Monday's Disaster, I Mean... Adventure

So, I guess I'm mean and selfish. But you already knew that, didn't you? Ha ha ha. But seriously, folks, I'm here to tell you about Monday's fishing fiasco that fortunately I was not involved in, but my poor husband and his Pops were.


Where we last left off, I mentioned MORE FISHING on Monday morning. Monday being Memorial Day. Now, all weekend long, Ma and I had planned that Monday would be our day, because we knew the guys were going fishing. AGAIN. We would start with pedicures (a tradition for us), lunch at Mimi's Cafe which recently opened in our area and is completely girly so most guys don't really want to go there (ours in particular anyway), and then to Target or Walmart to get Ma a couple of products I recommended - all before 3:00pm so we could get back in time to get the parents to the airport to catch their flight back home.


That was the plan, and we stuck with it.


The night before, we had arrived home from the beach around 6:30pm. David quickly jumped in to mowing the lawn, and Ma and I went to the store to get a few things we needed to make some cakes (yes, plural) that looked really delicious in a cookbook she'd bought on the way to the beach. We came back and I did a few chores in the yard also (got my roses done - woo hoo!), then started in on our cake making. We made a honey bun cake for breakfast, and a grasshopper fudge cake for just whenever we wanted to try a piece. As you can guess, it started getting late way too fast, and before we knew it it was almost midnight. The guys were upstairs in the man room watching a movie, and I still needed David to cut up the fish so I could get it bagged and in the freezer. Needless to say, the fish was cut up by 12:30am, but I was up until 2:30am bagging and cleaning up afterwards.


Sooo, the guys got up at 5:30am and headed out to the lake. Our boat is not all shiny and new, and in fact it was Pop's old bass boat which we bought from him in spring 2007 so we could at least get out on the lake until we could agree on what we both want. (Yeah, my fellow fishing widows probably know the argument... fish? or ski?) At any rate, it still looks pretty decent and runs alright, and it gets us out on the water.


Ma and I slept in a tiny bit, but got up relatively early and started getting ready for our big day. As we headed down the road to go get our pedicures, low and behold at about 10:30 my cell phone rings. It was David, and he informs me that he has a major problem and wants to know where I am. (This is the part where I probably appear a bit "mean".) I tell him we are on the way to get our pedicures. He proceeds to tell me that the boat trailer actually broke in half, and they can't get the boat out of the water and he may need our help. I ask him what I am supposed to do to "help" and he says that he needs to get someone to come out there and weld the frame back together. Keep in mind this was a holiday - probably not a whole lot of people working in that area. At this point, I am feeling a bit bitter (and probably a little PMS-ey) about all of the fishing and lack of Ma and I being able to really anything we wanted to. After all, we are women and we want to do girly things. And I'm also not knowing how on earth I could possibly help with anything - how would I even explain it? I can't drive the boat because it's older, complicated and I really just don't want to learn (because I am stubborn like that), and I can't back up the trailer yet on the ramp without it taking FOREVER either. If we had turned around and gone to the lake, we would have sat there all day, baking in the sun, running around like crazy, which neither of us fair-skinned beauties should be doing without ample sunscreen protection and cooler weather. (Ma is a survivor of melanoma, mind you, and I don't do well in the heat AT ALL.) Besides, it would have taken away our special time together, and I felt like the guys could handle something on their own for once. :o)


So, I suggested he call one of our neighbors and see if they knew anyone.


And we continued on our way and got pedicures. :o)


The pedicures were actually wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. After we finished, I called David and asked if he needed us, and he basically said to do what I wanted to do. That type of non-commital answer just fueled my desire to be stubborn and validated that they actually didn't need us, so we went to Mimi's. Lunch was also fabulous! We didn't hear a peep out of the guys until we were well on our way back home, after having stopped at Walmart and not finding what we were looking for. We got home, and it was coming up on 3:00pm. We had planned on leaving the house at about 3:45pm to allow plenty of time to make the 40 minute drive to the airport and get them through security (on a holiday travel day) in time for their 6:00pm flight. I knew the guys probably hadn't eaten all day, and since they still weren't home I decided to get everything in order so we could jump in the car and leave the minute they got back.


