Surfers and Sports

I am privileged enough to live next to some of the most amazing surf in the world. No wonder every time I go to the beach I see 50-100 people sitting on the their boards, eagerly awaiting for their next ride. I find it quite comical that most of these people are fearless and willing to go head first into a 9 foot monster, yet they wear winter wet suits and the water is 75. SOFT!

Well last night I refereed a few games. It was men's league. I had a team of rugby players vs a team of surfers. The rugby players wore short shorts, had no necks and were about 6' and above. The surfers, on average, had blonde hair, dark tans (which I can't figure out because they wear winter wet suits) and 80% had some sort of ponytail.

Now the rugby players were tough and didn't complain once about a call (I didn't blow my whistle much, so there REALLY wasn't much to complain about. No blood no foul right?!)

Well these surfer dudes, they were such wingers! Cry, complain, and gripe. For dudes who look God in the face and say, "Bring in on, Bro." They hate when a guy can jump higher than them.  I have the utmost respect for surfers. It is really a tough sport. The core strength is something I wish one day to have, but know I will never have anything on Big Wave destroyer Laird Hamilton.

It is an interesting concept, however. I have friends and family members who never played a contact sport in their lives, but are killer surfers. They run like a Yogi Bear, chest forward, butt backwards, and have the hand eye coordination of a drunk orangutan. What's with that? Make a surfer chase a ball and the "Hot Factor" goes right out the window.

Yet the rugby players, played well together. They were tough. Never complained about a call (because I'm an awesome referee... :D) and were scrappy. They could catch, pass, shoot and run.  I'm sure each of them could eventually pick up a board and teach themselves to surf. They could probably pick up a mitt and learn baseball, too. But why is it that surfers who start out as surfers, can't pick up any other sports? The hard work, and determination are there, no doubt. What is it. What keeps surfers from being well rounded athletes?

I'm not really sure, but I'm going for a swim in the ocean, no wetsuit needed!

No Worries, Mate

I have had a few different views from some of my many places of employment. I've spent many years in a marina, and as much as I love to scrape a few barnacles, vacuuming bilges and musty cabins didn't always make for the best work environment. Then there was waitressing on the inlet. Great view, but I was always serving the people who were about to get on the boat I probably cleaned the day before and enjoy themselves in the hot sun, while I wore black pants on 98 degree days and ran in and out of a greasy kitchen all day. I also got to spend a summer in AC which wasn't too bad, especially during the crazy heat waves. 

There were also three summers I worked at the Spring Lake B&T as a lifeguard and server. Not a bad view, and I got to work out for a living.  That was a cool job. This is pretty much the same thing. This morning I woke up, ate some breakfast, threw on some workout clothes and headed to the 70 degree beach with my lap top. The commute wasn't tough. I walked out my front door, across the street, around the golf course and up over the dune to the sand. It was a little tough going at one point because with my feet so far in the sand, I was laughing at a few seagulls fighting over a chicken bone when a wave came and soaked my spandex. On my 10 minute walk, I saw several guys being towed in half a mile or so off the beach into 12' waves....NBD (No Big Deal). 

I then came upon the lookout and walked up the sidewalk to grab a skinny capp and found myself a nice picnic table, facing the golf course, watching surfers jump off the rocks into the surf and nailing these incredible double overheads close to the beach. I sent off a few emails, organized some paperwork, and here I am writing this and cannot believe it is noon already. (Also, I'm pretty sure Kelly Slater just walked by, but I didn't want to bother him! ) Speaking of Kelly Slater, his best friend and one of my favorite musicians, Jack Johnson, once said, 

''The ocean has taught me to have respect for everything non-human, not man-made, and to be able to feel the power of it. It makes you feel how insignificant you really are. It's not a negative thing. It's a very humbling thing, and it's a good thing to feel like that.''

I think I know what Jack was talking about. This is it. 

No worries, mate.

U S A

I woke up this morning to an email, from a good friend of mine.

