Surfing USA-Lawyer style!!!!

The photographer wouldn't wait for me to shower and apply make-up so this is what you get!!!

I grew up on southern California so surfing and the beach were a part of my life.  I used to dream of being able to ride the waves, so as I sat and wrote my "list" of things to do surfing came to mind...and then immediately left it-who the hell trys to surf for the first time at the age of 50?  Well, that would be me, I mean how hard could it be, right?  As many of you know a great part of the activities on my "list" coincided with my/our trip to Hawaii last year.  Renewing our vows was the prime activity with several others thrown in-surfing for sure was to be done in Hawaii; the Oregon coast is just not meant for anything other than a peaceful walk along the beach in my mind, so Hawaii was the natural place.  Not only was I excited about the surfing experience but so were the rest of my family, Katie, Ryan, Brandon and Bill.  Ryan, Brandon and Katie were especially excited.
The day of the lesson; drive to the beach and find it's directly behind a beautiful hotel with a grassy area and a bar-that would be for later!  We meet up with the instructor and his crew and start off with our lesson on "land,"  surfboards planted in the sand , chaffing shirts on.  It's time to learn how to paddle; line ourselves up with the waves, push off and then hopefully stand up and ride the wave.  Introductions included names but both instructors just called me "mom" or "mama," can't say that I minded that a bit!  OK, lay on the boards, pretend to paddle....Hey, wait one effing minute...how come the board is so wide? It's a beginner board-that means trouble for me since my arms are the same length as a 4 year olds-not much of a wing span at all-how the hell am I going to paddle???  Well, I just had to figure it out if I was going to be able to get out to where they caught the waves.  While laying on the board the instructor makes us simulate paddling, he talks us through the beginning of the set, wait for the wave he tells me, then when I say "paddle" you start paddling and don't stop...once you catch the wave I will push you, then you need to paddle, paddle, paddle and then just stand up...huh, OK.  So on dry land it's pretty easy, spring up on all fours, and then pull yourself up to a standing position-yep, I think I can do this!  Now we are all ready, carry the big ass boards to the water to practice-so much easier to lay on the board and stand up while it's planted in the sand-in the water, not so much.  After proving we can all stand up on the board we head out to the area where the waves are breaking-far, far away from the beach, I wasn't even sure I could make it out that far-my wings were getting a workout like never before!  As we head out the main instructor tells the other, "you stay with Mama so she gets a good ride"...wow, now that's attention.  On the way out he reminds me the most important thing to remember after I ride the wave in is to paddle to the side, otherwise I will have all the other surfers and their boards on top of me-Holy Shit, the "side" is a long way, a moment of panic fills me as I am struggling just to get to the breaking point.  Thank God, the guy took a liking to me and helped me by pushing me as he paddled, it was that little extra oomph that I needed.  We finally get out to the breaking point, the instructors decided Katie would be the first to push off-the wave comes, the guy pushes Katie off, she paddles, stands up, and rides the wave all the way in like she had been doing it all her life-beautiful!  Then it was my turn, waiting..."here it comes Mama, are you ready?"  Yep, I start paddling and by the time he pushes me off I've almost found my footing and stand up; hot damn, I thought to myself-I'm actually surfing, it was one of the most exciting moments in my life.  But it only took a minute for me to realize the longer I stood up, the closer I rode to the shore, which meant the further I would have to paddle in order to get back out.  Once I fell I realized I need to begin paddling to the side in order to avoid getting in the way of the others coming my way-once to the side I paddled back out and hooked up with my instructor, he was pretty amazed that I got up the first time-No kidding, I thought, me too!!  Second trip in I got smart, only go to my knees, that way falling off doesn't hurt so bad and oh, fall off before I get to far in so I don't' have to paddle all the way out...that works too!  A couple more rides, some time spent watching the others and then my final ride.  I had a plan this time, ride it in as far as I could to the shore-I made it all the way to the shallows. Ryan decides to go out with the instructor again-I'm not sure how he found the strength after the first few hours but he did and looked like a pro the whole time!   Some time on the beach and then a stop at the beach-side bar, we had a few drinks with the instructors and met some great people.  This day will live in my memory as one of the best days of my life; the beach, time with family and conquering a sport (if only for a little while) that I never thought I'd be able to attempt, much less be able to try.  I'm blessed beyond words. 