I got the car loaded up with their bags, and threw together a quick lunch for Pops that he could take with him in the car. We started getting antsy as we approached 3:45 and the boys still weren't home. But they drove up a few minutes later, and after a quick run through the house and a bathroom stop, we headed to the airport. We made it in plenty of time, they got right through security with no problems, and the rest of the day went smoothly. David snoozed all the way home in the car - we were both tired after all of the adventures of the weekend, and miraculously, my lovely husband didn't even get mad at me for choosing to spend a little time with his mom. :o)

As it turns out, David did call one of our neighbors, who recommended a towing guy who lives just a few blocks from our house. He cut David an awesome deal, towed the trailer to his shop, fixed it, and didn't charge us out the wazoo. So, it just goes to show that I did the right thing, and maybe I'm not so mean after all, y'all. (If you could see me, I have a huge grin spread across my face as I type this.) Life is good.

Yes, life is good.

Weekend Update

Well, probably not as entertaining as the SNL variety, but we'll give it a shot anyway.

In the past week, I've primed and painted our bathroom, vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen a gazillion times, washed countless loads of laundry, sat very uncomfortably in the back seat of the pickup for six hours at a time twice, and enjoyed a few days of rest and relaxation while enduring waaaay too much fishing any woman should ever have to.

So, let's talk about that fishing thing for a few minutes.

The folks arrived late Wednesday evening. Thursday we packed up and headed to Ocracoke Island. It's about a five hour drive from our house to the ferry, then about 30 minutes on the ferry to the island. We have a nice 4x4, four door F150 which was packed to the hilt. When we make these trips and the girls are assigned to the back seat, I just can't stand to sit in the same position for long periods of time. So, apparently I rearrange things (purses, bags, etc.) every 15 minutes to change my position so my long legs can stretch and move. Poor teeny, tiny Ma got stuck next to me while this little fiasco went on for about six hours as we drove to our destination.

However, once we arrived and got our key, all was right with the world again. We unpacked and dragged our suitcases, coolers and bags up the two flights of stairs to our cute little 3rd floor condo to find an adorable little place with absolutely gorgeous views of the harbor and island. Of course, Ma beat me inside and called dibs on the room with the harbor view, so David and I resigned ourselves to the other room which was just fine too. We made dinner and settled in for our few days on the island.

Oh yes, I said I was going to talk about fishing, didn't I?

So, adventure #1 - the guys decide to go for a quick session of nighttime surf fishing after dinner. They head off to the beach and of course us ladies get stuck cleaning the dinner dishes. (I jest, of course - it really wasn't bad.) A few minutes later, the boys come back inside. Apparently, driving down the road with the surf rods in their holding pipes isn't a good idea when there are trees around. The lines got yanked out, and so fishing was not to be for the evening.

Onward to day two.... I prepped the coffee for the folks the night before, so we woke up bright and early to the morning sunshine and the warm smell of freshly brewed coffee. Ma had already been outside on her balcony sipping coffee and admiring the view. I must say that morning people usually really annoy me, but fortunately (probably for both of us) she doesn't. :o) I threw together some pancakes, Ma tended the turkey bacon, and we all had some OJ. About this time I realized I had totally slacked in my usual preparations and brought no form of Krissy-baked goods for desserts! (Ay carumba!) So the boys set off once again for a day of surf fishing along with a short grocery list which consisted of dishwasher detergent, laundry soap, and hopefully some kind of chocolate. Apparently, everything went according to plan this time, as they were gone for a several hours.

The guys showed up mid-afternoon with groceries in hand (including some vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce), so late lunch/early dinner commenced. We had barbeque - burgers, hot dogs, sausage, chicken legs and mahi mahi. I had made some of my yummy barbeque beans and we also had some tater salad. The boys took the raw meat down to the grill, and planted themselves there with beer in hand and decided (naturally of course) that since they were cooking, they didn't need to do anything else. Ma and I were getting "called" through the window to bring things down to the grill area. (Uh, yeah. For real.) As we sat down to eat, we heard about how they didn't have much fishing action, but apparently there was some other "action" happening on the beach in the form of a couple of birds "making love" (as Pops put it). The story goes that one bird was really causing a scene squawking and flapping his wings while the other was quite docile about the whole event. You can probably guess which one was male and which was female... :o) To hear him tell the story was quite amusing - especially to see him imitate the squawking sounds and flapping his arms like wings. I had tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard I could hardly breathe. Guess you had to be there.

