#22

There is a reason why Ollie isn't allowed to go grocery shopping with me anymore...when we go shopping together we tend to think "the bigger the better" and "the more the merrier".  We tend to go with the "grab-and-go" method.  If we see it, and we want it, we get it. This tends to lead to very high grocery bills and very full grocery carts.  And that's exactly how we ended up with this....

Yup...that's a 10 gallon aquarium.  How did it end up in our apartment?  Let me take you back....


It all started with #22 on the list....get a pet.  Since my mother and landlord have conspired against my having anything cuddly and fluffy, I decided I would get a fish.  I was thinking about getting a simple beta fish.  Bowl, some rocks, maybe a plant.  Simple.  Instead we left Petco (its where the pets go!) with a tank, filter, heater, rocks, plants, several structures with an "around the world" theme, and dreams of the glow-in-the-dark fish we'll get to put in the tank.


Ollie and I walked in the store and immediately the  sad betas in the plastic cups were forgotten.  We were entranced by the myriad of freshwater fish we could get....if only we had an aquarium!  I personally voted for a "nemo" fish, but unfortunately they are salt water fish and quite aggressive, unlike their quirky portrayal in the Pixar film.  Ollie and I bounced around from tank to tank, eyes wide, taking in all the little fishies we wanted to fill our "starter kit" aquarium with.


Luckily we spoke to a Petco supervisor first, otherwise we would have killed all of our little pets within the hour.  We were told we couldn't take any fish home tonight, because we needed to set up the aquarium and treat the water before we could add the fish-otherwise we would shock their little systems and kill them!  Not good!


We practically skipped out to the car, aquarium in tow, and raced home to set everything up.  The tank looks great and is sitting nicely on our entryway table just waiting to be filled with little fishies!


We get to return to Petco on Friday to pick out our little fishes.  Stay tuned to meet them!

Update!

Hello all!  Just wanted to give you an update on my half-marathon efforts!  Unfortunately they've been stalled for the week due to rainy days and extreme shin pain. I tried a couple of economical self-fixes, but Misha was right, I wasn't smart enough to type my shins on my own.  So I stopped running, hoping they would heal themselves.


I decided that in order to help the shin-situation I would get new running shoes.  I went down to Runner's Alley this morning for a fancy new pair of running shoes.  The ladies at RA are kind of geniuses.  They know everything about running, they were also completely aghast at the state of my current running shoes. They insisted I needed a new pair about a year ago, and were convinced that they were the cause of my shin pain.


After trying on a million, ok 8, pairs of shoes, they finally brought out the big guns.  They prefaced the arrival of these shoes by saying "they're the cadillac of running shoes."  BOOM.  I was already sold.  I tried them on and they were like running on a cloud-I was practically prancing around the store, and I'm about to take them for a spin right now!

See? Aren't they puuuuuurdyyy?

So yay!  Training can resume again!  On another note- I HAVE REACHED MY FUNDRAISING GOAL!! $500 has been raised for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in memory of Amma.  THank you SO MUCH to everyone who has donated!  It means so much to me.  Didn't get a chance to donate?  That's ok!  You still can!  The site will be open until June 6th, one month after the race, and donations will be accepted until then.  Cancer won't beat us-we'll beat it!  HOpefully this race won't beat me first!


http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/whitneyduprey/amma

#11

#11, go skydiving, is another one on THE LIST that I have already done (I had to give myself some sort of head start!) It was also another thing on THE LIST that scared the heck out of me.  A) I hate heights. B) I hate flying.  So why would I think it was a good idea to jump out of an airplane?  Well, I wasn't totally convinced that it was a good idea, not at all.  I registered to go skydiving as a surprise for Ollie, he had always always wanted to go, and it was an experience I wanted to share with him.  I've also heard that once you get over the fear of the experience, that it is truly amazing.

(Ollie and I right after we landed)

We went up to sky dive new england in Maine, signed in, and were authorized to jump!  We watched a brief video, not on skydiving safety, but about how we were essentially signing our life away and couldn't sue them if we died.  After which we had to sign a 10 page document saying that in the event of our deaths we, or any of our offspring, are unable to sue the company.  It was all very reassuring.

After that we sat around.  For about 2 hours.  Waiting, and thinking about what we were about to do.  I started to panic.  Right before we went up in the plane we met the people we would be jumping with (we were jumping tandem so there was someone on our backs). Ollie go this crazy italian hunk with a strong accent.  I got a long haired hippie who never wore shoes.  My panic increased.

Then we got in the plane.  I thought I was going to have a heart attack.  I told my tandem partner that no matter what, he was to physically push me out of the plane (once you get in the plane there are no refunds!) He happily agreed.  

About 10 minutes after takeoff my partner told me to look out the window, saying we were at 7,000 feet.  I thought I was going to vomit.  Then he laughed and said "we're only halfway up".  He had a sick sense of humor. In the midst of my panic attack I realized that Ollie was going to be the first one to jump out of the plane.  I immediately began to think that if he died, his mother would absolutely murder me.  And then before I knew it he was gone.  I considered not jumping out of the plane, having it land, and I could just pretend I had jumped.  But the moment had come.

Standing on the edge of the plane I have never been so terrified in my entire life.  I was convinced I would hit the propellers, or my chute wouldn't open.  And before I could say "DEAR GOD STOP! GET BACK IN THE PLANE!" we jumped.  

I was fully prepared to hate the experience.  I was convinced that for the 60 second free fall I would have to close my eyes, and slowly count until it was over and my chute was deployed.  The free fall turned out to be the best part.  It was the closest you can get to flying.  YOu are completely weightless soaring through the air at 14,000.  It was a totally indescribable feeling. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Needless to say,Ollie and I both survived the jump, and were completely elated.  It is an indescribable high, adrenaline coursing through your veins.  I hit the ground laughing and launched myself into Ollie's arms.  We had survived.  And better yet, we had fun.  A lot of fun.  It was one of the best experiences of my life.  And I'm happy I surprised it to boot.


We didn't tell a soul about what we were doing.  We didn't want our mother's (particularly Ollie's) to freak out and assume the worst.  After jumping we went to our mother's house to show them the videos (people with video recorders on their helmet jumped with us taping the whole experience).  As expected they were completely shocked, and also, very happy that we survived :)