Sharkathon 2009

Well, we did it.

Angel and I went to the Sharkathon Fishing Tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas.

We really had a good time.

Here's the check-in. Yeah. We thought we were the shit when we got there. We knew we were going to catch a crap load of fish (maybe even a shark) and come away with the 10,000 grand prize.

I had a feeling something was going to happen when I woke up that morning. You know those feelings you get when something might go wrong? Well, yeah. We get there and a little while later I start feeling horrible. I mean..HORRIBLE. I start feeling body aches and my throat starts to feel tickly. I know I'm going to come down with a fever. THIS SUCKS!!

We are out on the beach with no medicine. SO, I called our boy Adam who lives there in Corpus. He comes to the rescue with meds, beer and Ice.

Here he is with Angel. Both of them showing off their tattoos and acting a fool.

You remember Adam from THIS time...right?

Alright. Meds downed and the next day we get to fishing. Here's our setup. Of course, you know THIS DIVA has to have it set up right because I know from past experiences that I will turn into a true B-I-T-C-H if I have to sleep all whacked out on the beach.

Only thing is..we left at 5 am and we had planned on stopping by the storage to pick up the tent and a few other necessities. Unfortunately, our storage isn't open 24 hrs so we didn't have a tent. We had to stop at Academy and buy another one. Much smaller and much cheaper.

Notice how ingenious it was to put the tent (along with queen size air mattress I managed to squeeze in it) UNDER the canopy?

Yeah, that was MY idea.

It's a good thing too because the first night...IT RAINED HARD.

Angel was passed out but I was laying in the tent next to him just looking up at the canopy hoping it wouldn't leak because we didn't have the rain guard on the tent.

We didn't get wet at all.

Here we have our restroom/shower area. Angel blocked it off from the traffic of cars that drive by all of the time. The only open area is facing the dunes. As long as no one comes over the dunes, they will not see any nakedness. No, we didn't use beach water to shower with. Angel brought along this huge container of clean water and it was luke-warm. We took Awesome under the open sky showers at night. It was a little weird standing naked out in the open but it was refreshing.

Here we have our living area. Not much since most of our stuff is still in storage. But we weren't there much anyway.

ALRIGHT...ON TO FISHING..

Angel has the poles set up for us. My four on the left and his 4 on the right. This way our lines won't get tangled when we have them out there.

Yes, we had to wade way out into the water in order to cast our lines. The water was great. Usually I don't go into the water. As soon as my feet get wet and touch the cold water I'm sprinting back to the beach and the chairs.

OHHHHH!! I caught something!! Hurry! Hurry! We need to get the camera out and document it so that we can enter it into the competition!

Huh? What is that white thing around my waist? Yeah, I know what it looks like. It's to hold the pole. Do you know how hard it is to be out there holding your rod and trying to reel in the fish?

It looks funny, I know but still, it serves its purpose.

CHECK IT OUT PEOPLE!

Yes, I know how to fish!

Now let's see....the rules state you have to hold the ruler against the fish just like so....

Oh, wait. What's this? What the hell does Angel have? What the heck is that in his cast net?

More fish?



OH!

You mean, my fish isn't big enough? YOU MEAN...all I caught was BAIT?

Oh, I see. I need to catch a fish like that.

Showoff.



Well, it's time to eat. Nothing like grubbing on ribs and fajita at the beach.

I'm still not feeling well but I think I would be feeling much worse if I was actually home laying up in the bed under the covers because then I would definitely be feeling the fever.

We didn't get to use the kayak. That was for shark fishing but the waves were too rough and we would never make it out as far as we would like to set the bait.

Angel is enjoying himself. I'm glad. He's in his element.

We had a nice fire to keep us warm (and keep the mosquitoes away) each night.

You see out there in the dunes? I know it's night time and really dark but TRUST ME, there were coyotes out there. When the cars would drive by and their lights hit the dunes, you can see their outline on top of the dunes. Maybe they were waiting for us to fall asleep...

I'm pooped. I'm cleaning out the bait bucket and feeding the seagulls.

The next morning we packed up and came home. I was glad to spend quality alone time with Angel because we don't get a chance to do that anymore. Our 3 big needy kids want and demand our (my) attention constantly.

We didn't win anything or even go to the announcement ceremony.

Next year will be different. We will be better prepared and will come away winning something!

Anybody want to go next year?

Last Day before......DOOM!

Well guys, today is the last day of work for me this week.
I will be heading out either tonight or tomorrow with Angel so that we can start our "adventure".