"I am not sure if you heard or not, but Osama Bin Laden was killed by the Navy Seals yesterday.  Today is a great day to be an American.  I was driving on 495 with my windows down blasting  

"And I am proud to be an American, Where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me... so I proudly stand up next to you and defend her still today... cause there aint no doubt I love this land... GOD BLESS THE USA!"  

People were driving past me dying laughing but you know they wanted to join in too!  I was practically in tears thinking about how much I love being an American"

After watching the news last night, sitting in the living room with my my host family I was so ecstatic we finally "got 'im". They showed Americans cheering in the streets of DC in front of The White House and in the streets of NYC. When they panned to NYC, I starting to tear up. I was proud to be an American, for sure.

Today, I walked down the street to a local coffee shop to read the Sydney Telegraph newspaper. As I was in line to order my coffee, a man talking to his mate and a barista said, "Can you believe those Americans? Celebrating like idiots in the streets?"

I then ordered my coffee, very loudly, in my best New Jersey accent, looked at the guy dead in the eyes and said, "Yes, sir, I can. I am proud to be an American more so today than ever before."

There was no way that man was going to take this great day away from us, the USA.

To my family, friends and all those overseas, who have or are fighting the past ten years, thank you.  The world is a safer place.

I'm a Catholic girl and I realize I shouldn't be celebrating the death of anyone and probably should be taking more of an Martin Luther King, Jr approach, especially being over seas, but lets face it, I'm my father's daughter...

DING DONG!!!

Wedding Hats

If you didn't watch the Royal Wedding, please stop reading this now. 

Those of you still reading, good form and kudos!

I don't care too much for weddings, I'm more or less of a wedding Scrooge. I'm eloping (you're welcome Bob & Wanda.) But the Royal Wedding was different. It had some Disney magic involved. My favorite part about the wedding, was when I first turned the coverage on, and the apple of every girl growing up in the 90's eye, (before the bald spot of course) Prince William and Harry  (he wasn't good looking until two years ago, though) were in their Rolls Royce's, driving (well being chauffeured) to the Abbey. Wills was so handsome and he had his Red uniform on. To the fellows reading this, yes, he IS our prince charming and this IS the wedding we all dream about having as little girls! I started tearing up a tad bit. 

Now I know this is titled Wedding Hats, so that's where we're going. 

Then they panned to some celebs in the Abbey. I had NOO idea the extent of these hats worn at Royal events. There was Elton John, and whats his name? -Not wearing hats. Becks and Posh-awesome hat, and  Mama Midds- GO CAROLE!  Any other day I would have thought Princess Bea and Princess Eug's flying flamingo and preposterous peacock ensembles were Royal gaffes, and way OTT (over the top). But they were AMAZING! There was one woman, I believe the Prime Minister of Great Britain's wife, who didn't have a hat on and she was the one who really looked like an idiot! Now I'm not too much into fashion, mainly because they don't make clothes my size, but I have a small dome. I'm all about the hat crazy. I HEART WEDDING HATS!

We all know, that the rate I'm going, I won't be getting married any time soon. I am, however, proposing a few wedding hat wearing ideas I can partake in.

1) I propose (with a sapphire diamond?!!) every girl should wear wedding hats to weddings. I love this tradition and I am all about carrying on my grandaunt Alice's old style of wearing crazy hats to weddings. 

2) You've heard of ugly Christmas sweater parties. I want hat parties. If I ever buy a house (or rent one for that matter!) I will have a hat party house warming. When I get married, I will have a hat themed bachelorette. Imagine  friends, half of mine being over 6 foot, in heels and with these hats! Scene? YES PLEASE! My birthday is in a few weeks, totally thinking about a hat party.

3)  Lets make it awkward events as well! Imagine showing up to a first date or meeting your future in-laws in an OTT hat. Wedding hat: $50. Look on blind date's face when you show up for with a saucer on your noggen: Priceless. 

4) While we're at it, lets spice up baby and bridal showers! Seriously, we all know what she's getting because WE SAW THE REGISTRY! Let's get sauced and talk hats sisters!

