Rosa Linda Román (00:28): Hello and welcome to New Mexi-Castaways, the enchanting audio podcast, where I get to share my family's adventures living on a 45 foot sailing, catamaran. Hello, my name is Rosa Linda Roman. I am your host and creator of the TV show. New Mexicast. This is the audio companion to New Mexicast video products. If you will, everything from online courses in bookbinding among other things to videos, feature stories about enchanting people and places in New Mexico and beyond. Obviously we are way, way beyond, and that is why this audio companion edition is being recorded because realistically, when you move on to a catamaran and decide you're going to sail away to remote islands, internet, internet connectivity is not always a assured option and I'm just being stopped by a train right now. So this should be some good audio in a second here. I am actually, so let me finish my thought. So because it's not guaranteed that I will have my Oh, I want to, I want to record this listen Rosa Linda Román (02:12): And there goes the tri rail. I am on my way down to Fort Lauderdale. The sun is not yet up. It is early morning, about six 30 coming from Riviera beach Marina heading to Fort Lauderdale to take our puppy Nala to our friend, Gina. My friend has been a part of our our dog and kid family for awhile. She helped us when we first moved down to a boat in 2009, it is now at the time of this recording 2016 and Gina is helping us again to watch Nala who is in the middle of doggie bootcamp. But her trainer, my friend from high school Betsy Alvarez is away at a wedding this weekend and my family is heading to our daughter's first meet gymnastics meet in Florida. And I'm going to get into that, but let me finish my thought from before the train distracted me. Rosa Linda Román (03:20): And I was like, my five-year-old squirrel where you just get distracted so quickly. And if you don't know what the reference to that is you got to go watch the movie up if you don't know what squirrel means, but suffice it to say it means any distraction when you're in the middle of a thought. Anyway, so because what was I talking about? This is really early and the coffee has not been consumed yet. I'm actually a morning person, but I had a rough time getting to sleep last night. It could be the fact that my sweetheart figured out how to get football on our boat, get our whole football, DirecTV football package on the boat. And of course that means he was watching football till midnight, last night in our room which we usually don't have TV in our room back home in New Mexico. Rosa Linda Román (04:15): Oh, I know what I was talking about. Okay. So internet connectivity is hit or miss depending on where you're sailing to. And so I didn't want to, and I was in the middle of trying to figure out what I wanted to do next with New Mexicast. Anyway I've been doing a lot of live streaming work using Periscope and Facebook live, but I really haven't done any well-produced feature pieces, like was my hallmark of New Mexicast in the past. So with that in mind, I realized I really enjoy recording these audio additions. And I didn't want to, I don't want to confuse people too much about this being New Mexico related, but that is my brand name. And since that's where we came from, we are a New Mexico based family living on a sailing catamaran currently in, in Florida in Riviera beach, Florida. Rosa Linda Román (05:09): So all that to say, welcome to New Mexi-Castaways, the audio edition of New Mexicast. So if you've listened this far, I guess you would want to hear some more about my ramblings. So let me just continue. I am taking Nala down to Gina's because we are after this heading to Tampa for a harvest first Florida gymnastics meet. Now, this is a really big deal. We moved here in June and my back in New Mexico, I have a, was a competitive gymnast as well, and we weren't sure how we were going to make the transition for her New Mexico, New Mexico, excuse me, renaming the whole state to my brand name. That'd be cool. Wouldn't it. Anyway, we were back in New Mexico, she was competing and doing quite well in our opinion, but in her opinion, she was very disappointed in herself two years ago, or I guess it's almost three years now. She competed and came in second in the state of New Mexico in her age group for gymnastics. And then last year she came in seventh, she had broken her collarbone. She struggled to recover, but I think it was less, well, maybe it was a big part of that because there was a certain fear factor after getting hurt. But she just wasn't really having the breakthrough that she felt like she should have. She had been, she was horribly disappointed with her seventh place finish in the state meet last year. And so we weren't sure she would stick with the sport. We figured. Well, you know, it's, she's given it a good run. She's going to get on this Boat and want to just stop doing that. Maybe take up swimming or a more appropriate sport for when you're on a sailboat. For our other daughter, she does tennis or just start it up again. And she actually just discovered that's Ziva, by the way, Ziva just discovered beach volleyball, and she is in love. It was brand new and that's a whole nother story. Let me finish the gymnastic story. So we thought she would give up gymnastics and or at least, you know, be okay with us taking a long break at the very least, But we moved here and as we were prepping the boat, we found a gym. We looked at gyms in the area to keep her training and we happened to find