I am typing this on my computer, by flashlight, with a battery-operated fan at my side to cool me off. Why? Because yesterday, my neighborhood was hit by a verified tornado.
I live in the suburbs of Long Island, right outside of New York City. This is not tornado country. Yes, an actual hurricane has actually passed us by a couple of times. And Nor’easters and blizzards are not uncommon. But tornado - never. And based on the devastation this tiny tornado has left, I am not very eager to move to REAL tornado country. We have no electricity and were told that it will take close to a week to get the power lines up and running again. I am not exaggerating when I say that there is a tree or tree limb on top of every neighbor’s house around me, including ours. Only a scant few streets are passable due to downed telephone poles and draping electric cables all over the streets and properties. Large trees have been uprooted by their bases and are lying either across streets, the owner’s property, or worse, on top of or inside of their homes. I have never witnessed anything like this before in my life. And, more amazingly, I summoned it.
As many of you are aware, my husband and I are not legally separated, but we are living in two separate areas of our house, along with our son. For our son’s sake, my husband and I have been getting along fairly amicably. I find this mind-boggling since I continually unearth reason to resent or dislike my spouse more and more as time goes by.
Both my husband and I want full custody of our son. And each of our lawyers advised us that if either one of us were to live outside of our present home, it would be legally considered “abandonment”, and the one who left would forfeit their “right” to be considered our son’s primary custodian. Thus, our absurd living situation.
Yesterday, about 15 minutes before the weather erupted, my husband came to me first to discuss how great we are as parents to our son, especially given the situation we are in. He then asked, again, for us to become officially, legally separated. The last time he asked was about 6 months ago, and when I asked him why, his response was, “I don’t know.” So this time, again I asked why, and I got the same response of “I don’t know. I just think it would be better for us.” It was at that moment that I felt like I summoned the wrath from the heavens.
I lashed out at my husband like I’ve never done to any other person in my lifetime! And as my anger mounted, the winds outside started howling. And as I cursed and screamed, torrential rains poured out of the sky. As my wrath grew, and I verbally lambasted my husband, large balls of hail fell from the sky. And as I ranted and raved, I heard trees splitting in half! I believe in God. And I personally felt as if God was physically relaying the extent of my fury towards my husband! I also felt as if God was physically giving me the power to tell my husband how I REALLY felt about what he is doing to our family and me. But once I heard our upstairs windows, which crank outward, start to rattle, I screamed that the sight of my husband was making me physically sick, and I raced upstairs to lock the windows so that the intense winds would not take the windows off of our house.
Once the tornado passed, I went outside to survey the damage. I was shocked and speechless to find that every house around ours had some type of damage, some of it severe. Our house had absolutely no damage whatsoever. All we had was a small bough from a tree on our roof. The neighbor’s backyard to our left had so many downed trees and debris; you could not see one blade of grass. Our neighbor to our right had a tree fall and split their beautiful, wooden deck right in half. My neighbor across the street had one of her trees literally rip her electric wires off her house, knock down a telephone pole, and fall, lengthwise, across the street, landing on a different neighbor’s car. Yet our home and property was virtually untouched.
This led me to believe that not only is there a higher power in this universe, this higher power is truly there for me. Yes, there was a tremendous amount of physical damage to our neighborhood, but there hasn’t been, amazingly, any reports of injuries or deaths from this storm. This storm, in my opinion, was meant to prove to my husband the extent of my wrath towards him. And it gave me the power to fight against him, and come out virtually unscathed, just like our house. I even texted him and said, “If you think this force of nature was bad, don’t even THINK of messing with me. My wrath will be far worse than what you physically see.”
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have one of the gentlest dispositions of any other person they know. I will and have gone out of my way to assist others and help whoever is in need of anything. But purposely try to hurt me for no reason, or hurt my son, and I will become a tornado. And I can also summon the wrath from the heavens to prove it.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Dos and Don’ts of Day Camp
As a veteran of two different Day Camps my son attended over the past two years, I would like to pass along some important information for those parents whose young children will be attending Day Camp for the first time. Here are some of my tips and hints:
1. If your child needs to wear a Camp Shirt with the camp’s logo on it, beg, borrow, buy or be lucky, like me, and accumulate shirts whose parents forgot to put the name inside. I was given one shirt initially, and by the end of the season accumulated six in larger sizes! That one shirt that they provide will otherwise have to be washed daily. Trust me on that one.
