Lately I've been making a list of things in my head that I'd like to do or attempt before having children...and that time is approaching. At the beginning of May I decided that I'd like to sky dive. To me, it's just one of those things that I'd love to experience, but would probably have some hefty hesitation if I were a mother. So, I made the decision to jump out of an airplane, but I thought...hmmm...baby steps...bungie jump first!!!
I shit you not...the NEXT day...one of my best friends called to ask me if I'd come visit her for her birthday Memorial Day weekend and would I consider skydiving. WHAAAT?!? All I did was shrug my shoulders, look quizzically up and around to the Universe and say "yes. Yes to both." Niki squeeled with delight (which is just what The Niki does) and I booked my flight to San Antonio Texas. The whole "bungie jump baby steps" idea flew out the window because it was just too perfect that she called the day after I had the idea.
A couple of weeks went by and then the day before I was leaving for Texas, I was watching a cartoon called Toot & Puddle with the kids that I take care of. Toot & Puddle (for those not in the know) are two best friend "roommate" male pigs who love to travel. What were Toot & Puddle going to be doing on this episodes adventure??? You guessed it...SKYDIVING! After seeing this cartoon, I thought "there's no way I'll die! The Universe WANTS me to jump out of a plane!"
Saturday was the big day. Niki was so excited and bouncing off the walls. There were several of us girls jumping, so she requested that we all wear pig-tails in honor of her birthday. My hands had been shaking since I woke up that morning.
The Jumpers! Me, Niki, Amy, Claudia (Niki's Mom) Pre-skydive line-up...Day 1
When we arrived, I was feeling so nauseous and my shaking hands had amplified from a 3 to an 8 on the Richter Scale. Then, I heard a noise...I looked up and saw a group floating down on their parachutes and I instantly felt better. Everything calmed down inside and I knew that it was going to be okay. We went in to register and wait for our turn to suit up.
The Universe may have said to me..."Sure! Do it...you'll be fine kiddo. It'll be good for you!" BUT...Mother Nature had other thoughts. She decided to torture us with major storms...just when it was our turn...three days in a row!
The Big Bad Storm
Day 2: I actually got so far as to get suited up (half way) and then...nevermind!!! Another storm.
(p.s. I looked like Christmas.)
Day 3: A change in line-up - Amy, Kristin (Amy's sister), Me, and The Niki. Do you notice that we're all FULLY DRESSED??? We actually had agreeable weather!!!
So...on Memorial Day at 8:30 a.m. (after the 300 miles we drove over the weekend to get to the jump site three days in a row) we suited up, went through our 30 second training (thorough, huh!), entered the plane and got ready to jump.
I should pause here to give thanks to Mother Nature. Had she not stopped us the first two days, I might have been a total nervous wreck, shaking and wanting to vomit. Instead, because of the baby steps I took each day...going a little further in the steps of preparing to jump...I was completely calm and fine. I had worked all my nerves out in the two day preparation and then in the disappointment each time we had to cancel. So when it was time for me to exit the plane, I was cool as a cucumber.
This is NOT a photo of me (that package was out of my budget sadly)...but this is what it looks like to skydive from 10,500 ft. Pretty amazing, huh?!?
I did have a brief "Oh fuck!" moment as I squatted at the opened door, but then there was the "1-2-3! " and no turning back.
My tandem jumper and I did a flip out of the plane then a free fall for 60+ seconds....and that was the BEST PART!!! You know that gross feeling (when you're riding a roller-coaster) that all your internal organs are flying up into your throat? Well, I had expected that during the free fall, but didn't get it all...I wasn't sad about that, by the way. It was such a cool feeling and being able to see the grid of Texas pastures filled with cows and horses below me was really fun. I wasn't scared...still! I only got nervous when the parachutes opened, but not to a freaking out degree. We did some spinning tricks and then I took over on the handles of the parachute (which, I'll admit, made me REALLY nervous) while my instructor prepared us for landing. I will also admit that I was the only one to not have a graceful and totally successful landing. I didn't run hard enough and tripped which sent me tumbling to the ground with a very sizable man strapped to my back. No bruises or broken bones though! Side note...I did go up in the plane with very cute pig-tails, but they did not survive the jump. I was a hot mess when I landed with a very attractive knotted bird-ish nest on the side of my head, which took about 10 minutes to brush out.
That evening, I boarded a plane (which I would not be jumping out of), and headed back home to Orlando. It was a very fun Memorial weekend filled with old and new friends, a truly spectacular diet of chips & queso, breakfast tacos, steak and countless margarita's, and a very amazing skydive that was well worth the wait.
