It is Good Friday and I am at home in Huntsville. Strange thing is, I really don't feel like this is home. No big deal. I will float for a while until I find a beach to land on.
Today is beautiful. But it wasn't always that way.
Last night it got pretty stormy. The thunder rolled longer and louder than I remember hearing before. But then, I was only on the brink of awareness. I figured that was it after that storm! I thought we would break the storm streak I have been having. Seems ever month I come home there is a storm and everyone is really busy. I just kindof get out of the way of the family.
I went out to get the oil changed in my car, do a little shopping, and pay my health insurance. Everything seemed fine.
When I got home I cleaned my fish tank, groomed and trimmed the dogs, and did laundry and the dishes. Everything still seemed fine.
Then when my mom came home she asked if we were watching the weather. Why? Who cared? Apparently there was an incredible storm coming. I didn't believe it.
I found out my dad and brother went out to get covers for the cars because we were going to get hail! What was this all about?
Well, we saw clouds coming up, yet I did not believe we had trouble. Mom was saying we were in for hail.
We were covering the cars and it started raining on us. The rain came harder and harder. Then the drops got bigger and bigger. And then the hail came. Small pieces of ice, then little peas. Then they got bigger until they were about the size of quarters. We were running around trying to put blankets under the covers so the hail wouldn't damage our cars when the hail started coming down. As we were running back under the garage I saw a hail stone hit dad squarely on the head. It was one of the biggest ones, too!
We have two new cars in our drive way! One is Dad's new Sonata, and the other is Ronny's Tiburon. We pulled Dad's car into the garage, and covered Ronny's car first. I was not too terribly concerned about my car. Two weeks after the first owner bought the car, it got pocked up by a major hail storm. So, I already have hail spots on my car. I rather like them as well! But it got covered in time. We also covered the Cadillac. We covered that one with cardboard because we had run out of blankets. We had to wait until the first line of storms passed because we hadn't had enough time to get it covered during the first.
Well, it is beautiful now, and I hope tomorrow will be as well. I would like to spend time outside!

<-- Hot! Okay, actually, no.

Hmm, let’s discuss wetsuits for a minute here. Yes, I do realize that if we are to extend the majority of the dives we do we have to have some kind of thermal protection. But does necessity negate mockery? Not to the ever-cynical soul such as myself.
I recall thinking that wetsuits were kind of neat at one point. When I got my first wetsuit I was so pleased. I was becoming a real diver. It was a simple two millimeter shorty and it was, well, too big for me. Most things are, as it goes- a sad state for the shorter than average citizens of this society. I can’t very well talk about most, if any, of my gear in the past tense, because I am no seasoned salt myself. If I were, I would be writing informative articles. The underinformed can only make fun- the professional has something of value to add to the silence.
When I did my first open water dive at our quarry it was still a little chilly, so I was wearing part of a farmer john suit. The dive shop was out of my size as fate would have it- did they ever actually carry my size? So I had to rent something as close to it as possible. It was a men’s medium. I felt ridiculous. There was so much extra suit at the top that the shoulders were touching my ears. Yeah, someone even took pictures. So humiliating. I looked like a linebacker. I think the worst part might have been that every time I turned my head I welcomed in a whole new rush of (very) stirring water-flow. I’m sure I am not the only unfortunate newby to experience this discomfort. But when it happens to you, you feel so very alone.
Wetsuits are a real blow to the fragile female self-image. Think about it. Every curve gets flattened and there is added, oh, how many millimeters of lycra to your measurements? It doesn’t take much, does it? My current jumpsuit has the charming addition of making my waist look astoundingly larger than it actually is. Okay, I am sway backed to begin with. Yes, I do have a bit of a ghetto booty. So, the back just makes a strait shot from my bum to the top of my back. Doesn’t even pause to curve in so you can see that I actually do have a waist at all from the side! I know what you are thinking- you looked at yourself in the mirror?! Tuh, yeah! Of course I did.
I like the way manufacturers try to make women’s wetsuits look good. They put color blocks up the torso, down the hips, across the shoulders. Yes, I always liked those hip blocks. Hey, check this out, my hips are a different color from everything else. Does that make you notice them? Did I want that? Does this make my butt look… nevermind.
My favorite aspect of women’s diving are the models in the advertisements. No, you don’t look sexy in that. Stopit. They all have dry hair, big and fluffy. It is always down and flowing all over their shoulders. I dunno about you, but when I go diving, my hair is tied back in a tight pony. Typically it is so jacked up from all the salt water or just the wave action in general that I wouldn’t even consider picking up a brush unless I had at least half a bottle of conditioner invested in the procedure. Then, as if that were not bad enough, it becomes insanely frizzy. I tame my halo with a handkerchief or do rag. Biker chic diver.
Then, of course, we must recall that wetsuits flatten curves. Yep, it doesn’t matter how far you arch that back, baby, it isn’t going to work. And those poor models try so hard. And you can see it. Take it easy, honey, you are going to strain something. Perhaps that is why most gear producers do not take a second thought about women’s anatomy when they produce BCs. They know that it just won’t matter once that wetsuit is on anyway!
Well, I guess that will do for now. The high and low of it is, don’t expect to look good in a wetsuit. If you don’t want to know that you don’t look good in a wetsuit, don’t look.