Angel plans on recording a lot of it for us so that we can have "memories" but I'm not sure if I really want anyone to see me out there roughing it. You know, no make-up, soap, clean water, combs or deodorant.

Yeah, it's best to view me from a distance during this trip.

I'm not sure how I'm seeing this as relaxing.

OH YEAH!! IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE!!
We're supposed to be pretending to be extreme fishermen.

Angel has been loading up the trailer with all of our necessities.
Tent, canopies, tarp, lawn/beach chairs, fishing poles, toilet, generator, lights...etc

YES! I said "toilet"!

We have one of these:

WHAT?!

I am SOOO grateful to have it. Don't ask me where we got it. I don't know. We've had it for a long time so at this point, I don't want to know. It's been cleaned and cleaned and cleaned.

(don't look at me like I'm the weird one. You all know what YOU do)

I don't like to go to the beach for days without it. When we are packing up I'm always asking for or looking for my toilet.

You guys think I'm nuts, right?

Well, picture this:

You're out on the beach (for days like I will be) and you need to do #1 or #2....on second thought, LADIES..YOU imagine this (because the men can just pee behind the truck like Angel does). Now, imagine looking around for a place to complete this task and all you see is sand, water and dunes. Men, unlike you, we have to squat. I hate squatting. Something is always brushing up against my nether regions and nothing ever sprays right .

I don't care what people say about going into the water to do #1. I just can't do it. ESPECIALLY NOT # 2. My kids don't even do it because they always come to me to tell me they have to "use it".

So..that's the reason I like to take it with me (only to the beach people, only to the beach).

Angel sets it up so I have privacy with a tarp strategically placed over the truck door. We are currently looking for this:

That way we can have our own little restroom.


Now, I know you read about me complaining about having to go to the beach...again. Having to fish non-stop out in the hot sun..etc.

The truth is, I'm really a little excited about going and spending time with my Angel. This is what makes him happy and I want to be around when he's happy.

Ehhh...winning the prize won't hurt much either.

All week long I've been hearing this song and it's been setting the mood.



If I have reception out there on the deserted island I will try to post pics on Twitter...so follow me if you want to see some retardedness.

Have a good one you guys. I will be back on Sunday night!

3 More Days People..

I hope you are all gearing up to pray for me.

I really mean an actual candle light vigil for me since I'm going to be out on the beach (AGAIN) for the weekend.

Like I mentioned before, Angel is super revved up about this whole Sharkathon extreme-fishing-tournament-expedition-thingy we are participating in.Three days of non-stop fishing. I love my naps (YOU KNOW I LOVE MY NAPS) but I have a feeling Angel isn't going to let me get away with napping when every moment is supposed to be spent stroking and caressing our rods and reels.

PLUS, The Weather Channel said it's supposed to be raining all week. I'm not a big fan of sleeping on the beach under the rain. I've done it before and it sucked because Dom and Angel (Miah and Devyn weren't born yet) slept through the whole tropical storm while I stayed up all night and placed towels in the corners of the tent to soak up water so that we wouldn't drown in our sleep.

According to the rules and regulations, we are supposed to bait, cast and catch our own fish/shark and it all has to be documented by digital camera in order for it to be legit. If we catch the "winning" fish/shark, we will be polygraphed as part of the requirements for collecting the prize. I've never been polygraphed before, I hope they don't ask me about those missing movies
from Movie Gallery all those years ago. I may need to take a sedative.

Either way, I'm looking forward to winning.

We both have the day off from work so we will be leaving EARLY Friday morning and we won't be coming back until Sunday.

Question: Hey Sheila! Are the kids going with you to the Sharkathon?

Answer: HELL NO!

I can barely handle being out there myself watching the poles and trying to fish. The kids are a huge distraction mainly because they are ALWAYS in the water and I have to watch them to make sure none of them get washed out to sea.

Question: So..what are you going to do with the kids?

Answer: I'm going to leave them here to fend for themselves. What the heck do you think I've been breeding them to do all of these years!!

Kidding.

My mother in law is going to take them to school Friday morning and then keep them the rest of the weekend. She must miss having lots of kids around *snicker*.
I laugh because I know how she is and she's VERY impatient. I still love her for taking them on all weekend. I'm sure she will have them at the doorstep the minute we tell her we are heading back (hopefully with our winnings).

Wish me luck people and pray for me that I don't come back with hooks in my fingers!

1 good reason to hold off on driving lessons.

