Ha! What a Joke!

I laughed when I read my fortune cookie at dinner Saturday night and asked if anyone wanted to trade. I was very confident that it wasn't going to happen. The fortune said I would soon start a new hobby. lol! Anyone who knows me knows I have enough and have not enough time in the day for the ones I have now. My good friend Bryan, who knows me well, said right out "You don't need another hobby Nora"! I agreed, we laughed, and I thought that was it. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." This is how it went down. I think of it as a hat trick. That evening under the stars while sipping wine with blackberries crushed in it we were slack lining and and just hanging out. John had shown me before these chains with kevlar on the end used for fire dancing. I just thought "so cool". After it got dark he gave a demo. It was the most exciting thing I've seen in a long time! Damn he was good! The womens estrogen equinox group all came running over to check it out also. We were all amazed and I had that old feeling again...I gotta do that! John showed me how to start and it's tough. He's spent years working at it and it shows. Yes, I'm going to start out with the socks first to avoid self immolation. I feel also that with my left shoulder not having the sparkle that it once had it would be a great way to work it back to being coordinated again. Keep posted on this one...it could be interesting. The plan on Sunday for Aaron, John and I was to get up at the crack of dawn and go up on Rib Mountain for some bouldering. I have never done bouldering outdoors and very little of it in the gym. It hadn't piqued my interest that much before but I was going to give it a try. We went up the mountain and gave a holler to Craig to wake him up and went and looked at the boulders. The formations were fantastic! I was excited! Bouldering is quite a different mind frame from the climbing I've done. No ropes. No draws. Just shoes and chalk and one crash pad. I gave it a try and discovered I love it! I can't wait to get back to Rib Mountain to try it again. The climbs were high enough that a fall past a certain spot was not an option. Your mind had to be one notch past lead to do this kind of rock. It definetely caught my intrest now! On the day went and wow was Wausau fun! It was great to see Caleb, Dennis and Graeme on the water as work and new family responsibilities have kept them home. They looked fantastic out there! Bryan was rocking the hole with and without a paddle and just being awesome! This was also the first World Kayak Hometown Throwdown Competition and it was just great fun! John McConville taking first in points and Craig Esposito second...but hey, it didn't matter as the prizes were awarded by a drawing. I got a water bottle :) The day continued and there was a record amount of people on the water. 149 total!! It was good to see two of my students from CanoeU there, Doug and Stan, and doing great! There were more graduates from some of the other classes there also! Fledglings learning to fly! The day wore on and by three my roll was coming slower and I knew it was time to hang it up and call it a day. Up above I saw Dan the Rescue man...he smiled and said remember what you promised? Uh...yeah...I would swim the course this time. I slipped on my neoprene pants for protection from the rocks and we went up to bwahahaha...Diagonal! Dan was great! He gave me the boogie board basics and I started surfing....cool! Then it was time to ferry over to surfers left of the hole. I got out there and the water was much more powerful but I was surfing! Oh no! I felt my pants start to slip down from the water. Oh NO! They started to fill with water! I looked over at Dan and said I think I have a problem...help!! By then my pants were down below my butt...not good! Dan grabbed me and rolled me out of the wave. I told him what had happened and we laughed and I said next time I'd wear the full on wet suit....yes there will be a next time as I found that to be really exciting also. The whole weekend turned out to be just a great party on the river. The banks are looking great but still need more work. The 25th is the clean up party to finish the work. We have to keep Wausau looking great! I know I have a machette someplace in my house...what could be more fun than that? I'll fit that in between my three new intrests...bouldering, Poi, and boogieboarding rapids.