LONG WEEKEND.. NO SURF =(

My daughter use to LOVE Rocket Powers on Nickelodeon! So when I think of Shoobies I think of this Rocket Power Episode. I was such a shoobie this weekend.. AND this weekend, I believe is the official start of Shoobie season..Everyone should be able to enjoy the beach ...I guess..BUT I PICKED UP MY GARBAGE AND THEN SOME!! Unlike a lot of Shoobies!

Well I had 3 days off, like much of America ..and you would think I would take advantage of one of those days to go and surf. BUT it was a Holiday Weekend..so strike one... My daughters birthday weekend.. strike two(however did spend a whole day at the beach)... Got sunburned to a crisp on Sat.... Strike three!

My Weekend....Sat. a few surf friends went to Doho and said it was not so great..and I really heard nothing good about anywhere else. Windblown and jumbled basically. SO I am happy I did not miss much. I did spend All day at Huntington Beach by the Pier being a Shoobie... HA! My daughters 14th B-day celebration, She wanted to go to the beach along with 6 of her closest friends. YES me and 7 teenagers.. and no surfing. AND I was a tad under the weather due to the whole bottle of wine I drank the night before.Do the math, no surf, SEVEN teens, and a bit hungover... SO yep, fun times. Glad to be able to crash at the beach. EVEN though every hour I was the one yelling everyone touch up their sunscreen, I apparently missed my whole upper back legs. I was sitting while putting sun screen on..AND the leg part that was on the chair did not get much attention, I guess I kept forgetting that area. BECAUSE it is Tuesday and I am still not feeling so great.

Sunday... windy and raining and yucky.. WHAT HAPPEN TO THIS WEEKEND BEING THE UNOFFICIAL BEGINNING OF SUMMER??? Maybe Mother Nature was trying to tell us, technically it is still Spring and we should not forget it? Whatever... could not surf anyway due to the fact I tried to cook my legs! So I was not too upset about the weather, made me feel less guilty about not being able to get out.. However..The weather was so bad, my husband the "Sport Fishing Captain/Deckhand" had to come home from work. WE were really counting on good "Holiday money" too, So boooooo to the weather for more reasons than one.

Monday.. seemed like a good day.. I had a few decent, NOT great but decent, surf reports from friends..but nothing fantastic!! I would have gone out..BUT putting on a wetsuit with my lobster legs did not sound enticing.. SO three days off and no surf!!! I need to surf soon, I hate losing my mojo! Maybe tomorrow or Thursday. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Sunburn fades enough to put wetsuit on, and surf looks decent so far, it should stay that way..and hopefully I will have enough gas money too! Mama needs a surf session!

GUESS WHICH MAILBOX IS MINE???

I had to share! Our mailbox stand was starting to fall over and our neighbor offered to make a new one. Since my husband is finally busy in the world of Sport fishing and is not home as much, he was not able to do it. I think Our neighbor DAVE did a great job. Since our old mail box was looking a lot tattered..We decided to get a new one, to go with the new stand. NOW I was looking into one of those fancy fish ones. Since the hubs is an avid fisherman. BUT they are a bit pricey and I can see someone trying to steal it or damaging it. ALSO hey I get mail too and it is my house. HA! So I decided on a plain white mail box with my own personal touch. I got this sticker for my Birthday and was gonna put it on my car.. IF I ever get my own car again..but thought this would be better!
I also have a KS10 sticker on the front where I think technically my address number should be. HA! Hope my mailman enjoys it as much as me!!!

In other news.. was suppose to surf San O this past Saturday.. something I have not done yet.. and really want to do. BUT I was not feeling up to my ole self. AND I heard the waves were pretty big.. TOO big for me. Also the weather seemed a bit chilly. SO I did not go! I heard the paddle out was long and very hard also. I think I would be dead if I attempted it. BUT I am glad a few of my friends had a great time.

Now the next time I may be able to surf, will be the Holiday Weekend..& I am not quite sure if I want to attempt that yet, After All I just got Tallulah fixed from last time I surfed a crowded break!!!!!!!

ONE WILD AND CRAZY WEEKEND!

Hmmm I can not post all of what happen this weekend ...on what is turning out to be our yearly pilgrimage to San Elijo State Beach..But I will post what is relevant.. HA!
YES we were at Cardiff by the Sea.. and NO sadly I did not see Rob Machado. I did have a Linda Benson sighting AND...I did get to meet one of my fellow blogger...From the blog,(Eat Surf Love). She is such a sweety and a good surfer. AND she brought us donuts to share. Thanks SO much V! I don't know if she wants her "name out there for the world to see, So I will just refer to her by V." I was very happy to meet her! I was a little preoccupied however with my daughter being out in the surf with us..She got brave and decided to venture out past the white wash this time. SO I feel a tad sadden I did not get to focus on my new friend as much as I would have liked. That maternal worry wort instinct is very powerful and it put most of my energy on making sure my daughter was OK. It would be good to surf with you soon Ms. V!!!