Ryan coming in after his lesson

Currently boarding...

Arizona in February!!!

So many people would not get this, traveling alone is done by 1000's of people everyday but for me, flying is terrifying.  I didn't fly for the first time until I was over 30 years old, that first flight involved the pilot coming over the intercom announcing that the conditions for landing were less than ideal, the runway was under construction and the cross winds were strong, he was going to attempt to land but if at any point it became too dangerous he would abort the landing and we would fly to Las Vegas.  Well, I became a little concerned but not too bad as we descended into Reno, the plane dropped so fast that I got that funny feeling in my stomach, (you know like on a roller coaster)  the plane tipped over a little and then bam, we were on the runway-slam on the brakes, everything under the seats flys forward and then we stop.  Everyone on the plane begins to clap...Hmm, I ask Bill, "do people always clap when the plane lands?"  As we all know the answer to that was a big NO!  So taking into consideration that I must hold a hand on take off and landings the thought of doing this by myself was pretty scary. I had decided I wanted to fly to see my Aunt Bette and my cousin Sue in Phoenix, ticket bought, plans made, anxiety set in.   As I was waiting to board on this solo flight I thought maybe I would sit next to a nice grandma type who would sweet talk me into calmness or perhaps a smart looking business man who would beguile me with his charms and I wouldn't even remember where I was.  As it turns out I sat next to a very nice professional women who started up a conversation about my Kindle and that was the beginning of a wonderful conversation the entire way to Phoenix. Turns out she is an author-http://www.amazon.com/Sierra-Modro/e/B005JSNMPS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1, anyway we had a great flight and I didn't even realize how much time had passed when the pilot came over the intercom to tell us we would be landing in just a short while.  No deaths, no need to use the oxygen mask...I had a great visit with my aunt and cousin, we picked grapefruit and visited over coffee every morning.  I went on a long hike and took a walk with Aunt Bette-it was a great time!  The flight back was uneventful-still no need for oxygen masks or instructions to put my head between my legs and brace for impact-it's almost time to buy my ticket for my spring trip to Phoenix again!

My Aunt Bette in her backyard!

 

A view from the hill I climbed!

 

A MESSAGE TO MY AUDIENCE...

A MESSAGE TO MY AUDIENCE...

November 11, 2012-

With a little embarrassment I have to make a confession-I have been up to my old tricks, that is, procrastinating and  not sticking with something I say I'm going to do.  I started out on this journey with every intention to plan each activity for the year and make my entries on the blog immediately after, as you all know this has not happened.  As a result of this I am going to have to stretch out my year of fun and frivolity and extend into my 51st year.  At first I was going to just hang it up and forget the project, it's only been with encouragement from my friends (you know who you are) that I have made a renewed commitment to finish, no excuses!  I will adjust my list, blog about the adventures that I have done/taken so far and continue on...onward and upward!   So read on and share with me your comments and thoughts. 

 Thanks for all your support!

Photographer Paranoia

I'm not sure if I'm unique to this or if other people suffer so much from fear of critics.  What does "constructive criticism" really mean?  One definition is "criticism or advice that is useful and intended to help or improve something, often with an offer of possible solutions," now I'm not sure but I've not experienced that on a regular basis, ok, very rarely.  It seems most of my critics are only one thing...critical.  OK, maybe thats only my perception but it's what I know.  I started taking pictures a couple of years ago, attended  several classes and bought books, reference books, picture books, etc.  I have taken 1000's of pics, most of them junk, some so horrible I didn't even need to transfer off my camera before hitting the delete button; but some of them I thought to be fairly artistic, at least the lighting was OK (you could only get the joke of that if you take pictures on manual settings).  There are several things I learned about photography; rule of 3rd's, ISO, shutter speed, cameras are heavy, you need a tripod to take pics at night or macro shots, it's no fun to take your camera to shoot when your with someone who does not have similar intentions (a lot of sighing ensues), did I mention cameras are heavy?  So, as a part of the "getting over my fear of criticism" I  decided I would enter a photo contest-I carefully scanned the tons of pics I had taken to date and settled on one I thought was the best, the lighting was good, the composition was fairly good, the subject was beautiful and really, who couldn't pass up a pic of 2 beautiful dogs?