Anyhoo, they caught some odd variety of baby hammerhead shark, but not much else. We enjoyed our delicious lunch and after a quick clean up, we all headed to the beach. Father and son have not yet figured out that their wives don't exactly share their obsession with fishing, but we try to humor them by going along every now and then. The guys surf fished while I flew my new kite for a bit. And then as time went on and on (and on and on and on...) I had to pee so bad I couldn't stand it anymore. After four hours on the beach and two hours of "holding it", we finally headed back to the condo at my stern insistance. Sitting by the crashing waves when you've got to go isn't exactly a fun way to try to get your mind off things, especially as the sun was going down and it was getting cold. In spite of my dire need to take care of important business, the guys made a quick run inside the grocery store and came out with whatever they needed, plus a more important item - brownie mix!

Back at the condo, and after taking care of the first priority, I made some brownies. We had brownie and ice cream sundaes and I made a bunch of sandwiches in preparation for Saturday's big event... MORE FISHING. (Wow, can you tell how excited I was?) I'm really not a morning person, and the thought of having to BE at the dock at 5am to catch a boat to go deep sea fishing really wasn't top on my list of things to do before I die. (Honestly, it wasn't ANYWHERE on my list of things to do before I die.) And I have to say I think Ma and I were pretty much in agreement on that. Again, I prepped the morning coffee the night before, and somehow Ma woke up before me and turned on the pot. How I love to wake up to that wonderful aroma - even when it's way too butt-early in the darn morning. I started waking up at 4:05 (yes, A.M.), then knocked on their door at 4:15. We were out the door and on our way to the dock by 4:50. Captain Reid had just gotten there as well, and told us that we might be in for a rough day as the weather wasn't looking great. Apparently, he gave us the option of waiting a day to go out, but I don't think us girls were priviledge to that info. So, after about 45 minutes waiting for everything to get situated, we finally got on the boat and started heading out to the gulf stream.

The weather was mild, although a bit overcast, and our first stop was catching live bait. This part was actually fun because I kinda knew what I was doing. The deck hand baited all of the hooks for us, and we just tossed out the line to catch our bait. We all caught several in the course of about 10-15 minutes. There were some trout, but my personal favorite was the pig fish. (How fitting that I caught the first one!) I didn't know what it was, so I asked the deck hand. He told me it was a pig fish and held it up towards my ear so I could hear it grunt like a pig. VERY CUTE! Too bad it was about to become a bigger fish's breakfast!

Now, I LOVE the water. I have been out on the Pacific ocean several times before on whale watching trips and at times have been on some pretty rough sea with waves crashing over the top and sides and everyone getting soaked. I've been on four cruises. We have a boat and go out on the lake quite frequently. I have never been sea sick. But you know the old saying... "Never say never!"

The first part of our journey out to sea went pretty well. I sat out on the cooler watching the ocean roll and enjoyed the fresh, ocean air. Later, Ma came out and sat with me; that is, until it started getting pretty choppy. We hit one wave that knocked both of us up off the seat and left Ma almost on the floor. She's quite petite, so sitting next to my big, old self probably wasn't to her advantage except for the fact that I was shielding her from getting wet. She ended up going inside the cabin, and shortly thereafter started turning a bit green. But we arrived to our first destination and our deck hand baited and dropped the lines so we could catch some big fish.

Of course, the guys started out. Pops and David quickly caught a couple of Amberjack, and then it was Ma's turn. She needed quite a bit of help, because the fish seemed heavier than she was and we think she might have been pulled overboard trying to reel that thing in! But she did it, and then I had a go of it. Pops was working on one line while I was working on another. David was trying to help me reel in what felt like Orca, but as the Captain says our lines must have crossed and I lost my fish. That was really enough of the experience for me. I had more fun catching the bait. We ended up having to move to another spot, so we sat down for a few and went to the next place.

David tried to get me to reel in another, but unfortunately (once again), nature called. I took a quick break and headed down to the loo, which was actually remarkably clean for an old fishing boat owned and run by a fisherman. (Sorry, no offense to fishermen or men in general, but I am a clean-freak and it is my experience that MOST men don't exactly have the same cleanliness standards as me.) Well, I had been feeling fine up to that point, until I flushed. That's when the chemical smell came up through the commode and filled that small little bathroom space attacking my senses. All of them. I am super-smell sensitive, and the wrong smell can wreak havoc on my body - which it did in the form of nausea, headache, and pretty much an immediate case of wretched sea sickness.

