legal fireworks over La Jolla Cove.

July 5th, I had a Bridal Shower which was pretty fun.  Thank you so much to Stephanie and Catherine for all of their hard work planning it and for the wonderful food and drink, games, favors, etc that they provided.

After the shower, the men showed up as well as other guests and we had an Engagement Party.  Thank you to my parents for this.  I know they spent a lot of money, time and energy on the party.  Actually, we thanked them last night by taking them out to dinner at the Marine Room.  Yummy!!!

I had a great time at both events.  It was really great to see all of my cousins.   I rarely get to see Robert so it was nice to spend a little time talking to him.  I also should mention that my cousin, Cathy, helped with some of the food for the Engagement Party and it was all delicious.

There were a lot of people at the party that I haven't seen in FOREVER, like my old babysitter, Cella.  She is crazy...in a fun way!  I think I was able to talk to everyone for at least a little bit.  It was good practice for my wedding day.  I actually think my wedding day will be easier because only 25 people will be there.  Only 33 days to go!!!

Success

I passed my final exam in the book portion of my dive class.  Then I had another pool session.  I was feeling a lot more confident because the pool seems so safe compared to the ocean.

I put my gear on and did the giant stride right in to the pool.  I was ready.  8 skills to go and I wanted to power through them.  Easier said than done.  Most of the skills you learn are never used.  They teach you what to do if you encounter problems, such as "my mask fell off" or "my respirator is just flowing air continuously".  I hate doing anything where I have to take off my mask because, inevitably, water goes up my nose and I start sputtering then the water really goes up my nose and it's just a bad situation.  I tried to flee to the surface but Deanna had a hold on me.  I finally got the thing on an cleared the water out of it then I was okay.

By far the hardest skill was removing your vest underwater and putting it back on.  Remember that wetsuits make you float in addition to the human body just naturally wanting to float.  The BCD vest is what holds all of the weights and the air tank.  It's the only thing keeping you underwater.  So, when I took off the vest, I had to keep a firm grip on it or I would just go up while it went down.  I did keep ahold of it but my body still wanted to go up.  It was ridiculous.  I'm holding onto this vest at the bottom of the pool and my legs are practically straight up in the air.  How am I supposed to get leverage to do anything in that position?  It was quite a strain and I needed a little help but I got it back on.  Thank heavens.  I didn't want to have to do it again.  I was so out of breath that I just sat on the bottom of the pool panting while Matthew did his.  It's a really strange and almost horrifying feeling to be so out of breath underwater.  I was just sucking in air from my respirator like there was no tomorrow and trying to calm myself and my breathing.  Eventually, it settled down but it was not fun.

The worst skill for me was called CESA.  That means Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent.  You only do this if you run out of air underwater (which should never happen because you always check your gauges, right Matt).  Basically, you just take your last breath and then swim to the surface while exhaling.  Oh, you may not know this but air becomes denser and has a lower volume as you go deeper.  For instance, a balloon filled with air and sealed would be only half a big at 33 feet.  For this reason, you NEVER hold your breath while diving.  Air decreases in volume as you descend so, conversely, it increases in volume as you ascend.  If you were to take a full breath at the bottom and then hold your breath as you swam to the surface, the air in your lungs would expand and it would stretch your lungs which could be fatal.  Scary, huh? 

Anyway, in the pool, we practice CESA by swimming diagonally from the bottom of the pool to the surface.  You would normally do it at more than 20 feet and the pool is only 9 feet.  The problem for me is that I don't seem to have a high lung capacity.  I was never one to hold my breath very long.  In the case of CESA, you slowly breath out as you swim to the surface.  Technically, this would be easier in the ocean because, as you ascend from 20 feet, the previously compressed air in your lungs would now increase in volume thus giving you more air to exhale.  I know it's a little confusing.  

