Life and Fireworks

"We anoint their fuses with a tiny amount of fire, and they come alive, playing out their life span in a matter of seconds. In those few seconds a crack in the universe is opened, giving us a glimpse of the energy locked within all matter." Bob Weaver

This was my first July 4th to be away from the parentals. I did miss my dad and brother as the "Master of Ceremonies" but it has been an amazing weekend!

Saturday:

I'm going to start the weekend fun off with Saturday since it was the actual 4th of July. The next day you will read is Thursday, then Friday. Please keep up. Things don't have to be ordered to be great.

I woke up at 9am to get stuff together and do some last minute packing for the Lake. Lindsay and Lauren and I decided to go to Lake Whitney for the 4th of July. At first, the plan was to go camping in New Braunfels, but that kind of fell through, so there I was at 9am on the 4th of July, packing for a lake adventure.

Lake Whitney is only about 30 minutes from the Wack and therefore I'm not sure why I have never been there before. It is known as a hot spot for CLIFF JUMPING among college students. Although there have been a few reported injuries from this adrenaline rush, it is still a must-do for any young adult.

We packed sandwiches, water, sunscreen, tubes, towels, and our lake-ready bodies into Lindsay's Xterra...and were off. The 30 minute drive turned into a 1.5 hour offroading experience when we made a couple of wrong turns and ended up on a dirt road that lead to a cramped trailer park neighborhood. After asking a too-tanned woman for directions, we made it to our destination.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with some interesting characters. I would not like to judge these people, but they are the kind with floatation devices for each individual beer can and tattoos of Texas on their chests. The abundance of Tattoos only complemented the testicles that hung from the backs of their trucks. Nevertheless, we were determined to be risk takers that day.

We quickly made friends with these people and apparently became fast favorites because of our non-tattooed bodies and hesitance at jumping off 150 foot cliffs into who-knows-what water.

Finding the courage to jump off of these 150+ foot cliffs did not prove to be the biggest problem, however. The sting of foot then booty hitting the 70 degree water and the bathing suit checks while still underwater (there is no way to prevent the tots from escaping out of the swimsuit) did prove to be quite interesting feats.

The next obstacle was how to get out of the water and back onto dry land once having jumped into it. 10 year old boys seemed to have no problem with this, but as we soon found out, scaling rocks is a little more difficult for 20 year old girls. We literally had to crawl out of the water by hoisting ourselves onto algae-covered rocks and use all of our upper body strength to pull ourselves up. and that was just to get to the first little rock ledge. After that there was still about 75 feet that had to be climbed. It was a little daunting.

The second time I jumped in, I just decided that it would be easier to swim all the way to the part of the cliff that smooths out into the water, aka where people slide out onto kayaks or tubes. Flat rock. Okay, this didn't seem too hard at the time, but 10 minutes of constant swimming later I realized that I really do respect Michael Phelps, because swimming is hard work! If I would have stopped swimming I would have drowned and that was the funny part because I kept thinking "wow if I get a cramp or something, who is going to save me?" In reality, I had an unlimited supply of people who would have jumped in and saved me if I would have indeed got a cramp, but with water lapping into my face and the thought of fish and turtles at my toes, I considered myself alone in the water. I finally made it to the low part of the cliff and easily climbed out, water-logged and out of breath. And legitimately tired. As I sit at work writing today, I am sore! Amazing what happens to my muscles when new ones are used.

We drove back to Waco around 3pm, took naps, then got ready for a good night of fireworks and friends. Happy Independence Day!

Thursday:

got off work at 4. laid out by the pool. came back home, watched some trashy mtv (I'm ashamed to admit this is one of my guilty pleasures), and proceeded to take a nap that began at 7pm and ended 4 hours later. 11pm. My friend Kate was visiting Waco for the weekend. I didn't get to hang out with her that night because as soon as I woke up, I was greeted by Boyfriend at my door, with ingredients for homemade pizza. We made a delicious pizza: my half with grilled pineapple and 3 cheeses, his half with pepperoni and cheese. After devouring all of my half, I took a shower and went BACK to sleep. Apparently, I was sleep deprived.

Friday:

I woke up early. GASP.

I felt a little bloated from the previous midnight half of pizza then bed routine, so I ran around my apartment complex. Ran twice around, equivalent to 2+ miles. Then I lifted some weights. Let it be noted that that little workout has been the extent of my physical working out this summer. I noticed that I'm not as out of shape as I thought I was. happy.

After I sweated it out, I decided to go la piscina. Friday was a beautiful day. hot, but windy. perfect for pool time. I put on some sunscreen and Lindsay and Jennifer and margaritas joined me.

We all went to Buzzard Billy's for dinner that night to celebrate Kate's visitation. Cajun food. We had quite an interesting and energetic waiter. Here are some memorable quotes from him:

Lindsay asked him if she should get the Gator Fingers or the Boiled Crawfish.

"Well you girls all look really nice tonight and I wouldnt s'pose you would want to spill any of that juice on your shirts from the boiled crawfish. Don't know where y'all are goin' tonight but i don't s'pose you want to show up and explain stains on your nice dresses."

We have a friend who works at the bar there and we asked him if she worked that night.

"Nah, she is one of the lucky ones who got the entire weekend off. She and I are pretty good drinkin' buddies though, so anything you gals would want from her, I can get you just as easily. I don't mind puttin' some alcohol in y'all."

After dinner, Linds and I went to walmart to get tubes/floats for the lake on Saturday. $4 tubes! We went to the Sugar Shack (Lauren and Ashleigh's house in Aspen Heights) and ended up eating a second dinner of pork chops, potatoes, and some really delicious chocolate reeses something or other that Ash made. She is so domestic.

We shot some fireworks that night to get us pumped for the 4th the next day. Lauren is terrified of the noise.

The thing is, fireworks aren't allowed in Aspen Heights, so every time we would shoot one, we would run inside and start laughing hysterically. About 5 or 10 minutes later, we would go back outside, check for cops or security, and shoot something else. The sparklers were duds. But the Roman Candles were not. Let it be noted that the smell of sulfur (the smell left over after fireworks have been shot...the smoke and whatnot that makes it go BOOM) smells horrid. And somehow that smell was stuck inside. mmm, the smell of rotten sewer in the evening.

Ten of those reeses something or others and 5 rounds of water bp later, Brian showed up. with Whataburger. I stole many of his fries. He helped (when I say helped, I mean WATCHED) the painting of the candy apple red table. We went hot tubbing after we left the Ware's and didn't get to bed until 2am. 7 hours later I would be waking up for Lake Whitney and Cliff Jumping!