Sunday, June 27, 2004

I reluctantly went with Galahad to his friends' beach party.  I have such a love-hate relationship with the beach.  I love my Galahad dearly so I sucked it up, put on a positive attitude, and tried to make the best out of it. 

First off, I don't like leaving the house much on the weekends.  Secondly, I'm not so good at meeting new people sometimes.  Then, there's the non-English speaking factor of a few of the people there.  Thirdly, it's been as hot as the sun here lately.  Plus, the sun isn't so good for me and is harder to control when I'm not in my backyard.  Also, I don't really like dealing with the whole bikini factor anymore in public.  And, the salt water dries my hair.  Are you getting the picture yet that I didn't really want to go?

Galahad packed up our stuff while I sorted out the bikini dilemma.  I settled on board shorts and a bikini top.  Men have it so much easier and I'm starting to not fall for the "havta look sexy" concept anymore.  I was so comfortable in board shorts while I watched all the other women pulling & tugging their suits to get comfortable.  I did pull and adjust my top way too much though.  I need to find a more comfy one.

We stopped at a sandwich shop at his insistence even though I brought my power bars and had just finished breakfast.  We parked about half a mile away and traipsed in.  Halfway to where we were supposed to meet everyone, I had burned off all of my breakfast calories and was dying for a fix.  I started to make deals in my head.  50 more feet and I'll ask to break open the cooler and take a bite of sandwich.  20 more feet and I'll grab a power bar.   Finally, I just whined out loud that I can't go much further.  He laughed and said we're almost there.

We make it to where we're supposed to meet them and can't find them.  Thank goodness for cell phones.  He called and found out they're still looking for parking.  Next, he explained to me that we can rent an umbrella.   Little Miss Frugal here doesn't even ask how much until after I'm safely ensconced under one.  I love Galahad so much at that moment for knowing my limitations, accepting them, and working to make them livable for both of us.  =)

Then, we broke into that sub we bought and devoured it.  Just as I'm polishing off the last few bites, some of his friends walked up.  I was so thankful that I hadn't seen them 10 minutes prior while I was freaking out.  :p

I'm still amazed at how hot it was.  Usually, once I get settled and feel the ocean breeze, it's fine.  This time, even in the shade, I felt as if I were in a furnace.  We were both a teensy bit apprehensive about sea lice.  They latch onto your skin exactly where you have material, so it's never in a pleasant spot.  :p  So after 30 minutes of feeling the hot ocean breezes and seeing no one freak out scratching, we decided to get brave and go in.

Wow, it felt so good!  The water was probably about 78°F with small crashing waves.  Galahad had to hold my hand so I didn't get pushed back to shore.  I tried not to get my hair wet. Gah, I'm such a girl, but it really feels yucky and dry when salt water is on it.  And, I start to look like Medusa without the benefit of her powers. :p  One big wave took the decision out of my hands early on.  It was much more fun that way.  We went out a bit deeper and started to ride the waves.  They got way too powerful for me to handle alone (all 104 pounds of me), so I held tightly to my guy.  Meanwhile I was laughing so hard, I almost drowned.

I got tired and went back up to rest on our rented lounge chairs in the shade.  Finally, it felt good and not too hot until I dried off completely.  Then it was power bar time again since my sandwich calories were long gone.  ;)  Afterwards, we ran back to the water since the sand was starting to fry the soles off our feet.

All in all, I had a great time, despite the heat and all of my issues.  Fortunately I didn't get too much sun either since I had slathered on sun block and then stayed mostly in shade.