Part 2- Mermaid Life

So while on holiday I managed to go swimming in my tail relatively often! It was great, especially because I was swimming in the ocean/salt water- no sore eyes!!! My hair DID however go green after swimming in my Aunties pool O_o it had never happened to me before (being a natural blonde who is ALWAYS swimming!) so there must have been something in the pool. My Dad said the sweetest thing though, he looked at my hair and said "well, technically, mermaids would have green hair to help hide in the seaweed, so maybe you're turning into a real mermaid." NAWWW <3 THANKS DAD! That made me feel so much better.

I also managed to have two 'photo shoots' while home. One was a spur of the moment thing- we were out fishing (Mum, Dad, Mikey and myself) on the boat and pulled into one of the beaches for lunch. We saw a few REALLY big sand crabs on the weed line but didn't think much of it. I jumped out the boat into the waist-deep water: and stepped directly onto a dinner-plate sized crab. Needless to say, it took a chunk out of my big toe in revenge, and I spent a good few minutes hopping around yelling angrily. It ended well, however: Dad jumped in and caught the crab. And we ate it. So there. Haha!
After that exciting event I was a bit of a wuss and didn't want to walk/swim out any deeper than knee depth (my toe was still bleeding too...) so I put on my tail and had an impromptu photo shoot with Mikey behind the camera! He took some great photos- I was super proud. hehe!
Most of the pictures are on my facebook: www.facebook.com/mizukomermaid

The second shoot was organized by Mum- it was right at the end of my trip, Mikey had already gone back to the city a few weeks before, and Dad was out surfing. Mum and I got up early and drove to one of the surf beaches along the West coast- I used to go there almost every weekend growing up! It was like a family tradition; we'd pack the car up nice and early, get to the beach, climb down the cliffs carrying eskys, surfboards, toys, etc, where we'd set up a little shade and Dad would go for a surf while Mum, my big sister and I would play in the rock pools and go for a swim. After a few hours Dad would paddle back to shore and we'd all have lunch (maybe a nap in the shade) and then do it all again- although normally the sea breeze would've kicked in so the surf would have been too choppy for Dad to go back out.
Long story short, Mum suggested a photo shoot in the rock pools. When we got there it was perfect- we were the only ones on the whole coastline as far as the eyes could see! We grabbed our lunches, cameras, my tail and towels and climbed down the cliff to the pools. The big pool itself was so clear that day- there were fish stuck in it from the nights tide that hid under all the rocks when we walked past, but on occasion the clarity of the water would be churned up as a king wave would crash over the rock wall in a foaming crescendo. Before I even got to put my tail on, however, we heard a voice echoing off the cliff, so we turned around and spotted a figure waving to us. It was Dad! Turns out the swell was too big (yes, the surf can get TOO big!) so he'd followed a hunch and came to the rock pools to find us!
So began my photo shoot- it probably took about an hour. I ended it with a few recorded swims in the deeper part of the pool- but OH MY GOD it was so cold!!! I was shaking uncontrollably when I got out and had to lie on the hot rocks to try warm up. Even though it was a 35 degree celcius day (95 fahrenheit) it took me an hour to stop shaking. Haha!

I made a compilation video of all my ocean swims while on holiday!:

I also made myself a mermaid diary- so that I could put all my events and stuff in somewhere easy to find!!

And I finally wore my awesome mermaid-scale onepiece. Although NOT in the water! Haha! Its really cute! <3

So, I came back to the city and continued training. It sucks having to swim in chlorine again- I was swimming three or four times a week while on holiday and I wanted to keep it up even when home! So far I've done ok- but on average I feel like its twice a week :S I haven't tried my static apnea in a while- and I haven't even tried it underwater yet!! (I know I know, how lazy of me! Haha!)  Mainly because I usually swim alone and I don't want to risk injury/drowning! lol! (For those curious, static apnea means holding ones breath while not moving, and if done so underwater its possible to hold it longer due to the 'mammalian dive reflex' which makes humans hearts slow down when their faces are submerged... *DISCLAIMER* dont do this if you are not TRAINED and do not know the SAFETY ISSUES involved- its like attempting to eat fire when you DONT KNOW HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF. But I shouldn't really have to tell you all that because I know you're not ninnys XD )
So far my static apnea (on land) is up to 2 minutes and 30 seconds. I'd LOVE to get to 3 minutes!!

Now, I have some super exciting news...
MY PROFESSIONAL TAIL ARRIVED!!!

Yes, you heard right!!! :D My tail made my Mermaid Raven from Merbellas arriveddddd!!!! I purchased a matching scale bra and shell bra too- but the shell bra is unfinished so she will send it later! SQUEE!
I was watching the FedEx tracking site like a hawk all week. My tail went from Florida to Texas to Hawaii (jealous of my tail! haha!) and finally landed in Australia. It arrived in my city Monday morning...but the dreaded 'not scheduled for delivery' popped up on the site. WHATTTTT?!! I was so impatient, I rang FedEx up and discovered they didn't deliver til the next day usually. This is where I was like "ok... I work 20 mins from the airport... FedEx is at the airport... I'M GOING TO THE AIRPORT!" And took my half hour lunch to go pick the package up!! It was so big I had to fold down my back seats in my little car! haha! The worst part about it all was- I had to go back to work, sitting the package beside my desk, and wait until the end of the day before I could open it. LOL! I wanted Mikey to be there, so I had to be patient... it was so hard XD But I didn't even PEAK! I was proud of my self restraint.

That evening, I got home and laid it on the floor of my lounge room. Oh my goodness the wait was agonizing- I had to go pick Mikey up from working late before I could open it!! But I picked him up, and with him filming me, I cut open the box...

and...

Oh my god it was beautiful. I tried so hard not to cry!!! But the whole video of me opening it I make one huge whine. haha!! Seriously! Its like I found the perfect pitch to sound like a horse and stayed on it. Kinda embarrassing. lol!
It also FIT LIKE A DREAM. Tight, so I know it wont flap open much in the water! But the colours, oh man the colours <3 I'd given Raven a basic drawing of the colours I wanted but she brought them TO LIFE. The bra was so perfect too!! And she sent me the prettiest hair clip and earrings as presents!! AHGNAOUEHGNAOGHOJH.

...I bet you're wanting to see a whole picture of it, not just this little clip, eh? lol.
Well, to be honest, I dont want to show you all yet. Not just yet. Because I want to do this tail justice!! I'm having a professional photo shoot next week in it at the beach, with a friend who is a MUA doing my makeup and everything.
SO you'll just have to wait a little longer!! ;D
Just believe me when I say this tail is MAGNIFICENT.
Have a look at Mermaid Raven's creations if you need proof: https://www.facebook.com/MerBellaStudios

We also had another Adelaide Mermaid's Meet and Greet last weekend! It was lots of fun- but I ended up being in the water for 5 hours O_o the next day I was so sore. Haha!! I hope to have more pictures of that up soon too!

This year has started out so well! :D :D
I've got SO MUCH planned for my mermaiding career/hobby this year!! I've never been so sure of my path before and it feels incredible to know I'm doing the right thing for me! :)

Thank you so much for Reading! :D <3
XOXOX