Boogie Boarding

We returned the orange bikes today. We got all ready with our wet suits and our boogie boards (and Jeff's flippers) and headed out on the orange bikes and returned them to Fat Tire bike rentals on Butler Avenue (right next to Sting Ray's)! They were great and gave us a great deal! I got a great deal of exercise and I am so sore that I feel that my muscles are growing (is that even possible at this point?!)...so I am serious, this is the beginning of something quite healthy! I can feel it...all over.

We had a wonderful lunch al fresco at Bernie's near the pier. The peel and eat shrimp (seasoned with bay spices) was great (I ate about a pound) and Jeff is still talking about the crab bisque. Needless to say, it's probably a locals place also. But what do I know? All I know is that it was nice & sunny... enough that we were encouraged by the sun and warmth to put on sunscreen while we waited for lunch.

So after lunch, bike-free, we headed to the pier down by Tybrisa and the waves were pretty lame. We put on our wet suits and started on our mission for the perfect boogie board wave. Well, that didn't last long. There were not a lot of waves. We then trudged upwards to what they call North beach. We were now in search of a singular boogie board wave. Any.wave.will.do. I just wanted to practice. We finally ended up walking so far up that we were practically back by the light house when we caught some small waves. At least we got some practice and it was a ton of fun to get wet in the November ocean water. It was quite the invigorating introduction to the winter season south of the Mason-Dixon line!

I definitely see 'beach bum' in my future. And really, would that be so bad?

The orange bike

The orange bike has been my exercise coach for the past few week. I have grown much more comfortable on it as the bike encourages me to get to my destination quickly (I think I will need a softer seat) and urges me to use it more often (it gets me where ever so much faster). I definitely am feeling much more toned. The orange bike is like a poster child for exercise for the reluctant. I seriously DID NOT want a really big work out. I wanted EASY cruising. I got it. I am ready to start an Internet search for a beach cruiser that I can really use. I don't think I am in a huge rush. I don't think I should ever be in a huge rush to any big decision. Never a good idea...even if it's just a beach cruiser. I am happy with the NO SPEED OPTIONS, reverse pedal brake and a very wide high handle bars. It makes for a relaxing and leisurely ride.

So, in the interest of exercise, I think I am going to start walking as much as I can, even if I don't have a bicycle to walk to. I am suddenly sad that I am possibly returning my orange beach cruiser to Fat Tire bikes tomorrow. But at least I get to walk back.

The History of Love

A New York Bestseller by Nicole Krauss called The History of Love is my most recent read. I loved this book and toward the end, I just could not put it down. The strange thing is that I did not feel this way in the beginning. I think it just started slower for me and I wasn't as attached to the novel's conclusion so I put it down more frequently. When I finally devoted just an HOUR uninterrupted to the novel while taking a personal time-out on the beach by myself. Only an hour, and I found out to my amusement and pleasant surprise that I was hooked. I was intrigued by the story, a romantic journey and quest. I hate romance novels and I devoured this novel. The author ingeniously constructed a story appealing to any age. The author took a teen, her brother and and old man through an amazing journey of self discovery and love (lost and maybe not yet found).

It made me think of the same thing in my last book posting. What kind of movie would this make? Who would star as young Alma from Poland and the teen Alma in the United States. Who would play the adult Alma Mereminski/Moritz? And who would play Leopold Gursky? There has to be a hot Israeli actor out there who will the American Alma's father. Who will come forward?! I can't wait to see this movie. Not that it's a movie yet. But wait and see, it will be. Stay tuned.

My roots exposed!

As the blonde experiment continues, I feel a bit better knowing blondes don't necessarily have more fun. There is definitely the argument of "how would you know since you aren't even looking for fun?".... That is very true. I am not. I am not actively out there on a sociology poll at a nightclub, checking out and keeping tabs on who's flirting with me and who's flirting with the brunettes. When I got attention from men as a brunette, I wasn't even necessarily clubbing. Sometimes, I was at a coffee shop, at the grocery store, or even at meetings...or even at work. So, really, I guess I haven't found the blonde component making a difference in my life. Either way, it's a bit more fun for me to just have something different, something fun to work with. My husband gets to be with a blonde for a while. And I'll let him. I'm having just as much fun!

Max runs with the big dogs!

Max is getting as much of a work out as I am. Granted, he is not running along side of my beach cruiser (because I am not advanced enough and Max is a bit too ambitious). However, between his daily walks, he runs with the big dogs in Dog Park II at Tybee Island's dog park yards. He has no fear of the larger dogs and he runs next to them and does a fairly good job of catching up with them. The problem is he is such a GOOD sport, he doesn't always let me know when he gets tired. So he runs and runs...and runs and runs. Then he comes home, drinks a bunch of water and passes out (not in a bad way, but in a very exhausted way). I would probably be a bit more worried if he was a full bred pug (with a bradycephalic face and concerning respiratory structure). Watching Max's precious wide open smile as he bounds across the dog park is good enough reason to fall in love with him all over again!