So I searched the web and found a site that offers weekly photo contests based on an assigned subject--dogs, how could I go wrong.  I carefully uploaded my  pic, filled out the entrance form, and then it was time to hit "enter".  I waited patiently for my e-mail that would inform me if I had won anything, honorable mention would have satisfied me.  Well, it wasn't to be.  I got a big Thanks for entering our contest, please log on to view the winners of the "Best of Dogs" photo contest.  Apparently they (whoever "they" are) had no idea what to look for in a pic...ha!!  What I have learned from this experience-leave the critics to judge the professionals, as for me...I will continue to study my books, play around with my camera to learn it's settings, and take time with my good friend Tina to explore the outdoors, and spend time together talking about life and take pictures, good or bad it's always a good time!!    

p.s. if you have any thoughts on the pic please let me know :) 

Vietnam-officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam

 I have a couple of types of food to try on my list-Vietnamese being one of them.  The country of Vietnam intrigues me for several different reasons but mostly because my brother served in the Navy during the Vietnam war and partly because my sisters ex-fiance was killed there during the conflict.  I remember growing up and the days that the numbers were chosen for the draft, it was just a matter of time before they called my brothers and so he enlisted in the Navy in hopes of staying relatively safe.  He was on the USS Blueridge and was a part of the evacuation of Saigon in April 1975-an end to the American occupation of Vietnam and the beginning of the VietCong regime of the beautiful country.  

I have a very dear friend at work who is Vietnamese and so what do smart people do?  They consult with people who are experts...and so I asked my friend Mai to go with me for lunch-she suggested Super Pho located in Salem.  As expected the food was wonderful, very tasty and fresh.  It really helped to have a person with experience because the menu is quite confusing.  I had a wonderful dish of lettuce, rice noodles, pork, shrimp all garnished with cilantro and a wonderful sauce.  One other treat was a taro and coconut boba-or bubble tea:

Bubble tea, also known as pearl milk tea, boba milk tea, or boba is a tea-based drink invented in tea shops in Taichung, Taiwan, during the 1980s.^[1] Most bubble tea recipes contain a tea base mixed with fruit or milk. Ice-blended versions are usually mixed with fruit or syrup, resulting in a slushy consistency. Most bubble teas come with small chewy tapioca balls (粉圓, fěnyuán), commonly called "pearls" (珍珠, zhēnzhū) or "boba" (波霸, bōbà).^[2]
There are many variants of the drinks, and many kinds of types are used and ingredients added. The most popular bubble drinks are bubble milk tea with tapioca and bubble milk green tea with tapioca.




The food was wonderful but the company was the best...Thanks Mai!!

Mai-Friend Extraordinaire

HIT THE SLOPES!

If you don't know much about me let me tell you a secret...I hate being cold, but I love snow.  What I love most about snow?  It gives me a good reason to cuddle up by the fire with a hot cup of tea and read a good book, eat junk food, and then take a nap.  Seriously I've never been one for winter sports so the thought of taking a skiing lesson was kind of frighting.  I was worried about getting cold most of all, I was slightly more afraid of falling-boy, did I have that ass-backwards!  

I talked all of my kids into accompanying me to Mt. Hood-Timberline.  Timberlinelodge.com  I had every hope that the whole family would  make the trip but it turns out that the weekend we had planned was after large amounts of rain had fallen and predictions of local flooding so my husband, who was acting Public Works Director decided to stay in Keizer just in case.  So, off we went; Ryan, Katie and Brandon on the morning of March 30th.  The plan was to go to the cabin where the kids stay, compliments of some very nice people they met in Welches, when they make their trips to the mountain.  Now I had heard many stories of the cabin and the kids friends so I was anxious to learn more about the time they spend up there.  We laughed all the way to Welches where we were going to go to the cabin and drop off our stuff before heading up the mountain...I should have known when Ryan asks me, "so Mom, what do you think the cabin looks like"?  Hmmm, I thought, could it be that he is trying to prepare me for something?  Well, he was.  The place was a small A frame cabin with a small living area, a small kitchen, and best of all two lofts with sleeping quarters...did I mention that only way to get into the loft was to climb a vertical ladder attached to the wall.