5) Funerals could be ok, too. You could wear a hat that reminded you of the person who died. If something were to happen to me, I'd want you all to wear hats (jus' saying'). I'm Irish, so funerals are a celebration and we all tell really funny stories about the person who passed. But hats would be the icing on the cake (are there cakes at funerals? I want an ice cream one at mine!) No tributes needed, just a hat on every woman, lock me up and throw dirt on me! Oh yea, lets not forget to then go have a cold one, with a hat on, in my honor, and on my dollar!

Aussies and Easter

Well the Easter holiday weekend is a big deal here in Australia. My weekend was "heaps" of fun.

Good Friday was nice. We had a fish dinner, fried and baked, and then I went to "The Footy" aka Rugby. Apparently there are three types of footy in Australia. Rugby League, Rugby Union (same game different rules) and Aussie Rules AFL. AFL is the best in my mind, but is mainly played in the Melbourne area. It's intense and there are lots of points scored, some matches ending with a 151 point spread (I went to that game last time I was in Australia. The Richmond Tigers were beat by 151 points, they are my team, too. It's like being a fan of the Mets, they are good, but always seem to disappoint.  Needless to say, Rugby is dumb. The team I went to watch, (Manly Sea Eagles), won 22-16. It was like a high school football game feeling except everyone was drunk. (Oh wait, unfortunately, that actually sounds just like a high school football game!)

Saturday was nice, we went to the Royal Easter Show at the Sydney Olympic Grounds. What a facility. I could just picture the US teams running around with their gold medals on in 2000. Quite spectacular. It was rainy when we went but they day before, 120,000 people attended the show at $35 a pop. It's the equivalent of Maine State fair, add $30,000 to everyone's individual income, and throw in Seaside's boardwalk events and Show Bags. Show Bags, by the way, are GENIUS. They are marketed for weeks before the show and are these plastic bags that either have your favorite candy, a toys with candy, whoopie cushions, or any other combination imaginable in them!  It's like cheap candy and crap at the boardwalk in bags for a low price! Every kid wants 1-10 of them but they trick is, they are at the end of the show. So kids have to be good the ENTIRE day or else they don't get a show bag. I saw one kid cry at 6:30pm. Like I said, GENIUS.

Saturday night I went into Manly with Roz's kids and friends. We had a good time and there was this great band who played awesome hits. I almost felt home. I realized I wasn't when I was talking to some Brit and he asked me where in North America I'm from. I told him New Jersey and he got all of his friends around and made me tell them all about the Jersey Shore. Who would have thought being in the same bar as JWoWwW would make me cool on the other side of the world?!

Sunday morning I got up early and went to church with Roz. Apparently we went to a "modern mass". I wore black pants (since its technically the beginning of winter here, I would have worn white home) and a nice top. People showed up in jean, and even worse, jean shorts, plain t-shirts, mini skirts and very casual attire. I didn't see a single Easter outfit. Then there was this little terror of a boy. He was about 3 and half, had a nook and was laying on the ground, rolling around and throwing a tantrum. We never said the Nicene Creed, there was a baptism in the middle of mass and a bit of chaos during Eucharist. It made me miss St. Peter's mass, to tell you the truth.  At least after mass, we had a massive brunch, a couple nana naps, and movie day. It was a relaxing day for sure.

Monday, was ANZAC day. This stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps. During WWI, the ANZAC's played a game called Two-Up. You put three pennies on a ruler and flick them in the air, there are bets going on and if you want to bet heads, you hold your money between your fingers and put your thumb on your head like a chicken, and if someone wants to bet you tails, you give them your money. When the announcer in the ring yells out the call, the money is given to the proper person. It is only legal to play on ANZAC day and it is soo fun. I played once, bet $20, and won, therefore winning $20. I then went to the slots (this all takes place at the local Diggers, Diggers is also a synonym for Veteran, which is each town's high class version of a VFW/Elks lodge.) I then took a few dollar coins and put it in a slot. I ended up winning $35. It was my lucky day! $55 bucks! This country might turn me into a gambler, but...probably not!

