Puerto Rico

I realize I haven't been the best at this whole blogging thing. I'm usually really good at thinking about writing, but really bad about the following through part. I'll try to get better, especially as the spring comes around and I'm jumping more and learning more and hopefully having more to write about. There's been lots of developments in my life too (boy!) which I'm excited about, so I think I'll have some decent material.

I'm not even going to try to get caught up with everything that's been going on over the past few months, I'm just going to talk about last week. Because it was one of my most favoritist awesomeist superist weeks EVER (yeah, that's right, it was bad-grammar-is-acceptable good). Even better than last year. Think 300+ jumpers, 2 super otters, a huge landing area, beach jumps every night, and parties parties and more parties. That's right: the Puerto Rico boogie.

I'm just going to talk about the basics for now. I'll try to do some each day. It was a long trip and there's a lot to write about. First, a teaser:

Me and 5 of my good friends (one of whom is "TheBoy" (who I realize needs a clever nickname like Daisy's BISMOW)) all traveled together to Arecibo, PR for the local drop zone's annual Puerto Rico Freefall Festival. This year's theme was "life is like a Caribbean carnival" but it was kind of irrelevant, because they really don't do anything theme related, except on the boogie shirts. Last year's theme was "pirates of the Caribbean." Pointless I tell you.

We were supposed to stay in a 4 bedroom house on the beach, but don't even get me started on that debacle. Long story short, we got conned, lost a whole lotta money (which I'm still trying to recover), and wound up staying in a "villa" on a "campground." Let me be the first to tell you that you get what you pay for when it comes to lodging in PR. Our shower was heated up from a box with pipes on the wall. You couldn't use the kitchen sink and the shower simultaneously (but the bathroom sink was fine?). We locked ourselves out when we dead bolted the door, which can only be unlocked with a key from both inside and out (hello fire code!), and used a so-not-OSHA-approved ladder from the construction site next door to try to break in from our balcony. Speaking of construction, our lovely construction crew was our 6am wake-up call every morning. Glorious. Some of the good things about this place? The balcony. The fact that 2 other villas were occupied by other jumpers that we knew (and by we, I mean me....as in I hooked up with and consequently dated one of them for a while after last year's boogie)(needless to say TheBoy wasn't too thrilled that "last year's boy" was there). The fact that it was ON THE BEACH. That it was only 15 minutes from the drop zone. That it had a full size fridge for all of our alcohol...I mean food... And the fact that we spent only about 7 hours a day there, and most of it was sleeping.

Tomorrow: more pictures, food, and the first few days before the boogie (read: scandalousness!)

So...cold...

I don't like the cold. I never have. I grew up in small town New England. You would think that I would be used to it, or at least accept it. But I can't, and I refuse to. I went to school in the south to get away from it, and when I graduated I didn't go all the way back up north because I didn't want to deal with it. And now I realized that I came too far back north anyway. Because it. is. still. too. cold.

I was at the dropzone all weekend, in the rain, and cold, and miserable-ness that was the weather. And although I can't stand the cold, I put up with it. Because that's where my friends were, and all the people that I wanted to be with and that I care about. And although we didn't get to jump all weekend, and I had to sit in the cold all weekend, it was still a great one.

I left the dz earlier that usual today, planning on going home, but wound up taking a detour to a friend's house. I don't know why I was so hesitant to go. Maybe because I'm pretty anti-social and really enjoy my alone time. But I went, and I'm glad I did, because I got to spend time with people I don't get to hang out with too often. People who have been skydiving for a hell of a lot longer than I have, but who still think that I'm ok enough to chill with. I like it :)

And next weekend? I'll be in warm and sunny Florida. Tunnel time and warm weather jumping. I will be a happy, happy person next weekend. :)

Voting?

I sure as hell hope everyone got out and voted today. Even though my vote means absolutely NOTHING in my city, I still did my due diligence and waited in my hour long line and cast my vote. Which will surely end up in a pile of ballots for important city people to laugh at later on. But- I voted. That's all that matters today.

I have also determined that it is physically impossible for me to get to work prior to 9am. I woke up the same time today as I always do (around 7), showered, dressed, and left my apartment at 7:45 to go stand in line to vote. WHAT!?! I NEVER do that just to go to work. I'm lucky if I leave before 8:30. And then? When I was done voting? I walked to the bus, at about 8:40, and got to work around 9. At least I wasn't late.

I can say that I'll do exactly what I did today tomorrow morning, and aim to leave the house by 7:45 to go to work, but it won't happen. I can guarantee it. It just won't.

