For my 40th birthday Mark rented out Typhoon Lagoon in Orlando Fl. for a couple of hours. It was during that year's January Surf Expo. Mark and I had surfed the lagoon a number of times with industry reps, but this time a couple of Hot Wax employees drove down to surf the 4 foot fresh water waves with us.
The first time I ever climbed into that gigantic pool in that fantastically cool water park, I was pretty nervous. Only one person is allowed in the pool at a time (unless they do peaks), so, all attention is on that one person...me. "If you miss the take off you'll have to paddle in and get back in line." the reps always told us. It was the one and only rule. There was no way I was going to humiliate kneeboarding at a wave pool, so, I focused as I climbed down the steps and entered the fresh 70+ degree water.
When I was situated in the take off place I waited for the machines to come to life. Suddenly I heard a low sounding rumble and quickly I set myself up. "Swwwoooosh!" went the hydraulic water pushers and before my eyes a large H2O wall welled up under the Pirate Ship. This wall rolled towards me like a clear green lump and I started paddling. In all the times I surfed Typhoon Lagoon I only missed one wave. I was far too excited to miss two of them. Plus, when you do the math, each wave costs about $25.
Once I caught the 4 footer and snapped up, I quickly discovered the difference between salt water and fresh water buoyancy. Its amazing how the 2.5% per volume weight variance can effect a surfboard and it's surfer. Without speed the board can sink quickly. I had to be very carful while doing cut backs.
The end of the wave is a little tricky. The concrete bottom has a tendency to shave down the fins on a surfboard so, I had to be carful while jumping off of my kneeboard. For the most part, I'd just roll into the wave at the end. It felt good in the fresh water. The whole wave pool experience is exciting and I recommend surfing one at least once. At Typhoon Lagoon the atmosphere is all Disney, so, it was a fun birthday party, even though it started at 6am.
*Speaking of surfing non-ocean waves...in the early 90s Mark and I surfed the FlowRider at the Schlitterbahn in Texas. That was when Tom Lochtefeld and Mark were talking about building one in Wilmington NC. The truth was, I never crashed so hard onto a 3" thick blue gymnastic mat in my life! The experience took out my shoulder for awhile. I told Mark the project had lawsuit written all over it. We never built one.
My birthday car!
"Have you seen the new 2000 Infinity G35?" Mark's friend asked me. "You should check it out," he said. So I did.
That day I traded in my Maxima and bought a brand new high speed Infinity (or very expensive Nissan). To this day I believe there's nothing like the sound of a G35 starting up. It's absolutely sexy. Within the year I took "Baby" to Cape Hatteras and had that tight driving machine flying down Highway 12 at 145+. Then the racks started to vibrate. On Ocracoke Island, right when you get off of the Hatteras ferry, there's a 4 mile stretch that's as straight as a Boeing 747 runway. I have vibrated racks with four of my cars along that stretch of Hwy. 12. It's such a rush! Coincidentally, 12 is my softball number too.
In 2000 Shaun graduated from High School.
Class of the Second Millennium.
It's an odd feeling witnessing a baby become a man or woman. As a parent I always believed that...
Children are not things to be molded- but persons to be unfolded.
And that...
There are only two lasting bequests we can give our children- one is roots, the other wings.
Anonymous
For Shaun's senior trip his drama class went to New York. I had the privilege of chaperoning. When the group went to The Museum of Natural History I asked Shaun if he wanted to go to Greenwich Village. He said yes, so, he, the other three guys I was chaperoning and I, slipped out the side door and hopped into a Taxi. We headed straight for the Strand Book store. I told the guys to meet me in a hour.
"Are we on our own?" they asked.
"Aren't you 18?" I asked.
"Well, yeah but..." they looked around excited and confused.
"Just be back on time." I said a little sternly, and I walked into the largest used book store ever. Then I walked to Other Music CD store on E. 4th St. and browsed around. I was in the habit of buying CDs wherever I went. My IPod has over 6500 songs from all genres and from bands around the world....anywho,
After an hour the five of us got back into a Taxi and met the rest of the high school group just in time for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.
After curfew the guys and I snuck out again and walked the NY streets until the sun came up. We had a blast! My Son had very entertaining friends in high school.
Shaun didn't surf. He was into comedy improv and played guitar in a local punk rock band. I always knew he was wired for the stage so I encouraged his Thespian ways. He tried to go to collage, but, the truth was he'd had enough school for awhile and quickly dropped out. I after hanging around Wilmington living the life of a teen age actor and band member, Shaun decided to move to Chicago. I encouraged that move too. I knew Shaun would flourish in a big city. To date he is doing just that. He graduated from Second City, got a job making Bobtail Ice Cream, and, put together a band called Chaperone (no connection to NY). Shaun started living his own story and I'm very proud of him. He still lives in the windy city and plans to marry in 2012.
Shaun and His love Shaylah
and Bill
There were guys in Shaun's 2000 class that did surf however, like Q and S. At this time Q was off at a private school, (he'll write his own book one day). S went to the same church we went to and graduated from the same school as Shaun. His Mom and I were good friends. When S wanted to go to Costa Rica for his graduation gift, his Mom asked me to take him and two of his friends. That was another type of chaperoning experience.
The guys were pretty well behaved and the surf was good up and down the west coast of CR, but, we spent most of our time in Tamarindo surfing Playa Negra. While out having fun one night we saw a few Wilmington NC girls who played rugby and surfed. I had met them through Hot Wax and was excited to see them in CR. After a few drinks we all decided we needed to rent a boat in the morning and surf Witch's Rock. We all arrived at the boat hungover. The waves were fantastic however, and, all the rugby/surfer girls were a hoot in the line up. They were chatty and full of boisterous encouragement. It was such a good day. It was a good trip all around.
The year ended with a cruse to Alaska.
This was the fourth cruse Mark and I had been on. It was for Mother's day so we took my Mom and Mother-in-law. The last cruse Mark and I went on we took the kids. On the way to the Bahamas we re-newed our vows with our kids standing next to us. It was our fifteenth anniversary and at that time my life was a whirlwind of small business ownership, traveling, being known as "Mark's wife," and motherhood. By the time this Alaska trip came along Mark and I were having marital problems and our Moms felt it. The truth was that after 18 years of marriage I was drifting away from my husband.
My 40th year was the year I decided to look ahead, much like I did at 35.
And what I saw would hit the fan like lit fireworks.
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