a gym here. Steve Nunno is the owner and coach. Well, he is the gentleman who trained Shannon Miller for the Olympics back in the day. And I couldn't tell you which Olympics it was, my brain being what it is at this morning, but he wasn't just coaching there. He has a gymnast, Emily Gaskins, who is an elite gymnast and tried out for the Olympic team this year, which by the way, it's been a very exciting year for all sports watching the Olympics. It's the, you know, every four years, summer Olympics was amazing. They were in Brazil and we very much enjoyed that. And I actually think that played a big part in why we, there was this resurgence in a lit, in a gymnastics fervor from my daughter because she watched these amazing gymnast like Simone Biles and Gabby, Oh, Douglas, Gabby Douglas and and Allie Reisman. Rosa Linda Román (08:59): And so, so with watching, having that, being able to see gymnastics at that level, as it played out live was really inspiring for her. And all the gymnasts, I think at her gym, but simultaneously coming to it at a time when she has a new coach and she loved her, her coach back in New Mexico. But he was really, there was a coach, John and I don't know his last name. But he was a great coach, but he wasn't really her coach. He would, she gets, got to do a few private lessons with him, but he was really training the older girls regularly. It wasn't working with Hava on a regular basis. I mean, I know a daily basis, well at this gym, they have two elite trips. Emily and I don't know the other girl's name personally. But these two girls are training at this gym with this coach, Steve Nuno, and they allow, they don't just have those two elite girls separate from our group, from the other girls, all of the girls train together at the same time. Rosa Linda Román (10:11): And so when they're warming up, they are all doing the same warmup. And when they're running through floor exercises, they take turns between seeing the level four gymnast do their routine, which is the kind of the beginning of the competitive spectrum to the elite gymnast, do their routine. And, and they're taking turns. So all the girls are getting to see this th these advanced gymnast performed before their very eyes. So it has been incredibly inspiring for our daughter Ahava and she's been working her butt off. And so this weekend, tomorrow, as a matter of fact, is her first Florida meet since she started training with this new gym and the first Florida meet ever, but we have no idea what to expect. She feels very confident. Yeah. She is going to be able to excel and surpass her previous scores, but I'm so nervous for her because she really she's got her heart set on it. Rosa Linda Román (11:18): She has over the summer, she worked four hours a day, five days a week. And now she's working four hours today, four days a week. Now that the school year has started. And because of that, it's, it's scary for me because I'm not sure if she's had the breakthroughs in her skills or not. I mean, she has had some major breakthroughs. She was able to get the backbend walk over on the beach team, which is one of the scariest moves too make when that's like the big leap. When you make that, that transition of the difference between a lot of the skills that they do, like front hand spring, I dunno, I've forgotten all the trucks, but basically a lot of the skills you can see where you're going, you know, you're running, running, running, and you got to flip and turn and whatever, but you land forward and on your feet and you know where you're going. Rosa Linda Román (12:12): So as long as you kind of keep your bearings and where the floor is, you're good. Well, this back bend walk over or back walk over, I guess you'd call. It is that is when you, you can't see the beam behind you and, you know, remember you're several feet off the floor off the ground. You can't see the beam behind you when you make the decision and that leap of faith, if you will, to reach back and let go of the, basically your foothold. And so that's really a major move that you, you know, you, you can overcome once you overcome that one only as a major barrier, I think, and kind of the turning point when I hear a lot of people talk about their children have been gymnast in the past. The thing I hear a lot about is the fact that they that they gave up when it came to this backbend walkover, because they just could never let go of that fear that they were going to fall on their head. Rosa Linda Román (13:16): Rightfully so it's a very scary moment, right. But that is kind of the turning point or the defining moment for a lot of gymnast that they just are going to, they just can't make that mental breakthrough. So I have, I did have that breakthrough a few weeks ago. She's still teetering between level four and level five. She was called a training level five at this gym. But this meet, she's competing at her old level, which is level four, which she is not happy about. Well, she wasn't happy about, but actually I think she's starting to feel excited that she can really show her skills at the level she was already at before. And that's what worries me, because if she tanks on this one, it's going to break her heart. Now you would think, I would be like, Oh, that'd be good. Rosa Linda Román (14:06): Cause then we can say, all right, well, I, I don't think of it like that. At first I was frustrated that we didn't leave. We didn't go anywhere because once we got here and she found this great coach and this great gym, and she started training