Halloween

So we (and by "we" I mean all of my dropzone friends...which, coincidentally, would be ALL of my friends. That's kind of sad. I think.) have been trying to come up with Halloween ideas that are good for a bigger group. Every year, an old-time jumper has a halloween party with an awesome theme. That's always great because I'm not the most creative when it comes to costumes. Last year the theme was "criminals and victims." My best girl friend and I went as Thelma and Louise. A husband and wife went as Michael Vick and one of his dogs. Another pair went as a priest and an alter boy. It was great. He hasn't announced this year's theme yet, but we're trying to think of something anyway. Another nearby dropzone has an awesome halloween boogie (for all you whuffos: basically a big party, where the dz brings in extra or larger planes, and you dive all day and drink all night) every year, and costumes are BIG there. As in, you HAVE to wear one. If you don't, you're subject to ridicule and will most likely not live it down for a long. long. time. (There's also a guy there that I would like to avoid, so something to make me look not like me would be just divine.)

And in the spirit of costumes, here's a picture of my dog last year. He's staying with my parents until I can find a place that will let me have him in my apartment, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon, so I guess he's kind of become my parents. And they took the right to dress him up. Which I rolled my eyes at when they told me, until they sent me the pictures.

I present to you....Underdog....


He doesn't look very happy, but I think he loves it.



My Colby is the cutest thing in the whole wide world! I miss him terribly :(
My parents said that all the neighborhood kids knew who he was instantly. Apparently there was a new underdog movie out last year? News to me....

Holy Crap I Hurt Everywhere!

I. Am. Sore.

Everwhere.

A bunch of us decided that going on an 8.2 mile hike with an 1100' elevation change would be a good idea after a night of drinking. I think we were wrong.

Don't get me wrong, it was a great hike and I had a great time. But Holy God I'm sore. My calves are screaming at me to take my heels off, my knees ache like I have arthritis (not that I know what that feels like, but I imagine this is close), and I can't remember the last time I've been so physically exhausted.

It wasn't just the hike that took such a tole. It was the drinking the night before the hike, the drinking for someone's birthday the night of the hike, and the crawling around on my hands and knees packing parachutes all day after the hike that all added up to make me very, very sore.

But it was definately worth it. I had a great weekend and spent time with people that I've been wanting to get to know better. So the pain is well worth it. And even though I'm exhausted, I'm very very happy.

Finally, the Weekend is (almost) Here

This week has been nothing short of horrible. I don't remember a longer week since...well, ever.
But this weekend should be good, and it leads up to a great following week.

My cousin Megan is moving back north from Charleston, SC this weekend, so I convinced her to stop at the dropzone on her way up so she could see what the hell it is I do every weekend. I'm going to meet her down there tomorrow night, and I'm excited to see her. We've never been great friends, but we've always gotten along. She's finally old enough to start hanging out with the "older" cousins during out annual trip to the casinos Christmas night (if you knew my family, you'd understand why we need to get the hell out). It should be a good weekend with a good crowd, so hopefully I'll get to show her a good time. A friend of mine said he'd take her on a tandem if she wants to go, so I hope she'll take him up on that so she can experience it.

Not much else planned for the weekend- jump, pack, repeat!

Mondays

Today is one of those horrible crappy Mondays that really make you regret having to have a "real life" and a "real job" that actually make you get out of bed in the morning. This weekend was exhausting. Emotionally and physically. One of my good friends from my dropzone is moving away and Sunday was his last day in the area. He bought me and 2 of our friends a bottle of wine, which we enjoyed Saturday night (along with some margaritas, more margaritas, more wine, and copious amounts of beer) while trying to ignore the fact that we honestly don't know when we'll all be together again. I'm trying to convince him to come to the Puerto Rico boogie with us next February, but whether his new job will let him remains to be seen.

A high point of the weekend was the return of another good friend, if only for the day. A friend who had moved up to Boston a few months ago came down with his girlfriend, and it was so great to see him. He's one of those people that always puts a smile on your face and you know will always be able to cheer you up and share a laugh with you. I'm so happy for him that he found someone he loves and cares about and was willing to introduce to all his crazy dropzone friends (and groupies).

I recently ended a long distance relationship that had been going fairly well, except for the long distance aspect. I didn't think it was fair to either of us to carry something on knowing full well that neither of us can do anything to change the distance factor any time in the near future. It's hard now, but I know its the right decision and it'll be better in the long run. He's coming for our boogie in a few weeks, and I'm excited to see him, but I'm also nervous that it's probably not the best for our relationship right now.

Work is going extremely well (except for the fact that I have to get out of bed to actually go to work in the mornings). I've been put in charge of all the interiors (elevations, sections, schedules, furnishings, casework design, etc.) for the new school building that I'm working on. It should offer a lot of creative design opportunites, so I'm really excited about the coming months and what I'm able to produce.