Saturday, June 28, 2008

Adventure Bowl
Let Me In Your Pool!

This week I pulled from the Adventure Bowl, "Do something that makes you afraid." I really wish I had been more specific when I wrote that one. Because right now, there was a long list - talking to the cute guy on my street, standing in front of the mirrior naked, looking at my 401K, taking my car to my mechanic because every time I do, he, in his thick Russian accent, says, "Very bad news. VERY BAD NEWS for you."

But, I want to have fun! This Bowl is about having fun, challenging myself, getting back to me.

Hmmm, what can I do that makes me afraid? Well, one thing that I want to work on is my extreme case of Good Girl-i-tis. I am so freakin' good.

I obey all laws, I'm nice, I never step out of line. If a friend wants to jay walk it's like I can compute in five seconds or less all the castastrophes that could possibly happen, "We'll get tickets! We'll be mowed down by Hummers! We'll get tickets, be mowed down by Hummers and be on the news with mug shots that will not be flattering to my jaw line!"

I know. My friend once said to me, "It must be exhausting being you." And it is.

So I thought this could be a great time to do something that made me afraid and was bad...

My friend R sent me this web site that had all these listings of houses for sale in LA, each more ostentatious than the next. One even bragged that it had the best pool in LA and had even been feautured on "Entourage." (Eye roll with secret jealousy).

I started to think that it totally sucked that the only people that could luxuriate in pools were multi-millionaires. Poor people get hot, too!

There seemed only one way to remedy this. I needed to crawl over the fence of the "Entourage" house and get in that pool.

I told E my plan and she was in.

We decided we should do this at night, 'cuz of the whole fence scaling thing. The adreniline was pumping and soon I as I was up on a trash can (we didn't have a ladder) and over on the other side.

E went next, though, she started screaming when she came face to face with a racoon scurrying along the neighbor's fence. You would think I would care about someone calling the police but I was feeling so bad ass at this point, I practically DARED them to haul my soaking wet, voluminous ass out of that pool.

The pool was freezing and of course, we forgot the towels in the car. (MORONS!) But that only made us laugh harder until we were practically convulsing in fits. "We did it!" I knew it made E feel good to see me this way. As soon as just last December, I had been a shell of my former self.

Her words. But, true words.

The getting out part, OH, WE WERE DYING, we were so cold! And then there was the part where we had to crawl back over the fence with NO GARBAGE CANS on our side. We were dying of laughter over that. "Let's call the police to let us out!"

But man, was that worth it. Indescribable fun.

I highly recommend you do something that makes you afraid. That makes you feel like a bad ass. Because it pays off in the most unexpected ways after. You have no idea.


This blog is dedicated to fearless friends raccoons the size of dogs.

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE IT!!! This is the funniest post as of yet! I admire you for taking it upon your self to over come your depression...and deal with your mother. We have A LOT in common on that ride.

Tonya said...

how fun! I totally miss my pool hopping days as a kid.

Anonymous said...

Ha-ha. Sounds like so much fun. It's amazing when you feel alive again, especially when your depressed and have felt nothing ( I call it the black hole) for weeks. God to just FEEL is a blessing.

Anonymous said...

I read about your blog on Self magazine. It's really uplifting and so inspiring. I just wanted to thank you because it always makes me laugh.

I'm sending this post to ten friends who need it!

Anna

adventure grrl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Your posts mean a lot as I really need a kick in the butt to posh myself and live life more fully. This is better than any book I've read so keep at it. We need you!

Anonymous said...

Hell yes! I'm all about doing stuff I'm afraid of...if only I weren't too afraid to do it! You're inspiring me to step out of my comfort zone. Thank you. I really want to go to surf camp!

Anonymous said...

now there's a REAL reason to go to the gym -- to be able to hoist myself up and over walls and go on adventures and be fit and strong and daring -- thanks for the constant inspiration!!!!

Anonymous said...

you are hysterical! your blog is awesome! crazy, inspiring, wise, and just plain cool. thank you so much!

Anonymous said...

I just spewed my lunch laughing over this ... awesome

<3