and really training in a way she never did before the gym she was at before was great. But she, I always kind of felt like her heart wasn't fully in it. Part of me worried that she, she did gymnastics because she was naturally good at it. And because she got a lot of attention from her parents for doing it right, especially her daddy who loves watching gymnastics and any, any sport in general. And my dad also would come to the meet to really, and my mom when she could to enjoy seeing her. So there was a lot of really positive attention, even like her uncle Ari would come from Tucson, my family from Chicago we even had some friends, a friend from Texas come visit. Rosa Linda Román (15:02): So I wasn't sure based on how she practiced and the fact that she never even did any of her skills outside the gym. Like she never practiced her splits or never practiced her hand stand outside the gym. I just felt like maybe she didn't want it as badly as the effort it took for us to get her there and the cost. And then we moved here and it was a complete one 80. I mean, it was, she's the one who standing at the door ready when the when it's time to go to gymnastics every day. She's the one who made the choice to give up basically every fun activity this summer that her, her sister and brother got to do so that she could train. And in the past, I promise you, she never would have done that. She would have said, no, I, I want to go to Grammy week or I want to go to camp and that kind of stuff. Rosa Linda Román (16:01): But she trained, trained, trained, and she here, she is really serious about it. And I'm so worried for her because if she doesn't do as well, like basically she has to come in first place in the whole, like out of everyone at this beat in order to feel satisfied, I really feel like that is the bar that she set for her. And I mean, I know it is, and I don't, no, maybe if she came in second, she'd be okay, but I'm pretty sure if she came in anything after that, she's going to be heartbroken. And as I watch her skill set, it's really hard for me to see if she is actually that further advanced than she was when we left New Mexico. She's definitely stronger. I mean, you should see this girl, she's like solid muscle right now, just an eight pack on her abs and her little back muscles are just peeking out of her, her leotard. Rosa Linda Román (16:58): And I mean, it's just, it's just unbelievable how, what how hard she has worked and how it shows in her physique and in her just general way she's able to carry herself. But is that enough? That's the question? Is it enough? There's so much of it in gymnastics that it's just a, it's really a mental game with yourself. I know it's a, they say it's a team sport because there's a whole team, but really it's an individual sport and it's you against yourself. You're competing against yourself. You want to beat all the other girls and everything, but the mental game is with yourself and that's probably true of most sports, but this is the one I'm, I'm getting to see most intimately because of my daughter. So yeah, I mean, we're, I'm to be getting to this point, to see this, to be at this meet weekend and find out how she really is doing, because it's one thing to watch her doing practice and think, wow, she's looking really good. Rosa Linda Román (18:03): And it's another thing entirely to find out what the judges think, right? I mean, that's really what it comes down to. What do the judges think of how she is doing? Because we have no way to know and I've heard and how does anyone know really? But, but the word on the street is that the judges are much stricter here in Florida and much tougher on the gymnast as far as scores go than they were in New Mexico. Now this may just be the girls talking, right. We have, I have no idea if that's true and really there's no way to know because if she scores low, it could just be that she's not made the progress we thought. But we'll see, that's, I'm, I'm just glad to finally be getting to the point where we can actually see how she is doing on her skills as it relates to getting scored by judges. Rosa Linda Román (18:58): I am super, amazingly proud of her personally, if she didn't do another day of gymnastics, I still would be monumentally proud of the effort that she's made. And it's really it's shown in her character. I think it's really helped her make this transition to preteen, you know, that the time when the hormones start getting introduced to the equation just being able to have that sport and, and that comradery makes a huge difference for her. So yeah, I, I'm excited about the meet. I'm excited about the trip to Tampa. We're bringing our new babysitter, Miss Allie with us. So we'll hopefully have a night out with some of my friends from my old TV station, which is in Tampa. Well actually not my old TV station, but my old colleagues from adjacent TV stations and other TV stations. One of them is Jennifer Lee, who is a friend of mine from WFLA, she's one of the anchors there now. Rosa Linda Román (20:02): And she and I were, were reporters in Polk County bureaus. We were Bureau reporters together when I was working at WTVT in Tampa, the Fox station. So yeah, it'll be fun to see her. We're also hopefully going to connect with some of our friends who used to live in hope town, which is the Island in The Bahamas that we love so much. They live in Tampa now and our Clearwater or somewhere like that. And we're hopefully gonna connect with them, Karen and bill Butler and their son Jack, or I think