Meeting a Ray

My husband and I were able to visit the aquarium yesterday evening. A few times a year they have days that are free admission, so we decided to take advantage of that, donate a little to their new building, and enjoy a lovely mermaid date at the aquarium. First off, I have to say that I'm hoping they let me come a volunteer as my mermaid self. That would be a dream come true. I felt like a five-year-old meeting all of her fishy-friends for a play date. My husband thought it was a little bizarre. Not that I was acting like a five-year-old, he's used to that part of me, but because the fish behaved strangely. He joked that they must know that I'm a real mermaid, and that I must be one at heart, because every time I put my hand up to the tank, or came close, the fish came to investigate me. I didn't think anything of it at the time, mostly because I was having too much fun playing with them, and watching them swim. But Hubby noticed that they didn't really behave that way with the other patrons there. I felt like Madison, from Splash, bouncing around the aquarium, amazed at all the beautiful aquatic things. I felt right at home there....minus the hoards of people.

 
Some cute Lionfish that came to say hello!


Yours Truly, with legs, hanging out with an octopus. Look, I actually have toes sometimes!


One darling little guy in particular captured my heart. He was a darling little Bat Ray in the petting pool. Of course, this mermaid, HAD to go play with the sharks, rays, starfish, and anemone's that lived in that pool! They had a couple of baby sharks, and a tiger shark. It was neat because a lot of the fish actually felt like my tail. Who knew that silicone so closely mimicked their skin? Anyway, back to my new friend. So this darling little ray swam up to me. Right to me. And as he was swimming he did a cute little flip for me. He hovered in the water just a few inches above the surface (the pool was about 2 feet deep), and waited for me. I got to pet his little "wings" and he then crawled the side of the pool up to me, and put his little "nose" above the water to greet me. He swam around my hand a little and let me pet him again before I went to check out the other exhibits. Hubby thought the behavior was a little strange. Sure most of the fish were used to humans, but they swam around the pool, and didn't really go to anyone in particular. Most people had to quickly touch them before they swam away. But this little guy seemed to like me. I decided that I wanted to come back to see him one last time (and to test a theory, I thought that maybe it was just a fluke). I stood in a different spot across the pool. The moment my hand hit the water, the darling little thing came right to me, AGAIN! This time he flipped, and quickly surfaced to greet me. Of course, I had to pet him. And then he went back under the water and hung out for a bit to let me play with him. When I lifted my hand from the pool, he swam away. I watched for a few more minutes, and he spend his time, like the other fish, swimming around the pool, not paying attention to anyone in particular. Hubby mentioned at dinner after, that he wouldn't have believed that experience happened, except for the fact that he saw it himself. Unfortunately, the area was too dark to capture any good pictures, and they don't like flash photography, so we didn't get any of him. I'm hoping to go back and sneak a picture really soon. And of course, see my new friend again! In honor of the entire situation, Hubby bought me a stuffed Sting Ray. Although it's a little different (and bigger!) it's the same family, and looks about the same. Now I get to snuggle my ray friend all night long. I named him Guppy.

My new friend Guppy. Isn't he cute?

Swimming Into Place

I just met with an old friend for dinner. I didn't realize that we hadn't seen each other for over a year, until we started talking. Of course, knowing me, I couldn't keep my mouth shut about being a mermaid. She knows, and she follows the blog and Facebook pages, but I still couldn't shut up about it. The good news? She's so excited that I'm going to take her out swimming on Saturday. It was nice to reminisce and catch up, and it made me realize how much I missed while I was working at my marketing job. And then I realized that I was neglecting my blog.

Life has been amazing these past weeks that I haven't had to work at that life insurance company. I spend my days doing mermaid things, catching up with family and friends, and just being me. I know I did the right thing, because the universe responded with so many positive reinforcements. And I wanted to spend just a few lines and remind everyone that reads this that money doesn't buy happiness. Sure, it buys lovely silicone tails, but ultimately, it doesn't make you happy. I am reminded of a quote that I remember reading off a blog about a year ago. I'm paraphrasing of course, but it went something like, "if you are ever trapped between the crossroads of safety and your dream, choose the dream, mermaids don't believe in regret." So I took a jump and quit my job, and the universe responded......

Shortly after I quit, I had several people step up to the plate (including my husband) and offer to help. Janelle has been a fin-tastic support system. Harley has been working more hours, and even my little brother who shares the apartment with me paid rent early so I could spend the rest of the month unemployed so I could catch up. So this is me publicly thanking them. And to all of you for your love and support. Couldn't do it without you.

I also wanted to give a shout out to Micah Moore. We just did an interview and wonderful photo shoot with her last Thursday. I was able to take her to lunch (okay, she took me, but only because we fought over the bill. I full intended on buying HER lunch). It was such an amazing experience. And she is an AMAZING mermaid. She is incredibly beautiful and talented. I can't wait to see how the pictures and interview turn out. It was so much fun to do the photos with her, and she was very conscientious of how hard it is to maneuver and pose in 3 feet of water with a tail. I felt like a real mermaid during her photo shoot, which was amazing. I was never uncomfortable or frustrated. Want more Micah? Follow her on Facebook and please check out her blogs, I've attached some of the links below:

http://themermaidstudio.com/

http://themermaidstudio.tumblr.com/

http://365mermaid.tumblr.com/

 

I will post more pictures and blog soon! Until then, Mermaid Kisses to everyone! 