So, I did the pool CESA and I swam too long at a deeper level so, by the time I was almost out of breath, I wasn't even close to the surface.  I made a beeline straight up and didn't make it.  I instinctively inhaled.  Thank heavens you keep the regulator in your mouth or I would have been sucking in water!  Once at the top, you have to inflate your BCD manually so you aren't floating until you do...and it's hard to kick so you can get high enough out of the water to take a breath and then blow it into the vest.  Right about the time you are going to sink down again, you have no breath left.  It sucked but I did it.

That means that I have now completed all of my pool skills too.  I have done 1 ocean dive so I only have 3 ocean dives left and I'll be certified!

Anti-Hood Brigade

So, I mentioned in my other post that I had my first ocean dive.  The diving classes go off La Jolla so it really worked out for us because we were in La Jolla for the weekend anyway.  Most of the classes meet at 6:30am but I was barely getting up at that time.  Because we are doing a private class, we got to meet a little later.  By the time we got there and were prepared to go into the water, I think most people were going in for their second dive.

Anyway, we got all of our gear on and it was a lot heavier than normal.  Because you are more buoyant in salt water, we had to wear extra weights.  This is great when you are in the water but not so great when you have a trek down to the ocean.  It felt like we would never reach the water.  The tank and everything were so dang heavy that I thought my shoulders were just going to break away from my body. 

Then you get to the water and, joy, it's surf so you are battling against the waves which isn't that easy when you are so top-heavy.  We finally made it through the surf and then we had the simple task of swimming out the buoy.  It seemed so easy because your BCD is inflated and it makes you float.  All you have to do is lie on your back and kick...and kick...and kick.  I thought we would NEVER get to that frickin' buoy!  The whole time I was kicking out, I was looking at the shore and I swear it wasn't getting any further away.  By the time we reached that buoy, we were exhausted.  By "we", I mean Matthew and I.  Our instructor wasn't even breathing heavy.

I forgot to mention that we have to wear hoods in the ocean because it's a lot colder than the pool.  So, once we were at the buoy, we had to put the hoods on and then we were going to descend to the bottom which was about 20 feet.  I did NOT like that hood.  I think I had a mental block about it from the beginning.  It was tight around my neck and the chin piece came up too high so it ended up going over my bottom lip instead of under it.  It felt really constricting.  Matthew didn't like his either.  He felt like it was choking him.  But we put them on because we needed to stay warm underwater.

And down we went.  I had to hang onto a line that went from the buoy to the anchor.  I guess this was just to keep the current from taking me away.  I held onto that thing like it was my lifeline.  In fact, I was holding onto it so tightly that my instructor had to physically pull me down.  It was scary, though.  It wasn't like the pool at all.  Visibility was low so all I could see was green and Matthew.  I freaked and went right back up.  I think I had only gone down a few feet.

I tried again...and went right back up.  Actually, I got to about 8 feet that time.  I really felt like I couldn't do it with that stupid hood on my head.  I couldn't stand it.  Luckily, my instructor said that I didn't have to wear it and we would just stay a little shallower.  There is a point in the water, almost like a line across it, where the water is warmer above it than it is below it.  This is called a thermocline.  Since the thermocline was around 20 feet, she said we could just descend to the bottom and then swim into shore along the bottom.  That made me feel much better.   

The third time I went down without the hood.  It was a little cold at first but I didn't notice it after that.  This time I kept going down, down, down.  It felt like I was going down forever and when I looked down the line I was holding, I could see that it just went on into nothingness.  I was pretty much at the point when I didn't want to go any deeper and then, to see this line extending so far down, was disheartening.  I had to go back up.

Of course, once we got to the top, my instructor said I was only a few feet from the bottom.  Erg!  If I'd known, I think I could have made it!  So, I tried one more time...and this time it worked.  It was weird because as soon as I got to the bottom, I could see.  Well, I could see the stuff on the bottom but that's where everything is.  Oh, yeah.  While we were hanging out at the buoy on the surface, we could see dolphins swimming.  They hang out higher up, though, so we didn't see them while we were diving.  We didn't really see much of anything.  My instructor came upon a stingray and swished it away so all I saw was turbulent sand.  She also pointed out something that scurried away.  All I could see was a wavy line taking off.  Still, it was cool to be down there.

