SLIPPIN' & KICKIN' IN LAGO / FEBRUARY 21,2008 =D

So the Hubby finally got me to take the 3-hour road trip back to Calatagan to watch him wakeboard. While I take sole credit for originally hauling him there (along with cousin Dooders and His-Special-Girl-MJ) because I thought I needed something exciting and new to try out, I pretty much gave up after two tries at the kneeboard. I soon realized wakeboarding ain't for me.

Hubby Sweet, on the other hand, got hooked. So hooked, in fact, that just as some of my friends are turning into golf widows (with their husbands hitting and chasing around a small white ball around vast green fields every Saturday), I have also turned into a weekend-widow-but-of-the-wakeboard-sort. Now, how cool is that?! Haha. =D

I don't go with him every weekend. I used to, but--rightly or wrongly--I have decided that I have better things to do. Besides, with all the late nights at work these days, all I really look forward to during weekends is SLEEP (yes, in BIG, BOLD LETTERS). *Sheepish grin =D* So the Hubby and I made a pact. I can have my regular Saturdays for sleep, House Better visits and whatever-else-errands I need to do for Barrioca and Buster J, but when there's a competition, I would have to find the strength to haul my ass off the couch and go with him to Lago. Hay...=) O, sya, sya. =D

After dropping the boys off at Lolo's and Lola's (haha), I slept all the way through the trip to Lago. I woke up to find the first welcome sight since I've been there last. Lago now has nipa huts/cabanas lining the lake. YEY! I don't have to stay under the intense sun all day. And, yes, if I get sleepy after lunch, I actually have a place to snooze in! Woohoo! =)

Turns out, this trip to Lago will be more enjoyable than the past trips. The Hubby has built himself a group of wakeboard buddies since I was there last, and I enjoyed meeting all of them and finally putting faces to the names (that until then, I would only hear about in his stories). *Run-on sentence alert, haha!* Some of them also brought along their wives, their girlfriends, their kids, etc., etc. Everyone was looking for Buster J and Barrioca. Sadly, dogs are not allowed in Lago. =(

And so, the day was spent alternating between watching Hubby Sweet compete (and taking pics), making tambay & kwento under the coconut trees with the other wakeboarders waiting for their turn, and lounging around in the hut making chismis with Ging (Tricky D's girl friend) and Andie Gurl, this adorable, chinky-eyed 5-year old who chatted me up all day, in between K-Zone reading sessions and teddy-bear-instructional-art-lessons. =D

Still, the priority of the day was to cheer our men on! By the end of the day-long competition (which had all the ambience of a big, barkada, weekend gimmick), wakeboarding guru C-Lo announced that Tricky D had won third place. WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!! (Not bad for his first competition ever. Congratulations, Tricky D! =D) Jesse, the teen wonder, was called in as runner-up. Who emerged as champion of the Happy Thoughts Men's Division?! Why, it's.....it's.....it's....HUBBY SWEET!!! WOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! *Complete with tears in our eyes, haha! =D*

Congratulations, Sweetie!!!!! Here's to the 2nd and the 3rd Slippin' & Kickin' rounds! =D

Rikivon (the Hubby's bestfriend, Tricky D's neighbor and Georgie's ex-officemate) dropped by later in the afternoon with Evan, yaya and lola in tow. He missed the competition entirely, but managed to take some great pics of all the action that was still taking place when they arrived. He uploaded a video on Multiply and Facebook that pretty much captured the flavor of the day for me. (Great video, Riki! Lagot ka kay Emi. Pinakilala mo si Evan kay Andie Gurl. Mukhang na-in-lab. Haha! =D) Click here to see it. =D

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It just occurred to me, while chatting with some of the wakeboarders under the coco trees, that they wear their injuries like badges. Women's Happy Thoughts Champion, Alma, for e.g., showed me major scars on her legs and regalled me with stories about a 15-minute amnesia brought on by major spill that had her diving head first into the murky Lago waters. The others then proceeded to proudly show me their "battle scars" like it was graduation day and they all graduated at the top of their class. =D

Seeing all those scars reminded me of the BIG gash that Hubby Sweet has running like a snake practically on half of his left leg. He slipped and snagged it on one of the kickers or whatever-else-you-call-those-ramps. In any case, that was his minor injury.

In mid-2008, the Hubby and I spent 3 days and about P50 thou in Medical City where we learned a new medical term. PNEUMOTHORAX. Loose translation: collapsed lung. ACK! The day before, he apparently tried on a vest and snapped on the lumbar support too high and too tightly. Giving the raley a try, he jumped up the ramp, pulled on the cable, breathed deeply to be able to pull his legs up, and because he had on his vest too tight, his left lung was unable to expand properly and instead popped. Did I already say it? Let me say it again. ACK! =( We only found out the day after, with him complaining that the left side of his chest feels like there is a water bag slushing inside him everytime he moves, and that he seems to be getting tired too easily. The X-Ray at Medical City explained everything. There was air, not inside, but outside his lung. Hay! The doctor told us he was lucky because the puncture was not too big so the air release was gradual (think minor flat tire as opposed to a major blow-up), so she hopes that as they monitor and support him with oxygen intake (thus, the 3-day hospital stay), his left lung would be able to "heal itself". If that doesn't do the trick, they would have to operate on him to let the air in the body cavity out and to seal the hole on the left lung. The doctor said if the hole had been any bigger, he wouldn't have made it home because his left lung would have collapsed, causing his right lung to overcompensate and blow up too. Technically, therefore, Hubby Sweet is already on his second life.

After winning the competition last Saturday, Hubby Sweet exclaimed, "Tweet, this is for you! All worth it naman lahat ng sugat and hospital stays, right?" HAHA! Susko. =) But with the Hubby being required to move up to the Men's Open Division (i.e., if he wants to continue competing), it would mean that he now has to seriously master the inverts (yes, the moves that would require him to fly, flip mid-air, and hopefully land on his feet instead of his head). WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

God protect him.

Heaven help me. Hay! =D