maybe i am a sailor

This past weekend Sam and I headed to Annapolis, Maryland for the sailboat show. On the plane someone asked why were were flying to Baltimore and I told them we were going to look at a boat. They commented that I must really be into sailing and I said that I enjoyed it. No they replied you are hard core if you are flying across the country to look at a boat. Not really I said but my husband is. They disagreed and said I was obviously going along too and I must really be into it.

At that point I didn't have an argument back or much to say which is a bit shocking if you know me at all. I thought about it and decided they just might be right I guess I am pretty into this boating thing after all.

For years I have blamed Sam for all the boats we have owned and the time we spend on the water. I have enjoyed it (well most of it there are some exceptions and trips I could have passed on) and have come to really look forward to any time spent on the water. But I always thought of him as the real boater and the one with a passion for it - I was just along as rail meat or the first mate.

But maybe now I have to admit I am just a bit hooked on the whole boating thing and if going across the country to see a boat is the way I finally admit it then the trip was even more successful for Sam. So yes I am a boater and on top of it I am a sailor. But I am still sticking by the statement I often repeat to Sam when there is a problem on board - "your boat your problem." I am not willing to give that up because honestly it might be a powerboat instead if the decision was entirely up to me.

And yes the boat we saw was worth the trip now I just need to know how to better fund this boating thing.

where to go next?

I have been thinking of places I want to visit in the world and my list just keeps getting longer. We finally made it to the destination at the top of my list, Italy, and instead of being happy it only made me want to explore more places. Well what it really did was make me want to live in Italy but I may have to save that for another time. If I could have figured out how to stay I am pretty sure I would still be there right now eating homemade pasta and trying to con my way into a glass blowing apprenticeship.

So while I crossed Italy on my list of places to visit for the first time now I keep thinking of new places to explore. So this is my new list of places:

1. Thailand - Thai food, cheap, and great beaches of course this makes the top of the list.
2. Costa Rica - I have never heard anyone who went there that didn't love it plus I have never been to Central America. I keep telling Sam we need to drive to Belize next time we are in Mexico but so far my powers of persuasion must not be up to par or the state of the roads in Mexico make my powers obsolete.
3. Barcelona, Spain - I seem to think I can speak Spanish so why not try it out at the mother country, I love tapas, and I saw the Spanish soccer men play during World Cup.
4. Hong Kong - shopping - need I say more? On a side note I really hope I have enough money to stay at the Mandarin Oriental for at least one night.
5. Greece - beaches, feta cheese, boating and island hopping. This is someplace I would like to try sailing so for Sam it just moved to the top of the list.
6. New Orleans - for the food which I have heard is incredible and if that isn't reason enough my sister and nephew live there. See you there soon C really you put it on the list.
7. Desolation Sound - this is my token boating adventure - you are welcome Sam.
8. Bocas del Toro, Panama - noted as one of the last "undiscovered islands in the Caribbean" - so this is for when we really need to relax on the beach and soak in the sunshine.
9. Azores Islands, Portugal - scuba diving is some of the best in the world so I should see something when I snorkel, fishing, bull fighting, and plenty of handcrafted items to bring back with me on the plane.
10. Turkey - sun, sea, beaches, all at a great price - count me in.

Looks like after reviewing the list I have a theme of sun, beaches, shopping, and food so I think I have come up with the right places. But if I am going back to places I have been Italy is still the top of my list.

agony of losing

I am a proud Cougar fan but the last few years of football season have been extremely painful. Typically I am very excited for football to begin but for the last 2 seasons it was more a feeling of dread than excitement. Dread because I knew it would be inevitable the Cougars would have a losing season. And by losing I don't mean a 5 and 7 schedule which I would be grateful and happy about. Instead we are lucky to get a win in. And any win we do get probably won't be against a Pac 10 team but instead a team who is happy to be in Division 1 football.

But still in spite of knowing the outcome won't be in our favor I still usually tune in or at least did. Part of me wishes I lived in New Orleans with my sister where she says they don't get any coverage. I didn't detect any hit of disappointment when she said it - instead I think she thought it was a good thing based on how poorly we have been doing. I could envision not knowing just how badly we lost or how many turnovers we had and it might make for a much better Saturday.

Last year it was easier since I knew the Huskies would be losing right along with us so that made it much easier to bear. Nothing like your arch rival getting pounded as badly as you to make the loss go down just a bit easier. Now this year they might win a couple of games and it just seems to rub it in.

Two weeks ago Tanya turned on the game and told me we were tied - my response was since the game had just started it must be zero to zero but no she told me it was 7to 7. We should have stopped there since that was as good as it got. I am too embarrassed to even repeat the final score though Sam seems to remember it all too well just to get a rise out of me.

So I decided it might be time to pick another team. I started thinking about teams I like to watch and tried to decide who my new team might be. The Cougars will still be my first love but maybe I need someone else to root for on Saturdays - a team who would at least have a chance come game time.

So I started going through the list of possible new teams to root for. Initially I thought maybe an Oregon team might be a good choice but since U of O is ranked number 3 they weren't an option even though I could think of how many dawg fans I could irritate as a Duck fan. I need an underdog team. I thought of Oregon State but then how could I give my brother in law Dave a bad time and orange and black together only seem cool at Halloween. California teams just didn't seem to work either - too many sanctions and too many sunny football game days. Football should really be played on crisp autumn days or in a snow storm not on 80 degree days in the middle of October or November.

Really in the end I just couldn't choose one - either I didn't like their school colors (hard to beat crimson and gray and the sailboat is much too expensive to repaint), they were rated in the top 20 and I like an underdog since that is what my experience is, or they were located somewhere I didn't really enjoy visiting. I really didn't find any team that appealed to me.

Instead I have decided to go another route all together. When I asked Tanya which football game in Pullman we should buy tickets for at the start of the season she said she would go to a basketball game instead. So I am going to choose basketball as my new favorite sport. In the meantime I am going to try and pretend football is only played on Sundays and not on Saturdays. If by any chance the Cougars do pull off a win please let me know - I can easily be convinced to go back to my first love of football I just want to know we have a chance on the field.