For some reason, every time I get into the vehicle with the kids, MIAH thinks it's a good idea to encourage me to speed. I don't know what's come over her.

Yesterday, we were at the light and she was actually almost bouncing in her seat talking about, "Oh..Go fast! Floor it! FLOOR IT! FLOOR IT!..."

Whoa!

I had to calm her down and tell her in my calmest mommy voice..."The light is RED, Miah."

But as soon as the light changed, she was all over it again.

Sooo...I accelerated...a little....more.

Which sent us flying at warp speeds of 30 mphs in a residential area (for about a block).
Of course, Miah looks at me like..What was that?

Whatev...we sped.

Since it has rained here recently, there have been large puddles of water on the ground. The first thing she says when she sees them is, "SPLASH IT!"

This is what she wants.

Now, you know that in order to get a nice good splash from the puddle you need to pick up some speed. I'm not trying to drive head on into a huge hole camo'd by water. If the puddle were in a large parking lot (say like... the Mall), I wouldn't have a problem with it because most likely there isn't a hole. BUT...since we NEVER go to the Mall and are mostly by alleys and back roads....not chancing it.


Me: No Miah, there cold be a hole in that huge puddle and I'll mess up my truck.
Miah: Awwwe!

I know, I know...I'm a huge buzzkill but still..

Now, I wouldn't be sitting here in the early AM writing this if it was as simple as that.

Nope.

Miah isn't only trying to encourage me to break the law by speeding (and occasionally splashing), she also wants me to use my 4 Runner as a battering ram. We could be riding along, innocently and one of the boys will point out something they see and Miah will instantly yell out, "RAM IT!"

Where does she get this from? I'm still blaming her dad. I don't ever recall a time growing up that I wanted my parents to ram into ANYTHING. And if I did...I certainly didn't yell it out.

She don't care. She'll sit in her seat salivating and eyeballing everything we pass and I can almost hear the echo of evil laughter in her brain.

Miah isn't picky. She wants me to RAM things or people...whatever happens to be in our line of sight. If you happen to be walking on the sidewalk anywhere around us, she will yell out "RAM EM!" and instantly you are a victim in her head.

It's a good thing I'm the driver. We might have to postpone her driving lessons until she has a clearer head or at least take her to ride some bumper cars.

I Blame Angel.....

There once was a time when I thought I was going to have a little girl who loved playing with dolls and dressing in frilly little dresses.

I was younger when I was having those thoughts. Then Angel came along and made it a reality.

Here's the deal.

Ever since Miah was a baby, I've sang her those little baby songs that my mom used to sing to me. You know, like the toady froggy one where you bounce the baby on your leg and she's all happy because of the movement?

We all have some song that you sing to babies, right?

Well, Angel would come around and modify these songs and totally screw with Miah's head.

Here's Angel...

"There was a froggy now, sitting on a loggy now, and OH how he could....JUMP MUTHAFUCKA! JUMP! JUMP MUTHAFUCKA...JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! AHHHH!!!"

Now, pair that up with the melody and visuals of a headbanging concert or a mosh pit and you have yourself a nursery rhyme all kids would love.

Which brings us to this. (click on the link, youtube wouldn't let me copy it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEzh10_xoqw&feature=related

It was cute and all and she liked the song.

Now, there's THIS:

punk-ska covers - mxpx - barbie girl (aqua).mp3 - mxpx

Miah likes to take control of her school pictures. Especially when it's free dress picture day.

HERE IS one of her school pictures from a couple of years ago.

And, this is what she wore today for her school picture this year.





Gotta love the skulls. Thanks DAD for the introduction that has us hooked!

These past few days...

...have been trying.

To say the least, my husband's grandmother passed away yesterday morning. I knew she was in the hospital a day or two before but I didn't really expect it to be serious. One of the only people who knew how serious it was was my cousin Cindy. She's been living with Grandma and have been taking care of her. She has sacrificed a lot and I know she must really be hurting.

I love you Cindy.

Yesterday, Angel and I were going to get ready to head to the hospital. I had already had my patients rescheduled so that I can go and Angel was fortunate to be rained out of work so he was off that day. We were getting ready to go and we got the call that she had already passed. Angel was on the phone and when he got off I asked him if everything was "ok". He said, "No, Grandma died this morning".

I felt numb. He went into the bathroom and closed the door. I went to my work (which is conveniently around the corner) and told them that I was going to need some days off. Then I came back home to Angel.

Angel has been "okay" so far. I haven't been around him much. He's been keeping himself busy trying to see what he can do for everyone. I don't think he's really taken time for himself. I'm waiting for that time and any time so that I can be there.