Since ANZAC Day fell on a Monday, Tuesday was a public holiday so everyone had off. We had an Easter Roast Dinner of lamb and roast pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. It was delicious and a nice ending to a big weekend. Alana (Roz's daughter) then took me to a Chris Brown concert. It was fantastic. He is such a good entertainer, but I did find it funny how many times he told the audience he loved them. Really CB? You say that too much that we soo don't believe you.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. I hope everyone in Jersey enjoyed it as well.

Cheers!

ROBBED!

But I was robbed last night.

I know what you're thinking, and it's not that kind of robbed.

The past two days I have been busy at home working and only left the house to go for a jog or to get my laundry off the line. So last night after reading the local rag, I saw the movie Something Borrowed was playing. Now since I read the whole series by Emily Giffin, and really enjoyed the books, I thought it would be a good excuse to get out of the house to see it.

I took the bus for $3.30 down to Warringah Mall. I couldn't find the theatre, but ended up asking a lady on a bench where it was (after walking around the building to the dodgy loading dock!). She directed me inside the mall and up the escalator 3 floors. 

Now I totally forgot you can 1) Buy booze at the cinema here. 2) Can bring your own booze or beverage to the cinema (and not have to smuggle it). 3) Over pay your entrance.

When I went to buy my ticket, the prepubescent pipsqueak at the counter said, "Twenty-five dollars ma'am."

(SIDENOTE: REALLY?! MA'AM!!) 

I just about up-chucked! 25 bones to see a movie I know how it is going to begin, the plot, AND the end. I told him I wanted a regular ticket and he said because its a premier all seats were $25. He said regularly they are $17. He also said, "It comes with a bag full of things, like magazines..."

I quickly interrupted and went Jersey Girl on him, "MAGAZINES! I better get a beer and a hot dog for that price! I want to speak to your manager." 

The poor kid got on the phone and the manager got on the phone. The boy said told him it wasn't advertised in the paper. The boy didn't let me speak to the manager. The boy got off the phone and told me that he was sorry but the movie would have to be $25. I could always see Rio for $17. (I almost spoke in my best Staten Island accent and asked, "Hun, I'm not 12." But refrained. 

Now I'm fuming. I was so worked up I was now hungry and thirsty. So I sucked it up and bought the ticket. I went down to where the theatre was and went to get a drink out of the vending machine. It $3.50 for a SODA! My bus fare was cheaper! I was given my little bag before I got to my seat and it had a Marie Claire from February, a stick of lipstick (not my color) and a coupon for Myers (Macy's over here) for $15 off and expires Wednesday. Funny thing is today is Holy Thursday, Friday is Good Friday, Sunday is Easter, Monday is ANZAC Day (Memorial Day), and Tuesday is public holiday. So technically I only have Saturday and Wednesday to shop at this stupid store for a louse $15 off. 

Needless to say, the movie was good, the bag was bad. I got my $3.30 out of my pocket to get back on the bus.  

Now you know, a night out at the movies cost $31.30 in Sydney. I will never complain again about a $9.00 ticket, especially not when I use my Maine student ID to get $1 off! I guess it kind of worked out though, I got a $99 ticket today to Chris Brown for only $33 at the Sydney Olympic Events Center. So I'm going to say, I guess I'm still on top!

Sydney

I went into Sydney yesterday. It was incredible! I took a bus from down the street from my house and got a day pass to take public transportation which includes the train, the bus, and the ferry. I took the bus into the center of the city (the bus went over the Sydney Bridge with a great view of the Opera House.) I met a friend from college (whom I found out would be in Sydney on holiday from teaching in South Korea) we went and saw some red kangaroos, koalas, snakes, crocs and spiders at a museum in Darling Harbour. We also got some lunch on the harbor and walked around the city a bit. I took the ferry back and the view of the harbour was unreal.

 I also picked up some fun pamphlets of things to do in Manly, which is the town in between where I live and Sydney. I'm looking forward to doing a bike tour or two around the towns!

We have a game tomorrow night at 5. I'll keep this updated on stats.

Cheers!

Getting Settled

So I made it...Yayyy!