2. Speaking of clothing, label, label, label every item of your children’s clothes! Unless you don’t care if it never returns! I have had other children’s underwear and socks come home that I never saw before. Label those too! Even label shoes! My son came home barefoot once because he lost his shoes and couldn’t find them. EVERYTHING has to get labeled!
3. Now as for labeling. One other important item to label are towels. In fact, even if those are labeled, they may never return. I went online this past winter, found beach towels on sale that could be monogrammed and had five of them embroidered with the boldest color they would allow! If you have a supply of old towels that you don’t care never come home, that’s fine too. But I became tired of trying to track down missing towels or sending in other towels that I knew would be lost. And as an aside, some camps have the children use the towels to sit on during the day. Which means laundering towels every day as well. That’s why I now have five. And if your child goes to a camp that requires more than one towel per day, accumulate more!
4. Next is swim attire. Some camps have swim/sprinkler activities twice a day. This, of course, would entail sending in two swim suits per day. Again, stock up on swimsuits that are on sale. I have no less than 10-15 at any given time. And some camps require enclosed swim shoes while others don’t. Always buy an extra pair.
5. Now comes lunch. My son’s camp provides lunch selections, both cold and hot, for an additional cost. Packing a lunch is more economical. But beware of sending foods that have containers that are difficult to maneuver or may leak. I had to throw out a perfectly good lunch tote because my son didn’t eat all of the watermelon I packed for him, forgot to seal up the container, and the tote had to be thrown out because it smelled and was soaked from rotting watermelon. Good thing I have, again, monogrammed, extra lunch totes. And, once again, label, label, label, every container, sandwich bag, bottle of juice or water, snack bag or beverage container. We lost two expensive and environmentally friendly Jr. Sigg
bottles because the “permanent ink” came off while washing them. Make sure everything has your child’s name on it!! And STAYS on it!!
6. Sunscreen is a must. But even if applied at home, your child will need to reapply it while at camp. Even with a label, it will get lost or forgotten somewhere. Label all sunscreens and buy multiples when they are on sale. You will be going through quite a few.
7. Always check the camp schedule for upcoming events. I forgot to send in a clean, white shirt for tie-dye day...twice! And missed red and blue day completely. These things may not matter to you, but when you pick up your child from camp with a sullen look on their face, you’ll know right then and there, you messed up. We hang our schedule on a special kitchen cabinet so that we absolutely can’t miss it. Try to find a suitable place for yours.
8. Finally, as imperative as all of this must sound, try to just go with the flow of camp mishaps and oddities. There will be many. I learned through experience, and so will you. I simply wanted those who have yet to be “initiated” into the camp experience to know what might be waiting for them when they open their child’s backpack. Oh, and one last thing. Use the grungy backpack your child hauled to school every day from this past school year. By the end of camp, your child will be ready for a brand new one to start out the brand new school year!
Hope some of these tips may have helped! Happy camping with your little Day Campers!
1. If your child needs to wear a Camp Shirt with the camp’s logo on it, beg, borrow, buy or be lucky, like me, and accumulate shirts whose parents forgot to put the name inside. I was given one shirt initially, and by the end of the season accumulated six in larger sizes! That one shirt that they provide will otherwise have to be washed daily. Trust me on that one.
2. Speaking of clothing, label, label, label every item of your children’s clothes! Unless you don’t care if it never returns! I have had other children’s underwear and socks come home that I never saw before. Label those too! Even label shoes! My son came home barefoot once because he lost his shoes and couldn’t find them. EVERYTHING has to get labeled!
3. Now as for labeling. One other important item to label are towels. In fact, even if those are labeled, they may never return. I went online this past winter, found beach towels on sale that could be monogrammed and had five of them embroidered with the boldest color they would allow! If you have a supply of old towels that you don’t care never come home, that’s fine too. But I became tired of trying to track down missing towels or sending in other towels that I knew would be lost. And as an aside, some camps have the children use the towels to sit on during the day. Which means laundering towels every day as well. That’s why I now have five. And if your child goes to a camp that requires more than one towel per day, accumulate more!
