April 1 - April 3, 2005

It has been awhile hasn’t it? Time just flies by. So, the last time we talked I was off to the U2 concert, Disneyland and scuba diving. We did have an amazing weekend. But, I reached sensory overload by Sunday and I think I took all of last week just to recover. So here are some of the hi-lights…

FRIDAY - APRIL 1, 2005
U2 was…hmmm…I can’t even find words good enough to describe the experience …. let’s go with absolutely powerful and fabulous. The moment the lights went down I swear the temperature in the arena rose about 10 degrees. I broke out in a sweat and actually had chills. WOW! Shawna and I grabbed each other, screamed, and jumped up and down…we were like teenagers…kinda surprised both of us….The energy and unity was incredible. U2 have been making music for over 20 years and they sang a lot of old stuff mixed in with the new. It felt like walking through their life journey and pausing here which is very special place for them right now. They went non-stop for 2 hours. They ended the concert with one of their new songs called Yahweh which Bono sang with great depth and intensity. Bono dedicated the concert to the Pope who had not yet died but we all knew was quite ill. Yahweh led into their last song called 40. 40 is a song they often finish their concerts with. Bono sings, “I will sing…sing a new song…” then he goes on to sing, “how long…how long must we sing this song…” the crowd joins in and melodically chants these wonderfully familiar U2 lyrics over and over again along with Bono. He took a giant spot light and began slowing turning in a circle, shining the light around the room, illuminating the audience. Then, he placed the spotlight on the floor so that this single flood was up lighting the microphone. He took off his cross necklace and draped over the microphone and slowly exited the stage. While the audience was still singing, one by one the rest of the band exited the stage–first the base player; then the lead guitarist. We continued signing with just the drums accompanying us. The drummer broke into an awesome drum solo and eventually he too got up and left the stage. The crowd just roared. It was amazing. It was a spiritual experience. And man does Bono know how to command an audience. I specifically admire him for using his success and influence to motivate people to do for others. He is all about bringing awareness and opportunity to people about social justice issues. His latest endeavor is a campaign to fight AIDS and poverty … if you are interested you can check out the website at www.one.org. Jason and Dean are now U2 fans! See, you can like U2 and enjoy the music but once you “experience” a concert you are forever a diehard U2 FAN!

SATURDAY - APRIL 2, 2005
Disneyland….it was a great day—not too hot—crowded but not unbearable. And, I have to say experiencing Disneyland through the eyes of a 2 1/2 year old is like being a child all over again. We had so much fun and ran those kids ragged until 11:30 at night…

SUNDAY - APRIL 3, 2005
Scuba diving….We got home at 1AM from Disneyland but it was really 2AM with daylight savings. We hit the bed hard and the of course the alarm came way too soon. We were up at 5:30AM, out the door by 6:15AM and Ventura by 7AM. The boat out to Ana Capa was really choppy but I took by sea-sickness medicine and so I did ok (barely though cause it was pretty nasty out there). One boy got really sick and didn’t dive. A brother and sister were also along for the dive. The sister could never get her ears to clear so she didn’t dive. Her bother did 2 of the 3 dives but felt sick so didn’t do the 3rd dive …. The 3rd dive was my personal favorite—it was just me, Dean, Mike (the dive shop owner/my instructor) and one other guy. I was the only uncertified diver so I felt pretty safe! Mike’s whole goal on dive #3 was to get me 50 feet deep so that he could tease Jason that he got me deeper than him…kind of a guy bantering thing they have going…

My first dive was very disorienting. I stood on the deck of the boat and took that giant step into the water. I wasn’t nervous and felt pretty good about that but resurfacing was a different story. I had walked off the edge of a swimming pool in full gear so I kind of knew what to expect….but coming up is easy when water is calm…ocean water was very different. The chop kept hitting me in the face, my weight-belt was over-weighted so I kept being forced onto my back and I tasted a bit of sea water which made me panic (you know, bad memories of being knocked over by waves as a kid and not being able to get up and swallowing water etc etc…). I didn’t want to take the regulator out of my mouth and put in the snorkel. I was just too freaked. You are supposed to use the snorkel at the surface so you don’t waste air. But, I was sucking that air hard and grabbing on to Dean so tightly … my main thought was get me out of here I can’t do this!!!! But, Dean has a way of calming me down which is why he has had special permission to be with me every step of the way in this class. He encouraged me to try going below. I felt better about that concept because I could put the regulator back in my mouth (smile). As soon as we went below the surface, even just a few feet, everything changed. It was calm…the nauseous feeling began to pass and I was looking at the bottom of the ocean!!!! I had a bit of trouble getting my ears to clear but eventually we were 25 feet down!!! The sea life was amazing. I held sea cucumbers and starfish and saw a bunch of garabaldies (fish). I played with other little critters and was in awe of the life that lives along side us that we aren’t even aware of. The sea plants dance so gracefully in the water and the colors and textures are so unique to that world below the surface. I struggled though and had some trouble with my buoyancy (inflating/deflating the vest to achieve a sort of weightlessness). To say the least, I was awkward–even clumsy down there. But by dive #2 I had a better handle on things. I practiced my buoyancy and was able to swim around more fluidly. I even accomplished my drills… loosing the regulator… clearing my mask… shared breathing… Dean was so proud of me and when Mike gave me the thumbs up…I felt like a million bucks!!! By dive #3 I felt great. I couldn’t wait to get back in the water. We swam all over searching for that “50-ft deep” place (Mike is so funny). We experienced being pushed along in a current and even saw a huge school of fish… It felt good to overcome “water fears” and even false assumptions I had about scuba diving. I loved it!

Ok so as you can see from my long blog…I experienced a tremendous amount in 3 days. I was throughly wiped out and as I look back I really did spend all of last week recovering. To top things off the guys jumped right back on the remodel bright and early Monday morning. They were desperate to reach the point of opening up the wall and moving all of the furniture into the new room. And, after all sorts of obstacles (some downright bizarre) mission was accomplished by 11PM Tuesday night. It was nuts … but I can’t tell you how having that new, larger living space has created a sense of peace and calm in our home …. Next step is the kitchen with the rest of life thrown in for good measure…wow!