How I just turned my day around...

Most people see my job as easy and FUN! Well let me tell all of you at once... it's neither easy nor fun. I know that y'all are all thinking, what? No! It's all fun in the sun coaching sailing. Well coaching and teaching are two very different things and today I got to teach 20 kids how to tow and it was utterly painful. I'll just give you a few highlights of my day...

• "The Tummy Ache"
  
• Mason: my stomach hurts real bad, I can't sail
• Me: Well ok we'll call your mom to go home
• Mason: Good I think I'm going to throw up
• (I start to giggle at the thought of him voming in his mom's new lexus)
• Me: Well Mason what did you have for lunch?
• Mason: A vanilla milkshake, two orders of chicken tenders, curly fries AND regular fries and well... two cokes

Now guys I'm no doctor but that could be it!

• "I can't tow"
• Now true this is one of my kids that I despise but today he decided to run into my boat, throw me a ball of a bowline with more knots than a homemade ladder, run over my towline with 3 kids already on it and then look at me as if this was all my fault. I threw it back at him, he got huffy and yelled "FINE! I'm gonna sail in!" Mission accomplished

• "I refuse to talk to anyone"
• This is a daily occurrence with my little Anna... She looks at her feet and refuses to acknowledge anyones presence.
• Anna what's wrong, are you ok, are you scared... ok great you can just stand there!

• "I refuse to clip my mainsheet on and go sailing"
• Note: this is the older brother of "I refuse to talk to anyone"
• This is pretty self explanatory... he almost drifted into the rocks and that made me laugh

That was just a few of the things I dealt with today. At the end of it I just wanted to go home but of course I had a billion little things to deal with before I could drive away from 'the office.' But as I drove away I was sweating, angry/annoyed, and very tired and then I received a text "YAY! 4 day holiday" I almost threw my phone out the window! But when I arrived home I quickly changed my day around by doing the following (please feel free to take these tips and try them the next time you're having a bad day)

1. Tell someone how shitty it was
2. Tell someone else how shitty it was but begin to laugh at how utterly ridiculous it was
3. Take your clothes off
4. Eat a bowl of ice cream
5. Take a hot shower
6. Brag to others about how amazing your ice cream was and point out that they don't have any
7. Read ridiculous online posts like this airline complaint (Andrew, where do you find this stuff?)
   

Some how my day has started new again and let me tell you... it's going to be a good day!

Finally the whole story...

Recently Karen asked to hear how Andrew's graduation went and when she began to cry because she was laughing so hard I realized I should write up the whole story. True this was after a few drinks (a lot of drinks) so we'll see how funny it is now... sober.

Sunday morning rolled around a little quicker than I was ready for but when I woke up I thought to myself "Today I would LOVE to sit in the pouring rain wearing a trash bag with Andrew's entire family for 3 hours!" And by gosh if that's not exactly what I did!

Andrew had to leave early because a. he was the one graduating and b. he had forgotten to pick up his cap and gown on saturday so he had to try and track one down before the ceremony started at 9:30am. So I was left alone to get ready for the morning of rain (of course I had forgotten my rain jacket) and to brace myself for more family time...

I called John when I arrived on the green because there was no way I was going to find them through the sea of umbrellas. When I finally ran into him (literally) he brought me over to my seat where my "rain jacket" was waiting. It was was a lovely translucent garbage bag, thank goodness I had pulled together a decent outfit after having to scratch my original plan of a white sun dress. Mr. Loe had even brought me a rain hat (a plastic grocery bag that fit just perfectly on my head, how thoughtful.) As I sat down I felt like an 80 year old, double arm amputee who was protection her curlers from the harsh weather. I looked ridiculous and was embracing it! By embracing it I mean I was trying to act casual as I readjusted my rain hat with my right arm that I had to stretch through my neck hole of my trash bag while still trying to hold a decent conversation about how great it was that Andrew was graduating.

Mrs. Loe arrived wearing her rain jacket (what a prepared mom) and trash bag skirt carrying hot coffee for all of us and an assortment of muffins and cinnamon rolls. She was just elated to be there and was not going to let rain get in the way of the big day. She even made the comment that it felt natural for it to be raining. After she has sat through countless rainy regattas as a supportive fan of course it would rain for one of her proudest moments, Andrew's Graduation.

As we all sat there in the rain waiting for everything to get going we were entertained by this women....

John rightful named her The Usher Nazi. She had one job to hassle anybody and everybody who stood up during the program. And let me tell you, she took her job SERIOUSLY! (You should have seen when a man tried to enter with balloons, she was not havin any of that!)

As the ceremony started we all quieted down and listened to a not so great commencement speaker (I guess I'm a little jaded after Barrett's graduation of awesomeness.)

I sat between Mrs. Loe and John which worked out perfectly because he added some great comments about the Nazi as Mrs. Loe told stories about Andrew growing up and her graduation from med school. It was a perfect balance of entertainment.