Grilling shrimp with the Foreman Grill and cooling down with a cucumber/jicama snack

A long time ago (when I was still in Denver), I was contemplating how I would be able to creatively cook in the RV. Creative meaning that I would try to expand my normal repertoire in a limited capacity and space. I decided to leave the crock-pot at home (since my only use including heating up nacho cheese); fortunately, I brought along the Foreman grill. I am using it for chicken so far, but hoping that shrimp would work okay. Has anyone grilled shrimp with the Foreman grill? So far, I saute the shrimp over the propane gas powered stove top. I have to find a recipe in my cookbooks to "blacken" the shrimp, but I don't think a Foreman grill will be in the instructions. I will probably experiment with this. I will keep you posted.
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As a tribute to my trip to Mexico in March with Heidi, I have been making my cucumber/jicama snacks. I bought a little bag daily from the lady across from her house on my vacation. I am mimicking the concoction as I just observed what she was putting in that magic bag. I think she used chili powder, salt and lime. I don't have chili powder, so I am using cayenne and this is how it goes:
a cucumber, cut in half and each half is cut lengthwise to create sticks
jicama, peeled and cut lengthwise to create sticks
cayenne pepper powder to taste
sea salt (it seems more flavorful for some reason rather than regular table salt) to taste
one lime squeezed (for 'juice' only)

I mix it in a ziplock bag and coat the jicama & cucumber with lime juice and spices. Tasty snack for late at night or at the beach.

ENJOY and please let me know if shrimp is feasible on the Foreman!

Character defect for the day: Condescending stance or "how I need to be right and show it...daily"

This defect has contaminated my spiritual progress since my spiritual progress was in its infancy. It's the need to be right and the need to make sure everyone knows I am right, at the expense of someone's self esteem. Why do I feel the need to correct EVERYONE about EVERYTHING they DON'T KNOW ANYTHING about (at least in my, obviously not so humble, opinion). The RV neighbor lady next to me invited us out to dinner on her and her husband's last night on Tybee Island. The RV neighbor had already started to annoy me a few days ago (the one who told me about the annabella houses outside Savannah but not in the city...huh?"you know the annabella houses in the south?" she explains. My condescension began there and I just had to verbalize and "educate": "Oh you mean the antebellum homes?" I clarified. She knows and replied:"yeah...the annabella houses".

In spite of my annoyances, Jeff and I agreed to have dinner with our RV neighbors, and went to Charly's. I didn't share with him my converstation about the annabella houses of the south (on RV neighbor's drive to Kroger's with me). After ordering food, she and I stepped out for a cigarette (because I needed it, and I know, oh I know, how spiritual that is). She kept on telling me I was pretty. I said thank you (because I have learned how to accept a compliment gracefully). Then she started in (after the one compliment): She first told me I am hyper. Wow...she is so insightful. I told her while I did actually use that to my advantage in my career, I have become more able to slow down and relax. To this she says "oh..you were WORSE than this...holy shit!?"...okay...I am learning to bite my tongue. My sponsor would be so happy (until we settled down for the main course, then I just spiritually decompensated). Still outside, she persisted with personal inquisition about my family life. And this is her business why?? I didn't ask about her family. I should have been politely curious. I was not. Then she tells me again, " you are so pretty...Jeff better shape up and get it together...he probably doesn't appreciate a girl like you" HUH?? I must have verbalized, "huh?". She explained, "Oh, he looks like he just walked out of bed with that get up". Oh MY God, I was going to kill her. Really. Truly. I had to interject. You know, on Jeff's behalf. Not at all because I was right and she was wrong. NOT.AT.ALL!! "Soo, actually, he looks very nice and clean...he was working in the RV a lot of today and cleaned up quite nicely as he always does!" Good job wifey, I thought. "Duh!" she remarked. "What?" I did not quite believe my ears. Because, really, I didn't know how 'duh' fit in the context of the conversation. "you know, duh, like yeah right. He wasn't doing anything...I didn't see him all day". Ummm yeah, "Like I said, he was working IN the RV all day; you wouldn't have seen him till he came outside to work on the roof and all". "Oh I see, he was working inside. Okay". Yes. Like I said before. Oh.Holy.HigherPower. Where art thou??????? I had to go inside and join Jeff. Then the fun stuff begins.

