Crazy Antics: Canoe Trip 09

Each year BFF organizes a huge canoe trip in our home-town and every year we have a group of about 25 to 30 people. We've been doing this for about 5 or 6 years now, and every year it's a blast! This is the second year Hubby has joined me (last year we didn't make it, so his first trip was 2 years ago). This year, the trip also happened to fall on the day of our 10 year high school reunion.....what a shame. Anyway, everyone brings along a cooler of liquor or beer and every year someone wins the drunkard award. Well, this year, it was definitely not going to be me.

It all started to go downhill the night before when Hubby and I went out to dinner. We had a lovely (yet over priced) dinner and then headed home, with a stop at the liquor store on the way. It turns out we got there at 10 pm on the dot and the store had already stopped selling hard liquor. You see, even though the store was open until 11pm, they stop serving liquor at 10 due to NJ state law. A little fact I was not aware of.

So we went home, myself a little peeved, and I started to go through what we had on hand. Our stash included about a half cup of Parrot Bay Pineapple Rum, a quarter cup of Captain, and some Vanilla liquor. So, the next morning I poured what I had into one of our big water jugs, and we set out on our hour and a half ride to the shore. So, we had two water jugs in the trunk of the car, one filled with liquor, and the other with water. We knew one of them leaked, so when we made our mandatory Dunkin' Donuts stop for coffee, Hubby got out and took the jug with the water from the trunk to keep it from leaking. Little did we know, that was the wrong choice.

By the time we got to the canoe rental place, the jug that had the liquor in it was completely empty save for some ice, and my entire trunk smelled like rum. Fabulous. Well, I got over it and we proceeded to the creek with our canoes. It was actually a great day. The weather was absolutely perfect, the creek was high and fast, everyone was as rambunctious as usual and we had a few new additions to the clan. One day we'll bring Hubby's brothers (when they're old enough...maybe 19 or 20). One of the new guys was quite a character. Hubby's a geek, but this kid was like uber-geek. He was totally emo and actually had a Darth Vader tattoo on his arm....no, let me re-phrase that......he actually had a GIANT Darth Vader tattoo on his arm. And he LOVED Hubby. I thought I was going to have to fight him off. "He's mine beeotch!" (3 snaps in "z" formation)

So anyway, we got to the end of the trip with little incident, other than weird emo kid hitting on my husband, and my friend leaning on the side of our canoe and causing it to fill with water, which in turn soaked my pants that I intended to put back on once I was dry from swimming. Needless to say, I was so looking forward to going back to the car and putting on some clean, comfy, dry clothes. We hopped on the shuttle and I picked up my keys from the rental office. I got to the car and opened the trunk.......no bag of clothes. So, it turns out that due to my concentration on the liquor situation, I had forgotten to grab bag of clean clothes. So, there I was, stuck walking around with nothing but a bathing suit to wear.....not even a towel.

We got back to BFF's house for a barbeque, I dried my pants and went to Kohl's to grab something to wear for both of us (Hubby's white t-shirt was completely covered with dirt). So, there I was, in damp capri pants and a bathing suit top (a tankini, but still...), probably stinking, walking around Kohl's trying to find something comfy to wear, hoping I wouldn't run into anyone I knew. The rest of the night was pretty nice and relaxing, we ate, we drank and then we drove home. All in all, it wasn't the best canoe trip of my life, but I'm glad we went and I look forward to being more prepared next year.

A Little About Me

I am a 28 year old risk management consultant living in the New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. Well, that's not really what I am. I'm really a small town girl who loves the outdoors and horror movies and traveling and has unpredictable mood swings. I grew up in Forked River, NJ in between Seaside and Long Beach Island, for those of you who are familiar with the area.

I was adopted at birth and, yes, I have met my birth mother, but that's a story for another day. I have one older brother, who was also adopted and a crazy, if not loving Mother. Growing up all I ever wanted was to move out of my small town and experience big cities and different places. So, I went to college at one of the most diverse schools in the country - Temple University in North Philadelphia (along with a summer abroad in Rome), much against the hopes of my mother, and then I moved down to Baltimore for my first job. When I had enough of that, I moved back to Jersey, first to Monmouth county, then to Camden county.

During that time, I met the love of my life, now my new husband. We met at a Halloween party, me dressed as Strawberry Shortcake, him dressed as the Devil in a suit. A year later, we got some devastating news. My Dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He started chemotherapy in Philadelphia and my parents moved from the home I lived in for the first 18 years of my life into a retirement community. Eight months later, my Dad lost his battle with cancer. Before he died, Hubby got to ask him for his blessing to marry me. Eight months later, this past March, we were married on the beach in St. Thomas, USVI. Now, here I am, married in Magnolia, with a beautiful home, wonderful husband, and adorable puppy.

And life goes on.....

Cast of Characters

Hubby - my wonderful husband. We have been married since March 2009 and I couldn't be happier. He is the love of my life.

BFF - my best friend since kindergarten. We met on the bus on the way to school on the first day. We have been friends ever since. She is my lifeline.