4. Next is swim attire. Some camps have swim/sprinkler activities twice a day. This, of course, would entail sending in two swim suits per day. Again, stock up on swimsuits that are on sale. I have no less than 10-15 at any given time. And some camps require enclosed swim shoes while others don’t. Always buy an extra pair.
5. Now comes lunch. My son’s camp provides lunch selections, both cold and hot, for an additional cost. Packing a lunch is more economical. But beware of sending foods that have containers that are difficult to maneuver or may leak. I had to throw out a perfectly good lunch tote because my son didn’t eat all of the watermelon I packed for him, forgot to seal up the container, and the tote had to be thrown out because it smelled and was soaked from rotting watermelon. Good thing I have, again, monogrammed, extra lunch totes. And, once again, label, label, label, every container, sandwich bag, bottle of juice or water, snack bag or beverage container. We lost two expensive and environmentally friendly Jr. Sigg
bottles because the “permanent ink” came off while washing them. Make sure everything has your child’s name on it!! And STAYS on it!!
6. Sunscreen is a must. But even if applied at home, your child will need to reapply it while at camp. Even with a label, it will get lost or forgotten somewhere. Label all sunscreens and buy multiples when they are on sale. You will be going through quite a few.
7. Always check the camp schedule for upcoming events. I forgot to send in a clean, white shirt for tie-dye day...twice! And missed red and blue day completely. These things may not matter to you, but when you pick up your child from camp with a sullen look on their face, you’ll know right then and there, you messed up. We hang our schedule on a special kitchen cabinet so that we absolutely can’t miss it. Try to find a suitable place for yours.
8. Finally, as imperative as all of this must sound, try to just go with the flow of camp mishaps and oddities. There will be many. I learned through experience, and so will you. I simply wanted those who have yet to be “initiated” into the camp experience to know what might be waiting for them when they open their child’s backpack. Oh, and one last thing. Use the grungy backpack your child hauled to school every day from this past school year. By the end of camp, your child will be ready for a brand new one to start out the brand new school year!
Hope some of these tips may have helped! Happy camping with your little Day Campers!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Through the Generations
My son has been learning about the value of coins in school. To help him with his homework, I took out a basket of coins we use to throw our spare change into, and started laying the coins out to show a visual description to assist with one of the homework problems.
All of a sudden, my son noticed something interesting. He found a Wheat back penny among this basket of coins! For those of you who are unfamiliar with Wheat back pennies, instead of a picture of the Lincoln Memorial on the back, the words, “One Cent,” are inscribed.
I found this remarkable for several reasons. First being that Wheat back pennies are so rare (they were minted only for 50 years, between 1909 - 1959), secondly because I started my own collection of Wheat back pennies when I was around my son’s age (I must have close to 50 of them by now). Thirdly, because now my son wants to start his own Wheat back collection.
The fourth interesting reason is that my son spotted a bag of pre-started coin rolls and wanted to use them to roll the coins. When my father was still alive, I would give him our basket of loose change and the paper coin rolls, and he would spend enormous amounts of time putting the change into the respective rolls. He would then take the rolls to the bank and cash them in for me. He always took such pride in what he did and felt a sense of accomplishment in rolling those coins for me!
Now that my father is gone, I find it fascinating that my son wants to assume that same exact activity. As tedious as it is, both my father and son get a sense of accomplishment from rolling coins. We told our son that if he lays out the correct number of coins to fill a roll, correctly identifies the value of the coin roll, and then fills it, my husband would take him to the bank to “earn” his keep. It is a motivating learning experience.
But I have noticed this about my son; he has my father’s quality of enjoying working on tedious projects. I used to give my father all sorts of projects I just found too tedious to take on, and he would gladly do them all! The one I miss the most is ironing! My father used to iron our clothes because between a toddler and 2 rambunctious dogs, I didn’t want to risk having the iron accidentally pulled off the ironing board and scorching someone. So I would happily give all of my ironing to my father to do! I’ve become so spoiled, that now it’s become, “dry clean only,” in this house. And I rarely buy 100% cotton!
