& that's the way life goes

I’m having a bit of writer’s block.  It’s an awful feeling.  Yes I have a couple things I’m pondering to write about, but I’m not that sure about it yet.  So instead you get this…

Summer, I’ve been realizing, is a magical time for me.   Narrowing this down even more, the place up north that I swear I leave a part of my heart, holds a lot of firsts.

So summers in northern Michigan, here is my list of firsts you let me experience:

• Seeing a snake swimming in the water – I was probably between the ages of 6-8 and thoroughly freaked out
• Picking berries from the island
• Paddleboat
• Sunfish & Blue Gill were my favorite fish to catch
• Appreciating the silence and sunlight filtering through the trees behind my grandparents cottage – I still remember the odd rolling little hills in the field
• Riding on a tire swing -  laughing and giggling
• Fireworks on the beach, I remember laying on the towel with my mom
• Horseback riding
• Canoeing around the lake with the bestie
• Licking cheese off the doritos and holding them out the car window to “dry”
• Camping with my dad – where he made the most amazing Filipino food in the wok on a propane stove
• Fishing at the dams – learning to appreciate nature and cutting off the butts of crayfish (I’m sorry PETA!)
• My first period (sorry boys!) – I was camping and at the dam fishing with my dad.  Luckily two of my more “mature” girlfriends were there and we bought the necessary items at Kmart and hid them from my Dad..haha I was embarrassed
• Backing my dads van into a tree stump – yep it left a big dent.  That was actually my first time behind the wheel…hmmm foreshadowing I suppose
• My first kiss – HA for the kissing whore I turned out to be I didn’t get my first one til I was 14. He was classy, he referred to it as ‘neckin in the woods’
• Riding on a jetski – again way behind the times, we were 18.  So lucky IC and I didn’t drown!
• Getting swore at by a crazy Mexican woman who was yelling that we had slept with her nasty husband WTF?!  That was a scary night
• Riding on top of a Ford Escort
• Sex in a tent *blushes (just fyi it took a whole summer before that happened, I just want to keep my squeaky clean image *winks)
  
• Being so high I thought I’d suffocate from laughing too much
• Being searched by the cops – both body and tent
• Having a “bowl” hidden underneath the floor of the tent
• Getting kicked out of the campground for being too loud, only it wasn’t us just the company that was visiting
• Renting a cabin on Lake Huron
• Having my heart stop and everything slow down around me when trying to park the car

Here’s hoping to more firsts this next time around.  I’ve been so lucky to be able to visit 3 times already this year.  I don’t know how I go 9 months without a glimpse of it’s natural beauty.  Oh wait, that’s right, the only time IC and I decided to drive up there in the winter my car got “stuck” and was “out of order”.  I need to find someone to drive me up there, because obviously I am not capable LOL.

I would love to someday own my own place up there to escape to on the weekends and for vacations.  I used to want to travel the world, and I still do, but I’ve realized that getting out of the city proves to be a good thing for my mental health.  Maybe I’ll just rent a place to live for the time being and buy something to retreat to?  Thoughts?

I got this awesome idea on my way to work (most of my ideas are spontaneous and out of left field) that it was time to get the hell out of dodge. It hasn’t been 6 months since we got back from camping in Kauai, but I’m starting to feel that particular itch to “Go” somewhere, any where but here. C♥ (yes he can have his ♥ back because he’s out of the dog house. lol no pun intended) and I had planned to take our 3 canine kids camping May 10-12. We have to go before the Memorial Day weekend so we can have the campground to ourselves and not have to worry about other people. So in a way our canine kids are more of a pain in the ass than regular kids, at least you can take human kids any time of the year and it’s socially acceptable.

Back to my idea, let’s rent a cabin! I have been craving Michigan’s northern (Tawas/Oscoda) fresh air for months now. Maybe years, because I haven’t been up there since…shit…2006?! That’s just wrong! I used to go every year at LEAST once! So I set off this afternoon emailing potential cabins, asking about their pet policies.

Most of them replied “if they are the small variety”. Um ok, no, they are not…now what? I sent emails back describing the dogs (leaving little Liko out because I’m sorry he doesn’t count he’s 10lbs and 3 dogs always sounds worse than 2. What if you had to specify how many children you were bringing. Can you imagine that? ‘Oh you have 3 kids? Sorry you aren’t allowed’ HA). I just sent an email almost pleading with this family that owns six cabins on the lake “They aren’t small dogs (lab & boxer/lab mix), but we wouldn’t leave them alone and they are well behaved and have graduated obedience class. Would you be comfortable with this? If not, we understand and will keep looking.” (so that isn’t really pleading, I’m being overly dramatic) but I’d really like to stay there. It’s family owned so maybe they will make an exception. (fingers crossed, send me some good luck kthx)

I can almost taste the smog-free air and feel the chill of cool air hitting my face as I get out of the warm car. I’ll leave out the frayed nerves from Liko whining for 3 hours, Nani’s tail continuously pounding on whatever she can aim it at and Scooby trying to climb into the front seat for a better view. I know this is how it will be, but I don’t care. It’s no fun enjoying the fresh air when you know your canine kids are stuck at home, cooped up in the house. Damn it Guilt.

Speaking of dogs, here’s a snippet of my phone conversation with C♥ from this morning:

C♥: Liko looked cute this morning
Me: he’s disgusting and they all smell
C♥: Yeah but he looked cute
Me: I guess, but most of the time he’s ugly

(I should clarify that I was lovingly saying that they smell and are disgusting. And not being snobby, since you don’t personally know that I love them more than C♥ himself, because they don’t talk back…well except for Nani)

I know that sounds awful, but C♥ and I joke all the time about Liko’s bald spots. We are convinced it’s probably from inbreeding. (The awful hillbillies that had him before us, keeping him in a too small crate during his puppy life.) He also kind of looks like a fruit bat. Alright, ok he is cute most of the time. When he’s not jumping on the table or going through my bag or covered in mud from the backyard (which right now is never. He’s a dingy, dingy white presently).

I just got an email from another place, it said “pets are fine, what pets do you have?” Ok so is it fine or do you want to clarify before you tell me I can make a reservation?! SOMEONE PLEASE TAKE US!!!!