At dinner she kept telling us how upscale it was and all. So I dressed up (it was nice to dress up considering I live in shorts and flip flops daily). I dressed up to watch her get drunk and swear non stop at the "up scale" restaurant. "I want to bitch about the tires. I want to bitch about our bad tires. I want to bitch about the bad tires. I want to bitch about the tires". Yeah...I get it..you want to bitch about those damn tires. Seriously, she goes on: "They don't give a shit we have bad tires". Yeah? Really? Then we move on to talk about a boat time-share situation, which she had no solid understanding. "I wouldn't trust anyone to abuse our boat". Well, I tried to explain, "you wouldn't have to worry about that because you wouldn't fully own the boat...it's not YOUR boat per se". To which she responded, "so if someone takes OUR new boat out and ruins/breaks it, then what. I don't want to rent out our boat if anyone can take it." IT'S.NOT.YOUR.BOAT. So in case she wasn't sure about the time share issue, I said "it's like a vacation time share and you only use a portion of it". To which she says "well, duh...I know about that kind of timeshare, but if I had a timeshare boat that was new, it could just break down in the middle of the .....(ocean/water)...If we have a new boat for just me and [husband's name] that wouldn't happen". AAAAAAAAAAARRGH.... and here is my next and last condescending comment of the night: " Sooo kind of like your RV?" I referenced their new RV-NOT a timeshare RV...just for them, the one with the bad tires and a questionable quality of their transmission and hot water heater. ARggh...I know I wayyy over stepped my bounds...Jeff rescued me at some point (from coming off as a completely cold-hearted, intellectually snobby bitch), thankfully.

The dinner finally came to an end and I had not broken any of the TEN commandments, 'specially the one with the word 'kill". Cool. Deep breath and long walk to the AA meeting. Oh and thank GOD for that. I didn't tell Jeff about the outside/smoking convo (I guess he will read it here if he reads this blog), but he explained that I was condescending, but only when I asked...because he is wayyy more spiritually advanced.
YAY for AA and other recovering alcoholics to talk things over with.

So I ask myself: Why and what is even my purpose in "teaching" her about time share boats and "proving" my point and giving her vocab lessons about the estates in the Confederate states?! Oh I don't know...to make myself feel better and smarter. I am pretty sure that worked for a while, but now it just makes me feel nasty and I realized this after this dinner. And that is spiritual progress.

Peace and serenity to all...

Sand squirrels (real or imagined)

Do they exist? Will you see them in neighborhoods? Or just on the beach? My husband tried to pawn off the idea of the evolutionary development of the sand squirrel (he thinks he is Darwin). I never did believe him, but tried to feed in to his humor....
This is what I have learned about the sand squirrel:
1. They can hop.
2. They can fly.
3. They can ambush you as you walk toward a pier or upon leaving the beach/sandy area.
4. They can act as free agents & surprise you in a neighborhood if you are not paying attention.
5. They can leave tricky sand prints.

All really freaking amazing considering the sand squirrel Jeff is talking about DOES NOT EXIST!!

Updating my book list

I am catching up on book reading and thus, I think I am going to be adding to my posted list often. I may remove some select books so the list is not dreadfully long. I had to read The Private Lives of Pippa Lee before I see the movie. The book was of course great, but I didn't realize the author had written Personal Velocity which I had seen a while ago. In fact, I had no idea it was even a book, or I probably would have wanted to read it first.

I guess I have a thing with reading the book first if I am able to and if I even know it's a book prior to seeing the movie. I love the imagination and the thoughts that go through my head about the appearances. Even though I haven't seen it yet, since I know Blake Lively is in it (and I have seen Gossip Girl only once, I swear) as well as Maria Bello and Robin Wright Penn (is it still Penn? Anyone?), I subconsciously put them in my head as I was reading the book. It did not really ruin it for me or anything, but it's not quite the same thing. I think my exception to my book before movie rule was The Namesake. I knew it was a book, but I knew I didn't have time and I had a movie date to see it. That was a nice movie, but I think I would have rather read the book first. Now, it is too late! I don't know if I have the patience to get through it now!

Please feel free to comment on any of the books I have read or suggest new ones. I have a few on my list that I have bought months ago and are in queue. Currently, I am reading The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. I hope to get some mileage in that book tonight when Jeff goes to his poker game. Either that or get lazy and watch Sex and the City for the 10 millionth time.

Bicycle poker run

Yesterday I went on a bicycle poker run with Jeff (and a few hundred other people) to raise money for breast cancer. It was pretty cool to think that just a few weeks ago I hadn't been on a bicycle for 24 years and today I can say I rode around the island for a good cause. Granted, the island is only a few miles long. Granted, it is a very easy ride on flat terrain at a very slow pace. I still did it and it was a great time. Saturday evening one of the waitresses at Huc-a-poo's talked me into going and with Jeff encouraging that it was an easy thing, nothing pressured, I figured 'why not?'!

I think that if I get good enough, I will be able to get my own bike some day. When I am confident of myself enough to go alone anywhere on the bike. I still don't feel comfortable going after sundown. I am not quite comfortable going in the street as I don't have a mirror and I am not adept at looking behind me (Jeff helps out here). One day though. One day, I am sure that I will be able to navigate my way through the streets with ease and comfort.

Cocaine...no, I mean coffee!

The weirdest thing happened this morning and it made me laugh out loud. I was reading my book The History of Love (which is great so far, by the way) and the Great Value Colombian COFFEE can was sitting outside. It caught my eye and I started reading the wrapper as "COcaine experts agree that Colombian COcaine is among the best in the world". I couldn't help laughing, especially because I have NEVER done cocaine in my life. Really. Truly. Could you imagine. Coffee is not the same as cocaine, clearly.

My new Fat Tire (no beer silly...)

Since we decided to stay here till the beginning of December, we rented bikes today. We knew we wanted to live in a community where we could get somewhere on bikes and that would be totally sufficient! We knew we wanted simple bikes, little beach cruiser types. So we found a place called Fat Tire bikes. We got a pretty reasonable deal on bikes to rent till the end of November. We even got baskets, oh my! We got some super cool no speed bikes where you pedal backwards to brake. This was all so cool. Except I haven't been on a bicycle since I was about 14-16 years old. Really??!! yes, really. Jeff even thought I was exaggerating. No. I wasn't exaggerating!

So, when we got all ready to go, it was all good. Until the people at Fat Tire Bikes let us go. Then I got a little nervous. I think it dawned on Jeff somewhere between right then and the time we got back to the RV that, in fact, I REALLY TRULY had not been on a bike for about 24 years. I was shaky and nervous. Once we got on the beach, I got the hang of it, but by then the resistance was more challenging on the sand (even the hard packed sand near the water's edge). By the time we got back on the road, it was a breeze (compared to the beach). Overall, it was a very odd experience. I felt like my legs were going to be really sore, because they were very sore while riding on the beach, but I feel okay now. Granted, I am sick, and I am still coughing, but I got home on the bike and gained a bit of confidence and a big work out on the way.

I am going back to Denver, but once I get back to Tybee Island, I want to bike and boogie board as often as I can!
See you next week!!

No island fever yet! But hey, we just got here....

We have finally arrived on Tybee Island and it's beautiful. After one day here at our first site at River's End, we decide to get a monthly site. We have to move to a metered spot, but not a big deal. I have been to the ocean almost every day since we have been here. The strange thing about Tybee Island is a)it's part of the state of Georgia and b) I told Jeff I really didn't feel a need to be in Georgia. A really good lesson on open-mindedness. I am SOOO glad he pushed for this just a tad. Sooo grateful that I don't always know what I am talking about and ready to admit it!! I love this island!

This morning, I went and while it was a bit chilly & windy, the waves were outrageous. I saw people on surfboards with kite like things in their hands and belted to their bodies. Is this para -sailing?Para- surfing? Anyway, it was pretty cool to watch. I tried to rest, but with the chilly air, it was hard to get my breath as I have a little bit of a cold; I headed back to the RV. And it's so nice that this is a 5-10 minute walk. Beach to RV: 5-10 minutes: I couldn't ask for a better distance. A little bit of a walk, but not a hike. As I said earlier (maybe multiple times), I don't typically hike. Anywhere.

I found the walking anywhere here can be accomplished on the beach for the most part; one can just cut in on any public access area to get back to town. It's so much more relaxing and easy on the feet. I made the mistake of wearing some super cute converse low tops (with out socks as usual) on a lengthy walk the other day with Jeff. I guess I never broke in those shoes. I had horrible blisters in about three places. I think he was afraid my flip flops would be worse, but they were actually the better choice. Oh well, by now the blisters are pretty much healing. And those shoes need to be broken in, one way or another. They are super cool! Black with pink satin lining and pink satin shoe strings. Totally me!

I am going to Denver tomorrow for a few days. I have not decided whether I am going to bring the lap top. I don't think I really need it and I have the blackberry for everything I really need (my itinerary/phone numbers/email access). I probably won't be blogging till I get back. I think I am just going to enjoy Denver and get stuff done. I think I will be running around so much, I won't have time to blog.

I can not wait for MNF! 6-1 record-COME ON BRONCOS! Oh my.... I can NOT believe I just said that. I mean I am a Steelers fan. Right? Right. Or am I? Just kidding. I have been a Steelers fan for a long time (since about 1998). That was a different time. Now I know more Broncos players than Steelers players, so maybe my loyalty is allowed to defect to Denver.

Oh...and by the way, check out the next post on riding a bike. For the first time since I was a teenager.