Sunday, September 7, 2008

One Hit Wonders


I'm quite thankful that in my 31 years of life, I've been able to do a lot of things. I've traveled to Singapore, Hawaii, Jamaica, and to several mainland states, as well as Canada. I've lived on all 4 sides of the country---California, Michigan, Florida, and Maryland. I've been to many professional sporting events---football, basketball, hockey, baseball, including the Home Run Derby, ALDS, and the World Series. When I lived in Florida, I had several friends who worked for Disney, so going there for me was like going to the mall. We'd go for an evening (for free) just to hang out. How lucky is that?

There are a handful of things I've done, but only once. And they're things I'd like to do again, but I haven't really had the opportunity.

1. Snow Skiing. I went once in college. It was a student body activity. I had never been before, but I was learning and completely enjoying myself. My only problem was that I could never get back up when I fell. My arms weren't strong enough to push myself up with the poles. About halfway through the evening, we stopped for a bathroom break and some hot chocolate. When I returned to get my skiis, they were gone! Someone had taken my skiis rather than their own rented set. So I didn't get to finish my evening of skiing. I was not only devastated, but scared I was going to have to pay for a pair of missing skiis! Fortunately, the person turned in the skiis, but it was still a bummer of a night. Someday, I want to try skiing again!

2. Water Skiing. The summer of 1998, I spent 2 weeks on Lake George in New York with two of my college roommates. We went water skiing one day. It took me forever to figure out the correct position that would allow me to get up on the water without flipping over and smacking myself on the face of the water. By the time I figured it out, I only got to ski for a short time, and then we had to get going. We never made it out skiing again. The short time I did ski, I had a blast, and I would definitely love to try again. Maybe next time I'll learn to ski over the wake and back!

3. Surfing. Surfing is hard! I never did figure out how to do it! I went to Hawaii for a couple weeks with my friend Cole. His dad took me out at Waikiki (they hate Waikiki because it's a tourist place, but I was more comfortable with more people because I was more sure there would be no sharks!). When we got out there, he realized he didn't have wax for the board, so that was the first problem. It was very hard to stand on the board. But also, remember my skiing issue? I'm not very strong, so getting myself up on the baord itself was difficult. If he would push my board, I could "catch" the wave, but I couldn't stand up while on it. So, I was able to glide in on some good waves, but never successfully "surfed." So, that's definitely something I'd like to try again.

4. New York City. I went to NYC once. It was New Year's Eve day. We arrived around lunch time, and by then all the main streets were blocked off for the huge celebration. Zach, Kass, Jason, and I had a great time trapsing around the city. For NYE, we hung around Rockefeller Center, watching Carson Daily do his NYE Special. I feel like there were so many things I didn't get to see, such as Times Square! I deifnitely want to go back to NYC someday. (I did go to NYC another time ... to see the Tigers play the Yankees, but I mean going to explore the city)

5. Swing dancing. When I lived in Florida, there was a group of people I played volleyball with at the city's rec center. I didn't really have many friends in Florida, so this was kind of my social outlet. One night they invited me to go to a club. I'd never been to a club in my life, so I was kind of nervous about the idea, but starving for a social life. While we had gathered at one of their homes, someone asked me if I knew it was a swing dance club. I had no clue, but was pretty excited about the idea. While we were in line in downtown Orlando, one of the guys showed me the main steps to swing dancing. He said, "Just let the guy lead you and push you. As long as you keep these steps, you're fine." I'm horrible at keeping rhythm, but I figured I'd try. I sat watching, fascinated by the dancers. I've always been entertained by swing. One girl's friend was a swing dance instructor, and before I knew what was happening, he had dragged me to the floor and was pushing me this way and that. Sure enough, I lost my steps many times, but he'd work with me. It was so much fun. I'd definitely like to take lessons and do swing dancing again.

2 comments:

Darrell said...

I have always wanted to learn how to swing dance.

It's definitely on my "bucket list"

Unknown said...

Somehow you seemed to have gotten through 1998 unscathed by unfortunate hair decisions. If only your friends were so lucky...