June 15, 2006

Reasons why. . . a photo essay (because I’m still feeling like crapola)

Reasons why I did not go to karate today:

I still feel like crap: sore throat, cough, headache, body aches.
All of my wonderful regular readers commented and let me know that it’s o.k. to not go to karate tonight (Even though I knew this, it’s especially good to hear it from very dedicated MA people. I appreciate it. . . greatly.)
Testing can wait. If I’m not ready, I’m not ready. I’ll survive the disappointment.

Reason why there is no picture for this segment:

I still feel like crap,and by feel like crap I mean "look like crap."
Because I still feel like crap, a picture would be scary. In fact, it would probably be so scary that you would ditch reading/viewing the rest of this entry. . . and that would make me sad.
A picture would be scary because I showered last night before bed, and went to sleep with wet hair. Wet hair + fitfull fever-filled sleep=super scary bad hair day. So, no picture.

Moving right along. . . in honor of Father’s Day. . .

Reason why I am proud of my Dad:

The picture below is my dad on his ocean kayak. He’s beyond the swell of the wave. His oar is sticking up. He has a two-man kayak and still went out in ridiculously rough waves. I wasn’t proud of that part, just sort of scared and hoping I wouldn’t have to use my lifeguarding skills from my teenage years because that was a long time ago. . .

The thing I’m proud of is this. . .

See that speck of orange down the beach? In all the white foam of the waves? That’s him, well, actually not him. That’s his kayak, seconds after the one end dug into the sand and catapulted him out of the kayak and onto the ocean floor. I’m proud of the fact that he is still able to walk. It didn’t look pretty. I did, however, have to go running down the beach so I could drag the kayak back to the beach house since his back was killing him after being slammed onto his side. I’m pretty proud of myself for that not so little feat as well.

Reasons why I am proud of Big I:

This is her climbing a rock wall. This is the shorter of the two she climbed. After she scaled this one without a problem, she climbed a 22. FOOT. WALL. while wearing SANDALS. She had never done this before. She totally rocked, no pun intended. People were clapping and cheering. That’s my Dad at the top of the wall cheering her on. She is so darn brave. I would have NEVER done this at her age. Come to think of it, uh-uh, still wouldn’t at my current age. (Notice the skull and cross bones "tattoo" on her calf.)

This is her climbing the 22 ft. wall. It was definitely more challenging.

This is right after she rang the bell before repelling back down the wall. By repelling I mean, banging off of all the rocks because she didn’t understand what repelling meant. Oh well, who cares? The crowd had dissipated after she rang the bell anyway.

I am also proud of her because she taught herself how to swim underneath the water while on vacation. She’s been doing a psuedo doggy-paddle thing since she turned three, but this underwater thing is opening up new horizons for her. It’s going to be a fun summer.

I am also proud of what a great Big Sister she is to Lil C. They are great buddies.

Reasons why I’m proud of Lil C:

She has stellar table manners. . .

She is a very neat eater. . .

No, really. . .

And then there’s this. . .

She’s blurry because she’s totally running. . . Yes, running. Even having gorilla arms can’t help my back now. I’m also super proud of her because she did the first baby sign back to me this week. For weeks I’ve been doing the signs for "more" (pointer finger taps middle of palm) and "all done" (arm waves side to side). I know some of you probably think I’m nuts, but I’m not teaching her ASL. I’m teaching her baby signs and I firmly believe it is THE reason why Big I did not really have any temper issues, at least not during the early years. It also is less frustrating for me while I’m trying to figure out if she’s cranky because she wants another bite or if she’s cranky because she wants me to take that bite and shove it. She let me know that it was the latter this week, and for that I am both proud and thankful. It saves us both the frustration of not knowing. It’s also super cute to see her start doing the signs back at you.

Reasons why I love this place (my vacation place):