Today I attended a training session with Dauphin Island Fire and Rescue. Oh My Gosh! I am so stoked!!!!!

When I first arrived there was noone there and I felt for sure that I messed up the times or was there on the wrong weekend. I walked through the station to an open door on the far side. One of the police officers, Noal, was out back so I spoke to him about it. He radioed Ben, one of the Public Safety Officers, and Ben said it wasn't until 1 or 2. He was actually wrong, but I believed I had read the email wrong until I walked out the front door and saw the fire chief, Brad, walking up.

We first looked over all of the trucks and other random things. Then we took the two trucks and did some hose drills. It is amazing how interested folks get when they see a bunch of emergency vehicles on the move. I went to the airport and then over to a back raod instead because a large group of birders showed up at the airport marsh.

When we got to Cadillac road, we learned how to hook up the hoses, open fire hydrants, stretch the hoses out, and load them back on the truck. That was just exciting! I knocked over a traffic cone with the smaller hose.

We ordered pizza for lunch and while we were waiting for it I tried on some turnout gear. The boots fit pretty well, but the pants were too long, though they worked out for me. I will definitely need a smaller jacket because the sleeves were long and there was alot of space in the body of the jacket. Apart from those articles, I had a hood over my breathing mask, a helmet, and gloves.

When we went into the training trailer they had a simulated bed fire. It felt fairly hot after a few minutes, but I gained alot of confidence when I realized it was not unbearable. At first, I did not want to do any enterances, but now I think I can. I was concerned that I would be too scared, but the more I did the more I became comfortable with everything.

The mask I wear forms a good seal, but it is loose at the top of my face. This is a problem I have with my diving gear as well, so I was not surprised by it- just a little dismayed. I was timid to put the mask on but remembered what I have learned in diving: I always think I will not be able to do something and then when I do it I am surprised. Remembering this, I approached every task remembering that I am capable. Still, I was surprised every time at my ability. I did not fail.

Ben said he will be ordering me turnout gear that I can carry with me in a bag. I am so excited! I wish I could have gotten some pictures, but I guess that will be another time. What is best is that everyone said I did very well. They were surprised that I wanted to learn so much, that I was not concerned with getting dirty, and that I really wanted to do everything. That made me feel only that much better about it!

Well, just when I think I've got it all planned out....
So yesterday I went to the breakroom to refill my water bottle and met Sally in there. She asked me if I wanted to live rent free and get free meals... Now who doesn't want to do that? I said yes of course, waiting for the other shoe to drop. She then asked me if I wanted to be a dorm monitor during summer semester. Whoa! I immediately had flashbacks of writing my prior post about getting to sleep in my own happy room with my head cradled in my own happy pillow far away from the drunk screaming students in the dorm and my heart sank. Fact is, I NEED to live rent free right now. I NEED that stipend I will get for being a dorm monitor. I really NEED this opportunity that has been handed to me. I just don't want it. But I know I can do it. I lived in those dorms for an entire month last year. With God's grace I can do it for three this year. I know He is providing for me.

See, I am a very private person. Private compared to most, I suppose. I really love being around people. I also really love my alone time. The way I grew up (in a large family) if you wanted alone time you went to your room. Usually this didn't work. Mama hen would realize one of her hatchlings was missing and would call for you. But I found that if you had a good reason to be there you got to stay. Typically, I would clean my room. Now, cleaning for me doesn't mean dusting, vacuuming, waxing- it meant tearing everything out of every drawer, shelf, corner, closet, and piling it up in the middle of my room, on my bed and anywhere else it could go. There were entire weeks that I couldn't sleep on my bed, and had to make a path through my room because my stuff was just all over. But this is how I do my thing. It helps me see everything and assess what doesn't need to stay. It drives dad nuts. But typically I would get the whole thing clean in about a week. All this to say, when I want quiet I want it now and I get it. Well, not so in the dorms.

Still, I think that this summer will be very good. I wish I could both live in the dorms and live with my roommates. I love being with Andrea and Michelle. I really love our house. And I love my routine, with everything neatly stored where it must be. (Okay, stop laughing, girls! I know I am not the neatest!) I have alot of food that I will have to leave at the house until I can use it all, or move back in, or something. At least I have somewhere to crash if I need some quiet, right?

So, in retrospect, I am both very excited, and very nervous. I want to be a dorm sup, but I also wanted to live in the intern houses for the summer. But I think that this will be a very good summer! Besides, I'm not taking classes!