A lot of crying from everyone. I don't know how to react. I can't help myself either. Angel said that after the funeral everyone comes back to her house every evening for 9 days. Hmph....that's a lot of grief and I don't know if I can handle that.

I loved Grandma. The kids loved her too.

I had a chance to spend a little time with her before her passing and I thanked her for accepting Dominique and I into her family, to be with Angel, without prejudice. She told me that she wanted her family to be happy no matter who they loved.

One of my favorite stories that I like to tease Angel about is from several years ago. We were already married by then and he would wear jeans that didn't really fit and they would be hanging off of his butt. Grandma will stop him and ask to look at his pants and he had to lift his shirt up and show him. She would try to pull his pants up and tell him, "Why do you wear your pants like that? You're not a teenager anymore, you can't wear your pants like that". He would always get embarrassed. I would always threaten to tell his grandma when he was doing something wrong.

Angel, Grandma and I shared the same birthday. Now our birthdays will seem a little empty because we are one less. It's almost an empty feeling even though I still share it with Angel.

The funeral is on Monday. It's going to be rough being around a lot of people who will be crying uncontrollably and still trying to be strong for my husband. I don't think his damn has broken yet.

I'm just waiting...

She was the only grandmother I ever really knew.

I love you Grandma Imelda.

Labor Day weekend.

Alright folks.

Here we are again, at the beach.

The only difference is that we didn't spend the night or the weekend even though it was a holiday. We spent a good deal of the weekend cleaning because since my mom isn't here for another 3 months, we figured it wouldn't be fair to let things pile up for her when she gets back.

Besides, we needed clean underwear. I happened to go out and buy new ones but they still pile up..lol.

Anyway, we went to the beach for only for the day on Sunday with the kids AND the little dogs because I'm a nut and I wanted to take them. Angel never refuses.

Here is base camp.

It's simple this time because it's only for the day. We didn't load up like we usually do with a trailer and everything.

We get to the beach and the puppies follow us to the water. Immediately they start whining and wanting to be picked up. Chupa was shivering like he was a chihuahua. Miah covered the puppy in warm sand and he went to sleep. Dom came over and added a little bit of decorations.

At one point, there was this awesome rainbow in the clouds. I don't know if you can see if very well but all of the colors were there.

This is the puppies (Roary and Chupa) after they've been in the water. They were actually a lot cooler than Venus and Serena were when we took them in the water.

Roary was very hesitant everytime the water approached. He ended up retreating underneath the car.

Dom and Miah were on the sand and I thought that was a great photo-op because they were engrossed in their own thing.

Devyn was venturing off too far in the water so I called him back. He saw Miah and Dom in the sand and he wanted to participate.

Here they are chillin.

Devyn was a little upset because Miah and Dom wouldn't let him mess with their "project" so he pouted. I told him I was going to take a picture so that I will have blackmail photos.

This was a picture I couldn't resist getting. My kids are getting big.

The puppies have their own nap time so they didn't mind the kids making a couple of beds for them.

On our way out, we saw a crap load of cars getting stuck in the thick sand. I was afraid that we were going to get stuck too because we weren't close to the water. We were in thick sand. Angel reassured me that we were going to be fine. He may as well have slapped me because I was near hysterical before we hit the main road.

The kids had a great time. They were KNOCKED OUT on the way home.

We didn't even get off of the island and they were crashed. They're going to get me for posting these pics but that's what happens when mommy has a camera.

If you have been following me Twitter than you know that I am going to be doing some fishing in a couple of weeks.
On the 25th, Angel and I are going to enter a fishing tournament. It's called the Sharkathon. We are going to be sleeping on the beach (again) and fishing for a couple of days straight. I'm entered into the woman's division so I hope I win. Angel mentioned that we were going to have to be doing some "extreme fishing" which made me chuckle a little under my breath. I have this HUGE pole and HUGE reel and it's mine all mine but I just like knowing that I have it. Now, I have to actually use it and try to win something.

More info on all of that later on....

Devyn just came in and wanted to see the picture I was posting and he made this funky face asking me why'd I have to take the pic when he was asleep?

I will keep you posted on the upcoming event that is Sharkathon.

Keep in mind people. I volunteered. I know that Angel just can't get out of this 2 week trip I have planned next year to NY to visit my bro and SIL. I'm excited and he better get himself excited too. I'm talking Riverdance and everything!

P.S. Dom is writing in his blog again. Check it out.