I went back up and sat down feeling pretty green and nauseated. Captain Reid took us to a different spot, and David wanted me to try for another fish. I stood up and put on the harness, and pretty much immediately had to go sit back down. The ocean was really getting rough, and the site of those rolling, churning waves rocking us up and down really messed with my equilibrium. I told him I was done for the day, and went back in the cabin to try to keep myself from getting sick.

Ma was (literally) in the same boat as I was. We were both feeling pretty miserable. I found that laying down in a fetal position on my side and keeping my eyes closed kept me from having to blow chunks, but unfortunately Ma never found that sweet spot. She made good friends with a black bucket, albeit all she got was the dry heaves. Our deck hand, Nick, was a great sport and totally took care of her. I'm not sure where the guys were at this point, because I was quite focused on not focusing on anything but the back sides of my eyelids.

Well, the guys caught a few more fish, but it started raining and el Capitan ended up calling it a half-day trip and heading back to shore, much to the relief of the ladies. As we got back into the bay and closer to shore, I was able to sit up without the nausea and started feeling better. Not so for Ma. We got back to shore around 11:30 a.m. I got the truck keys so Ma and I could go get out of the weather and cold. The guys took their pictures, and then made us come back out for pictures too. Yes, we were so thrilled.

Well, we headed back to home base, and warmed up with hot baths (ironic huh?), a snack, and a nap. The weather quickly cleared up and OF COURSE the guys wanted to get in some more surf fishing. So, they headed back to the beach, while Ma and I stayed back and relaxed. I took a much needed nap, while Ma read her book. (I think she took a little nap too.) The guys returned with their catch - a couple of Bluefish. We decided after the traumatic morning that instead of cooking we'd go out to dinner, so we ventured over to Mango Loco's for some mexican and ritas. Ma still hadn't recovered from her queasy tummy, so she took it pretty easy. I'm not sure she will ever go out on a boat again. :o)

At any rate, my extended nap gave me the burst of energy I needed to stay up -as usual - way longer than everyone else. While the folks and David conked out in front of the TV, I started packing up the kitchen to head home the next day. After a leisurely early morning, we packed the truck, cleaned up, and started making our way for the long ride home.

And I can enthusiastically say I'm quite happy to be inland and on solid ground again.

So, that is the scoop on our Ocracoke Deep Sea Fishing adventure this weekend. Tune in soon for details about Monday's disaster on the lake as David and Pops go fishing YET AGAIN, and get home just in the nick of time to take Ma and Pops to the airport to catch their flight home.

So here we are...

I really should be in the bathroom taping things so I can get my painting done, but I am perenially lazy and a total procrastinating geek, so I am sitting here creating this blog instead. The inlaws (love them!) arrive Wednesday evening, and we head to the Outer Banks on Thursday for a few days of R&R, and humoring David with my (and ma's) participation in the deep sea fishing excursion next weekend. (We'd rather just lounge and shop.) Who knows, maybe I will convert into a fishing nut. But I doubt it....

So, for those of you who may not know, we have been living in NC for the past four years as of this August. We'll be in the house three years end of July. We really love it here. Small town life has taken some getting used to, but it's such a serene place to be. We spent our first four years together in the Dallas area, where I moved after being in the San Francisco bay area for the previous ten years. D is a Texas native, and I've taken him from his home. I'm such a nomad. :o).

This past weekend consisted of prepping the house for our visitors interspersed with both calculated and spontaneous bouts of lounging. The usual weekend chores - laundry, cleaning the kitchen, cooking, vacuuming, bathrooms... some spring cleaning (dusting the blinds, washing down bathroom walls and baseboards)... and a few hours on the boat catching some sun to add to my extensive freckle collection. David spent the entire day Saturday on the lake - even caught a few fishies in the morning - but he always throws them back so there will be more fish to catch next time. Saturday evening we had a few friends over for bbq burgers, which we enjoyed out on the screened porch taking in the fabulous weather until late evening. Sunday was another bbq, followed by a few errands and some work in the yard -- until it started raining. My roses were ALMOST finished being pruned, but I still have more to do.... If you're not careful, they will jump out and grab you on your way to the front door!

Of course, I am still catching up from my fabulous trip to Northern California with my mom. I will have to fill y'all in on that at another time. For now, it's time to figure out what on earth to cook for dinner and start working on that lovely paint job.

Ciao!