Sunday = Fun Day (part 1)

Hey y'all,

Well, another week has come and gone. Thursday actually marked the half way point of my trip, so everyday that ends from now on is one day closer in the direction of home. Nuts. Right now, I am sitting on a foldout chair in the kitchen of all places, jamming to some music helping out with today's 'Man's Breakfast'. For those that don't know or remember, this has become a Sunday tradition for everyone to provide an ingredient to have made into a big meal for brunch. I provided breakfast sausage and cheese.

So in about 30 minutes we'll all sit down to enjoy a nice meal together. Since I haven't posted this week, I need to back track a bit...last Sunday a group of us went to the beach. It is not as easy as we have grown to know in southern Cali, all the beaches are owned by resorts and we have to pay to get into them, and it is a two + hour drive to get there. And these trips are not planned frequently, and when talk began about getting a group together, I had to jump on it.

I knew this would most likely be the only time I go this trip and after we got a full car committed to the idea, we piled in the car and headed north.

The group was me, Michael (a new volunteer from North Carolina), Sven, Lisa, Dot, Burtland and his friend Sandra. Along the way we passed through nice country side and through several parts I hadn't seen yet. I made a point to try to read as much as I could, completing a whole chapter on the drive. We got to Kaliko Beach Resort about 11am, paid $30 to get it (incl. buffet and two drinks) and began our nice day. The resort was pretty nice and the view was beautiful. We got set up right on the water, joining another group of volunteers from other NGO's, friends of Gerry (works at my office) and his girlfriend Mor. It was a nice change of pace as we relaxed, drank some beer and eventually I a large portion of the group decided to take a boat out to the reef and go snorkeling. I stayed back and read my book on the beach, really good choice. When the group returned, we all went up to the buffet and had lunch.

I had a secret objective though when eating my meal. I intentionally didn't each much, knowing I had seen guys on the beach selling whole live lobster. They cook it on the grill right there, and I knew that was going to be my special treat. My mom told me before leaving that she wanted me to use some of her money she gave me to get something special, and that was it! Cooked with onions and peppers, I was as happy as a guy can be...We stayed until 4pm or so, then headed home, getting back just before sunset. I listened to my music and hung my head out the rear window as we drove back, a fun experience. I have actually created a game here called 'guess that jersey'. Since there are a lot of people here that wear old basketball and football jerseys, it has been fun to see them and see if I know the player. And most of them are all old players or teams they no longer are on, and I have not missed one yet. For instance, and old 76ers jersey with number 3 is Allen Iverson. Bengals #85 - Chad Johnson. And so on. It's been pretty fun so far, a game I kind of play on my own as we drive around the area.

When we got home, I logged onto to NFL Game Center, knowing the game Chargers game had just gone final. I was able to watch the archived game, and by avoiding the final score, I pretended it was live. Well, as most of you all know, the game did not end well and the Bolts lost another game to Tom Brady's Patriots. Damn!! I stayed up to watch the Eagles/Falcons game as well, since the free preview was ending the next day. Then I went off to bed.

The only bad part about the weekend is I could not talk to Nicole the whole time because she was at Lindsay and Alex's wedding in Michigan and was not able to log on to chat. Plus it really would have been a fun event to have attended. Looking at the photos is seemed to have been a pretty fun party. Congrats you two!