As Andrew walked across the stage Mrs. Loe started to cry and I felt horrible as I didn't even have an arm or a hand for that matter to comfort her with see how I was trapped inside of a garbage bag.

As graduation ended Andrew met up with us and it was back to awesomely awkward family time. As always we took some pictures and Mrs. Loe insisted I be in some.

Here we'll play a quick game. It's like when you were a kid... What doesn't belong??


Answer:


Oh yeah, that's me! I'm clearly out of place!

As the afternoon rolled on it was one great family moment after another. First we went to the sailing team bar-b-q and then we all sat together and watch Oceans Thirteen... how cute! And don't you guys worry between the bar-b-q and movie I happened to experience two more of my fears of the weekend 1. falling (yes, right on my butt in front of everyone) 2. saying something horribly stupid. Glad I got those out of the way, I'd hate for them to think I could actually walk and talk at the same time.

And the next day was even better! We all had to wake up early not only to move Andrew out of his dorm but also to pack up his room (here's to planning ahead!) As I bent over to help pack another bag of t-shirts Mr. Loe made some comment about how I don't bend my knees, oh yeah... he thinks I'm a freak!

After everything was packed Mrs. Loe and I did a bit of shopping and then grabbed another fam lunch! Of course from there we had the 'goodbye' moment... AWKWARD!! I really should have planned this parental meet and greet on a less 'family oriented' occasion but what can you do? It's over and hopefully it went well...

Some ups and downs...

The past week has been a roller coaster to say the least.

Monday: Panic Attack (not being a drama queen, legit head between knees panic attack) Even worse this magical first time experience happened at the gym. I tried to act like it must just be dehydration from work but I don't think it was a good cover.

This all started when I ran into Krysten Williams. Krysten and I have been friends since 6th grade and while we have drifted apart it's always nice to run into her (or so I thought.) We had a bit of a chit chat while she was on the elliptical and as I commented on Boston being cold she shoved her hand in my face "AND! I'M ENGAGED!!" I acted thrilled and asked the normal questions

The wedding will be next March
He's an engineer
She'll be moving in with him in Beaumont, TX after the wedding
She's going to be a 6th grade math teacher
....grrrrrrrrreeeat!

As I started to run I felt sick. I have no idea what I want to do when I graduate or even where I want to live and I'm still trying to fight off being a scary old cat lady. And here's Krysten engaged, with a career and skinny (I guess I could be skinny too if I didn't go to a real college where people party and... DRINK!) I want to cry but more then anything I feel like I'm going to thrown up. I get off the treadmill and slowly walk over to the wall. I bend over trying to look like I'm just stretching and it's not helping. It's now coming in waves and really hitting me that she's engaged and her life is settled. I find a chair and put my head between knees and keep thinking "I went to a real college, I did stupid things and woke up in strange place, I live in a cool city, I will get a good job, and I'm happier now then I've ever been before... everything is ok, everything is going to be ok"

After my work out I returned home to my family and Scott our new company consultant. We had a great dinner and I guess I made a good impression because the next day he told my dad I should look into consulting... see everything is going to be ok.

As dinner ended my grandparents showed up with a gift for me and it finally hit me where I get my horrible gift giving attitude from... my grandmother. She had brought over a pretty stained glass piece that was a pair of ballet slippers. However as I open it she keeps say if you don't like it just tell, I'm sure you're going to hate it, Oh I don't know if you're going to like it all...
I'm going to try and learn from this experience and become more confident when giving gifts because all I wanted to do was stop unwrapping it and just hand it back to her unopened "You're right I hate it, take it back"

Tuesday: Last family dinner before Barrett leaves. "To Barrett's adventure but most importantly to family"

Wednesday: I wake up and get ready for work as Barrett is searching for his lost wallet... typical. He finds it just in time to leave for the airport as I'm walking out the door for work. We say our goodbyes and I cry for the entire trip to work. Not having my older brother for a year is going to be so hard. I need to be able to call him when I'm upset and he needs to meet Andrew and hate him and I need him to tell me to stop being such a girl and well... I just need him.

I ran into Krysten at the gym again... I may have to change gyms.

Thursday: We took the castings for my retainer so I can have straight teeth. YAY! Now I won't look like a total hick anymore. I'm really excited to get this done and hopefully everything will be done before school! While this was exciting and all the most exciting thing was that I got the morning off of work... I come home and chatted with my mom over breakfast and I even had time to go to the gym early so I wouldn't run into Krysten.

i need a hug...

Father's Day

My parents and I awoke to a house filled with air mattresses and hungover college kids. I guess the keg stands went until 3:30. I was just glad to see everyone was just 'living the dream!'

