The Adventures of I LOVE KAYAKING

Look at this! I'm kayaking! And I'm having fun.
Trade in a river for a lake, a cold day for warm sunshine, an inflatable monstrosity for sleek, hard plastic and crap oars for cool black ones.... and magic happens. It turns out that I DO like kayaking. Add in a dose of good friends and the most beautiful surroundings you can imagine and you have the ingredients for a perfect day.

It really was a perfect day. I LOVE KAYAKING!

Here is my dose of good friends...such a willing and adventurous bunch!
The fun started before we even got in our kayaks.

Once we finally got in the lake, we found that the kayaks took a little getting used to. The water was quite cold and we really hoped we wouldn't end up in it. Craig was a bit nervous at first - well, quite scared actually, of tipping over and falling into the cold lake.
Here is Pat in an inflatable monstrosity. He wanted a more stable kayak to ensure that there would be no tipping himself over into the really cold lake.

Laura went with the sleek, hard plastic. Unlike the rest of us, she was not scared of falling in. As a matter of fact, after about an hour of kayaking, we stopped at a little beach to eat and hang out and she went swimming. Intentionally! Crazy.
David and Iren got a double inflatable monstrosity. The inflatable kayaks are very slow and very hard to maneuver. It was even harder in a double, but they did great!

We kayaked for quite a while. I have no idea how to measure water distance or kayak time, so I have no idea how far we went, but I can assure you it was not 9 and a half miles like I did two weeks ago. Perhaps this was also a part of why today was so much more fun than last time!

On our way back, we stopped to do a little hiking. David, Iren, Laura and I climbed to the top of this hill. Wow, what a view! I love Arizona so much! This was an extra dose of the most beautiful surroundings you can imagine.
Be careful where you step or you might step on this.

I was about an inch from squishing this poor guy. For a moment, I thought he was dead, but then he slithered off the trail.

A pretty successful trip so far... no one got bit by a snake and no one fell in the lake!

As we neared the dock and waited for our slow-poke friends in the inflatable monstrosities to catch up, Laura and I tested Craig's strength. We both grabbed on to the back of his kayak and made him tow us. He actually got up some speed and we went a fairly good distance. It took all of his effort. When we finally gave in and let go, an exhausted Craig leaned back in his kayak to rest. Not such a good idea! Kayak tipped! Ha! Craig fell in! Hilarious!!
And then the fun was over much too soon. This was one of the best days ever! I love my friends, I love Arizona, I love weekends, I love that I have the ability to go adventure-seeking and what do you know? I love kayaking.

We went out to eat on the way home where Laura memorialized our wonderful day.

And for those of you who stop by my blog just to see what the pups are up to...they had some fun today, too. We went for a long hike this morning and though there was no bunny chasing, there was some lizard chasing. They are happily curled up in various spots around my feet right now.

Ouch!

There's this really big guy who plays soccer. Seriously, huge. I come up to about his shoulder. I think his name is Mike. Tonight he took a shot, a really HARD shot and I blocked it. With my face. I didn't block it on purpose, I didn't even see him kick it. The only thing I saw was a ball in my face. If I had seen it coming, I would have ducked.

But I didn't see it coming and I didn't duck. It hit me vertically square between my jaw and my eyebrow on the left side of my face. I don't remember falling, but I must have because I was on my back feeling completely numb and I was unable to move my lips to speak. I thought for sure that I had a broken cheek bone or lost some teeth at the very least. Ouch!!

Ha! Nope. Nothin' but a teeny, tiny little scratch on my eyebrow from my glasses. My glasses, which went flying about ten feet, weren't even broken.

I am indestructible. Good to know.

Take note.

I Am A Good Friend

I know it's gotta get a little old playing games with me because, well, you know, I always win. It's not my fault that I am better than you.

But because I am a good friend, on Friday night I let someone else win. The game was SuperSpeed UNO. I started off the first few rounds in my usual place at the top of the leaderboard, because well, you know, I'm better than you. But then I let my competitive streak lie low and let someone else take the limelight for a while. Sarah and Wayne (who aren't nice like me) did not reign in their competitive spirits and they showed no mercy on the table.