We stayed along the bottom until we got into about 4 feet of water.  Then the dive was over.  I was a little disappointed.  For all the drama it took to get me down there, I enjoyed being on the bottom of the ocean.  I wanted it to last longer but we had a plan and you always stick to the dive plan.  I want to mention that I was never cold and, it turns out, we went below the thermocline.  Matthew was cold, though, and we was wearing a hood.  Go figure.

So, we made our way back to shore and I swear that gear was heavier than when I went in the water.  I knew it wasn't but it was almost unbearable to walk now with all that weight on.  Matthew and Deanna (my instructor) each carried one of my weight pouches too.  I'm such a wimp.  It was all I could do to get back to the grassy area.  Actually, I didn't even make it that far.  I had to stop and sit on a post because I was really dizzy.  I don't know if that was from my exhaustion or if it had something to do with my left ear problems.  Either way, I decided I shouldn't do a second dive that day.  

So, I succeeded in doing an ocean dive but I failed to do 2 of them in one day.  I'll be doing 2 or 3 dives in a day in Australia but it will be easier because you can just flop off the boat into the water and you're there.  It's carrying the heavy stuff on your back for 10 minutes and then swimming out against the ocean current for 20 minutes that did me in.  I think it will be a lot easier in Australia and visibility will be better and the water will be warmer so we can have thinner wetsuits...and no hoods.  Hurray!

Success! Sort of.

Well, I got back in the water.  I REALLY didn't want to do it at the last minute.  We had to wait for lap hours to finish at the pool and, while I sat there, I started talking myself out of it.  It really was a completely mental thing.  However, when my instructor signaled that we could get in the pool, I just told myself that I'd try again for a few minutes before walking away.  Lo and behold, it wasn't so bad.  We still had a few skills to do in the shallow pool and, luckily, it was much cooler that day so I didn't get nauseous at all.

Then we had to go to the "deep" pool.  It's just 9 feet deep but that's a big deal when I had been able to stand up and reach air in the shallow pool.  My freak-out tendency was soon overshadowed by the sheer weight of all the gear I was carrying.  As I tried getting out of that pool, every step seemed like it would be my last.  I almost didn't make the last step.  My leg was all wobbly.    I walked to the other pool all bent over; my waist was literally at a 90 degree angle.

To get into the deep pool, we had to learn the "giant stride".  You basically just look ahead and pretend your are going to walk on water.  You take one big step forward...but you sink.  The BCD (buoyancy control device) is inflated though so you pop right back up.  This didn't scare me at all.  What scared me was the thought that the second I lifted my leg to take the giant stride, the other leg was going to buckle under the weight.  It didn't.  Hurray, because that would have been embarrassing.

So that session was pretty weird.  First, we learned how to descend and equalize our ears.  Then we did this thing where you learn how to establish buoyancy by lying on your stomach and breathing in and out.  Ideally, you should go up a bit when you breath in and then lower back down when you breath out.  We got to swim along the bottom for a bit and that was my favorite part.  The good thing is that swimming along the bottom is really what we'll be doing most of the time when we go on real dives.

The last skill of the night...let me rephrase that because it wasn't supposed to be the last skill of the night...so the last skill I tried that night was one were you have to establish buoyancy and just float for a minute.  Sounds easy, right?  It sure looked easy when my instructor demonstrated.  I was feeling pretty confident so I established buoyancy and started floating.  The problem was that my feet wanted to float higher than the rest of me so I started to turn upside down.  I didn't like that so I got all twisty and tried to right myself.  We went back to the surface and my instructor said that a lot of people end up with their feet higher and I should just roll with it.  Mhmm.  So, I tried again...and again I got all twisty and my arms flailed around.  You aren't supposed to do that.  So, I tried one more time, resolved to just go upside down.  This time, it wasn't my fault that I had to abort the mission.  There was some water in my mask and it went straight up my nose.  It's hard not to react when that happens.  So, once more to the surface.

