Full Time Mermaid

[Aquarianne]

I love Mutiny! She looks like a real natural!

[AniaR]

Today I surprised a summer camp. It was cool but omg so cold. lol

First I arrived while the kids were all having lunch. Then I swam out and scoped the place out. I have never been so cold. Like, I dont wanna be TMI but my boobs felt like blocks of ice and it made it hard to breathe. I swam out and hit behind a dock and when the kids first came out I sorta swam about curiously. They thought I was just another swimmer until I dove and the tail came up. SILENCE. It was amazing. I swam over and then quietly belly crawled to the dock where they were all standing with mouths open. Then I spit water at everyone hahahaha then one kid asked if I spoke English. I told them the recent hurricane had made me get lost and I wound up on their beach. Would they mine if I hung around a while til my family found me

They were super cool!!! We swam all over played games checked out the reef caught critters and I posed for photos but I gotta tell you I was colder than I've ever been at a gig. I think i actually pushed it too far and was bordering on making myself sick. I was shivering the whole time until the end when I stopped. My hands were white, my skin was white, and I was super thirsty. so as soon as they were gone Sean put me in the car wrapped in warm blankets and towels and with a hot drink. I was in SO much pain when I started to warm up my muscles ached and my skin stung. I got home and 45 minutes in the shower and I didnt feel warm. it was hot out but I put on PJs and got into bed with blankets. I checked my temp and it was just a few points of a degree off on the lower end but not serious to warrant a hospital visit. It took a few hours to warm up but I did.

It is usually warm enough this time of year but today just happened to be unseasonably cooler weather all around. We did manage to get a few pics.

Here's a photo of me getting into the water and trying to adjust to how cold it was, taken with my phone.



Here's a few photos we grabbed at the end near this neat sea wall they had








I have two more visits at that camp. I think im going to wear tights under my tail next time and a bathing suit top under my silicone top. I'm going to drink warm fluids before hand too.

[Aquarianne]

That is the GREATEST intro to an event ever. I love the "do you speak english" part, that's hilarious!!! XD

[Mermaid Wesley]

aww poor mermaid! bring some cocoa next time! "come on kids didnt you know that mermaids love cocoa?"

[Echidna]

That lake looks wonderful!
I wish someone would invent a mermaid suit with tail looking like the typical mermaid, but warm and insulating for all those gorgeous cold swimming locations.

I was in a beautiful lake myself last week, and I got chest pain and a bit of fever now. Will see the doctor later today.
Hopefully not pneumonia.

Be careful in cold water!

[Lily]

Do you have neoprene socks? Divers use them to keep their feet warm in cold water. You could also try wetsuit pants if you think they'd fit under your tail - far warmer than tights!

Also, those kids are so lucky! None of their friends back home are going to believe they met a real live mermaid at summer camp!

[Mermaid Melanie]

That's awesome ! Kids must have loved it ! I get the same problem with getting cold - I was told to put an extra knob of butter on my toast for breakfast or have a plate of porridge to keep your body warmer while out in the water and it actually helps !


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[PearlieMae]

I wish you could somehow conceal a GoPro camera in your top...I'd LOVE to see the reactions!

This is so great!Think warm thoughts!

[Mermaid Galene]

I'm going to post these link again. Folks, swimming in very cold water can be immediately life-threatening! If it's too cold to be safe, tell the client it's too cold to be safe!

http://www.coldwatersafety.org/WhatIsCold.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4052348/

[AniaR]

That lake looks wonderful!

It was the Atlantic Ocean

Do you have neoprene socks

I did I was wearing them I'm def gonna try pants.

I was told to put an extra knob of butter on my toast for breakfast or have a plate of porridge to keep your body warmer while out in the water and it actually helps !

I think a huge part of the problem was that I didn't eat enough before going in. I only had 1 bagel. I needed protein and a full belly. I have to admit my eating habits have been far too sporadic since going full time.

I wish you could somehow conceal a GoPro camera in your top...I'd LOVE to see the reactions!

We didnt have permission this time around to take video but we got it for the next 2. So you very well may. Plus the staff took their own video and if they post it online I'll share

I'm going to post these link again. Folks, swimming in very cold water can be immediately life-threatening! If it's too cold to be safe, tell the client it's too cold to be safe!

