Brutal Honesty From Hubby = BAD

We attended a funeral yesterday for a wonderful woman who died at the age of 90. Family was so important to this lady and that was apparent by the number of children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, great-great grandchildren, etc.who were in attendance. After hearing how much she was loved and adored by her family and friends, we watched a slideshow depicting this woman's 90 years of life. It always blows me away how one's life can be reduced to a 10 minute slideshow. Toddler, child, teenager, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother - it's like watching someone's life on fastforward. It's terrifying. On the other hand, it was touching to see what a wonderful, long life this woman lived, and all the lives that she touched in her 90 years. Although there were many tears, it really felt like a celebration of her life.

I did not feel this way at Ryan's funeral. He was robbed. We were robbed. I was angry. Upset. It wasn't fair. In our 30's we are supposed to attend each other's weddings and baby baptisms - not funerals. It upsets me to think about that day, so as of yet, I will continue to suppress that memory....and then bury it under happy thoughts. I'm sure this is what psychologists would support and recommend? :) In keeping with that strategy, I am currently recalling a fantastic day on lake with our buddy.

Ryan was climbing into the boat, soaking wet, after a solid surf behind the boat. We were all impressed with his latest trick which involved sitting on the board and riding it, on his ass, facing forwards.

Me: Holwaty, how did you do that?

Holwaty: Well, you see, I was just riding - you know. And then I just...well...I just sat down. Like this (sits on board). You know.

Haha. Needless to say, Ryan never published any wakesurf training manuals. He was that kind of guy - no talkie talkie. Just go out there and do it.

Ev has set up my wakesurf training regime, and although there's tons of "doing" (each day includes specific stretches, indo board time, longboard runs, diet recommendations (no sugar -ack!) and CrossFit workouts - and I still have to work 8 hours a day!), there's also 3 days a week of video review. Talkie talkie. I envisioned "video review" to include hours of drinking beer whilst watching Kelly Slater rip it up. Nope. "Video review," as I discovered last night, is quite brutal.

The ego takes a beating when one is criticized; however, the "source" of that criticism certainly makes a difference in how one responds. When Heidi informed me that my flute playing initially "looked painful," my feelings weren't hurt. She was the expert. I would try to look less pained. During the crochet when Grandma pointed out that I was "swooping too large," I took it in stride and attempted to decrease my swoop circumference. When Ev; however, scutinized my wakesurfing videos, pointing out my "broken paw" amongst other things (I will explain), I'm not gonna lie, it stung just a bit.

We began our "video review," by watching the Woman's World Wakesurfing Champion, Bri Chmel. She's pretty awesome. And hot. Her winning ride exuded steaze. She's smooth, she's confident, she goes for it. It was impressive. There was, on the other hand, a little voice inside my head saying, "you're not that far off, Kirst." Other than the fact that she's way younger, hotter and tinier than me, I was quite convinced that I was a comparable rider. (Sound of annoying buzzer). WRONG.

This is Bri. She's pretty good.

We then watched numerous videos of my surf rides last summer. Evan immediately pointed out:
Offense #1: "The Broken Paw."
I do this retarded thing with my hand when I surf. I hold it up to my chest with my wrist cocked. I look like a fricken bear with a broken paw. Hence the term. In addition, while Bri exhibited a "quiet upper body," allowing her hips and legs to the work, I was obviously using way too much upper body, hunched over, and as Ev described, "clawing my way to the world champions." Haha. Funny. That godamn broken paw.

Offense #2: Bad Ass
We then watched video of my 360 attempt. The key word is "attempt." It looked NOTHING like Bri's 360. While Bri stayed low to her board, ass down, she had complete control, tracking her position as she spun her board 360 degrees. I, on the other hand, stuck my tongue out, made an angry face, and threw myself wildly around as fast and as uncontrolled as possible, ass high in the air. Remarkably, I bit it at about the 250 degree mark (Amazingly, always managing to plug my nose as I wiped out). Wha? Good Gawd. I suck. Ev then threw some salt in my wounds by stating that I had "terrible ankle mobility." Gasp. The horror. Now we're picking on my ankles? At that point he sensed my increased sensitivity and informed me that we would make it better. Well, thank god for that.

Offense #3: This is not Dancing With the Stars.
As a final straw, Ev pointed out how cool, calm, and focused Bri appeared during her ride. In contrast, we watched endless video footage of me choreographing my surf to whatever song happened to be blasting out of the speakers. Although pretending  that I am "running just as fast as we can" in time with Tiffany or indicating with body touching that "I'm hot sticky sweet from my head to my feet" with Def Leopard is tons o' fun and frankly, extremely entertaining for observers, it utilized a whole lot of my energy...and gas. Ooops. Must focus.

So I swallowed my pride, took Ev's brutal hurtful constructive criticism in stride and decided to get started. I have to say, after one 45-minute session in the garage on the longboard, the broken paw is healing nicely.
Stay tuned!

My 3 offenses caught on camera: