I hope that 2012 brings you joy and contentment.

Hurricane Irene ripped some branches out of our trees but that's all.  She stole my parents' power for 4 days but that's back on now too. 

I'm on vacation this week and next.  So far the weather (aside from the Irene situation) has been gorgeous!  Chef had two days off this week.  He and I went to the beach to hunt sea-glass after the storm.  We found a ton of it.  Lots of seals (surfers) in the water on Monday.  Love to watch them.  The surf had picked up a bit but was still fairly tame considering we had just had a big storm.  We went to the beach on Sunday too while the winds were still kicking.  The seals were out then too although not as many.  One guy walking down to the water with his board kept getting pushed off his path by the wind.  Based on what I saw I would say that he's new to the sport.  The more experienced surfers were further down the beach and having a blast.

I'm still having trouble with my personal laptop.  Got that nasty malware a couple of months ago and it's a bitch to get rid of.  But I found out that an old friend from high school is an IT guy.   I got in touch with him via FBook and spoke with him tonight.  We've tried a few things and at least I was able to download some anti-malware and cleaning apps.  I couldn't do that before so something is better.  Anyway, it was great to speak with him.

We lost our new Easy-Up canopy in the backyard last night.  We had wicked rains and unfortunately the canopy caved in and a pocket of rain built up which then bent the frame in multiple places.  The canopy is fine.  No tears or rips - but the frame is bent beyond repair.  This is what happened to the old one just last year.  You'd think we would learn.

While we were trying to rescue the canopy, Chef ripped open the palm side of his right hand middle finger.  He probably should have gotten stitches but you know boys.  So he will be struggling at work for a few days.  Nope, he wouldn't take a day off for an injury.  Anyway after that happened we saw (even in the dark) that the frame was toast so we went back inside and had ice cream.

I got out of work early today.  I came home and decided to dismantle the canopy.  Holy Shamoley - there were so many earwigs, spiders and these weird green bugs!  I feel like I have creepy crawleys all over me now.  So not fun.  And I couldn't even finish the dismantle job because the nuts and bolts are too tight for me to loosen and I can't close it up as you normally would because of the bent frame.  Aggravating.

The good news.... I faced my fear of jumping into the pool.  Technically it's more of a stepping off the side but it is the scariest thing I've had to do.  Did I like it?  No.  I really didn't.  Don't want to do it again but I will.  I'm not going to let the fear beat me. 

Hi Jeanne - thanks for your comment.  So far no visible bruising but I can tell I have a bone bruise. My skin is really tough but I've got a 7" scrape down my right shin.  The top of it is more of a gouge.  Very lovely.  I'm keeping it bandaged with goop to minimize scarring.  

I have to get some water proof bandages so I can go swimming again on Thursday.  Gotta get back on the horse ya know?  Besides I need to practice.  I'm not super graceful or athletic by any means but I'm determined to become good at some physical activity.  I don't have to be great or amazing but just regular old good. 

Oh yeah - don't sneeze or hiccup underwater.  I've done both and would have preferred not to.

Had a swimming lesson today.  I learned how to do a kneeling dive.  Unfortunately on my second try, I ripped my shin apart on the edge of the cement pool.  Oh man does it hurt!  Took a couple of hours for some of the pain to subside.  But I did finish my lesson.  My instructor was so kind.  She checked in on me after I got home to make sure that I iced the injury and ensure that there wasn't worse damage.  I don't usually bruise but somehow I think this situation might be a little different.

I just started my second set of lessons.  I asked my instructor to teach me how to step off of a boat to get into the water.  It's known as the "Big Stride".  She showed me how to do it.  She offered to hold my hand and stride with me.  She had me tuck a noodle under my arms.  Yeah... it wasn't happening.  I kept looking down and I was way too scared to do it.  She kept telling me to look straight ahead but not a chance.  So, instead she taught me how to sit dive.    I didn't realize it would feel so violent when I entered the water (no I didn't belly flop).  Really surprised me but I came up laughing and jumped out to do it again.

I made Chef come to swim practice with me and I showed him what I learned.  He was proud of me.  Anyway I decided that I was most nervous about being underwater (even for a few seconds) so Chef and I kept going underwater so I'd get used to it.  I'm ready now.  Monday is my next lesson and I'm going to take the Big Stride.  I know I know, all the stuff I'm excited about learning to do is stuff that everyone else did when they were 5.  OK - so I feel like I'm 5 and darn happy about it!

My other big accomplishment this week during practice was swimming a full length of the pool.  Usually I screw up the breathing part and I have to stop and get re-situated.  But last night I did it twice. 

On another note - we had a horrible plague of flies in the house.  40 or more at 7 of the downstairs windows and after I killed those, 40+ more would show up within minutes.  It took us 3 days before they finally disappeared.  We had to open up the screens and shut the windows in to the house and turn the AC on instead.  We still don't know where they came from. 

I just had my 4th swimming lesson and it was the best ever!  The little boy who takes lessons just before me didn't show so we got started early and she gave me extra time which was awesome. 

I learned the backstroke last week and even though I didn't get a chance to practice in water, I did practice the stroke while I was walking in the morning.  I can only imagine what the early commuters thought I was doing.  LOL.  Well, today she had me do 4 laps of this stroke.  Four laps right down the middle of the pool.  That means I was in the deep end and nowhere near the side of the pool!  It was so cool.  

I would like to get another swimsuit so that I can go to the pool more often.  It's icky to put on a wet suit and I don't like to put them in the dryer because it wears out the fabric faster.  I really want to get better with the crawl and that is not going to happen if I don't get to practice more.  I have a really hard time trying to roll my head to breathe.  I end up with more water than air and I have a hard time keeping my legs up at the surface when I kick.  But on the plus side, I actually put my face in the water now.  Wouldn't do that voluntarily a month ago.

I guess I should be more careful about what I wish for.  I said I would take a heat wave as long as the sun would come out.  Well, it came out this weekend and the temp was close to 90 degrees today.  It's going to be hot tomorrow too.  It's been so cold and rainy and then all of sudden it's hot and sunny.  It's like Mother Nature turned on a switch.  But we have the sun. 

Went to my sister's this weekend.  It was nice to be near the beach for a couple of days.  We celebrated the unofficial start of summer with the most enormous lobster rolls I've ever seen.  The place to get them is a shack across from the beach and they advertise on billboards over an hour away.  Soooo yummy.

Thank you for the encouragement daydreamer!

We need some sunshine and a little warmth.  It's been cold, wet and grey almost the whole spring.  I hope this is not a foretelling of the summer.  I'm not a fan of deadly heat.  70's is fine for me but I'd be happy to take a heat wave at this point as long as the sun comes out. 

Chef brought home 36 different flavor samples of ice cream from a vendor a few weeks ago.  Oh my, it is soooo good!  I had chocolate peanut butter cup last night.  It was about the best I've ever tasted.  You have to buy it in 3 gallon buckets though which makes it tough to purchase for home use.  They'll also make any flavor you want.  I was trying to come up with something that would be really different.  How about vanilla base with oatmeal cookies, raisins, apple pieces and chocolate chunks?  It'd be like cowboy cookie ice cream.  Or cinnamon base with apples and applesauce running through it - like apple crisp.

Had my first swimming lesson today.  I loved it and want to do it every day!

The instructor was wonderful.  I felt very comfortable with her.  She immediately saw what I was doing wrong all these years and helped me correct things.  Told me I was a good student and really easy to coach. 

I cannot wait for the next one.  I just wish I had a swimming pool to practice in the meantime.