he goes by Jackson now. And yeah, so we are gonna connect with some friends in Tampa, watch Ahava compete and hopefully it'll turn out to be a good weekend for everybody. I am going to take a little break and when I come back, I want to talk about beach volleyball. Cause that's the other sport that's taking up our, our focus and energy. And it's been a very good thing. Okay, I'll be right back. Rosa Linda Román (21:16): All right, I'm back. And I, what has been taking up Ziva's time lately is beach volleyball, which has been a really fun transition for her because for so long now, Ziva is my middle daughter. She's nine Ahava's, 11. If I didn't mention that before. So Ziva has, and her brother, Samuel, they have all spent a lot of time watching their big sisters gymnastics and supporting, being part of the family that supports this, her dream, right? Her gymnastics dream. Well, since we are here and I don't know if I've gone through and I'm sure I've said this on a previous podcast, but the, the whole mental decision to be here in Florida right now comes for the, as I mentioned before, the break that the idea that Ahava is excelling at gymnastics, as much as I wanted to sail away, the reality is the season for gymnastics goes through December here. Rosa Linda Román (22:21): Really. I mean, there's another meet in February, but the main season is through December. And that's when the state meet is December 3rd and fourth. And right now it is September 9th. So Nathan and I decided that if she's doing so well at the sport has such a great coach and all of that, then there's no reason. Yeah. That was a motorcycle that almost hit my car and we're going, we're going 70 miles an hour on the highway. And he just went and there's another one. They just went on the dotted line between the HOV lane and the regular lane. But I digress. So I guess we'll be watching somebody in the future. Yeah, so that, sorry about the distraction. That's very scary. I, I always get uncomfortable around motorcycles driving near me, especially when they're driving recklessly. When I was a little girl, the man across the street from us was killed on a motorcycle decapitated in front of his five-year-old son. Rosa Linda Román (23:33): So that was super awesome. And ever since then, I just, I just can't, I know some people love motorcycles, but I just can't. Anyway, where was I? So can you see where this is going? This brain of mine, this is why I call these podcasts. Rosa Linda's ramblings, and I'm sure nobody is going to want to listen to this, but so be it, it is what it is. I enjoy them. They helped me. It's like therapy. Let's just call this Rosa Linda's therapy because I get to talk things through the downside of where we are. And really most places I've ever lived since I met Nathan, is that I don't really have a community I'm pretty much on my own. And I don't have a lot of people to talk to. So consider yourself my circle of girlfriends or, or guy, friends, whatever whoever's listening, a circle of friends that I get to just kind of vent to. Rosa Linda Román (24:31): So if you are still listening, thank you very much. I appreciate you in my circle of friends. So talking about staying put was very difficult. I really wanted to sail and I know Nathan did too. We, we were, we used initially we had the excuse that we needed to do some preps on the boat. We needed to get the water maker set and, and the radar and all this stuff. But little by little, we've been getting these projects done. And so we are kind of ready to go on and sail away, but we have this gymnastics factor and I'm pretty sure I've talked in the past about how I tried to find a way to even get gymnastics in hometown, in The Bahamas, in the Island that we love so much or somewhere near there. So we could sail there and have her train there. Rosa Linda Román (25:26): But the one factor we couldn't get away from, well, first of all, it was, it was near impossible to do in the time we needed to, because we didn't want her to miss another season if she was going to stick with the sport, because it's not like a lot of sports like tennis, you have many more years to actually get good and play and, and potentially play the circuit or play in college. Gymnastics is a very short-term sport. You don't eat. It's not something you play when you're, you know, in your eighties or do when you're in your eighties. Right? So with that in mind, we want to give her every shot while she is in the thick of it and good at it. We want to give her every shot she can get and if it means waiting for a few months, so be it. Rosa Linda Román (26:11): I mean, the fact is now we've only got September from September, October, November, December. So we've only got three months left that we would stick around. In fact, it would probably be this time in three months that we have decided we are going to sail away. Even Nathan, who, as you all know, anyone that knows him is a total workaholic. I mean, like he's got three jobs all the time at any given moment. He is actively involved in at least one venture plus, you know, his, his clinical work as a doctor and he is a, he works in a vice-president of integrative medicine for a group. So he's very busy and even he is thinking he would like to try to take a little break. I don't know how long he can do, but take a little break disconnect and actually sail for a while. Rosa Linda Román (27:13): It's probably going to be no more than two months knowing Nathan, but that would be at least enough to get us to some islands that we could