But back to my son and his new obsession. I find it fascinating that my son has not only taken an interest in something that I also have an interest in. I find it equally amazing that he has also embraced the “joy” of rolling coins, just as my father had. I continually find it amazing how you see not only yourself in your child, but can also see close relatives, with all of their “quirks,” in your child. How remarkable. And what a gift. And now my son has 2 Wheat back pennies to start his own collection! Such an unexpected treat!
All of a sudden, my son noticed something interesting. He found a Wheat back penny among this basket of coins! For those of you who are unfamiliar with Wheat back pennies, instead of a picture of the Lincoln Memorial on the back, the words, “One Cent,” are inscribed.
I found this remarkable for several reasons. First being that Wheat back pennies are so rare (they were minted only for 50 years, between 1909 - 1959), secondly because I started my own collection of Wheat back pennies when I was around my son’s age (I must have close to 50 of them by now). Thirdly, because now my son wants to start his own Wheat back collection.
The fourth interesting reason is that my son spotted a bag of pre-started coin rolls and wanted to use them to roll the coins. When my father was still alive, I would give him our basket of loose change and the paper coin rolls, and he would spend enormous amounts of time putting the change into the respective rolls. He would then take the rolls to the bank and cash them in for me. He always took such pride in what he did and felt a sense of accomplishment in rolling those coins for me!
Now that my father is gone, I find it fascinating that my son wants to assume that same exact activity. As tedious as it is, both my father and son get a sense of accomplishment from rolling coins. We told our son that if he lays out the correct number of coins to fill a roll, correctly identifies the value of the coin roll, and then fills it, my husband would take him to the bank to “earn” his keep. It is a motivating learning experience.
But I have noticed this about my son; he has my father’s quality of enjoying working on tedious projects. I used to give my father all sorts of projects I just found too tedious to take on, and he would gladly do them all! The one I miss the most is ironing! My father used to iron our clothes because between a toddler and 2 rambunctious dogs, I didn’t want to risk having the iron accidentally pulled off the ironing board and scorching someone. So I would happily give all of my ironing to my father to do! I’ve become so spoiled, that now it’s become, “dry clean only,” in this house. And I rarely buy 100% cotton!
But back to my son and his new obsession. I find it fascinating that my son has not only taken an interest in something that I also have an interest in. I find it equally amazing that he has also embraced the “joy” of rolling coins, just as my father had. I continually find it amazing how you see not only yourself in your child, but can also see close relatives, with all of their “quirks,” in your child. How remarkable. And what a gift. And now my son has 2 Wheat back pennies to start his own collection! Such an unexpected treat!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
My Happiness Project - by Cara
For those of you who missed reading my blog from last week, I discussed how my fifteenth wedding anniversary was coming up on Memorial Day Weekend. The issue, though, was that my husband and I are newly separated. I knew that if I were to stay at home, I would be crying and grieving the entire weekend. I decided that the best thing I could do was to get away to a place that would distract and enthrall me enough to try to “forget” that it even was my anniversary. Here I chronicle what I term, my own Happiness Project.
I made the decision to go to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. I had been there for short stays twice before. I adored everything about this resort! From it’s many pools and water activities, to an expansive underground aquarium, to rock climbing! I loved it all!!
I arrived at the hotel at approximately 6 pm and after dropping my things off in my room, I headed for the outdoor bar for a large tropical drink! It relaxed me and set the tone for the rest of my stay! I perused the hotel, the choice of activities offered, walked to a nearby shopping area, and essentially just took in the gorgeous surroundings! Although there were may options to partake of, including a Sheryl Crow concert at the hotel, I simply just wandered around, collected brochures and mulled through them once I returned to my room.
I couldn’t have asked for a nicer location as hotel rooms go (remember, I AM the Hotel Snob - see Archives under same title). I had a room at the end of the hallway, away from elevators, traffic, maintenance rooms, but most importantly, right next to the beach and ocean! The sound of the ocean washing onto the shore was so relaxing, I left my sliding door open all night, every night!! I loved falling asleep to the sound of the rolling waves!
