It Pays To Have Good Karma...

Wow...I've been spending a lot of time in Santa Monica lately.  Recently, my friend Jody invited me to go rollerblading with him in Santa Monica.  It was either there or the pot hole streets of Van Nuys... we chose the beach instead!  ...Inside joke I guess.

Jody is my friend who hosts a monthly "Game Night" at his home. At our last gathering, I mentioned how I enjoy rollerblading and he said that he'd like to go with me sometime.  So, we planned a day to go and off we went.  I hadn't rollerbladed in quite a while so I was hoping I'd remembered how to do so.

After we parked, I took my car key off my chain and placed it in my pocket. We then started just south of the Santa Monica Pier and bladed to Venice before turning around and heading back north again.  Our plan was to continue past the pier and blade up the Pacific Palisades, near Temescal Canyon (where I went on that CRAZY hike a couple weeks ago.)  Well, Jody and I didn't make it too far past the pier before I totally biffed and fell flat on my face on the pavement.  Ugh!  I fell pretty hard and scraped up my knee. Lovely!

After I managed to get back up and wipe off the sand from my hands and just about everywhere else, we continued down the path.  That is right...bloody knee and all.  I'm a tough cookie and insisted we keep going.  We bladed for about 3 miles along the gorgeous beach before we hit a bathroom where I went in and washed off my knee.  We then sat on a bench and took in the view before heading back to the pier where we parked.  

Jody took this picture of the volleyball nets along the beach

Approximately three-quarters of the way back I go, "Oh No!!!" Jody goes, "What???" I go, "My key isn't in my pocket anymore!"  He goes, "What?" I go, "Yeah, it is not there."  He goes, "Are you sure it didn't fall out of your pocket when you fell?" I couldn't remember. "Did I drop it when I fell on the concrete near the sand? Or, did I leave it in the bathroom in Pacific Palisades where I washed my knee off?"  Both seemed to be undesirable outcomes.  Jody suggested we first check the site of where I fell.  Good thing he was with me because I had no recollection of where I fell.  He said, "If we can't find your key here, we can blade back to Palisades and check the bathroom."  

So, we blade over to my "crash site" and didn't find anything in the sand.  I was pretty discouraged and said, "Oh Jody, we'll never find it in that sand if it is in fact there."  All of a sudden I hear a voice from behind me say, "What are you looking for?"  I turn around and these two ladies were standing by their car.  I go, "Oh, I'm afraid I lost a key. I can't seem to find it."  She goes, "A car key?" I go, "Yes, I'm afraid."  She goes, "To a Nissan?"  I go turn around and go, "YES! Do you have it?"  She held up my key! I roll over to her and go, "How on Earth did you find it?" She goes, "Two young boys were over there playing in the sand and found it.  They said, 'Oh, someone is going to be unhappy when they find out they lost their key.'"  Apparently the boys proceeded to give the key to the ladies.  Jody and I had been blading well over an hour after my crash occurred so all of this took place while we were blading up the coast.  How those boys found my key and then it ending up in these ladies hands is beyond me. All I know is I gave her the biggest hug and said, "THANK YOU!!!"  

It sure pays to have Karma on your side!

Later that evening, my friend Jody invited me back to his place to cook me a delicious meal. He is an amazing cook and is always posting pictures on Facebook of his creations.  So, I was fortunate enough to be invited over for one of his "meals."  Here is a picture of what we ate.

Skirt steak w/ fried potatoes, mushrooms, pureed butternut squash w/ cinnamon,  fresh baguette slices & Merlot

Jody served dessert too!  Keep in mind, everything was made from scratch.  He even made his own whip cream!

Blueberry Clafouti

Despite my banged up knee and losing my key, my day didn't turn out so bad!