Ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa, wiiipeooouut!

Okay, so here's the story: on the last day of a conference in Orlando, a group of us went to a shopping mall to get away from the hotel for a little while. (Our conference was held at the same hotel where we were staying, so we had spent A LOT of "quality family time" in that building.) My friend Michael discovered a "surf store" in the mall called "Adrenalina" in which they had a surfing pool. When we first walked in the store, there was a group of about 15 kids, assumedly at a birthday party. I was fascinated. This had to be one of the best birthday parties ever. Somehow we just didn't grow up with "surfing parties" in Jackson, Mississippi. I can't think of why...

We lost several members of our group to a sale at Ann Taylor Loft, so I ended up watching the kid surfers on and off for long while. And the more I watched, the more I thought, "I could do that... I would do that..."

Problem #1: I have never even considered surfing as an option because of my intense fear of deep water (and the sharks contained therein).

Solution #1: This water was, at most, a couple of inches deep and upon detailed inspection appeared to be shark-free.

Problem #2: I had no clothing with me that was surf-appropriate - no shirt, no shorts, no towel.

Solution #2: They were having a 50% sale on the clearance rack.

Problem #3: There are only about 10 minutes until the next (and final?) surf session at 8:00. It's now or never.

Solution #3: I choose NOW! :)

I wandered back over to where Michael was waiting on the ATL crew and said, "According to the moms, it's $20 for a half hour and $40 for an hour... who's pitching in?" He looked at me and said, "Are you serious?" to which I replied, "Yeh, I'm serious! I'll do it!" He laughed and said, "Oh, I am IN - let's go!" The others all pitched in so that I didn't even have to pay for the session, and the salesgirl helped me buy my surfing gear right then and there - I signed all the release papers (because there can be some serious falls, as you'll witness), handed over my dry clothes to one of our group, and they clipped the tags off of my new shirt and shorts as I was walking into the tank.

It was me and (approximately) a 15-year old and two 12-year olds. The 12-year old girl fell and jammed her hand and had to leave. The two boys were pretty good - they managed to surf for decent periods of time and even do some "swishing" moves. (I didn't have time to pick up the lingo.) I was not so lucky. I will claim that my somersault combination on the first bodyboard is impressive and that I do an excellent impression of a newborn giraffe standing up for the first time when I got on the mini surfboard. I had all kinds of shaky jimmy-legs going on. But by the third time I was doing pretty well... right up until he let out the line a litte bit more. And then, WHOOSH! BOOM!

As you will see from the footage, I look neither athletic nor coordinated (which is mostly true - except on the dance floor); but I never expected to be. I clearly didn't miss my calling as professional surfer, but as a comedic stuntwoman?... maybe. ;) Thanks to my friends for putting up with (and documenting) my rarely-witnessed spontaneous side and to my instructor who did his best to hide his laughter from me (although you can totally see his facial expressions on the video).

Yes, it hurt to fall; but I was having too much fun to care. Yes, I was smiling and laughing the whole time, even though I was choking on water and blinded by chlorine. And yes, I was incredibly sore the next couple of days, but it was totally worth it. That was probably the best $50 I have ever spent on clothes. If they had any sort of facility like this nearby, I'd totally be hooked. But note to self: watch out for that first step! It's a doozy!