When I woke up the following day, I decided not to sign up for any specific activities, except for the Sheryl Crow concert, so that I could lounge and relax. I found a sparkling pool that had cutouts in rock, lining the pool. Through those oblong cutouts, you could see portions of the aquarium that ran behind it! It was so amazing! I went to get my phone, praying I wouldn’t drop it in the water, and took photos of these aquarium cutouts! Later on, I uploaded them to friends as my computer had internet service, but my phone didn’t.
When some clouds started wandering by, I decided to head back to shower and change. Once clean and happy, I ventured to the excursion desk to see if I could plan an activity or two for the following day. When I visited the hotel last year, I swam with dolphins. This time around, I decided to try swimming with sea lions! I went to book my adventure, but was told it was sold out for the whole next day. And I would be leaving the day after that. A lovely lady who worked at the excursion desk suggested that I go on a sea lion adventure that was offsite, but close by. She suggested I come down at 9 am the next morning to make sure I got a slot in the schedule.
The next day, I ran down, in my pajamas no less, to the excursion desk. The lovely lady who was there the day before was working again that day and remembered me from the night before. She first tried calling the sea lion tour that was offsite, but did not get an answer. On a whim, she tried calling over to the hotel’s sea lion facility and explained that I really wanted to go on the sea lion excursion, that I was only one person, and could they possibly squeeze me in that day...and they did!! It was the last excursion of the day, but that lovely lady got me in to swim with sea lions!! I was so excited, I hugged her! I then went back to my room to see how I would fill up the rest of the day. I decided to swim some more, walk along the beach, and sit in a float and go down the lazy river! Well, I did most of what I wanted, except for the lazy river. There were quite a few children there and all of the floats were occupied. I thought of my son and how the two of us laid on a two-person float last year and floated the mile of lazy river together! I decided to wait to go down the lazy river when I came again with my son!
Then I was ready to play with the sea lions! I boarded a hotel shuttle to travel to the area where the dolphins and sea lions were kept. They had us put wet suits on over our bathing suits. Then, after a lengthy, but quite informative orientation of the facility, we met all of the sea lions, even the 4-month-old babies! These “babies” weighed 150 pounds!! The biggest male sea lion they had weighed 500 pounds!! That’s a lot of sea lion!!
The sea lion we interacted with was named “Pippin.” She was a highly trained female who worked with a female trainer. The trainer had Pippin do some tricks and show off for us. Then we were able to get into the water with her. First everyone had a chance to pet her and get a picture taken petting her. Pippin even stuck her tongue out at the camera on queue! We then learned about some of the commands the trainers teach the sea lions. One was a kiss on the cheek. Everyone got a chance to get “kissed” by Pippin and “hugged” too! For the less squeamish, we could feed Pippin a fish as a treat. I decided to go for it! When would I feed a sea lion again?
Once the sea lion excursion was over (and another nice woman worker, who felt badly that I was there by myself, gave me a free snorkel, mask, and bag to take home to Brandon!), I shuttled back to my hotel and poured myself into my room to take a short nap. Then it was up and out to visit the “Bar on the Beach.” After 2 daiquiris, I, along with all of the other patrons, were dancing together with the bartenders, laughing and having the time of our lives!! When was the last time I uninhibitedly danced at a bar?? Too many decades ago, that’s for sure!! The bartenders stayed open a full extra hour for us, and played lots of music from my “era!” Once they closed down the bar, I stumbled to my room (those daiquiris were DAIQUIRIS!!). I wasn’t hungry and too “tipsy” to wander around, so I went on to my computer and made it an early night. Again, falling asleep to the sound of lapping waves!
I woke up the next day late!! I don’t remember waking up so late in ages!! I wandered downstairs to get coffee. I came back and dressed. But this was my REALLY relaxing day!! And the Sheryl Crow concert was that evening!! I took lots of photos, visited the aquarium the hotel is known for and took the day in stride. Then it hit me! I would be leaving this Paradise early the next morning!! I didn’t want to leave!! It was too soon!! I went to the front desk and inquired about the shuttle service I would need to pick me up early the next day. I found out that it was too late in the day to arrange it! There would be no way to get a shuttle the next morning to make it to the airport on time!! I called Jet Blue. They said for a $40 flight change, they could put me on a later, direct flight. I took it! I took the latest flight they had!! I could stay!! Even a few more hours made me elated!! I dressed for the Sheryl Crow concert, dancing around to the song “Soak Up the Sun!!”
