Seriously Spring?

Today is the Spring Equinox. Let's just ignore that 3 foot gray pile of snow out front, temperatures in the 20s later on and those winter coats and gloves that feel like my second skin. Let's instead envision  birds chirping, buds budding and the Wiccan celebration that starts this evening - Ostara.  I looked it up and found out that the Goddess Mother Earth has a sacred marriage to the Sun God on this day. She conceives and gives birth in 9 months. I knew nothing about it other than it representing the change from dark Winter to brightening Spring.  I think I liked knowing less about it...

Moving on, my word of the day is celebrate. We can celebrate the hopeful start of Spring. We can celebrate our lives and loves. We can celebrate our family and our health. We should celebrate this every day, but if life gets in the way, maybe mark the Spring Equinox as your day to celebrate all of these things to? And guess what? Tonight is the night my local girlfriends are taking me out to celebrate my 40th birthday. It took awhile to get on the calendar (almost 3 months!) but I'm really looking forward to some wine, some laughs and being surrounded by good friends. So pour yourself a glass of your favorite something and celebrate Spring with me!  Get up and dance a little - apparently there are wagers - not on -  if I will dance on the bar but - when - I will dance on the bar. So I hope you all embrace this Spring Equinox tonight, dance a little, drink a little, love a little! I just hope to God (or goddesses) that after this celebration it's not a stork building her nest here this Spring.

Seriously Absent

So, once again, I have been led astray from my writing. 30 days from now my family is going away and since it is Lent and I always try to "do" things in addition to giving things up (ice cream and gluten this year) I am going to attempt to write for 30 consecutive days. I have also chosen a word of the day to focus my attention as my mind drifts or I get frustrated to bring me back and ideally center me for the day. Today's word is cleanse (I am sure you think this means I am drinking juices, eating raw,  and thinking healthy cleansing thoughts, but in reality I chose this word because my dog got groomed and I am cleaning bathrooms.)

I fairly recently turned 40, and then I threw my back out, then I gained 4 pounds. So,  I went gluten-free to see if that would kick start eating better and losing the weight plus, I have always wondered if it would make any difference in the auto-immune issues I have. Three weeks into being gluten-free I realized I had gained an additional pound and a half. It's so annoying. Hubs also took the bread and pasta cleanse and is down almost 10 pounds. Many friends are just telling me its because I am 40 and this is what happens, but 10 days into being 40 and this - it seems a little strange to me. My mom also said I would grow boobs after I turned 40, but unless boobs look like a bloated stomach then, not so much. I am hoping these next 30 days sheds some light (and lbs) from this pickle I am in. Oddly, I just ate a pickle.

Seriously Blessed

So,  I am not a typically superstitious person. But there is one thing in my life that I have always been a little over the top about. And, that's my first born and the number 13. And, no I do not think 13 is unlucky, I actually think it is the luckiest number of all! So, here goes. When I was 13 years old on the 13th day in the month of November (it was a FRIDAY) I had a serious gymnastics injury. In the immediate aftermath of my fall off the uneven bars, my coaches treated it like a collar-bone injury. And, it actually took 11 days for a full "diagnosis". Two vertebrae in my neck were totally out of alignment (which we knew that first night after X-rays) but the fracture took longer to see. I was then hospitalized and in traction and two days later after an MRI (it was 1987 - MRI's weren't so readily available back then) they found a chip of bone floating a millimeter from my spinal cord. They scheduled me immediately for surgery to fuse the vertebrae and a bone graph from my hip was used to replace the chip that had broken off. I had a full recovery with minimal long term problems, considering.

Fast forward 13 years. Hubs and I had been married 2 1/2 years and I was 9 months pregnant with our first baby. I was due Nov 12. I, of course, was a swollen miserable human being. After a wonderful and enormous pre-Thanksgiving dinner (shout-out Tina Isgrig) and a near collision with a deer on the way home, i had a lightbulb moment in the car. I did the math. I had not realized it had been 13 years since the accident. I said to hubs, I am having the baby tomorrow. He sort of rolled his eyes at me. But, shit you not, my water broke at 12:05am on November 13. (It was not a Friday) 17 hours later our MK joined us. I held her and snuggled her and for whatever reason, did the math again. I realized she would turn 13 on Nov 13 in the year 2013….I said to hubs - oh we are not leaving the house that day, we'll stay home watch movies and do our nails.