explore. So, but that means we are here. Right. And knowing that we're here, we've, I've started to try to look at it as an opportunity to explore some things that we've always wanted to, or that we didn't have the opportunity to in the past, because now we have started homeschooling the kids, which is a whole different discussion. There's like, it's, it's a work in progress. And I've learned a little by little from other homeschooling families that you don't, you don't like, unless you're working like with school in a box. And even then you still got to figure out the family dynamics it's really you, you piece it together bit by bit until you feel like things start to click. Rosa Linda Román (28:09): And we have, as far as the curriculum goes and we have not quite gotten there yet. But anyway, so I've got a low battery. Let's hope it makes it through this podcast. I'm going to have to stop and get some batteries before I drive back. Because of course, I wouldn't want to deprive you of listening to me talking. Anyway, so we decided to look at this as an opportunity to do some things that we wouldn't otherwise be able to do. So with that in mind, Ziva has been exploring some sports and she's been taking lessons with a tennis coach and that's been okay. She loves the idea of tennis because it's her daddy sport. And he loves tennis completely. And yet the coach she has is not the right coach for her. He is not very encouraging. And she is like her mama where she, she thrives on positive feedback and kudos. And as much as I try not to, and not to need that you know, positive reviews and feedback and emails definitely go a long way. So let me just put that plug in there. If you've been listening to these podcasts and actually like them, I would love to hear from you either an iTunes or just send me an email rlr at newmexicast .com. And so I digress again, and that's basically how Ziva is, and she really needs a coach that believes in her and supports her and gives her that positive boost. Rosa Linda Román (29:43): The other factor is she with these private lessons, she's not with other kids. And so it's just not as much fun she needs. She's a social butterfly and being out of school now and not having that community that way, I'm trying to find more ways that she can actually participate in activities with other kids. And so that is how we ended up in with her exploring beach volleyball. And I'm going to get into that in a little bit, but I'm about to reach my destination and I'm about to run out of battery. So I will continue on the trip back to update you about beach volleyball. Thanks. Rosa Linda Román (30:35): Okay. I am back and Nala has been officially dropped off with my dog sitter, Miss Gina, who is, who has three of her own little pups who are getting up there in age. Actually, she has had them as long as we've known her and they're really cute little dogs and, and Nala handled it pretty well. She's so funny cause she doesn't realize how big she is. And she was kind of hiding from some of the little dogs and Gina's dogs are some of them are chihuahuas and she Nala was afraid of them, which is funny, cause they were very friendly dogs and it wasn't like they were doing anything, but she would just kind of hide. And I thought you don't realize you're like three times their size already. Right? Anyway. So all is well with that. I am heading back North toward Riviera beach so I can pick up the family and take Ziva to beach volleyball and what the, and that's perfect timing because that's what I want to talk about. Rosa Linda Román (31:36): So with gymnastics kind of dominating our lives for so long, it was really hard to find anything that Ziva could do or Samuel for that matter, that fit into the gymnastic schedule, especially in New Mexico where we would drive about 40 minutes each way to get to the gym. So, and then of course, all the hours of, of actual practice, it was really hard to find anything that Ziva or Samuel could do in the meanwhile. So now that we are homeschooling and we are at this new gym here in Florida, that's like 10 minutes from our house. It works out much better for the other two because we can actually schedule some other activities like during the day or different times that Hava is not doing gymnastics. So it's, that's how we, but again, I found out, you know, I, I sought out a homeschool play group, if you will. Rosa Linda Román (32:38): I wanted to a group that we could have some socialization because that was a big concern of mine. When we thought about how to if, you know, if homeschooling was going to actually be something we could do, I was really worried about the socialization factor. How are my kids going to meet other kids and really get, you know, get along with people their own age. And I just didn't want them to be kind of those weird homeschooled kids who have no social skills and didn't know what, how to behave in a social setting. Now, granted I'm, I'm fortunate cause they kind of naturally have a good social grounding if you will. But part of it is just for happiness factor. Ziva is definitely happier when she has a group of friends and just to a few days ago, Samuel was sobbing because he's got his birthday coming up in November and he, he wanted to go to New Mexico for his birthday. Rosa Linda Román (33:37): And I said, well, we can't go to New Mexico for your birthday. We'll have a party here. And he said, but my friends are in New Mexico and he misses Dillon and Gavin and Calvin. So I, it broke my heart and I realized they, they