Due to father's day most people cleared out before John, Berta and I returned from breakfast. Upon arrival we called dibs on the monstrosity in our living room that we are now calling the TV. As we popped in Emperor's New Groove Barrett insisted that we wait for him to watch it and soon the whole family was laughing at Kronk and being frightened by Yzma. What a great way to start the day!

However around mid afternoon my dad took over the TV to put on some napping programs (Nascar and Golf) We didn't fight it... it is Father's day.

Roberta decided to stick around for the afternoon and research cats on my computer (aka she looked at pictures of kittens named Toby and Tiger) for 2 hours on my computer. To get rid of her I had to pretend to fall asleep and she let herself out...

The day ended with a nice family dinner (only 2 more of those left before Barrett leaves)
And of course we gave my dad his gift for being awesome! My job was to wrap it but I had just been soooooooooo busy this week. So I threw my robe over it and called it 'recycled'
Luckily my dad found it funny and not insulting!

Barrett's Leaving, so we had a PARTY!

It's always interesting to see how a party full of family and college kids goes. Luckily the transition from family cocktail hour to college rager went smoothly.

The begining of the night was very casual...
John and Roberta where vertical and looked thrilled to be there!

Larry and Jeremy showed up!
It was a huge day for Jeremy, he ended his three month vegetarian lifestyle. We were all thrilled to see this because who from Texas doesn't eat meat? We had been questioning his state loyalty.
(For those of you who haven't been to my house recently you can see the new addition to our living room, a GIANT rap star like TV... glad to see some quality party programing is on in)

Steve was the life of the party to say the least. With his continual guy advice and blunt southern statement he was a blast to have around. He was even more fun after a few games of beruit....

Once the drinking games started the party really came alive. People started swimming in hot tub (literally) and in the bay. Roberta couldn't stand up straight and keg stands began shortly after she started napping on the lawn.

PS. Roberta you are not part of our family... stop trying to steal my Dad!

Just Another Day at the 'Office'...

Today was the last day of our opti camp (campers 7-12 years old.) Opti camp has been a blast and a complete headache all at the same time. We had 22 new campers who had never sailed in there life so we definitely had some challenges (push the tiller away from you, no the other 'away')

The last day of camp though is always supposed to be fun. So we had tons of activities planned. Silly string wars and hair/face panting but most importantly we were going to have a BOAT PARADE! The kids were excited but I was thrilled with the idea! Yesterday was our big sail through where all the kids practiced going around the marks by the dock and waving at the imaginary parents. They did great and I thought everything was ready for the big day.

However upon arrival at work we realized that we had the decorations for the kids boats, the silly string, the face paint and the hair paint but we didn't have anything to wear for the festivities. Allyson and I started to brainstorm and agreed upon a pretty imaginative theme, Sailors! I however wanted to be girly sailor so I had to make a quick run home for supplies. On the way there though I was a little nervous... is the tutu I wore when i was 12 still going to fit. But don't you guys worry it went right over my head like a champ! So now I had the tutu and I picked up my famous grandma glasses and headed back to work but not before a quick trip to my dad's office...

Clearly he was thrilled to see me!
When they asked me to come home for the summer I don't think they were expecting moments like this.

After my quick detour I headed back to work to get dressed up with Allyson and get the kids boats decorated.



After our decorating though huge storms set in and really put a damper on the afternoon. I was devestated! (clearly)



Damian our coach from Argentina was also crushed, he had come all the way to Texas for the parade and now nothing....



But with some quick thinking we made the best of the lightning and thunder by having a land parade... (it was no boat parade but it'll have to do)


Abe was having tons of fun (maybe a little too much fun but that'll work itself out in a few years)


It looked like such a blast, I had hop in!!



In the end we made the best of the rain and the kids seemed to have a great time (I guess that's all that really matters.) Now to enjoy the weekend...

High School Reunion at Dinner

There are things about high school that I do miss. One of those things is running into everyone from town at one place for dinner. Tonight my parents took me to Pappadeaux. I love going there because a. they have amazing etouffee b. my good friend from kindergarten, Riley, now manages it. So it's a two for one kinda deal, good food and good friends.

As the hostess takes our name Riley spots us out of the corner of his eye and runs over for a big hug (and to ask where I've been for the past few months.) He ends up taking us to our seat and on the way there I spot Seth another friend from hs and Haili's ex bf all waiting tables. They all head over for hugs and a quick life update. As we take our seat Brad, Crystal's little brother, heads over to wait on us for the evening.

It was really nice seeing everyone tonight. I guess I should start making phone calls soon to actually meet up with some of these people and not just wait to run into them. But where's the fun in that?

Meeting the parents...

Most girls meet their boyfriends parents over a single slow and painful dinner. However when I agreed to attend Andrew's graduation I didn't realize that I was signing up for a 'meet the parents dinner' that lasted an entire weekend. Now don't get me wrong the Loe's are great and tried to make the weekend as painless as possible but there were still a few unavoidable awkward/embarrassing moments.

