Who am I?

A surfing Santa

My identity and my wallet were stolen Friday. I'm not sure exactly where it was taken, but it either disappeared at La Madeleine restaurant or the HEB grocery store. I was frantic when I realized it was gone, but was strangely aware that it was missing almost immediately. Although I stressed and cried about it, I finally realized that all I could do was "let go." It was definitely beyond my control. I canceled credit cards and filed a police report, but that was all I could do. And, then, I understood that nothing in the wallet defined me (although the missing social security card did offer anyone who had it a chance to claim some of me). One interesting thing happened in the process of closing accounts, though. It had to do with my security question to one of the credit cards. What do you do in your free time (hobbies, etc.)? I had to think back to when I might have received that credit card. I wasn't sure what I had answered at the time? Had I said writing or cycling or running or surfing or??? I almost laughed when the woman on the other end of the phone line asked me that question. I had to guess. I tried to remember exactly when I had gotten that card. I answered the woman with a question in my voice, and it happened to be the correct answer thank goodness.

Sometimes, people ask me what I do in my free time, and I have a hard time answering. Some days I'm a cyclist and other days I'm a runner. When there are waves, I am a surfer. It's been almost three weeks since I've been in the water, so I'm sad to report that I haven't been surfing. Fronts have been passing through and flattening all the ripples. During the past few weeks, the only waves have been rough south wind waves. (A couple of times, the waves were halfway decent, but, of course, it was always when I was at work.) On Sunday (yesterday), I participated in a Santa Claus fun run that took place in Galveston. I had my surfboard with me so that I could go directly to the beach after the run. However, the surf "dude" called to say not to bother. He admitted that there were waves, but said that they weren't  surfing. "They're slop!" are his exact words. Part of the route for the run was on the seawall, so I got to see the slop for myself. I even drove to the seawall again after the run, and saw that, if anything, it had gotten even sloppier. I watched a couple of people paddle out, but they weren't catching anything. I probably could have gone out and had a little fun, but I would have also had to work very hard just to get out and not be pulled by the current down the beach.

I'm off of work this week, so I'm hoping to surf a few days. However, the surf reports are saying FLAT, FLAT, FLAT. It's also going to be COLD. Oh well, I can dress for cold, but I can't do anything about FLAT. My wish for Santa this holiday is for a few waves!

Busy Time of Year

Where has the time gone? It's now been about three weeks since I've been out surfing. When there were waves, I couldn't surf. And, when there was surf, I couldn't surf because of a busy schedule. This weekend, weather forecasts indicated that it would be a wet, miserable weekend. The rain came, but so did a few waves. However, this weekend also happened to be one of the busiest weekends of the year for my work at the university. This was Commencement weekend, which includes a Commencement Kick-Off event on Friday and Commencement itself today (Sunday).  I could have possibly surfed on Saturday, except, it, too, was filled with several other events including running, cycling, personal commitments and a holiday party. Although I didn't get to surf, I still had an uplifting weekend. Commencement is fun. People are happy, and, students who are graduating have finally finished years of hard work and have met their educational goals. My coworker happened to be one of the graduates today. She has a family, worked full time, survived devastating damage from a hurricane and still managed to graduate with her master's degree. I am inspired by her! I hope to take that inspiration into the surf with me. I can do it! I just hope I get to surf soon.

Holiday Parties, Scheduled Events and Unpredictable December Weather

December!! Seems like I was just putting away all the holiday decorations last week and it's time already to pull the decorations out again. Of course, I don't decorate much, so decorations are basically just a tree. I haven't done it this year yet, but I need to do it soon. I also need to start writing and addressing my holiday cards. Getting everything done this time of year is difficult. Add to it that I've just bought a new home and all that entails. I'll be lucky to get any of it done, let alone find time to go surfing. Fortunately, waves have been dismal lately. I shouldn't say fortunately, really, because I probably would squeeze in a little surf time if only there were waves. My friends went surfing Monday, but the waves were described as mediocre. And, it doesn't really matter how good the waves are during the work week. Taking time off in December is almost impossible with all the events at work taking place. I have to rely on Friday afternoons (actually, Friday morning this week since I have an event Friday afternoon) and Sundays to surf. I also have to rely on the wave "gods" to create waves for me during these times.

The last instruction from the
adventure race director at the race
was quite funny!

The surf "Dude" said that the waves weren't too bad yesterday (Saturday). They were small, but surfable. I would have even considered making my way to G-town even though I usually cycle on Saturdays if I hadn't promised a friend I would be his partner in crime in an adventure race in Goodrich, TX. Like most adventure races, this one included trail running, mountain biking and kayaking/paddling. Unlike some of the other races, this one did not include navigation. It was also a little shorter than some of the adventure races. We were given four hours to complete our race, but fortunately we finished in just three hours. We were hoping for a better time, but although my partner was strong on the mountain bike and I was not, he was not as strong on the trail run and I was. We finished next to last, but had a ball in the process. I definitely will do another one. It was my third race, and I'm busy trying to find a fourth.

Today (Sunday), the surf "dude" Brian called to say that the waves were too weak to bother going to the island to surf. He said that he might take his SUP out, but he wasn't even sure that he would do that.  He added that he would go out surfing if I made the trip down, but with all I had to do, I decided that taking time out to go surfing for just an hour in "iffy" waves, probably wasn't a good way to spend my time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the cold front forecasted to come in tonight might create enough waves so that I can surf one afternoon this week. Of course it will be cold, but I have my 5-4 wetsuit ready to go. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.