Yep, that's where I slept....

Actually it was quite quaint with a pellet stove which warmed it up quickly. We drop our stuff off and then we are headed to the mountain, it's a beautiful day, snowing with a layer of 6 new inches of powder!
We arrive, park, and head into the lodge to rent my gear-boots, skies and poles-had no idea at this point those damn poles would prove to be my best friends over the next 3 hours.  OK, time to put on the boots..hmm, they feel odd while I'm sitting down, stand up...OK they felt more than odd, they hurt like hell!  Thank God my boys were there to help me figure out how to do, I would never have got them on without their help.  Off I got to meet up with the instructor.
Standing under the sign that says real big "Level 1" ...geez, I wonder who the rookies are, oh, maybe the ones who don't know how to put on the skies??  Up skies the instructor, the first words out of his mouth went something like..."I guess I'm teaching level one, I'm not used to that, your going to have to progress quickly"  OK that didn't go over well with me, in fact it scared the hell out of me-as I later found out was the theme of the day!  Off we went-the other people in the group seemed nice and a couple seemed just as unnatural as me.  The instructor showed us the "wedge" which I later learned was the one thing that could very well save your life!  

My half ass attempt at the "wedge"

The actual body position of the wedge does not work with my hips, knees or my ankles so I hurt before I even fell the first time...that would be the time I wrapped myself around the out of bounds rope-yep, you go very fast (not really it just seemed like it) and if you have not perfected the damn wedge that is exactly what happens-thank God for one of the other instructors at the bottom of the hill, he showed me how to get up and also how to clip in my ski.  I say "get up" like it easy-it's not-this is where my poles became oh so important to the whole process.  Throughout the day the instructor was MIA off and on, then he asked me "haven't you figured out what happens when you lean?"  Yes, I reply-I fall. So don't lean-that goes against all of my natural tendencies of survival, when going down hill you DO NOT lean forward-well, YES you do, as least that's what your supposed to do, I never did get the hang of it.  He was such an arrogant ass, it was very clear he didn't have much time for us beginners. One of the gals in my group, she was from England, was worse off then I-she had no sense of balance, so the instructors idea was to take away her poles and send her down the hill; unfortunately he did not follow her and she fell a ways down the hill, slightly further up the hill than I was. She had no poles and could not get up so off I went, side stepping up the mountain ( I like to call it that but it was a "slight slope" we were on, makes me feel better anyway...ha ha!)  I managed to help her get up with the use of my poles, I'm sure we looked like the 2 stooges out there trying to figure out how the hell we were going to get her up without my falling, we would have been done for if I went down too! I got her up and we slowly made it the rest of the way down.
 I had hurt my calf so much the first time I fell I didn't know if I would make it through the rest of the morning, I was about ready to give it up when the kids showed up and encouraged me to forge on---One of my biggest fears was the lift but amazingly enough I mastered that pretty well...never fell getting on, or getting off!

Me and Brandon on the lift!!!!

Finally time for lunch-I had decided I was not going back out but the kids had other ideas so off I went to "hit the slopes" again.  I'm glad I did, I actually got a better feel for skis and actually almost made it all the way down the slope without falling-almost.

 You may notice my son Brandon and Katie come up beside me, when Katie boards away Ryan turns the camera toward Katie and misses my face plant...too bad, it was a good one!

Meanwhile, back at the cabin...we return to the cabin, clean up and head down to the bar for a yummy dinner and some interesting company, we played a little pool, and ate some more...I finally got to meet Ryan and Katie's friends-very nice people.   We returned to the cabin and got settled in, I called Bill to see how he was doing with all the dogs (he now calls himself the dog whisperer, that's a whole other story), we hung up and 10 minutes later he called me back to say that the snow patrol had called to say that they were afraid I was still on the mountain (it was now 10 p.m.) because I had not returned all of my rental gear.  OMG, I would have been dead by then...little did they know I never got off the bunny slope!  Really though, craziness to think that they waited that long, and thank God I had just talked to Bill, could you imagine if I hadn't and he got that call...WOW!