Where I live we have legislation in place for when kids can be outside and in the water temperature wise. This still met the minimum. It was just a collective bunch of factors that made it too cold for me. Also, due to one of my illnesses my sense of what is actually too cold and too hot is off/skewed so my body plays tricks on me. I think I'll be fine next time. I'll be more prepared but these conditions were more of a fluke.

[PearlieMae]

...I'll be more prepared but these conditions were more of a fluke.

I see what you did there.

[AniaR]

hehehe

[MermanOliver]

Well, that's one kind of introduction! Their faces must have been priceless and a reward beside the pay.
The kids will definitely never forget that day.

Stay safe and don't push too far.
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[AniaR]

I am so excited I've finally moved my second book process into the final stages! Editing, formatting and soon.. TO PRINT. Wee. I don't have an exact release date yet but
"Fishy Business: My Life as a Mermaid" will be coming out soon. It documents over a year of my life working as a pro mermaid. The ups and downs and funnies! Plus there are loads of mermaidy tips inside and I think it'll inspire many! I am so so so excited Soon!

[Talia]

Wohoo!!! Congrats on the new book, Raina! Can't wait for the release.

[Mermaid Kassandra]

Oh Raina I'm soo happy for you! You're my inspiration and seeing you doing something so impressive (a full time mermaid for me sound quite as impossible to do) makes me just think you're such an amazing woman!
And congrats for your new book! I can't wait to read it, O really loved your first book and I'm sure I'm going to love this one too
Go on like this you inspire my dreams
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[Mermaid Enora]

I loved the first book, can't wait for the second!

[Seatan]

Awesome! I can't wait to read it. And as for the cold Atlantic... you're brave. I won't even SCUBA dive in fall with a 7mm suit in cold water. I'd practically need a dry suit for anything below 75 lol.

[AniaR]

So Saturday I did an underwater photoshoot. I am trying to get great photos with my splash tail before I retire it. It was a lot of fun but very difficult because I only had one of those tiny temporary pools to work with



You can see there how small it was ^ lol but it was fun and refreshing none the less.

These two pics were taken with my tablet actually:





then I switched between our dslr in a housing, and our underwater point and shoot





















Today is Monday and my only day off. So far I spent it answering emails and organizing gigs haha and I'm okay with that. Tuesday and Wednesday I'm in workshops. Thursday night is Mermaid Mimi's bachelorette party woo woo then Friday morning I have a gig at a Library. Friday evening is Mimi's wedding rehearsal dinner. Saturday is the wedding (Sean and I are both in it) and Sunday I have a gig that Mutiny will be training on.

I am trying really hard now that the book draft is done to wait for my editors. I am so thankful for their help but man oh man it's not easy to wait. Sean and I have been sharing a laptop since March while we argue with the people who have mine (sold me a lemon, wont give me a new one, keep trying to fix lemon, it keeps staying a lemon!) which makes everything difficult.

My beautiful red hair lasted all of a week with my gigs lol so I've gotta dye er again for the wedding. I can't stand how awful it looks from the pool bleaching. *sigh*

I'm still struggling with the balance of MAKING myself rest. When our entire livelihood hinges on mermaid work, I feel very guilty about taking any time to myself even though I need it. I must admit I am exhausted but I at least seem to have my leg pain under control. I gave in and realized I just need to keep spending the money at chiro every week. I dont really break even when I do that- ends up on my credit card... but I'll make it work somehow.

Anyway this week should be exciting. Im really looking forward to the library gig

[AniaR]

Forgot to put also, I am still researching about facebook fan page reach and likes. Trying to find new ways around it. FB has been blocking people from sharing my page. It says it's a security hazard. I get it myself when tagging myself or sharing something -_- I've put in loads of reports. So freaking annoying. I am relying more on the profile I set up for Raina which helps a lot. Also, adding meta data to our website is dramatically increasing the hits so that's awesome too.

I read some recent articles that say FB has really stepped up their system to catch fake fans. Now the sites that sell fake fans are all in a flurry because facebook will drop 1000s in a day. I know from my last experience trying to buy the add I dropped close to 4k and I weeded a bunch out myself. I am still finding though everyday about 20 pages or so to boot off. It's sad. You just want REAL people and FB is doing everything they can to advertise. I've started getting all these notifications that's just FB trying to sell their "boost your reach" bullshit. Which I still dont see any purpose to it. back to the drawing board I suppose. I just want people to see my stuff and I'm starting to realize my facebook fanpage is becoming irrelevant. Hard pill to swallow after 6 years of maintaining it!