I love my job, right?

Two afternoons ago I was diving on the 2pm boat with a middle aged woman and two young teenage girls. I haven't been diving alot in the last two weeks while Matt has been gone so this was about the 3rd dive in 5 days. The two teen girls didn't speak alot of English so one of the girl's mothers translated. I was expecting just another Ho-hum dive. Cold water, not alot to see, etc. The site was Pyramid so we had a very short boat ride from the marina. I had kind of forgotten about Fred(or Ted, whatever his name is) the grouper that we are trying to socialize like Bob(RIP). About two minutes into the dive he swam up next to me from behind and scared me. The girls all thought it was really cool to be able to touch a fish and Fred isn't a small grouper either. So we petted him for a few minutes and then swam along to see a turtle on it's way to the surface for some air and two reef sharks. The girls loved it! It was the first dive here at Columbus for all three and they all came up smiling. As I was kicking back to the boat I turned over on my back to check on the 3 divers as usual and I had a moment. Not a senior moment but one where I realized that I do love my job. Looking back on where I've been because of diving and dreaming and planning my future with diving makes me happy. My 9 months here at Columbus have had some ups and downs but when I think about it, it all comes down to exploring the undersea world with people that makes me happy. Sometimes you just need a littler perspective...

Has it really been a year...

I was just thinking back and this time last year I was teaching my first Open Water class to Leo and we were diving in 34 degree(that's about 1 Celsius for you metric people) in Dutch Springs. I have done several certifications since that time. The water was about 74 yesterday(23C) and I was cold between the dives but with my 5mm plus hooded vest I was warm underwater. And to think just a year ago I was only wearing a semidry suit. I guess I've really become a warm water diver. :-)

Mom and Dad came to visit!

So my parents came for a week here at Columbus Isle. They arrived on Saturday just after we had taken apart the dock. They got a room upgrade to a deluxe oceanview room(thanks Sylvie!) as well as a few gifts in their room, a candle from Flavia, and a nice bottle of wine from Filippo. Thanks to both of them. We enjoyed the afternoon and some drinks at the bar that evening. Sunday was my first day off while they were here so we went diving in the morning. We spent some time catching up and touring the village. That night we went to the BBQ for the night divers and they got to meet the whole scuba team. Monday and Tuesday mornings they went diving and we spent some time together around my work schedule. We toured the hyperbaric chamber with Vinny and practiced some "yoga"(see the pictures) Monday afternoon. We had a nice dinner in the theater on Monday night for white night and enjoyed the Clepoatra show. Wednesday we had a tour of the island with Capt Tony. He drove us around the island and showed us the sights with a few stops along the way to get out and walk around. We also toured Supashai's garden behind the maintanance building. Mom and I enjoyed the hammocks and laid on the beach for a while. The wind made it hard to enjoy the beach for a few days but it wasn't too bad. Thursday diving was cancelled so we spent the day relaxing around the village and played a tough game of Scuba-opoly with Amy in the afternoon. Friday was another cold morning of diving. The afternoon boat was cancelled due to lack of divers so Amy, Larissa and I started the preparations for Matt's birthday surprises. Friday night we had Dom join us at Watlings for dinner and then we went back to the village and watched the show. During the night club the scuba team with some helpers decorated Matt's office with LOTS of confetti, toilet paper, plastic wrap, inflated condoms, a pink feather boa, and our happy birthday sign. On Saturday morning I got up to see Matt's reaction to his newly decorated office and wish him a happy birthday then went to breakfast with "the rents" one last time. They finished packing, then we played on the internet and read until we had a fierce game of bocce ball before lunch. I went to the airport to wish them fairwell and met Chuck and John as they came off the plane. It was a great week and made some great memories. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!! Miss you bunches!!

The pictures from the week... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063057&l=06fb2&id=44801562

The pictures of Matt's birthday... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063243&l=a6538&id=44801562