SuperSpeed UNO is a dangerous and cut-throat game. We considered the night a success as there were no trips to the hospital. However, Wayne did suffer a sprained pinky finger, courtesy of Sarah, and there were multiple shouts of "Hey! No elbowing out!" If any game needed a referee, this was it!

In the end, after some whole-table plotting against Sarah (that sadly repeatedly backfired to screw poor Jen), the last crazy hand shook everything up. I allowed Brent, the nicest player in the game, to take the victory. See, aren't I a good friend? Sarah got second by two measley points and I fear she is still wallowing in bitter defeat. And Wayne? Maybe I'm not that nice of a friend because I am now going to gloat....YEP! I beat him. Ha!


My good-friendness didn't stop on Friday. Nope, my generosity and all around awesomeness carried over to Saturday. See - everyone knows I hate kids, right? But then how can you explain this picture? Me surrounded by a bunch of kids and .... smiling???It's because I'm a good friend! The NFBF's had a birthday party for their daughter that included a neighborhood treasure hunt with clues and games. I agreed to let my house be a stop on the hunt and to be the activity monitor. You read that right. I willingly gave up part of my Saturday to spend time with a bunch of kids. Wow, I AM a good friend!

The two teams each had to put together a Winnie the Pooh puzzle before I could give them their next clue. I am so Phil Keoghan.

As if that's not enough...then I drove all the way across town to entertain a bored Laura with a game of Scrabble. And that is where I drew the line. I can't be nice all the time. So I trounced her. Sorry, Laura!

My Pets Are Famous

Check them out!
http://www.jenhenry.com/Clients.html

If you are looking for dog walker/pet sitter in the Phoenix area, give Jen a call. She's the best! Mo, Frankie, Georgie and Al all love her. I think Pat does, too, but that's a different story...

Cosmically Glum

I've been feeling cosmically glum for the past few days. It seems that whenever a bad mood comes around, bad things start happening, making the bad mood even deeper and darker. It wouldn't have taken much to push me over the edge yesterday, but it seems like the badness just wouldn't quit.

First, I was in Scottsdale doing venue site visits and I got a fricking parking ticket. I wasn't parked illegally, but apparently I have neglected to put my registration sticker on my license plate so I was ticketed for parking an unregistered vehicle on Scottsdale city streets. Don't you think that my tags are a matter for the DMV, not for the City of Scottsdale? Ergh. I hate Scottsdale. Come to think of it, the last time I was in a mood this bad, I got a speeding ticket in the mail that day. God, I can't afford to be in a bad mood!!

Then, I went hiking with the dogs when I got home in an effort to exercise away my bad mood. We were finishing up the hike, it was getting dark. There was a bunny on the trail that I didn't see, but Frankie sure did. I should have been paying closer attention because I know that all the bunnies come out to play at dusk. Frankie pulled the leash right out of my kayak-blistered hands and took off running. It was terrible. When we are at obedience class that dog has an amazing recall. He even does ok at the park with kids and other dogs around. But with a running bunny as a distraction - no way. He did not respond to my calls. He was gone! It was almost dark out, I couldn't see or hear him. Gone! I tried not to panic as I trailed after him, but my heart was beating a million beats per second and I was on the verge of tears. Thank god for Georgie. Who knew that she has what it takes to be an excellent tracking dog? She was pulling as hard as she could trying to catch up with Frankie and the bunny. After about 10 minutes of scrambling through the brush along a dry wash, she led me right to a forlorn Frankie, staring sadly into a hole. The bunny escaped. I went home feeling stupid and stressed from the scare.

And finally...I didn't eat lunch yesterday. I was leaving the office early for the site visits, so I just ran out of time. No problem. I was planning to go to the mall to get my glasses fixed later and any trip to the mall means I get rewarded with Chick-Fil-A. Mmmm, yummy. I was looking forward to this all day!! But I get to the mall and...my Chick-Fil-A is now closed. CLOSED. It took much will power not to lay down in the fetal position, moaning and rocking right there outside of Hot Topic. Ok, this might be a little thing that would hardly make a blip in a normal day, but with everything added up, I am totally broken hearted.

And cosmically glum.