There Are Still 1st's To Be Accomplished......

I think I have been going at this all wrong.  I keep thinking of the things I can't do or will never do in my life.....

No mountain climbing (did I ever want to do it anyway?), no skydiving (hell I am afraid of heights), no size 6 in my future ( I was born bigger than a size 6).......

But I have started to realize there are still 1st's......mabye not of major magnitude but still new adventures.

A few weeks ago right after work on a Wednesday,  I drove to my friends house at the beach to spend a few days with them.  As I was making the 160 mile drive blasting my IPOD I realized I don't travel alone often.  I have gone on two business trips by myself in the last few years but usually when I go someplace I have someone  else with me.  Now a 2 1/2 hour ride is not momentus by most standards but it does represent a new phase in my life......doing things alone vs as part of a couple or a family trip. During my life, I would travel with family, then with a spouse and then as a Mom.......not just as Donna. 

The beginning of a new phase......

While at the beach I did something I have never done before........I drove a golf cart (laugh if you will but it was an adventure for me).  The only problem  was my knee wouldn't bend the way it had to in order to hit the break but I figured out a way to make it work and was able to drive around the island like everyone else (maybe it was not a pretty but I didn't quit).

I also drove a convertible.  My friend has a convertible that I drool over.  She asked me if I wanted to drive it when we ran to buy shrimp for dinner.  (Nothing like going to the local shrimp company and seeing the shrimpers docked right behind the shop). While Kathy went in to buy the shrimp, I got into the drivers seat.  Off we went back to the house.  It was so much fun!!!!!  Plus I loved being able to bypass the guard/security gate since the car had a resident pass in the window (see it's the little things I love).

I ate Frogmore Stew for the first time.....it was wonderful.....filled with sausage, shrimp, red potato's and corn.  It used to be eaten with newspapers spread out on the table putting the shrimp shells and corn cobs right on the newspaper when they were done.

Outdoor showers every day....... knowing my self image you can only imagine how nervous I was about this......but guess what..... it was wonderful.  Nothing like getting back from the beach and taking a shower outside......yes there is lattice work so you are not out in the open for all to see.  My daughter used the word liberating to describe it and she was right.  It was a little surprising to see a deer staring out me when I showered but it also was funny... I can only imagine what he thought.....LOL

I haven't been in the ocean in many years.  One morning, we went to the beach and decided to go in the water.  For the first time in a zillion years I didn't hesitate.  I went out about waist deep......I forgot about the waves.....I forgot how to maneuver in the waves.....basically that means I got knocked on my ass by the waves and each time I tried to get up another wave would go over me.  Now I am not talking tsunami size waves....but enough to keep me off balance and soaking wet.  Kathy couldn't do much more than laugh since I looked so ridiculous.  Anyway, the waves pushed me closer and closer to shore.  Then the panic kicked in.......how the hell do I stand up with my bad knee and get back to the stairs......did it ever enter my mind to go back into the deeper water where it would be easier to stand up??  NNNNNOOOOOO.....so I did a reverse crab walk up to the stairs.....thank God the beach was deserted.  It wasn't pretty and it took a bit of time but guess what I made it to the stairs and got up (with a little assistance.... thank goodness for the railing I used to hoist myself up). I then climbed the stairs and caught my breath.

Oh and stairs, I did tons of them.....the stairs at the beach access I liked the best (since there was a lovely bench to sit on and from there you could see the ocean, people watch and get a great ocean breeze)......the nice part about the stairs at that access was I could walk up them like everyone else....no one step at a time.....I loved that......

A lot of 1st's.....traveling alone, driving a golf cart, driving a convertible, going in the ocean without thinking about it and figuring out how to get myself out of a jam instead of saying I can't....that feels so good.

Now I am trying to think more "I can"  if it is something I really want to do.....

One more thing.....with Labor Day quickly approaching it is time for me to get back into my routine......back to the gym (I have a 4 day week-end coming up and plan on hitting the gym 4 days in a row to jump start my exercise routine), more focus on eating the right things and working on the health and weight thing.  Maybe I can drop some pounds before the dreaded holidays roll in......

But the bottom line is I know there are more 1st's for me.......I am not sure what they are but if it is something I really want to do I won't say automatically say no out of fear........I want to continue to embrace every minute of my life as I continue to learn about me.....