I have so much to post..WE had a great time! We got to Encinitas Friday before we were allowed to get into the campsite. So my daughter and I decided to treat ourselves to Starbucks, low and behold Linda Benson walked in. (We surfed with her on our trip here last year) I was gonna go up and say hi, but she walked in looked at something and walked out just as fast as she came in. I was not about to chase her down and verify it was her,I saw her drive away in her Surfher van. So I do know it was her. It was nice just to see her. SHE is amazing and looks Great!

I was excited to get in the campground to set up and surf, Surf report said 1-2 feet..but there were definitely some bigger waves than that out there. NOT much bigger but I feel there were some 3 footers. WHICH is what i like. However by the time we got in and set up it started to get a little windy and we just decided to have a few glasses of wine and relax instead. Actually a lot of fun things happen, the comradery with these women is priceless. We definitely covered the eat, drink and be merry portion of our trip the first night.. that is for sure!! IT was a blast! It is wonder we woke up the next morning early to surf and be in the water around 7:00sh..

BUT WE DID!!!Again surf was i say 1-3 and it was OK. This is when I met V, I paddled out to the break and I hear.. Michelle is that you? We set up this meeting a while back, when she post pix of Swamis and informed me she lived out that way. I was so happy to meet her and how exciting to meet face to face on surfboards! As I said my daughter was out and I was very distracted by that.I did a lot of paddling and caught 3 waves. .BUT My legs kept cramping, my foot cramped up so I try to pop up and it didn't work. One wave I just don't know what the heck I was doing with my feet my brain was thinking one thing.. but my feet obviously didn't listen.. So I did not have the best first session surfing. HOWEVER my daughter was out,was just shy of getting all the way to the break and caught a few good lil rides, one was about 2' and she rode that puppy in, but only popped up at the end. Technically her first wave! The biggest thing she ever rode. I was sooo proud of her., I kept telling her do you know that was a wave? Do you know how big that was for you? SHE had never been out of the white wash. She has only been out to the line up on flat days at Blackies, when I would have her work on her paddling. ANY how She did Great. She went in a bit after that.. THEN I was done.. and walked up the 100 stairs(my estimated guess on how many stairs)carrying my board and she was heading back out again with one of the WK gals. WOW what a trooper.. then SHE had one more session, SHE begged me to carry her board for her, before we all went out for a 5 PM surf! I think she may be hooked like her mamma! I took some pictures of just her then. The other times,it was so nice to be out there bonding with my youngest in the water.

We all came up and got cleaned up, relaxed ate lunch, then I took a nap on the beach.

Right before dinner we all decide it looks great and glassy and head out again. My daughter this time gets all the way out to the break and hangs out with us. SHE got a few and her first wipe out. But she was OK. I paddled my little heart out for waves.

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I could not catch anything. I did so much paddling, They were not easy to catch. I finally get ONE ride and I felt so good, I rode it in jumped off in about knee deep water and twist my foot. SO I sit out a bit. NOT long though, I got right back out there..I again paddled and paddled and paddled.. I did not catch anything. Well we went in. Climbed up the 100 stairs carrying my 9' board. Between paddling, walking up and down those stairs a few times and with a board. I have to say I got some serious exercise in. Plus camping and sleeping on a cot in a tent. I am S O R E.. my legs, calf's, arms, shoulder, neck and back. But it is a good sore. I would not trade it in if you paid me.


We made a pot luck spaghetti dinner and watched the sunset, we notice something floating in the distance..seem like everyone was watching it at one time or another and we let our imaginations run wild with what it could possibly be..
THE creepiest and of course least likely thing was a head..It finally washed up on shore.. and we all ran down the 100 stairs(again with the stairs)to see what this mystery thing was. I just said "If it is a head I am going to scream" It was just a Balloon.. that said Happy Birthday..So I think we were all relieved and yet disappointed at the same time it was not a head. HA HA!.. We do know the chances of that were very slim..but um lots of wine was involved

After that we sat around the campfire talking, laughing and having a great time. Before I knew it, it was time for bed and we all thought we wake up the next morning to surf.

Next morning... wake up to what look like a giant lake...not even a ripple of surf. So we pack up and it starts to drizzle. We get packed and surf is actually starting to look better. BUT we all basically were tired,sore from 2 sessions in one day, and had long drive homes. Plus the rain factor..The decision made, was to just go home. So one by one we all start saying good bye and pulling away!