Fast forward 13 years. This past Wednesday MK turned 13! I HAVE A TEENAGER!! Whoa, how did that happen so fast?! So, did we stay home and watch movies and paint our nails, hell yeah, of course we did! Was it because I am superstitious and didn't want to tempt fate? Was it because I wanted an excuse to stay in my jammies and watch movies all day? Was it because I am type A person and when I say I am going to do something I almost always do it? Well, all of the above! We watched PG-13 movies (including 16 candles and Pretty in Pink - #80'sgirl). We ate junk food and we laughed! I will treasure that day (well morning) with my daughter forever. By 1pm one of her BFF's that shares her bday skipped out of school early and they watched two more PG-13 movies together while I made the cake and took care of typical household stuff.

So, that's my 13 story. Pretty crazy right. Well, we lived, we loved, we laughed! That was what Nov 13 is about! And, if you think that is the lamest 13th birthday for a girl ever, well, the said BFF above and her mom plus MK and I did take in the Justin Timberlake concert a few days before. And, that was AMAZING. Especially because I surprised her with the ticket the morning of. Having this teenager that will put up with my antics and superstitions (plus she got the day off from school) is pretty awesome. Plus, she is gracious, and kind, and smart and really funny. So, after all that I've been through on November 13 for the past 26 years. Guess how I feel? You got it, seriously blessed….

Seriously Walloped

The 4th grade New York common core curriculum is getting the better of me. for.real. Or it just may be my kid. You know the younger one - the one that leaves at least 2 books a day in her desk that she needs for homework or studying, or screams at me that I didn't teach her the 4th part of the water cycle and so now she got 5 points off her test. I thought we covered it with evaporation, condensation and precipitation (we even sang a song about it) Well we didn't cover ground water and that's what cost us (I mean her) the points. sigh. Being berated by a 10 year old on a daily basis over things I didn't help her with when we are spending H-O-U-R-S on certain nights (try Mon-Thurs of every week) trying to get through the work, is just so very draining. I saw one mother posted about it all with her kid and she said it seemed like it was her job now to actually "teach" her kid and the school's job to test the kid. I sort of agree but this kind of pisses me off. I am not a teacher. I do the best I can. Plus there is the other kid in the house and laundry and dinner (do I really have to feed them EVERY night?) It is all just a lot to fit in between 4:15 and 8:15 each night. So I do get that part of it is my kid and part of it is the work and part of it is her teacher, so since I can't really change any of the above I just get to bitch about it all here.

She also has no attention span - example - in the past few minutes when she was supposed to be writing her spelling words three times each (in a notebook that she left in her desk) she has also explained to me about where exactly her eye was hurting her all day at school and why she came home from school on the bus and skipped basketball practice, if I knew about the gymnastics 7 when I was a kid (some sort of you tube phenomenon), who is more flexible - gymnasts or dancers. Yup and that was just to get through spelling words... To keep her focused on one thing at a time is near impossible. And she came home screaming and crying about hating school today. I feel like I am a cheerleader for learning these days and it is not so fun. I have to pep myself up and convince myself that I can do it, I can get through another afternoon of it. And this education isn't even free. We are choosing to pay for it. I know public school kids are struggling as well, but right now I need to sit down and strongly think about the education choices we have made and if they are still working for us as a family. Especially after romp and penetrate were two of her vocab words this week. What are we teaching these kids, and this is a Catholic school. Seriously...

Seriously Employed

So, approximately 6 short weeks ago I was quite uncertain about my life, well guess what dear readers (hmm, well still hoping for some) I got myself a j-o-b. Yup, I actually worked 5 hours yesterday and will get a paycheck to prove it. So, after contemplating my options, plus my wants and my "dreams" I asked at a small shop in town if they needed part-time help. So, yes it is retail, but at least it is "mom and pop" retail.  And, I can't beat the hours 9-2 two days a week. 10 hours a week. Perfect. I am not really messing with my kids life (unless they have off school one of those days then they will just have a wing it for 5 hours without me- plus they can walk down and visit me)

One of those crazy "dreams" would be to open a small shop someday in a small town (like the one I am currently residing in). So I have lots of ideas about what I want in this shop that I have already named - gratitude - with a daisy dotting the i - I want wine, coffee, music, yarn, books, artistry, etc but I figure I should really see what it's like to work in a small shop in a small town, so here we go. Hoping I don't actually want to check this one off my list in 3 months. So I was quite proud of myself for sending two faxes, pricing out chocolate milk flavored straws, arranging earings in a display case and ringing up 8 customers without jamming the register! I was still home for some puppy time before the kids got off the bus and we made it through homework, dance classes and dinner and I only needed one 20 minute nap in the midst of all that jazz (pun intended). This working thing is exhausting, apparently my body was not quite ready to enter the very part-time work force. Maybe Friday will be better? At least I have 3 days in between to recover, seriously!

