Kayaking!

Like the title says, I went kayaking this Saturday, and it was pretty fun! There was also some other funnish stuff that happened over the past couple days as well, so I'll try and cover almost everything.

The trip down to Monterey was mildly boring, so I slept. This is something of a slight hobby at the moment, as I'm working on the ability to be able to sleep, and then wake up, then go back to sleep. As someone who does a fair bit of public transit traveling, this is a skill I need to have. I was quite proud really.

Shift was good, though we were short a fair amount of people. There wasn't really anything super interesting, which is odd, but I did get to talk with someone from Americorps, who was in town for a retreat. Her particular job was hosting homeless people in L.A., while they were trying to find more stable housing and a job. I found out there were 80-90 Americorps folks, all there for a retreat that was taking place at the Asilomar conference center. It was pretty interesting getting to talk to this lady. Very representative of the interesting people who come to the Aquarium. After shift, I went to the store, bought myself some rolls and fruit and carrots. I then walked the mile and half to where I was staying, and then spent a mild night working on my paper.

The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed, showered, etc, then walked the 3 miles to where we would be kayaking that morning. I did stop at a coffee shop, got my fix, and grabbed a cranberry scone. A really good, rich cranberry scone, which lasted my whole walk. As I was enjoying the great weather, and seeing a nice sunrise, a rarity for me, I was also noticing the large amount of people out getting "exercise". I then realized I was eating a scone that probably had more calories than they would burn, and just walking along, I was burning off those calories. I tried to not gloat too much, but smirking as I chewed my food might have been a giveaway. I finally arrived at the shop, with 5 minutes to spare, and took a little time to brush my teeth, and rest my feet.

While we waited for everyone to arrive, I led some games for the group, and then we got started. Basic instructions, make sure everyone was there and listening, then breaking into groups, and getting our gear. At first, it looked like I was going to be the only guy under 18 in the group, but fortunately, I was saved, and two more guys got roped in. Once we got out there, I realized that my partner, Johnathan, is just as much of a troublemaker as I am. Probably shouldn't have been in the same boat. The paddle was great, good weather, nice waves, just enough to make it interesting, and a good group. There was the obligatory splashing, a race, wherein I got whacked in the back of the head with a paddle. That kinda hurt. All right, it hurt, a lot at first. My eyes were watering. I also got to collect some cool snails, and enjoy that piece of creation. There were some really nice looking ones, but my personal favorite, was the jewel-top snail. See picture. Awesome!

As we were coming back in, getting ready to land the boat, we decided to capsize our boat. It was remarkably easy. We just leaned to the side, and in we went. We popped up, shook the water from our faces, flipped the boat over, got back in, and landed the boat. As one of the guides was pulling us up, he remarked our shenanigans were "excellent!" The rest of the group was abuzz within a few minutes. Did we really flip our boat? Someone heard we fell, someone heard we needed help, someone heard we got in trouble.

The rest of this post is being written more than a week later, and therefore, will be slightly more compressed.

Sunday was the make-or-break softball game, my team against the one undefeated team in the league. Interestingly, we played our best game, and won easily. My play was not up to my standards, but I did out-hustle a dribbler to third. Hustle is surprisingly rare in this league.

The week was somewhat of a blur. However, I can account for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Thursday was a long day of helping a family from our church move. The stand-out event was me dropping a table on my toe. That hurts. I did get paid, which is an upside.

Friday, I was at the Aquarium, got to talk with a couple from New Zealand, and a group of students from Cabrillo College, a local community college. There were several hundred other people in there too. I then rode the bus with 3 high school students, we talked, they were surprised I was their age, I got complimented (I think) on my long eyelashes, and then I got off. I then proceded to get on the wrong light rail train, realize that fact, get off, miss the right train, and finally end up in the right place.

I don't really remember Saturday, but I'm sure something happened that Mom will remind me of.

Sunday was church, which was good, then softball, which was a "fun game" meaning score didn't count, and the regular rules didn't apply. Again, I was just all right, but my running was pretty solid. It really unsettles people when someone is sliding into their base, and the ball is coming towards them. I actually slid twice on the same hit. Once at 2nd, ball dropped, and then again at 3rd, where the ball was caught, and I slid masterfully in, below the tag, and got called out, because it was a fun game and the ump was tired and sweaty. I was not happy. Let's be clear. I have nothing against umps making judgement calls, but when they tell you they know you were safe, that, that is what I have a problem with.

Today was a homeschool day at the MBA, and I went as a "regular person", which was totally absurd, because I'm pretty sure I was the only guest saying "hi" to everyone, talking, etc. My cover was blown to pieces when I was "part of the group" headed over to the teen program, which involved deep ocean camoflauge. (Way cooler than army camo, gotta say.) The staff member who was leading the program introduced a volunteer who was helping out, and then said something along the lines of "and Chris, right back there, is also a volunteer here, so if you have any questions about volunteering, feel free to ask him. I probably just made him turn about 5 shades of red." Yes, she did. I should have just worn my badge, would have been a lot easier. Regardless of that, I really enjoyed being able to share one of my favorite places with most of my family. Nick and Mandy had some really good questions, and it was cool to walk around with a captive audience. I loved the energy level. I usually have to create the excitement and energy in an interaction, but I could just feed off of Mandy, Nick and Beth.

I'm caught up, and feel really bad for my blog silence for the past week and couple of days. Things get busy, and I only have so much time I can devote to writing, and sometimes it goes to other topics and projects.
Anyway! I hope you all are doing splendidly, and I'll be back with more later.