Oh what a MAGICAL time of year!!!  My first Christmas as a surfer has been full of all sorts of sugarplum fairies (only these fairies were wearing board shorts) and it began on the 23rd when I arrived at Ted’s for our Christmas dinner.

I had just come from getting my fourth-ever pedicure (seriously, why pay for those when you can do them yourself…without the risk of a weird bacterial infection from the foot tubs) and went to set down my bag.

When I walked by the wall where he mounts his snowboard, I immediately noticed something different all together: a surfboard with decorations shaped like giant Christmas lights hanging from it!

It’s a gorgeous 7’ Kane Garden board.  Even though it’s only half a foot shorter than Greenie, that makes a big difference on a surfboard.  It’s yellow on top and olive on the bottom with a fin system that allows for a thruster or quad setup (meaning three fins or four).

I’ve been thinking about going down to a shorter board that’s more maneuverable, and this is perfect because it will certainly be easier to turn, yet it will still be super stable because of its fish shape (wider in the middle than at the nose and tail).

I could barely sit still through dinner because I was so excited about my new board.  I wanted to take it out RIGHT THEN!!

After our roasted lamb – with mint jelly, no less – we exchanged gifts.  Now, since I already had my big gift for the year, I figured it would be all socks and book marks from there on out.  Not so.

One of the packages he wrapped was suspiciously large.  Not that size is an indicator – my brother is famous for disguising small things in big boxes (gift card in an old VCR box, anyone?) – but this time the size of the package wasn’t a decoy…

It was an Indo Board!!

These are trainers for board sports because they help with balance and board control.  They are roughly the length of a skateboard, but much wider, and you lay them over a cylinder like a see-saw before standing on it.

To get on it, you first step on the side of the board that’s on the floor, then rest the other foot on the side that’s sticking up in the air.  Then you slowly transfer push down with the second foot until the board is parallel to the ground.

The key is slowly transfer your weight, but that’s the tricky part.  When I first got on it, the board kept flying from one side of the cylinder to the other until I was completely out of control.  The board looked like a pendulum arching back and forth.  It was scary, sure, but so much fun!

Of course when I got overly confident, I flew off and hit the floor.  Luckily, I landed on carpet, so there were no pre-Christmas trips to the ER.

I don’t know what I’m more excited about, the surfboard or the Indo Board.  This is up there with the Christmas morning when my brothers and I walked downstairs to find a Go Cart beside the tree.