diving from the sky

i came. i saw. i conquered. okay, truth be told, this wasn't my first rodeo. when it comes to falling 1,300 feet from the sky. one time just wasn't enough. being cheap i opted out of the "video and photo" experience the first time. but not this time. you can fool me once but you can't fool me twice. okay, they never tried to fool me but how could i tell me kids and grandkids that i went sky diving if i had absolutely no evidence? i knew i had to get back in that plane and do it again. what better time to repeat the past than a good ole new years and birthday? 

gary was kind enough to take me up on the offer to join me which, unbeknownst to him meant dealing with my frequent "freak outs" weeks prior to our dive. a lot of people questioned why i was so scared or rather that i was even more scared this trip than the previous one seeing as i had already gone. the truth is, i was scared that i was testing fate. or rather that i was challenging my safety again. In addition, i wasn't even scared of dying. i have lived a fantastic life and dying to meet my Maker a few years earlier than anticipated is not the worst thing i can think of. but to live through an accident and become paralyzed, now that would not be something i could handle. 

cute gary

the day of the dive, i was looking for absolutely any excuse to get out of it. it was a bit foggy in irvine (where i live) and i thought, "that's it, i can't go. the visibility isn't ideal." well... to my disappointment, the weather was absolutely perfect in san diego. no wind. no fog. only a gorgeous sun and sky waiting for a scared 26 year old girl. i thought i would throw up about 20 times on the way over to the place. not to be a pessimist but so many issues can occur when it comes to sky diving! harness not properly fastened, parachute not deploying, winds blowing you off course into treacherous terrain, landing hard... shall i go on?

trying not to dwell on these horrible scenarios, i signed my life away after watching a poorly made lawyer explain that sky dive san diego cannot be sued for any accidents or deaths that occur. gary and i ran through the informative explanation of what to do once you are in the air. which was basically nothing except open your arms once you fell out. let's not forget that on my first sky dive experience i couldn't even remember that simple task. and then we sat and waited for them to call our fall group, all the while watching the previous group dropping to the ground. as i was mulling over my death that would take place in a few minutes, i realized that the day before was new years eve. not to judge but these sky dive instructors are not the sharpest tools in the shed. in other words, these guys are party going, drinking people. in other words, they were probably hung over for yesterday's festivities. in other words, my life was even more in jeopardy than it would have been any other day of the year. there was my out. my perfect excuse. 

well, my excuse was denied. i ended up being paired with thayer, an australian dad of two who stated he promises his wife he won't drink the night before any dive. why did i have to be paired with a straight edge?! thayer was awesome and his calm demeanor at least made me feel like if anything went wrong on the dive, he wouldn't tell me and therefore i would die in ignorance. 

well, we entered the plane. the plane took off. we sat on the plane for about 20 minutes before we hit the correct altitude... 13,000 feet. and quite frankly, we fell out. 

it. was. awesome. 

oh yeah, thayer thought doing a flip out the plane would be awesome. i thought so too.

can't you see it on my face?

oh, just hanging out in the air.

the second i knew i made it and would live to see another day

alive. 

 it ended with a quick tide pool hunt in la jolla. even the starfish wished me a happy birthday. 

a perfect start to a new year and an absolutely wonderful and memorable birthday. i owe it all to gary. he was a perfect partner in crime and wonderful tour guide around san diego.