Seriously Endure

So my youngest (Car) wanted to do this Girls on the Run program last Spring with some of her friends, but the times conflicted with dance class so she could not. And my oldest has always had this flat footed awkward kind of running stride - so my brilliant idea was to create our own Girls on the Run "GOTR" program over the summer and train for a 5K. My husband got wind of it and wanted to join in, so come mid-July (when school finally got out in NY) we entered family run time. Found an app that would safely train us to run and build endurance - I thought it was Couch to 5K (aka C25K) but I mistakenly downloaded the wrong one, but it really is the same thing - it's called 5K Runner. First run (which is really all walking) we discussed why we were running and what we wanted to accomplish within ourselves (very GOTR of me - right) Oh sorry - back up - the whole premise of GOTR (other than running) is building self -esteem. Hubs response - "I want to lose weight" My response "I want to do this as a family" Oldest (MK) "Nothing, you are making me do this" Car "I want to be faster when I play lacrosse" OK so that's something. Fast forward 9 1/2 weeks - this is AGONY, seriously. I have no idea what I was thinking. Most weeks, Car is running so slow hubs or I have to loop back around so we don't actually lose her. Not joking - 14 -15 minute mile pace. It.is.painful. And she whines a lot. And she needs water a lot (and she can't run and drink at the same time) But she can now "run" 35 minutes without stopping. MK has had a few meltdowns of her own - not being able to catch her breath or her knee hurts, but really has sort of just trooped right through it. And her stride is definitely better - still a bit odd - but it doesn't look painful anymore. We have not picked an actual race day yet (again dance conflicts - we need a Sunday morning race, not Saturday) so since we finished the 9 week app and school has resumed we are now running twice a week - 30-35 minutes each time to keep up our endurance until we actually race. All in all I am thrilled that I have been able to do it and running is the easiest it has ever been for me, I am considering continuing the app and trying my first 10K ever, we will see. The good is the time we have spent together, stretching and walking before and after we run, and singing our running theme song "Hollaback Girl" We change the sh*$ word to ship so it is completely 9 yr old appropriate now, especially as we scream it through the neighborhood (that's my ship, that's my ship. This ship is bananas b-a-n-a-n-a-s). The bad is the time we spend running and me "encouraging" them (er yelling). Endurance is a trait we now all carry and not necessarily the lung capacity version. We can endure one another through this, I think. Last night's mid - September 105 heat index run was a low point. Where did my cool crisp August evenings go? We need those back, our attitudes are bad enough. Seriously!

Seriously Chafed

So a friend asked if I wanted to try aerial yoga and I practically jumped at her I was so excited. As a former gymnast who thinks she is somewhat in shape (a little yoga, a little jogging) I thought this would be right up my alley - yoga upside down while supported, yes thank you! As my friends can attest I do like any opportunity to do a handstand or show you my 1992 floor routine (minus the tumbling - so it's really just a goofy leaping dance show), and I especially like to perform these numbers after a few cocktails. It doesn't always end well, but sometimes I seriously think I nailed it - like in the high 9's for scoring. So, back to aerial yoga on silks, OUTSIDE on a deck on a beautiful summer night - could it possibly get any better? There was a soft breeze, soft music and lovely instructor, a cute young couple and then my two nutsy friends and I. We hop into our "seats" and are swinging lightly in the breeze as we begin the practice - very quickly we move into some basic stretches and poses. Then we start flipping into and out of poses. This was way out of my comfort zone as I hadn't done any real flipping in at least 15 years. It did seem like I was going to nail my head on the ground as I dove forward but somehow I did not and was now in a very awkward forward bend with my legs bent like a frog and I felt my first sensation of chafing. The silk was rubbing against my feet and hips to a degree that was about unbearable but there was absolutely no way to get out of this position without actually landing on my head. So I had to pull myself back around and then climb up the silks (good evening biceps) until I was standing up on them and swaying. I glance back at my two friends - one is still upside down turning purple while trying to figure out how the devil to get out and the other was sitting on the ground about to throw up - there was NO disclosure about possible motion sickness.... So the class continued, minus one- I attempted every pose and aerial maneuver and was quite proud of myself for sticking with it. Did I love it? No, certainly not - was I challenged, yes definitely. My core was killing me the next day from all the balancing and pulling up to get out of "stunts". But what I walk away mostly with was the feeling of the silk chafing against my butt fat as it hung over the material when I was upside down. Can I get over that and try again? I am going to have to seriously think about it. Seriously.