The weekend past was one of those where I feel like I never got to just sit down and relax. That’s not to say it wasn’t a lot of fun, but still…you know what I mean?
After work on Friday, The Boyfriend and I cleaned and cleaned, and then we cleaned some more. I went to the grocery and got the makings for the Fabulous Haw-Asian Dinner I was serving on Saturday. I did all the prep for that, showered, and fell into bed, immediately asleep, around 10 o’clock. I can’t even recall what I ate for dinner that night. Oh, yes. Frozen pizza.
Saturday was a wake-up-bright-and-early-with-anticipation day. We were going kayaking with some coworkers, and it was to be their first time on the water. Preparing two people for a day-long trip on the water is surprisingly more complicated than it sounds. I wonder if we take too much stuff with us. After finishing the prep for dinner, I helped The Boyfriend pack all of our gear and load the boats into the truck. Admittedly, he did a whole lot more of the work than I did.
On the trip, I got to test out some new gear:
- A new gel seat, since my boat only has a plastic molded one. Thumbs up on the Skwoosh.
- A new first aid kit. The last one was bought for camping at the Super Huge Discount Superstore of Evil and turned out to not be waterproof. This one is in a dry bag and will hopefully stand the test of my many capsizes. We didn’t need the first aid kit, which is a mystery but a good one.
- A new waterproof (really, I mean it this time) bag for important things like my ID, my phone, and The Boyfriend’s camera (which we still double-bagged because we weren’t trusting of the waterproof claim). It really is waterproof. That bag rocks.
- A locking carabiner, which was totally cool and useful for securing the bag mentioned above. I was worried that a regular carabiner might come undone, somehow and my important good s would be lost. I’m paranoid about losing my phone and afraid that The Boyfriend would seriously maim me for losing his camera, so I liked the locking aspect of this carabiner.
- A paddle leash that proved to be worth the $16 price that I thought was pretty steep. Couldn’t I just make this thing? Probably not. It features a hook-and-eye strap on each end of a coiled length of cord. One strap attaches to your paddle, the other to your wrist or boat. I didn’t like it attached to my wrist, so I strapped it to my boat, and now, I don’t have to worry about a floating-off paddle.
- A new paddle. It rocks my old paddle out of the water. The paddles are scooped, which allows the paddler to move more water with the same stroke. My old paddle sported flat ends and I wasn’t a fan. Good thing that one was free. Now, we have a spare paddle.
- A Camelbak water bottle. PBA-free. I’m glad to find that out via the Camelbak website. I worried about the #7 recycle symbol because it was the same as the Nalgene bottles, which aren’t PBA-free. It’s easier to drink from than a Nalgene (since you don’t have to unscrew the lid). I also like the harder carrying loop it sports.
- S-shaped, double opening carabiner. This was an awesome way to attach the water bottle to my seat gusset. I struggle with opening carabiners on the fly because I’m just challenged, that way. This one had two openings, so I could always get it quickly for a sip.
Good, Lord. That’s a lot of new gear. New for next week will be a pair of shorts that tries much harder to stay dry. Next challenge? Keeping water out of the bottom of my boat. Also (and how excited am I about this?) – new shoes! The water shoes I bought were cheapies. Frankly, they sucked. Yeah, they were fine to get wet, but they provided no cushion or structure against walking on the rocks and shore. I also blame them for the busted knee I got when I slipped on a rock. The new ones are fancy schmancy L.L. Beans and are a LOT like the expensive Keen’s I covet.
Ok, back on track with the weekend. After we kayaked about 12 miles, everyone headed back to be annoyed by our dogs, drink a couple of beers, and eat dinner. All parties were nearly falling asleep in their salads. As soon as our guests left and showers were taken, we were sleeping like babies.
The Boyfriend made pancakes, at my request, on Sunday morning. Even though I had to go to the store twice, dressed like a bum, under threat of severe weather, they were worth it. His pancakes are awesome. I went to my mom’s house to spend the day with her. She liked the gift, I think. We drove around the countryside, trying to find the Wildlife Sanctuary, but it was raining by the time we got there. No bird watching for us. Maybe another day. We did go watch some fish, though. We watched it go from the plates to our mouths, held by chopsticks. Sushi, baby! We ate until we were pleasantly stuffed, one more piece and we’d have been miserable. Then, it was back to her house to organize her scrapbooking equipment. She has a room that’s dedicated to that and toys. She’s got a TON of stuff. We didn’t make much headway, but we made some and sort of have a plan for the future. Dinner with the ‘rents and The Boyfriend rounded out the weekend.
This morning, back to the grind. I need another day of weekend!
Happy Birthday Banner by Jen Duncan (tutorial)