Eventually, we realized that I need a new mask because this one was going to continue to leak.  I really didn't want to go upside down again if I was just going to get water up my nose so I pretty much ended the class right then.  Plus, my calves were cramping like crazy.  Cramping is common when diving because you use different muscles with dive fins than most people normally use.  Great.  You mean I get to cramp at "other" times of the month?

I had done enough skills that I could still do my ocean dive so we did that on Saturday.  I'll write about that tomorrow night.  For now, I'll just say that it was another "success - sort of" experience. 

Ear Wig Out

I may have discovered another reason why I had problems with my dive class last week.  I've been having issues with my left ear.  I felt that there was a lot of wax in there for a long time.  I've been  using those eardrops that sizzle inside your ear for a while and then you irrigate it.  I've done it periodically but I decided to really be consistant since the last pool class.  I have been doing it every day and sometimes twice a day.  

Today, I put in the drops, it fizzed and then I started shooting water in there.  At first, little tiny flecks of wax came out into the water basin.  I know this is gross but it only gets worse...seriously.  I kept doing it and more flecks came out.  I decided to keep doing it until the flecks kind of stopped.  Then the flecks got bigger.  I kept going.

With the next flush of water, something felt weird.  I looked at my left hand which was holding the syringe.  There was this large brown thing laying across my fingers.  I freaked out and dropped it into the sink.  Then I couldn't stop staring at it.  What on earth was this thing?  It was the size of a large tadpole, probably about 1.5 inches in length.  It had a dark brown ball of wax and then there was this tail thing attached to it.  It was the most disgusting thing I could imagine being in my ear.  Well, I guess an actual animal would be grosser but this was pretty nasty.  I had to save it.  Poor Matthew.

So, I showed it to Matthew when he got home and he was amazed how large the thing was.  He suggested I photograph it for the blog but, luckily for you, I decided against it. 

Now, I just have to hope that my ear monstrosity was one of the things causing my nausea in last week's dive class.  I have my fingers crossed!

Pure Awesomeness!

Rainn Wilson did a photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly of different TV characters...MacGyver, Captain Picard from Star Trek, Paulie from The Sopranos and...Xena!

 

Today's favorite thing: 30 Days

I've raved about this show before but I just have to reassert my feelings.  This show is FANTASTIC!  It was created by Morgan Spurlock who also did the film "Super Size Me".  The premise is that people try something for 30 days.  Usually, it involves people who live with their complete opposite for 30 days. 

The season opener this year was one in which Morgan Spurlock works in a coal mine for 30 days.  I love this show because it shows exactly what day to day life is like for the men who work there.  It's a pretty awful job but a lot of the men said they wouldn't do anything else...even though many of them end up with black lung.  It also shows other viewpoints such as coal miners who now protest the tactics used by some of the energy companies for whom they used to work because of environmental concerns. 

The next episode had a retired pro football player who had to use a wheelchair for 30 days.  Again, it was eye-opening to see the crap people in wheelchairs must go through every single day.  It was really informative, though, because I was not aware that quadriplegics have some use of their hands.  I always thought they couldn't use anything below the neck but that's not the case.  Everything depends on where the injury occurs.  In fact, one of the guys on the show who was a quadriplegic, had a tricked out truck and drove himself around all the time.  He was a young guy who dove into a dark body of water...and it wasn't deep enough.  Sad.

The episode last week was probably the most difficult one to watch out of all shows from any season.  It involved a tried and true hunter going to live with a family of PETA animal activists.  They showed some footage that I couldn't watch, like animals being skinned alive for fur.  Some of the most disturbing footage involved dairy farms and the treatment of calves.  It will make you think twice about eating veal or dairy products.

