A day at Disneyland

 I went to Disneyland in the middle of August.  I am still in disbelief. My dear friend Leela told me (in May) that her family was coming form all parts of the world and wanted to have a Disneyland adventure.  She wanted me to come and I would do anything in the world for her.  I had met most of the family on her Sunday Zoom meetings and was excited to get to meet them in person.  

Disneyland is expensive.  It is painfully crowded in the summer and killer hot. I have not been in a very long time.  But to Disneyland I went....and I had the best time ever.  

Yes it was painfully crowded in this time fo Covid but everyone was exceptionally well behaved. No pushing, no nasty comments.  Just happiness mixed with a lot of patience. It was hot...absolutely.  But there was water and air conditioning here and there..so manageable.  Leela's family are the nicest people I have ever met.  We had so much fun together I felt as if I had known them forever. We hit all the rides, took all the picture and ate all the food.  We saw the Mainstreet Electrical Parade ( which they keep threatening to discontinue forever but always bring it back). We saw the magical fireworks and I experienced the gleeful, child excitement with two outstanding young lads who made sure I was not scared on any of the rides.   

When I got home that night (well after midnight) I was hot, tired, weaty, a bit dirty and totally blissful.

I won't miss any opportunities to do fun things.  Life is too short to nitpick the details.  I am just going to throw myself in and enjoy the rides....all of them

Damn that's hot!!

 A number of years ago my lovely daughter asked "Hey Mom..wanna learn how to eat fire".  I, of course, said sure.  So I learned not only how to eat fire but spin fire poi, hoop with fire, dance with a staff that was burning and use huge fans blazing.  It is a lot of fun...really.  For a while we were performing a lot dancing and playing with fire but the pandemic hit putting a halt on most fun things.

Fast forward to now.  We are performing in a music video (I am excited) and we will be "doing" fire.  Manda and I dug out our fire kit and bought some fuel to practice.  AS I said...it's been a while.  The wicks on our fire equipment are dry and lonely.  Dipping them into the white gas caused many bubbles and used way more gas then it should have.  When we lit up...OH MY..Damn that's hot.  All of the toys burned to the max and sent out a vicious amount of heat.  I don't mind hot.  I am not afraid of fire but putting a blazing wick in my mouth for the first time in maybe 2 years was a little daunting. Thoughts of failure (never fear) rambled through my head.  What if I can't do this anymore.  What about my nose hairs...my eyebrows.  It took a couple of tried before all the training came back to me.  Tilt your head, cup your tongue and take that big breath before you put that flaming stick in your mouth.  

For as long as it has been, I am very pleased with the outcome  No hair loss or blistered lips yet.  The video shoot is 10 days away and I have time to get more practice it.  There will be much unpleasant fuel burping in the future.  I must remember to play with my toys more often to keep them happy. 

Who would think that at 67 I would still be doing this crazy ass shit........

Marshmallow Man in the Winter

 I find life fascinating, at times.  There seem to be a lot of twists and turns that can be  both very exciting and confusing.   A couple of weeks ago I was able to go skiing in Mammoth and I was facsinated by my own body..and not in a good way.  The Pandemic was not very kind to my body.  I was blessed with good health throughout but the lack of exercise and a good deal of pity eating took its tole.  A few extra pounds (not a lot but enough) caused me to struggle with exertion required to put on the damn ski boots, puffy jacket, hat, gloves, goggles...The skiing was great.  The dressing was HARD.  Whoever invented ski boots must have taken lessons from Ramsey Bolton (Game of Thrones reference).  I will say I had a blast skiing and the company I was with was absolutely the best. But darn it..I felt almost helpless with putting on all the stuff....out of breath and hugely out of shape. With all that gear I looked the Staypuff Marshmallow man. In the end I had several very nice bruises and blisters on both sides of each ankles..I admire all those snow boarders with the one board and soft boots.  They look so sassy and comfortable. On the slopes they glide along....until they fall on thier butts and lay there in your path or board out of control and knock you for a loop when they hit you. Still...fun was had. 

I was impressed by the beauty of my surroundings.  We had a gentle snowfall Friday night and it brought a comforting silence to the area. In the morning there were critter tracks in the snow and a wonderful air of freshness.  The drive up to the slopes was a little daunting.   The roads had just enough ice on them to be slippery but not quite enough for chains.  I did have a scary moment behind a jeep that was sliding back toward me.  We managed to do a little ice ballet and work it out without remorse on either side. 

The best part of the whole two day trip was our wonderful evenings together.  Five women truely enjoying each others company.  Theres was no TV, no outside distractions, wonderful food, beverages and stimulating conversation.  We laughed so hard.  We came up with podcast ideas.  We exchanged childhood stories, recipes, books we had read, TV show we watched and it was great.  There are not many times when we have that kind of time in todays world.  I look forward to next winter when I can again don the warrior ski outfit and hit the slopes...Hopefully with less natural padding..lol

Life as I know it now

 I so often forget that I even started this blog.  I used to have a couple of faithful readers but I am pretty sure thier lives are too busy to read my nonsense.  I, on the other hand, read my own blogs from time to time and realize I am having a pretty good life...in general.  I am widow now.  My mom is in a lovely care facility.  I bought a house.  I have worked hard at establishing a "new life" of independence.  It is hard.  I have an amazing circle of friend and loved ones with whom I share adventures, acitivites and crazy ass shit.  I also have lots of lonely moments. You would think at 67 years old I would have figured out who I am and what I want to be when I grow up.  I haven't..in case you were wondering.  

I am a nurse.  That has never been a question.  I became a bellydancer and performer at a ripe old age. I love adding that to my resume. I am a designer of costumes, maker of wedding dresses, creator of art. I am a happy grandma and whiskey advocate. I am afraid of life as I age and yet I approach it with much enthusiasm.  I cannot imagine saying no to almost any adventure (unless its too expensive). I got to travel to Italy and the Panama canal, Hawaii and Mexico.  I am off to Alaska yet again..I want to pack as much as I can into life.  I say..Lets do it..and lets do it now..  Whose with me.?????