So today on the beach I managed to avoid the leaf blower guy from yesterday, but I did see my second favorite guy: the giant beach cart guy. This giant beach cart is basically an over-sized golf cart that drives along the beach and combs out the sand. As it’s combing out the sand, you think to yourself “Hmmm…Does it also add conditioner as it combs out the sand?”

The funny thing about this very expensive piece of machinery, is that it only combs the sand close to the walkway. This gives the illusion that the whole beach is beautiful and well-manicured, when in reality it’s just that little strip of sand near the walkway. It’s like those homes with a nice looking lawn – everything looks good from the outside, but the inside sometimes looks like hell.

So tonight I will have to go food shopping to prepare for Mommy Week. The best thing about my girlfriend’s mother coming to visit is that she will cook me some great southern fare.

My girlfriend says her mom has a fantastic red beans and rice recipe, but being a Californian we’re going to make her southern mom our version of that: red beans and quinoa. Instead of heavy sauce oozing with butter, our version adds a dash of vegonaise. I can’t wait to see what her mom will think of our spice rack . . . talk about culture shock!

Now on to a more serious note. I rarely play on Facebook, but yesterday before I took a spin class I noticed a really sad posting on there. It was from a girl whose sister I used to be friends with back in high school.

The posting was wishing someone all the best during their time of need. So I followed the thread, and discovered that a friend of mine from college with whom I used to party, Mark Chaves, died on Friday from a heart attack at the age of 45.

During these times when you hear news like this, it makes you realize that you are not bullet-proof and that life can be taken at any time. One day you can be sitting riding a commuter train and you have a heart attack, and your whole life (and all your plans) are gone in an instant.

It also made something I already know even more vivid to me. It made me think how amazing it is how many of you wait for things to happen in your life.

Now I haven’t hung out with Mark Chaves in a long time, but I do remember him being full of life and a lot of fun. I can also say one thing about him for a fact: he NEVER waited in his life.

Whenever there was a party, he was there. Whenever there was a girl to whom we all wanted to talk, he was the first one to walk over and start talking to her.

He never let fear dictate his life, or keep him from doing and getting what he wanted in life. He lived his life to the fullest. He married Kim Rand, who was a friend of mine in high school. They had two amazing kids and from the last time we hung out he was all about being a great dad and family man. He did that with the same gusto he did everything in his life!

I spent my entire 20th or 25th (I can’t remember which) class reunion getting catching up with him. Life is a gift and, from what I remember about Mark Chaves, he lived life like it was a gift.

My message to all of you is this: Stop waiting!

Stop waiting to start your life or to live your life to the fullest, because you never know when your number will be called and when your journey is over. When it is time to go, make sure that you did everything you wanted in life, and that you will be remembered as a person who never waited.

I heard that 800 people showed up to his funeral. If I found out about his death sooner, it would have been 801 people. My heart goes out to the Chaves family, because a really good person left too soon.