Ow. Smart Guys. Holiday.

On Wakeboarding:

Yesterday evening after work, my coworker Amy and I went out on her friends' boat (I guess her friends are becoming my friends too). I loooove being in boats but rarely have the opportunity because, I suppose, until now I didn't know anyone with a boat. I had no intention of getting in the water -- we've had record winds here the last few days and I thought it would be cold and probably dangerous. Anyway, once we got out on the water, the winds died down. We were one of the few boats out on Folsom Lake (a completely separate entity from the prison, FYI) and it was nearly placid in places. And the water wasn't too cold. Robyn took her wakeboarding turn and made it look easy. Then Ashley went and she made it look slightly harder, but still pretty easy. Then Amy got out there and almost got up (she's tiny -- I'm surprised the line didn't toss her into the stratosphere) but not quite (it was only her second attempt). Then Casey did a good job. Then there was me. I wasn't planning on going, but then I decided "eh, what the heck" and thought that I might as well give it a shot when there was no one else on the lake to laugh at me. I tried in vain to get up, but couldn't the tension on the line kept snapping the handle out of my hands! I have no idea how anyone else had the strength to hold on. I did about as well as Amy and then let Chris take his turn. He did a backflip. Jerk.

I hurt today.

But I'm determined to try again. It took me forever to stand up on both a snowboard and a surfboard, so I know I can do it!

On Seeing Ironman:

Went with my mom and aunt the other night to finally see Ironman. I heart Robert Downey Jr (but not as much as ontimeout) and it was such a fun role. I liked that the movie had great action and quite a bit of comedy. And surprisingly, Gwynth Paltrow didn't annoy me as much as she normally does, so that was awesome. I also liked that Ironman is a superhero mostly because he is smart. He didn't come from another planet and he wasn't bit by a spider. He didn't have any government experiments that changed him in any way, nor was he born with a genetic mutation. He also didn't really do a good job of keeping his identity secret, did he? Anyway, I really enjoyed it and rank it up there with my other two faves -- the new Batman and basically all of the X-Men movies. I didn't so much like Spiderman (ugh, Tobey Maguire) or Superman or the Hulk.  

On the Memorial Day Long Weekend:

Most people make big plans for their long weekends, but I'm not one of them -- at least not this time. I have a bunch of random things to do:

• Walk to the library and pick up some books I have on hold
• Check out the furniture auction going on at my condo -- all of the furniture that didn't sell with the models is being silent-auctioned off and I need some nightstands!
• Go to the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee
• Finally finish my book club book
• Buy a bathing suit that actually fits so that when I wakeboard I am not in danger of losing it.
• Go to church
• Start packing (?) to move into my new house!
• Find a pool and go in it.
• And most of all, I hope to remember the men and women who sacrificed and died to keep this country free. Memorial Day isn't about hamburgers, beer, and friends -- it's about remembering what it took to ensure that we could have hamburger, beer, and friends.