Water Skiing Lessons

My first experience water skiing was about 11 years ago. My bff called and asked if I wanted to go with her and her father-in-law to Carlyle Lake. He had a boat, and was always looking for a reason to get out on the water. I was single and apparently had time to spare, and I'm always looking for fun times. BFF's husband had to work, so it was just the 3 of us--a little awkward since I'd only met her father-in-law a couple of times. So he drove the boat, bff sat in the boat since she was pregnant, and I naively jumped into the water and attempted to figure out what the heck I was supposed to do. In a few minutes I found out how water skiing works: you strap on the clown shoes, you squat and wait for the engine to rev, then you get dragged by one foot through dirty water while sputtering and gasping for air. I was satisfied with my experience--you can't enjoy everything, right?

Well...this past weekend we went to the lake with our dear friends from church. Determined not to be a chicken (and trying to be a good example for Little Sissy, who is scared of everything), I decided to try again. Mr. and Mrs. B gave me some lessons before I went out.

First, you hold your arms straight and let the boat pull you up like this.

Once you're comfortable and have been doing that for a while, you can tuck the handle behind your legs...

and ski with no hands...

or with just one hand.

When that becomes dull, just take one ski off...

and try balancing it on your arms while you ski on one foot.

OK, I'm ready. So I just strap my feet in and wait for the boat to pull me up, right?

Ummm...what happened to that part about letting the boat pull me up?

I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to have the skis in my hands, right?

Take 2. Maybe I'll try again in another 10 years or so.

But just for the record, I went tubing for the 2nd time in a month and I wasn't even scared this time.