All in all I had a great time, I always enjoy spending time with my kids.  We did go back the next day so the kids could board, I brought my friend Kindle and we snuggled up in the lodge and all was well!!  The trauma that I experienced to my calf on that first fall took 2 days to turn black and blue and 6 weeks for the knot to go away-Here is what I know, I have ruled skiing out as a hobby just as I did duck hunting!  Looking forward to some beach type activities to see if I might need to move to Hawaii to indulge in those activities regularly-Onward and upward!!

p.s.  I was never cold :)

 

Katie, the only female Lawyer snow bunny-I've opted out!

 

Glass Fusion

Fused glass is a term used to describe glass that has been fired (heat-processed) in a kiln at a range of high temperatures from 593 °C (1,099 °F) to 816 °C (1,501 °F). There are 3 main distinctions for temperature application and the resulting effect on the glass.
Firing in the lower ranges of these temperatures 593–677 °C (1099–1251 °F) is called slumping. Firing in the middle ranges of these temperatures 677–732 °C (1251–1350 °F) is considered "tack fusing". Firing the glass at the higher spectrum of this range 732–816 °C (1350–1501 °F) is a "full fuse".
All of these techniques can be applied to one glass work in separate firings to add depth, relief and shape.

 

I am absolutely fascinated by glass, the texture, the colors...everything about it.  I have a lot of glass in my house, blown glass, formed glass, all of this made by artisans near and far.  One of my favorite places to hang out is at the Alder House gallery, there, you can watch the entire glass blowing process from beginning to end.  You can have items made especially for you, you pick the colors, you pick the design; I have many pieces that have been created there.  So, considering my fascination of glass it may not come as a surprise that learning how to create something with glass would be on my list.  I chose fusing because I had a groupon....I know pretty rinky dink, I would have rather gone for blowing it but have to admit, I'm a coupon junkie.   Not only did I have a groupon for the class I had Tina, my very special friend who talked me into this crazy 50 thing, who wanted to go along-she had a groupon for a motel in Lincoln City so between the two of us we were going to have fun at groupon prices!

We planned our trip for the weekend of April 21st and 22nd (coincidentally the same weekend I quit smoking a year ago).  We headed out on Friday afternoon-right on time :)  I was so looking forward to a weekend at the beach, watching the waves, enjoying the clean air and of course eating my share of clam chowder.  On the drive over we talked and talked, it's nice to have a friend that conversations just flow freely and silence is OK too!  So, we arrive at our destination and check in, then off to find something to eat-Pier 101, one of my favorites.  

Saturday, wake up feeling fresh and ready for my lesson.  We finally find the place and then meet Maurice. I will admit right now my gaydar sucks so it took me almost an hour to figure out this guy is sooo gay; I'm sure after I asked if he and the gal helping him were married they had a very good laugh.  So, they showed us what to do and made it very clear that they would be able to help every step of the way.  I'm not very creative so undertaking something like this was very stressful for me, his reassurance gave me that extra bump to forge ahead.  I had decided early on I wanted a piece with a starfish.  I explained that to Maurice and he got me started.  Tina was off and running with a design of a fish-this was all going to work out great! Onward and upward I went, it was glaringly apparent that Maurice had some opinions about how I should do this-He was a real nice guy but not a good teacher-he made a much better doer :)  Maurice picked the colors, the design and gave me instructions on how to do it; Tina on the other hand was on her own making her art all by herself.  Not quite sure why Maurice decided to hover over me but I can honestly say the end result was his vision and my handiwork. 

The finished product before going in the kiln!!!

Tina's project turned out beautiful....

After we finished, said our goodbyes we were off to lunch and shopping-I learned several things about myself that weekend; I am more creative than I ever thought I was; even at the age of 50 I still have a hard time telling people what I need (Maurice's opinions were not in tune with mine); I love being near the beach; I love having friends like Tina who will put up with me no matter what....I was on time Tina!  And most importantly I found out that I do love using my creative side and I need to let go and relax about it!  Here's to ocean air, great friends, great food, shopping, and to Maurice who taught me more then just how to work with glass!