However, the one thing that really upset me was the visit to the local pound.  They showed all the dogs in their cages and I immediately fell for this one grey pit bull.  He was so excited when people would come up to his cage.  I knew he just wanted a family to play with him.  The employee put on his leash to take him for a walk and the dog was giddy with excitement.  He was so dang cute, I just wanted to adopt him.  Then I realized what was happening.  My favorite dog out of the whole kennel was being walked to his death.  I was mortified.  I'm crying right now just thinking about it.   They said that the bigger dogs rarely get adopted because of their cost.   Now, I feel I shouldn't get a Jack Russell.  I should get one of the harder to place dogs.  I do have a certain affinity for pit bulls after watching "The Dog Whisperer" all the time.  There is one well-trained pit bull on the show named Daddy and I LOVE him.  I would take him in a heartbeat if I could have him.

So, despite the horrors and sadness inherent in some episodes, it is still a great commentary on our world.  It teaches acceptance and does it's best to dispel stereotypes.   Seasons 1 and 2 are available on Netflix and I strongly encourage you to add them to your queue as soon as possible.

Diving Dilemma

A few of you know that I am planning to become a certified diver so I can join Matthew in diving at the Great Barrier Reef.  I was really excited about it and we had our first classroom meeting with our instructor on Monday.  It went well and I was feeling pretty confident. 

Then, Wednesday, we had our first pool session.  Matthew did the private class with me since we will be "buddies" when we dive.  He has done all of this before so the instructor really geared everything to me. 

First, I had to do my swim test.  Now, I've been snorkelling many times in recent years but I haven't swam in a pool or done laps since I lived in Brawley, which is a LONG time ago.  I've never been comfortable with freestyle so I chose to do the breaststroke.  I normally have no problem with it.  Well...that didn't work out so well.  By the end of the first lap, I thought I'd have a heart attack.  I knew there was no way I could do 7 more laps like that.  I contemplated switching to the backstroke because I felt like I wasn't able to get a good breath but I decided to stay with the breaststroke.  That lasted 1 more lap...then I had no choice.  I switched to the backstroke and, to my amazement, I did that really well.  I swam completely straight and I was able to breath continuously, which was good because I was really panting.  I didn't remember swimming being such a strenuous workout but I'm feeling it today.  I think I should work that into my normal workout routine.

Anyway, after the laps, I had to tread water or float for 10 minutes.  I thought I'd switch back and forth but I just ended up treading water the whole time and watching some other diving classes do their thing.  There was also a water polo game going on at the other side of the pool.  (It's a big pool.)

Finally, it was time to do some diving skills.  I had to put on a 7mm wetsuit which is what they use in California because the water is pretty cold.  That sucker was thick and it was a little restrictive.  I didn't really like it but I thought I could handle it.  The real problem for me was that it was so tight around my neck.  I felt like someone was lightly choking me the whole time.  We unzipped the suit a little but I still found myself grabbing at the neck and pulling it down the whole time I was in class.  Next, I put on my booties which are the same material as the wetsuit but slightly thinner.  Next was the diving gear.  This is where it got difficult.  It's just a vest but it has a heavy tank strapped to the back of it; a tank that I could barely lift with my arms.  There are also 4 lb weights stuck in the vest so you don't float...not just 1 weight but 6 of them.  That's 24 lbs of weights in addition to everything else.  Granted, the stuff doesn't feel as heavy in the water but you still feel the weight pulling on your shoulders. 

Then it was time to go under.  I put the regulator in my mouth and went down.  I took a breath.  I was fine for a second and then I lost my balance and my tank dragged me backwards.  I was completely helpless like a bug that gets flipped on it's back and it's little legs just flail in the air.  That was me but I was in the water and I was starting to freak out a bit.  Keep in mind that the surface of the water was probably only 12 inches above me but I couldn't get to it.  I had the regulator in my mouth so I wasn't going to drown but I didn't like that I had absolutely no control over my situation.  My instructor finally got me upright and I managed to stay on my knees after that.