I knew that luck was on my side, once again, when I went to the theater and found that they had given the same seat to both a gentleman who was part of a 10-person party and me. I didn’t want to break up the party, and since the box office made the mistake, and again, because I was by myself, they gave me a seat 4 rows from the stage!! I was so close, I could count every one of Sheryl’s waves in her hair!! I yelled and screamed, and even got up on the chairs like everyone else and danced my heart out!! I felt free! I felt unencumbered! Like I didn’t have a care in the world!! Like a feeling I haven’t felt in decades!
I am home now. I slept with my little boy the night I returned because he had fallen asleep by the time I arrived back. I wanted him to wake up knowing Mommy had returned, as promised, and I was right there next to him. Along with a bag full of presents for him to dive into once he woke up.
I titled this blog, “My Happiness Project” because I brought a book along on my trip called, “The Happiness Project,” by Gretchen Rubin. I fortunately or unfortunately, never even had the chance to crack open the book. But I set out to find happiness for myself, and I certainly did just that! Thus, the title of this blog.
One last thing; I have found that traveling alone can offer quite a few benefits! The best being finding your own happiness, any way you can!!
The second best is getting quite a few perks for being a solo traveler! I highly recommend it for anyone who is game!! Oh, and I WILL be going back to Paradise! Very soon!!
I made the decision to go to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. I had been there for short stays twice before. I adored everything about this resort! From it’s many pools and water activities, to an expansive underground aquarium, to rock climbing! I loved it all!!
I arrived at the hotel at approximately 6 pm and after dropping my things off in my room, I headed for the outdoor bar for a large tropical drink! It relaxed me and set the tone for the rest of my stay! I perused the hotel, the choice of activities offered, walked to a nearby shopping area, and essentially just took in the gorgeous surroundings! Although there were may options to partake of, including a Sheryl Crow concert at the hotel, I simply just wandered around, collected brochures and mulled through them once I returned to my room.
I couldn’t have asked for a nicer location as hotel rooms go (remember, I AM the Hotel Snob - see Archives under same title). I had a room at the end of the hallway, away from elevators, traffic, maintenance rooms, but most importantly, right next to the beach and ocean! The sound of the ocean washing onto the shore was so relaxing, I left my sliding door open all night, every night!! I loved falling asleep to the sound of the rolling waves!
When I woke up the following day, I decided not to sign up for any specific activities, except for the Sheryl Crow concert, so that I could lounge and relax. I found a sparkling pool that had cutouts in rock, lining the pool. Through those oblong cutouts, you could see portions of the aquarium that ran behind it! It was so amazing! I went to get my phone, praying I wouldn’t drop it in the water, and took photos of these aquarium cutouts! Later on, I uploaded them to friends as my computer had internet service, but my phone didn’t.
When some clouds started wandering by, I decided to head back to shower and change. Once clean and happy, I ventured to the excursion desk to see if I could plan an activity or two for the following day. When I visited the hotel last year, I swam with dolphins. This time around, I decided to try swimming with sea lions! I went to book my adventure, but was told it was sold out for the whole next day. And I would be leaving the day after that. A lovely lady who worked at the excursion desk suggested that I go on a sea lion adventure that was offsite, but close by. She suggested I come down at 9 am the next morning to make sure I got a slot in the schedule.
The next day, I ran down, in my pajamas no less, to the excursion desk. The lovely lady who was there the day before was working again that day and remembered me from the night before. She first tried calling the sea lion tour that was offsite, but did not get an answer. On a whim, she tried calling over to the hotel’s sea lion facility and explained that I really wanted to go on the sea lion excursion, that I was only one person, and could they possibly squeeze me in that day...and they did!! It was the last excursion of the day, but that lovely lady got me in to swim with sea lions!! I was so excited, I hugged her! I then went back to my room to see how I would fill up the rest of the day. I decided to swim some more, walk along the beach, and sit in a float and go down the lazy river! Well, I did most of what I wanted, except for the lazy river. There were quite a few children there and all of the floats were occupied. I thought of my son and how the two of us laid on a two-person float last year and floated the mile of lazy river together! I decided to wait to go down the lazy river when I came again with my son!