 

 

Happy Mer-thday and Upcoming Changes!

Last week I turned 127 (or at least that's what I'll tell the kids!). My mer-friends were so wonderful and threw a little bash for me on Saturday. Followed with swimming, lots of swimming! I even got a plastic dinglehopper to brush my hair in the pool with. It matches my tail. I had a couple of darling little girls tell me happy birthday at the pool. One of my mer-sisters ratted me out! But I wanted to tell everyone thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes that you sent me, and for all the lovely presents from my mer-sisters! And especially to Janelle, who put a ton of work into the party, and made me the most gorgeous mermaid pot and blanket.
 


You may have noticed that I mentioned "mer-sisters" in the above paragraph. That's because we have been making new and big changes! We officially have two additional mermaids swimming with us now: Mermaid Koral and Mermaid Dottie. They are delightful girls, and we are so happy to have them as a part of our team. Now when you hire me on, you will have the option of bringing other mermaids to the event as well.

We will also be changing the blog and will add a webpage as well. These may not happen for the next few months, but they are on their way so keep your eyes peeled and fins crossed! In the meanwhile, I may be posting a little less frequently (a couple of times a week, like I have been). But I will be posting, so make sure to follow me and check out the blog every so often!

Volunteering at the Road Home

Volunteering at the Road Home on Friday was truly an eye opener. We all may complain (myself included!) about our jobs, homes, car, finances, family, etc, but I don't think anyone really realizes how blessed they actually are (myself included!). The people at this shelter literally have no where else to go. Over 200 people are sleeping on closely grouped together cots in a large room. The stuff in/on/around their cots is all they have right now. They share space, public bathrooms, and even eat at these cots. It's better than being out in the cold, but it is still a difficult living situation, even though the Road Home does their best to make the place as comfortable and home-like as they can. I was so sad to see all these children, running around barefoot on the cold concrete. What almost brought me to tears was to see the desperation in the eyes of some of the children there.

So many wonderful volunteers came and made this event possible. They also donated their time and money to provide candies and gifts for the kids. I would like to give a special shout out to Calvin who not only donated his time, but he also created beautiful boxes of handmade chocolates and other assorted candies to give out to the kids, along with seashells that were provided by him and Thalassa. We were able to talk to the kids and let them see our tails and hang out with the pirates. Along with Mermaid Janelle and myself, we also had Mermaid Koral, Thalassa, Mermaid Dottie, and Mermaid Jessica visit us along with Captain Jack Sparrow, Calvin (who dressed as a pirate/mercenary), and a couple of extra pirates that came along for the ride. We also had my fabulous little brother who helped me with my mobility (more on that later) and with pictures.

 Although I have my mermaid mobile *ahem wheelchair* to help me move (and apparently I'm fairly decent at it, according to everyone there) we found out the hard way that the shelter is not very wheelchair friendly. And we had again...the same problem at pirate fest. We wheeled up to the shelter and realized there were at least 6 steps to actually get into the building. Uh oh. My new tail is very difficult to put on dry and takes me approximately 10-15 minutes to do so, so changing was out of the question. I offered to scoot up the stairs, but the lovely helpers at the shelter, and my little brother insisted they could do it. Meanwhile, my stomach is turning knots, and my face has gone white. They intend on taking me up the stairs in my heavy tail AND WHEELCHAIR. I bet that the entire package (and this might tell you how much I weigh! Eeep!) was close to 300 pounds. We've established in previous posts that I AM NOT a skinny mer. That's kind of my trademark. At any rate, I was terrified. But up the steps I went with these guys, and they didn't drop me. That being said, I nearly peed my tail in fright.


It was a truly magical experience to watch the children's eyes light up after they saw us. Dozens of kids lined up to meet us and talk to us. They swarmed us as we made our way through the shelter to the playroom. They were so excited. At the event we let the kids come in and collect little presents from us. I brought little cellophane bags filled with pet fish, pirate gold, mermaid tears, and stickers. Janelle had candy. And Calvin had brought the above mentioned boxes of chocolates and candies. What was wonderful was to see the children's faces light up at having these treats brought to them. You could tell that even though they were small trinkets, they meant a lot to the kids. The kids squealed at my new tail. Because it feels so realistic, some of them were even a little grossed out. They loved spraying me with the spray bottle. Some of them were terrified that I would die if they didn't keep my tail wet. It was terribly cute. One little girl wouldn't leave the play room, and was so sweet. She kept asking questions and giving us hugs. The kids were delightful. Almost all of them were very well behaved, and so polite. I was very impressed. They asked when we would come back to see them. They didn't want us to leave. And to be absolutely honest, I didn't want to leave them either.

The other people at the Road Home, especially Alicia, helped immensely with the entire thing. They were wonderful to work with and so helpful. We had rooms to change in, strong men to help lift us (especially me up the stairs! Eep!), and people to help us manage all the kids. I was very luck to have this amazing group of people to help with the event, and I sincerely hope to work with them again.

Even a little over a week after the event, I still feel sparkly. It was such a blessing to meet those kids and to be able to share this experience. We were asked to do another event in the future, and I hope that we can visit them again very soon. It's an experience I will never forget!