We did a few more skills and some were easier than others.  I had a problem with the one where you take your mask off entirely for 1 minute and then put it back on.  It seems easy but, in diving, your nose is inside your mask.  For some reason, the second my mask was off, I felt like I couldn't get a breath.  On the third try, I realized that I had to hold my nose in order to last that 1 minute.  It wasn't good.  I felt like it was a cop out...and it only got worse from there.

I soon started to become aware that I was experiencing some nausea.  Eventually, it was so bad that I had to stop and take off the tank and vest.  I thought just getting all of that weight off would help but it didn't.  We unzipped the back of my wetsuit and it helped because the cool water rushed in.  I should mention here that our gauges include temperature.  I know it wasn't accurate because it said the outside temp was 78 degrees earlier and it was probably only 70.  Still, even with a 10 degree error, my gauge in the water said 100 degrees.  Let's assume it was only 90.  When I opened my suit, the water felt cool.  That should tell you how hot it was inside my suit.

I think I was overheating at the same time that I was swallowing air.  Eventually, I was so nauseous that I just had to be out of that suit.  I walked over to the cold showers and stood under it for a second and then I went in the ladies locker room and just pulled and tugged the upper half of my wetsuit off.  I sat in there for a while just trying to cool down and calm down so the nausea would pass.  It wouldn't.  I knew it wouldn't no matter how long I waited.  I knew it was over.

I went back and told my instructor that I couldn't do any more that night.  She knew I was talking myself out of the class.  We cleaned up everything and she said we could come to a class she was teaching today if we wanted so that we could finish the skills I would need before I could do an ocean dive.  Let me just say that the thought of an ocean dive at that moment was probably right under skydiving on my list of things to do.  There was no way it was going to happen.

All the way home, I just laid in my seat.  I felt completely spent.  I had to take a shower when we got home to get the chlorine off me but I could barely make it through my shower.  Matthew and I were both pretty tired so we just went to bed.  Neither of us slept well that night.  Matt had insomnia but I couldn't stop thinking about diving.  When I'd sleep, I'd dream about diving.

Did I want to try again?  That was the dilemma.   All day today I went back and forth.  Yes, I want to try again.  I was just overheated.  I won't have to do the swim test next time so I won't increase my body heat before we even start.  We will only have a few skills in the hot pool and then we can move to the deep, cool pool.  I'll take charcoal so it will absorb any air that I swallow.  But, I always swallow air and I can only take 1 dose of charcoal a day.  What's going to happen when I have 2 or 3 dives?  Am I going to be nauseous again and then I'll be on a boat so that will make it worse?  Was I just overheated or was I having a panic attack?  

You see the mind games going on in my head.  Aside from all of that, I was disappointed in myself.  I really want to dive in Australia and I know Matt doesn't want to dive with strangers. I was angry at myself for giving up so easily but the remembrance of how I felt physically barred me from thinking of diving as enjoyable.  You know when you get sick after eating something and then you can't eat that thing ever again? 

This lasted most of the day.  Finally, I talked to Matthew and I realized that I had to try again.  If it doesn't work out next time, well, at least I be able to say that I tried.  I will be disappointed in myself always if I just give up after one time.  So, we have our last classroom session on Monday and then I'm going back to that pool on Wednesday.

Wish me luck!!!

Today's favorite thing: King Leo Dark Chocolate Crunchy Patties

There is a King Leo candy store near our house in Julian.  I never stopped in there because I was "trying to be good".  But, last weekend, my Aunt Mary Sue had a box of these little drops of goodness and I had to get some.  They are basically peppermint patties that have little pieces of peppermint candy within the chocolate.  Yum!