really do need some socialization of their own here since we're going to be here at least for three months, part of me hesitated to set them, sign them up for anything and have them meet new friends only to rip them away in three months. But it is what it is. I think it's better for them to have friends and do that while we're here and know that sometimes you make friends and then you sail away. So it's what I'm actively struggling with. And it was a big factor, I think for Ziva as well. She's definitely a social person. Rosa Linda Román (34:26): So we went to this playgroup for a homeschool, really it's a parent support group. It's parents educating children pec, and it's a wide range of people who homeschool their kids and they basically offer support for each other. And it's a place that kids can get together and do social activities. And for like the teenagers they have they have other things like a prom, for example, for the people who are homeschooled through high school and stuff like that. So we went to this meeting, it was like the week the monthly meeting for pec. And we met a bunch of people and there were a lot of activities they talked about bowling day roller skating day, beach day, that kind of stuff. And one of the things that stood out was a beach volleyball clinic that they were going to put on at a park, very close to us for the homeschool kids during the day. Rosa Linda Román (35:30): And so that was very attractive because is always wanted to try volleyball, but she's always been too young to do. So they've always said she's not old enough to participate until she was in a fourth grade while she's in fourth grade now. And beach volleyball was very big and exciting in the Olympics because the American team is awesome and you know, these women are in amazing shape and of course they're in these little tiny bathing suit bikini type thing. So, you know, it's hard not to be in awe of these powerful women, you know, in immaculate shape playing this looks like a really fun game. Which makes a lot of sense when you live on a boat, right? Volleyball is pretty easy. You can set up a net anywhere and have a volleyball. And in fact you could do it even without a net. Rosa Linda Román (36:19): So all of this to say, when I saw that they were going to have this little homeschool volleyball group we, we decided to go ride right away. Well, we got there and there was, there's a handful of kids that were there and Ziva took to it right away. I assumed it was like a parent was going to be hosting this little clinic and teaching some basic skills. Well, it turned out that some of the people that are the people who are hosting, this are the actual professional beach volleyball players from down South of here in Deerfield beach. It's actually North of where I am right now, but South of where we live and they have this amazing beach volleyball training area where all the best of the best in the area come to compete and train and hone their skills. And these people who do this, the coach is coach Mike and coach Hari worked together to put on this clinic, these kids, they really amazing. Rosa Linda Román (37:25): They teach them real skills and they're really excited. The kids were really excited. Ziva was super pumped about this sport. So she immediately took to it and it was true three days a week Wednesday and Friday, which is why she's going today. But then after two lessons, the teacher, the coach pulled her aside, pulled us aside and said, you know, she's excelling. Like it was literally the second time she'd ever even touched a volleyball. And she was just doing so well. She, she has kind of a natural athletic ability. And she's tall, she's as tall or taller than her sister. Who's two years older. And so she just right away did very well at this sport. And the coaches pulled us aside and said, we'd like to see how she would do with some of the older girls because when they get to be 12, they have these special clinics on weekend. And do all these other additional skills training and actually play games, you know, not just, not just bouncing around with the ball hitting around the ball, but actually you know, playing, I guess, scrimmages or whatever you would call it and volleyball. And we, I wonder how Ziva would do with that. So we brought Ziva to Deerfield beach On a Friday last Friday and Rosa Linda Román (38:50): She loved it. It was first of all. And I, and we loved it because the one at the park is great. It's convenient, but in Deerfield. But I had to kind of always figure out what to do with Samuel. He was welcome to participate in the clinic, but he, his five-year-old boy and the ability to focus right now and really, yeah. Rosa Linda Román (39:11): Stay with one activity for too long. And it's let's see, nine 30 to, yeah, so it's an hour and a half clinic every Wednesday, Friday. It was really hard for Samuel to do that. And so it, it just was not an easy fit for Ziva to be practicing. And then I'd have to be worrying about Samuel. Well, the one in Deerfield beach was perfect because Ziva was happily playing and we trust the coaches. And so she, she was, you know, not too far from us, but we were able to go down into the water and the ocean and where Samuel out, which was fantastic. And of course Ahava loved it too. Rosa Linda Román (39:51): And by the way, on a side note, we have been living here for almost three months now, two and a half months two and a half months, we've been living on the boat. Right. And granted, we haven't been on the boat the whole time, but we