Then I was ready to play with the sea lions! I boarded a hotel shuttle to travel to the area where the dolphins and sea lions were kept. They had us put wet suits on over our bathing suits. Then, after a lengthy, but quite informative orientation of the facility, we met all of the sea lions, even the 4-month-old babies! These “babies” weighed 150 pounds!! The biggest male sea lion they had weighed 500 pounds!! That’s a lot of sea lion!!
The sea lion we interacted with was named “Pippin.” She was a highly trained female who worked with a female trainer. The trainer had Pippin do some tricks and show off for us. Then we were able to get into the water with her. First everyone had a chance to pet her and get a picture taken petting her. Pippin even stuck her tongue out at the camera on queue! We then learned about some of the commands the trainers teach the sea lions. One was a kiss on the cheek. Everyone got a chance to get “kissed” by Pippin and “hugged” too! For the less squeamish, we could feed Pippin a fish as a treat. I decided to go for it! When would I feed a sea lion again?
Once the sea lion excursion was over (and another nice woman worker, who felt badly that I was there by myself, gave me a free snorkel, mask, and bag to take home to Brandon!), I shuttled back to my hotel and poured myself into my room to take a short nap. Then it was up and out to visit the “Bar on the Beach.” After 2 daiquiris, I, along with all of the other patrons, were dancing together with the bartenders, laughing and having the time of our lives!! When was the last time I uninhibitedly danced at a bar?? Too many decades ago, that’s for sure!! The bartenders stayed open a full extra hour for us, and played lots of music from my “era!” Once they closed down the bar, I stumbled to my room (those daiquiris were DAIQUIRIS!!). I wasn’t hungry and too “tipsy” to wander around, so I went on to my computer and made it an early night. Again, falling asleep to the sound of lapping waves!
I woke up the next day late!! I don’t remember waking up so late in ages!! I wandered downstairs to get coffee. I came back and dressed. But this was my REALLY relaxing day!! And the Sheryl Crow concert was that evening!! I took lots of photos, visited the aquarium the hotel is known for and took the day in stride. Then it hit me! I would be leaving this Paradise early the next morning!! I didn’t want to leave!! It was too soon!! I went to the front desk and inquired about the shuttle service I would need to pick me up early the next day. I found out that it was too late in the day to arrange it! There would be no way to get a shuttle the next morning to make it to the airport on time!! I called Jet Blue. They said for a $40 flight change, they could put me on a later, direct flight. I took it! I took the latest flight they had!! I could stay!! Even a few more hours made me elated!! I dressed for the Sheryl Crow concert, dancing around to the song “Soak Up the Sun!!”
I knew that luck was on my side, once again, when I went to the theater and found that they had given the same seat to both a gentleman who was part of a 10-person party and me. I didn’t want to break up the party, and since the box office made the mistake, and again, because I was by myself, they gave me a seat 4 rows from the stage!! I was so close, I could count every one of Sheryl’s waves in her hair!! I yelled and screamed, and even got up on the chairs like everyone else and danced my heart out!! I felt free! I felt unencumbered! Like I didn’t have a care in the world!! Like a feeling I haven’t felt in decades!
I am home now. I slept with my little boy the night I returned because he had fallen asleep by the time I arrived back. I wanted him to wake up knowing Mommy had returned, as promised, and I was right there next to him. Along with a bag full of presents for him to dive into once he woke up.
I titled this blog, “My Happiness Project” because I brought a book along on my trip called, “The Happiness Project,” by Gretchen Rubin. I fortunately or unfortunately, never even had the chance to crack open the book. But I set out to find happiness for myself, and I certainly did just that! Thus, the title of this blog.
One last thing; I have found that traveling alone can offer quite a few benefits! The best being finding your own happiness, any way you can!!
The second best is getting quite a few perks for being a solo traveler! I highly recommend it for anyone who is game!! Oh, and I WILL be going back to Paradise! Very soon!!
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