I flew in Saturday afternoon and started the weekend off with a nice nap (yes, I was staying in Andrew's dorm room... we'll get to that later.) We had dinner reservations at The Hanover Inn which is the nicest restaurant in Hanover. Thank goodness I had planned for this because the conversation prior to the weekend about packing that I had with Andrew went something like this...

Me: Hey what's the plan for the weekend, I'm trying to figure out what to pack
Andrew: I don't know what we're doing
Me: Nice dinner?
Andrew: Yeah, ummm nice dinner on saturday

Wow! Thanks for the help with that one
However when I arrived I realized that he was actually clueless on the event, asking his mother whether a coat was needed

Dinner went well, I think. I did however have to deal with one of my biggest fears of the weekend... spilling on myself. Now normally this isn't an issue for me but when I get nervous I have problems with this. So it wasn't really a spill but more of a drop. I feel as if I recovered well but I'm sure I turned bright red in the middle of dinner.

After dinner we made the rounds of the a cappella groups that were performing on campus. They had some pretty incredible shows. Once we left 'the fam' Andrew and I headed to Psi U... from there the night felt like every other night in the basement. No more pressure to tell good stories or look presentable. The night ended with 6 single flip games of flip cup... I couldn't have asked for a better night.

Steak and eggs

TCYC continues to amaze me. I returned to my old work location tonight for a few Rum Gums and like always, an adventure. Tonight was a collection of the old and the young as we took Mills' new boat back to well... the 70's.

As I grabbed my first Rum Gum of the night everyone was talking about 'the secret room.' The more questions I asked the more confused I got but as we pulled up to the dock it all started to make sense. I walked along the white stone walkway passing life size lawn sculptures of what seemed to be Greek God's (it was very dark so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that it wasn't really Greek God's but who knows) As I approached the house I could see through the glass doors that everyone was correct... nothing inside the house has been redecorated since the 70's. We're talking avocado fridges and matching couches. It was as if I had entered a time warp.

As soon as everyone had made the journey up to the porch it was time to find the secret room. I began to fall behind as I walked slower and slower admiring gold statues of goats and vases that could have been found in Andy Warhol's living room. As I made my way upstairs I followed the voices. The door was to fit flush with the wall and was decorated in matching wood paneling. Luckily for me they had kept it cracked and as I pushed it open I walked directly into a scene from an old James Bond movie. There is a pool table in front of me and a fully stocked rap around bar to my right. The card table was in the back next to the couch and gold statue of what looked to be a sheep laying down. As the first game of pool started I opened the bottle of wine and we all began chatting again. However the conversation never went to far without a comment on the room we had entered. Henry May was still surveying the room when he asked "Hey, does anyone have an ounce of coke because if so this is the place to do it!"

After a bottle of wine and a few beers we all headed back to the club. As the group broke up Mills, Grant and I stuck together as we searched for food and of course a few more drinking. We ended up back to Mills' for a late night snack of Steak n' fried eggs. Only in Texas is Steak n' Eggs and a bottle of wine considered a midnight snack!

The Black's Wedding

Randy's wedding was well... different. Most girls attend weddings to make their own mental list of things they would like to copy and have at their own wedding. However as I walked in I began my own list...

"Things that will NOT happen at my wedding"

• The flower girl and ring bearer will know how to walk down the aisle
• I will not be chewing gum during my vows (or at any other point of my wedding)
• My father will not be chewing gum when he gives me away
• An 8 month pregnant woman will not marry me
• My husband's best man will not have more jewelry on than I do
• I hopefully will not have to ask how to pronounce a word in my vows during the ceremony
  
• If I decide to take communion during the ceremony I will not put my gum on the steam of the glass or chug the entire glass of wine
• I will NOT have a cash bar at the reception
• I will not double fist glasses of beer when I enter my reception or proceed to chug them in front of the entire party
• 'Sexy back' will not be playing as I enter my reception

I just want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Black for this educational experience.

On another note, Jill attended the wedding which is always an adventure in itself. She brought her new boyfriend Stephen along. In my eyes Stephen is the best boyfriend she has ever had. He's intelligent (big step in the right direction), funny and puts up with Jill. Now they've only been dating on and off for a few months but if you saw them together you would think they were on their honeymoon. She can't keep her hands off him as she prances around introducing him as 'My BOYFRIEND Stephen!' As I hear this I just cringe... So maybe I have never really had a steady boyfriend but why not just call him Stephen? Does she really have to drop the BF word all the time? Everyone already assumes he's your BF seeing how he's at the wedding with you and you're all over him! He's either a BF or a male escort for the evening... So ok maybe it is needed to introduce him as your BOYFRIEND! We'd hate for rumors to fly about you having to bring an escort.