I'm all caught up on everything. I arrived Saturday at 6:30 am, got a little tour of the city, took a nap, and went to the Youth League game then found out I was cleared to play in the ABA game. The girls won by 30, and I was tired so it worked out I didn't play. After the game the team went out for Thai food and then into Manly (a northern Sydney beach local spot). 

We had a good time getting to know each other. It was an early night for all and came home at 12. Funny story though:

So I left my house key in my duffle bag which was in my coach's car. I met the daughter of the lady (Roz) whom I'm staying with out and she had told me where the spare key was. When I got home, the key wasn't there. Roz had taken the key to get copies made for me earlier in the day, and had forgotten to put the key back. She had also been locked out that night, but she wound up having a spare in her purse. 

Needless to say, since Roz got a new couch in the living room this week, the old couch was under a the patio roof awaiting pickup from St. Vincent de Paul. Roz is a really heavy sleeper, so knocking was futile. I wound up camping out on the couch under the stars. It was a gorgeous night and the definitely saw some shooting stars. Then I woke up and saw the sunrise. It was GORGEOUS. 

Sunday I went to the beach. (Go on, be jealous!)  However, I have never been so pale in my life. I'm sure I blended in with the sand. Good thing I was laying on a towel or else the lifeguard on the 4-wheeler most definitely would have run me over!

Today we figured out how to get wireless internet on my computer and I got a cell phone. I also mastered public transportation (the bus) by getting to the mall.

Come to find out, all the girls here, upon asking me where I'm from, I tell them 45 minutes south of NYC on the beach. Then they ask if I'm from the Jersey Shore. HAAHAH! I love it! I told them none of my friends look or act like them, but there is some truth to the Guido and Guidette thing. Then I show them a picture I have on my phone of me in front of the house taken last July. Everyone here loves Snooki. Apparently when you go out in Sydney, there is alot of the same kind of crowd there, as well. Who knew?! 

Talk soon all! 

Cheers!

Hello Land of the Stars!

I flew into LAX and was dying for a night cap, so I ordered a tall Sam Adams Boston Lager (like) and a cheese and bean burrito (lets face it, Mexican food isn't as good on other continents!) Just about ready to board my flight to Sydney. It's been quite the long day starting by leaving at 10 am, driving to Newark (sidenote: if your international flight has three stops in the US, its not an international flight and you can arrive 1 hour before you need to takeoff!) 2 hours to Atlanta, and 5 hours to LAX. Now on for 14.5 hours to Sydney with a total of 28.8 hours in the air (but it's SOOOOO WORTH IT!)

I get to meet my team tomorrow so I'm pretty pumped. I'll let you know how it goes.

CHEERS!

Go Time!

2 Bags packed....Check.

2 Bags under 50 lbs...Check.

1 Carry-on bursting at the seams...ABSOLUTELY!

So I get to hop on a couple of planes for an estimated 28 hours and 53 minutes total (YES!) in less than 12 hours...("WINNING!!!"). 

My reading material is: Born to Run (recommended read for anyone looking to run more than 5 miles at any given time). Lincoln Lawyer - I heard Matthew McConnaghey was going to be in the movie (I <3 him and loved his serious role in We Are Marshall, so I'm going with it.) I'm also bringing 7 Events That Made America. I like history, so it will be a good refresher. 

I was going to bring Decision Points by W. , Leadership by Rudy G. and Going Rogue by Sarah P. (I'm halfway through it), but...NAH. There's also a book (believe it or not) on Obama around my house somewhere, but let's be serious folks, I'd probably get the boot from the plane three pages into the Preface. (All I can see are peanuts taking out eyeballs and the term Bloody Mary taking on a whole new meaning.)

I have Eat, Pray, Love on top of the stack, but c'mon now...I haven't met a single person who made it through Italy (including myself). India and Indonesia would be pure torture. Plus, there is a slight tear out of the binding from a family member who wanted to rip the book up because it was so bad, SOOO needless to say, I'll leave it here to collect dust!

See you again soon Jersey Shore. Stay "tantastic!"

Cheers!