have been here long enough that you would have thought we would have made it to the ocean before. But the reality is we didn't, this was the first one we went down to this volleyball clinic. We re I realized this was really the first time that we were standing on the shore as the waves crash against the beach against the sand. And it was just a very different feeling than, yes, we've been on the ocean when you take the boat out to the ocean and sail on top of the waves out on the ocean, but the power of standing there on the edge of the sea and having the waves crash before you and, and letting the kids play, you know, over and over again in the waves, which by the way, is the perfect way to get kids to go sleep well at night is just wear them out at the beach. Rosa Linda Román (40:57): But it was just funny that we had never made it to the actual ocean. And I, I feel a little guilty because I didn't think about that when my sister was visiting and my sister-in-law was visiting. And so we really didn't have that, that big, powerful ocean experience anyway, but it was wonderful. Ziva loved the volleyball. And we went back two days later for a real clinic where it's like two hours of intensive training in beach volleyball. So all of this to say that Ziva is like walking on sunshine, her coaches believe her again. Rosa Linda Román (41:34): I mentioned before she needs that positive encouragement. If a coach believes in her, or I guess a teacher or a parent, if, if you, if she gets that encouragement, she will do anything. I mean, she will go to the ends of the earth to please, you know, her coach and work her butt off. If she feels like they're they're proud of her and believe in her. And I can really see a big difference between the volleyball people who are just wonderful and really believe that she has a future in the sport, as opposed to the tennis coach who we're paying a fortune to, by the way which is just kind of an average every day experience. All right, I'm going to pause this because I'm getting a phone call. Rosa Linda Román (42:26): Okay. I'm back. And that was my sweetheart. Just kind of updating me on the kids. They're packing, getting ready for the trip to Tampa and all as well. So that's good. Although I am stuck in traffic, so we'll see if they actually make it to volleyball. Although he is so funny, he loves Uber, Uber, Uber, Uber loves it. So he said, well, if you don't make it in time, I'll just Uber over and get them, get her to practice, which is great. We only have one car here. We bought this car when we we're actually just bought the boat. And we kept coming back to visit the boat and paying for rental cars. I said, you know, for the amount we're spending on rental cars, we could just actually buy a car and make a car payment. And so Nathan immediately looked and it was obviously more to buy a car, but you know, at least it's ours now. And it worked out well. Cause then we ended up with this car here and we had my car and Nathan's car in New Mexico as we made the move. So I guess that's all we need to know is I, I did the Rosa Linda Román (43:32): We went down to Deerfield beach and volley beach volleyball is the thing right now for Ziva, which is great. Cause that's a sport that once and Nathan's kind of watching and learning from the coaches and really paying attention cause he's not naturally athletic. And so it can be that he can keep the, the lessons going. He can keep teaching her even when we're not here. So I like that. That's a sport that she can take with her and the same thing with tennis. And I'm actually, my next move is going to be to look for a tennis facility. That's closer to us cause the one that she's got this coach at, and he's a nice guy. It's not that he's a bad coach. He's actually very good with skills. And, but he's just, she just, she's not excited. And if she's not excited and she's not around other kids, cause it's a private lesson, it's just not going to work for the long haul. Rosa Linda Román (44:25): So I'm going to look for hopefully where she can get in a group practice with some other kids. So that'll be the next thing when we get back. The other question is what to do with Samuel. He needs to wear, we need to wear him out and seeing the ocean reaction. I mean, it was, it was hilarious. Cause after the beach volleyball practice and the swimming in the ocean, he on the drive home, he was like, mommy, I'm going to take a nap. And if you know, my kid that's like, that would never happen. He just, he refuses to take a nap as much as he possibly can. So it wore him out and I love the thought that we could find a physical activity that would help wear him out and, and burn some of that like bouncing everywhere energy to help him maybe focus a little bit in our homeschool setting. Rosa Linda Román (45:18): I struggled with whether he should be in an actual kindergarten and I'm leaning toward yes. Again, it would only be for three months and then we would sail away hopefully. But I just really think the more I'm around him and, and just his bouncing energy, I think maybe he really would thrive to have a little bit more of that social structure in a school. So we'll see. And I guess that's about it. That's the main stuff that's on my mind. I would love to hear from you guys, tell me what you want to know about boat life or video or audio production or just whatever. Yeah. So thanks for listening and I hope you guys have a fantastic week take care and I'll talk to you on the next edition of New Mexi-Castaways I'm Rosa, Linda Romano.