Can't Anything Ever be Easy...Rant!

Sorry but I just need to vent a bit today. Ever since I got my new car it has been a pain trying to get things done to it and get comfy with it. I never cared if my old beat up truck had issues as long as it got me where I was going. Unfortunately with the fancy new wheels I feel like it has to also look good getting me there. It hasn’t been my car’s fault so I can’t blame Blue Latitudes (the name I’ve chosen for it). The fault lies in all the companies I’ve had to deal with or in my choice of companies at least.

First I put a hitch on the car. (If you put a hitch on your brand new Mercedes, you might be a redneck!). I needed it for my jet ski and mountain bike rack. Unfortunately the guy I chose was a total idiot. After 7 hours and two trips the lights for the hitch still didn’t work. So I showed the car to my brother who fixed the biggest problem in less than a minute. Note to hitch guy: positive is plus and that is where the power wire should have gone!

Then I brought Blue to the car wash. It was only 3 dollars for a drive through one and I wanted to check it out. The guy working there tried to twist my antenna off. I didn’t stop him since I figured he knew what he was doing. Well it didn’t come off but it was lose after he twisted it and he just sent me through the car wash anyway. Naturally the antenna came out and water got all inside my rear light and electrical area. I spent the rest of my lunch hour retightening the antenna and drying out the water. While I was doing this some nice people drove by and shouted “love your booty”. Seriously? That was about the oddest ‘random car passing screaming’ compliment I’ve had. Plus if they really loved it so much why didn’t they stop to help?

Anyway, I’m done venting… for now. Thanks for listening and I wish all of you the best of luck with simple things staying simple.

Cat “not positive today but my hitch now is” Cathy

Twisting For Art

For some reason I can never seem to just sit still and relax. I always seem to have some scheme up my sleeve (or wrapped around me in this case). My current scheme is based on a hobby I’ve had for 15 years. I bought a balloon making kit way back when and I’ve been making balloon animals and hats ever since. It’s a fun little hobby and always a hit at parties.

I was totally content with my limited balloon twisting skills but then someone sent me an email showing balloon dresses and the challenge was on. I’ve tried a few times to make dresses with limited success. It’s quite a commitment of time and balloons to make one. With an event called Nude Nite coming up in Orlando which involves art based on a ‘classy nude’ theme I came up with the crazy idea to submit a balloon dress as art for the show.

Thankfully I was able to enlist the help of a friend with much better balloon skills and we made a sample dress for the show. Surprise… Surprise… Surprise… it was accepted! So now I’m busy setting up the theme for our ‘art work’, practicing my twisting skills and getting my balloon dress model ready.

I’ve always prided myself on my smarts and my athletic skills but I never really thought of myself as an artist or thought I had any artistic skill at all. So the idea of being an artist in a big art show is just amazing to me. It will definitely but fun and challenging and gives me yet another item to add to my bucket list. It just goes to show you never know what life will throw your way. Keep your options open and don’t be afraid to try new things and stretch your abilities…and stretch your balloons too!

Cat “Let’s Twist Again” Cathy

Puerto Rico - My Heart's Devotion of Let it Sink Back into the Ocean???

I know more people from Puerto Rico than anywhere else in the world so it was surprising to me when I realized I had never visited this island in my many previous journeys. As a birthday present to my boyfriend (and a non-birthday present to myself) I decided to remedy this.

My only thoughts of Puerto Rico are from the movie West Side Story which takes place in my last vacation spot of New York City. So would I love Puerto Rico or feel like Rita and say “let it sink back into the ocean” and “I like to be in America”.

Our trip didn’t start off well since we were relying on our navigation system that took us to some obscure area instead of our hotel. From there it was difficult to find our way around since there were no street signs. So after about an hour of zigging and zagging, phone calls and getting motion sick we finally found the hotel.

After quickly checking in we rushed over to the park for our bioluminescence kayak trip. It was already dark and the voyage looked really adventurous. As soon as we entered the mangrove we could see the water lighting up as the kayak paddles hit it. It was quite impressive but worried me that it might be nuclear fallout from a power plant. Luckily it was just microorganisms that give off light when disturbed. The mangroves lead to a big open bay which was dark and we all spread out and played with our hands and feet in the water. The glowing water (and hands and feet) was quite impressive and it was a beautiful night. Unfortunately it was not really adventurous since it was just an easy kayak trip with hundreds of other ‘bio seekers’.

Since I was tired of driving we ate at a restaurant in the park. This was a horrible idea since it was obviously a touristy area and our meal was nasty, slow AND expensive. A McDonald’s hamburger would have been so much better. And after hearing how good the food in Puerto Rico was for weeks before the trip this was a huge let down.

So day one was not that great and I was leaning toward Rita’s take on the island but it was early in our trip and I had high hopes for the remaining days.

Cat “glowing in a non pregnant sort of way” Cathy