Sunday, December 25, 2016

Diving into the Holidays

    Up until this year, I'd never been diving on my birthday. And I set the bar high by diving with buddies Todd & Sirpa and Spencer, and Melia & Chris—and celebrating with a photo on the railing on the front of the wheelhouse of the Lady Luck shipwreck, 110' underwater! And did I mention that the first thing I saw as I jumped in the water and began my descent was... an octopus! My favorite!! (Creature #2 was a large barracuda hunting blue trevally right by my head. Also very cool.) Here's our group of Restless Spirits, minus merman Chris—who was with us in spirit. (He cracked a rib by falling on ice prior to the trip and his diving was cut short. BOO)
   Mel and Chris got me a birthday tiara—which I wore on the day's dives, of course.
   We made 10 dives in 5 days, a couple shore dives in Lauderdale by the Sea; 6 shipwreck &/or reef dives from the Sea Siren of Pompano dive center, and 2 on the O Sea D with Parrot Island Adventures. Florida, your diving is spectacular. Almost as good as Roatan, with the added challenge of heavy current!
   Christmas morning I took my first run since Thanksgiving—and only my second run since August. A beautiful 5.5 miles from our airBnB house to the Pompano pier, then home again. Hot and steamy, but I felt like a million bucks after. (And ate well-deserved leftover delicious birthday cake for breakfast!!)
    Christmas afternoon, we played Scrabble on the beach!
   Despite having the best-ever first draw of tiles, I lost miserably. But I played the word "manta", so, did I really lose? Maybe not.
    Our friends joined us for a holiday group photo on the pier. And by "friends" I mean, the 5 people in that photo I know, and the 1 guy who photobombed us. Hilarious! All told, one of the most memorable birthday/Christmas adventures ever. Thanks so much to my dive buddies. (I'm already ready to go again!!!)

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