We had 4 completely booked campsites. I met a few more WK gals. We have a rather big club, so it is nice to be able to meet members you hear about and get to put a face with. ALL these women are just amazing. I cannot say enough about them. I am so glad I started surfing, and I joined this club. FUN was had by all..

My daughter and I stopped at Swamis Cafe for Acai bowls..,.(they are the bomb) and it started to drizzle. On the ride home she kept saying how sore she was. I said welcome to the club.. you are officially a surfer!

What an amazing fun weekend, with some amazing fun people... Can't wait till next year!



This is such a nice picture, I thought it was perfect to end the blog with!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

One of my Mother's Day Gifts.. I think this ROCKS!


OF course first thing on the Agenda today is to wish all those AMAZING MOMS a Happy Mothers Day.

I am a Mother of 5 Crazy Great kids and I want to post about that.
I had to work today.. which is fine by me.. I want next weekend off for a surf trip to San Elijo with some of the most amazing woman surfers I know. Truly magnificent, wonderful, Great friends I am so fortunate to have. SO that is above and beyond a fair sacrifice to work today.

But just because I am working does not mean I am not celebrating Mothers Day.
I have already received an arrangement of Red Roses and Purple Status, from my youngest. I got a card that sings Girls Just wanna have fun with a Diva looking Chihuahua on it (I have one and love Chihuahuas), along with.. wait for this....2 surf magazines. I LOVED THIS! I also received a phone call from my Soldier in Afghanistan. I love hearing his voice and His Mother's day wish was the best..BUT apparently I even have a gift waiting at home that just arrived from him as well. I D K what it is yet. What a surprise. My daughters are staying home and doing some cleaning up around the house. I think I am getting Dinner tonight too, and even more surprises to come. I have Amazing kids. AND even if I got no presents from them. JUST their love is the most Special thing a mom could ask for. I also have been greeted at work with many mother day wishes.. and will shortly be indulging in our brunch here. THE perks of working in a Country Club.

Please those of you who have a mom.. DO cherish them and every moment. I never really knew my mom. (I wont get into that).. BUT I want you to know YOU are very lucky to have one. SO treat her like a QUEEN today..and THOSE MOMS OUT THERE.. Happy Mother's day ...I hope it is the best you could ask for!

It is not surfing..but it was still fun!

Well as anyone knows surf has been a little hard to find in The OC, and from what I hear anywhere up and down the coast. The GOOD news is the wind died down a bit.

BUT since there was no surf on my 2 days off I took one of those days to try something new, that I have not done before. A little Stand Up Paddling in the Harbor.
I get a bit annoyed with them in the surf. Some of the SUP guys seem to get all the waves or in your way. BUT I think on flat days in the Harbor it is a great Idea. Even though I surf, I have to admit I was a bit worried about falling in. THE sting rays were everywhere and the water in the Harbor is not the cleanest. BUT this was in Huntington Harbor, which is a bit more mellower than Newport, Not a lot of boat traffic and cleaner I think.

ANYHOW... I did not fall in. It did take a bit of getting use to. It is a little different than surfing. I would rather surf to be honest with you.BUT it is still fun, and as I said good for flat days.

NOW I was told by my friend, the proper way to paddle. SHE actually does SUP workouts. YES working out on a Paddle board in the harbor. I was more worried about staying on than to get adventurous enough to take one of her classes. We were doing this as a leisure thing. BUT if anyone is interested in taking her class.. Let me know. I will send you in her direction.

OK as I was saying the proper way to paddle. YOU use your abs. YEP your abs, I was in need of that. She said if my arms hurt, I was doing it wrong. GOOD news... no sore arms, BUT my rib cage was a bit sore on both sides the next day. ALSO my calves were sore, which still are. THEY should not be. But I was so worried about falling in. I think I was trying to grip my toes to the board and that made my calves sore. SO I am looking at it as a calve work out too. HA. But after a while I got the hang of it, and relaxed and was paddling right a long. There is a whole technique..YOU push the paddle down with the top arm, move(paddle) with the other and use the strength from your core, not your arms. Relax your legs and don't be tense, (Like I was). Also there is a certain way to use the paddle. I started it off wrong. BUT like I said, didn't take long.. I got it.


It was a fun workout, and nice sunshiny, breezy, NOT WINDY, day. GOT a workout in, tried something new, and was in good company. Not too shabby for a non surf day.

Next post will be after my surf camp trip from San Elijo in a few weeks. THAT is the next time I will be able to surf. I think I have improved a lot from last years trip. SO I am very much looking forward to it. Till then...