We left at 7.30am on a Saturday. Of course J was running late. He likes to think I'm always the one who drags my feet.
We get to the site late, but still before the group we were to meet up with. We gathered then went into a little room to watch a video. The video just explained the paperwork we'd signed regarding wavers for liability. One of the girls from our group panicked and dropped out. Bad timing on her part: you get a full refund if you change your mind before watching the video and signing paperwork, 50% after, 25% if you suit up, and 0% if you get on the plane.
J and I met our respective jump instructors- mine was a supernice, touchy guy named Dave. We boarded the plane. As we got higher in the air, my heart and stomach stayed on the ground, my courage shrinking the higher we climbed. J looked like he was made of stone and his tandem guy had to keep poking him to make sure he was still alive. We finally got to the perfect altitude (Scary High) and one tandem group left then we were up. One of the guys offered to jump with me and before I knew it, I was rocking at the edge of the plane. If I didn't have someone attached to me, I would have been too paralyzed to move.
The world was so tiny below me and all of a sudden I was falling, my tandem having pushed us away from the plane, and I couldn't breathe with the wind blowing the air out of my lungs. I tried to curve my body into that weird banana shape I'd been told to make but it was difficult as I couldn't breathe. I couldn't even look at the ground. I was too busy trying to suck air into my lungs.
Finally my tandem pulled the cord and the harness yanked my crotch and that was a new painful sensation to think about. The other guy was floating near me and he waved- a friendly face so high in the sky was such a relief- The view was breathtaking (although not as literally as the few moments before).

At last my tandem man yanked on the rip cord and the harness jerked me upward as the parachute opened, and I got to concentrate on the pain in my crotch for the entire drift down. It was a stunning panorama. I was handed the steering mechanisms, and it was exciting to control such a vehicle with just a tiny tug of one hand.
Amazing.
And by the way, I have finally developed motion sickness. Very bad timing.