Onward!

I'm sitting at the desk dressed to the 9's and ready to go.  I can hear the kids upstairs getting ready.  We are all waiting for Dan to get home from work.  Then we are headed to Geoffrey's 8th Grade Continuation Ceremony.  That's right folks, we both made it to his high school years!  I'll have photos later.

Thanks everyone who has supported us both on this really wild ride.  Now on to where the big boys play!  Woohoo!!

How I've Missed Atlanta!

Back in March Dan announced, "You're going to be mad at me.  I have to go to a conference in Atlanta in May."  My response was, "I'm not mad.  I'm going with."  So that's just what I did.  Well, I didn't go for the whole time, but for a few days.  A few fantastic days that reminded me about how much I love that city and how much I miss it.  I'll probably never get to move back, but I sure intend to make my visits more frequent.

This trip we spent a lot of time just doing some touristy stuff.  The aquarium, Stone Mountain (hiked up), Botanic Gardens, Farmer's Market, Braves game.  In between all that we ate some pretty fantastic food.  My favorite had to be at this Indian restaurant that was around the corner from my old townhouse.  It's called Bhojanic.  Really extremely good Indian food.  Much better than what we've had in Denver, so I think it might be time to start exploring that more here.  Also, we had some fantastic "new Southern" cuisine at South City Kitchen.  It was so ridiculously tasty.

Lastly, I got to see two really wonderful friends- Meg and Martha.  It was so wonderful to see them both and spend a little bit of time.  I need to get there more so I can have more time with them.  I need to get out there more, too, just to enjoy more of the non-touristy things like some of the music venues, afternoon in Piedmont Park, and all the other awesome restaurants that we didn't have time for. 

Atlanta was my home, and it still has a special place in my heart.

Oh yeah!

There were a few things I learned early on in life that I somehow, along the way, managed to forget.  I remembered them in the last 5 or 6 years, but sometimes I think about how much I love my life now and these are the reasons why.

1.  Who cares what they think!?  Meaning that whatever it is that I'm into whether it be geeky or silly or just boring and weird it doesn't matter what other people think as long as I'm not hurting anyone or infringing on others rights.  I think this is what I got out of being a mohawked pierced teenager in a little town.  Fuck 'em if they don't get it.
2.  Stay busy.  I was always busy as a teen and young adult.  Then I sort of just put on that invisible burqua and forgot that the world was full of wonderful things.  I wasn't going to be allowed to do them so why do anything.  Yeah, I went to school/work and had kids, but the focus certainly wasn't on being full of life and enjoying it.
3.  Take time for friends.  Lots of time.  Friendships take a lot of time.  All friendships.  My marriage and my family are always at the forefront, but time with my friends is critical.  And it's not a competition between my friends and my family.  I need all of them.
4.  Try new stuff.  Try new stuff a couple times before you decide if you like it or not. 
5.  This is one I share with my friends all the time.  It's probably one of the most important things that I've ever learned in my life.  I've never forgotten this one, but it's so important it has to be on this list.  Always, always, always take the time to let the people you care about and love know it.  Never let a chance to tell the people you love that you love them.  You may not get another chance.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now.

Happy Making

For all my friends who love Neil Gaiman-

 this is serious happy making.

observation

Tonight I observed something incredible about both of my children. Different things entirely, but both equally wonderful.

Geoffrey is a very smart kid, but there is smart and there is brilliant.  Tonight he was in his element. He was working at their school's Study Abroad Fair welcoming parents and giving them the lay of the land on what was where. He was so composed, friendly and genuine to each person I saw him greet. He smoothly gave the information to each adult and very graciously thanked them for attending. I watched him from afar for a few minutes and it was incredible and wonderful to see him so comfortable in his own skin. His social and communication skills are off the charts AP level.  There are very few adults as comfortable with talking to people as my son.  He's got a true gift.

Then I came home and Bronte was studying her Chinese, as she does nightly. I think she might actually be fluent in a couple years at the rate she studies.  She loves it.  She asked me when we could get her phone # switched to an older (but fully functioning) phone because her phone is not working. I said we'd try to get it resolved in the next day. She then said, "Well, I already checked to make sure the micro-SD card fits into the old phone and it does. I've saved all of my data onto it so once we can get the phone switch I can upload everything into the new phone." Wow! She just took initiative to do what she could so the whole process would be easier on everyone!  I love that girlie so much.  She's just kind, thoughtful and so ridiculously smart and self sufficient.

My smart, wonderful children. I am so lucky that I get to observe their moments of brilliance and enjoy who they are daily through all the difficulty and brilliance. We are lucky to have one another.

A Question of Lies

I've been having some deep thoughts about lies, people who tell lies and what the motivation is. Why do people lie? Even more, why do they lie about things that can be proven to be false? I don't know if I'm too trusting, but it seems to be a recurrent theme with people I encounter. The telling of lies that can be proven to be lies. It's frustrating as all hell.
In my search to understand the motivation for lying I came across this. It's good food for thought. It doesn't resolve my question, but it's a good stand on the couch kind of perspective.


The Question
anonymous

Were the whole world good as you – not an atom better-
Were it just as pure and true,
Just as pure and true as you;
Just as strong in faith and works;
Just as free from crafty quirks;
All extortion, all deceit;
Schemes its neighbors to defeat;
Schemes its neighbors to defraud;
Schemes some culprit to applaud-
Would this world be better?

If the whole world followed you – followed to the letter-
Would it be a nobler world,
All deceit and falsehood hurled
From it altogether;
Malice, selfishness, and lust,
Banished from beneath the crust,
Covering human hearts from view-
Tell me, if it followed you,
Would the world be better?

Wrapped up

To be a parent is to make a promise to another person that you will be there to support them- financially, emotionally, etc. ALWAYS. It is to be honest to your children even when it's hard. It is to take time to let them know you care and to show it. It's to let them talk and express themselves even when you don't want to hear what they are saying. It's to fulfill your obligation to them even when it's really hard.

To those parents out there that don't do this I say this:

You may be able to lie to others and make them believe you are a hero; you can create a facade on social network sites that build up your image; you may be defined as charming; but in a court of law and to your own children you are just another deadbeat who chose to pursue your own selfish interest rather than fulfill your responsibility to your own flesh & blood. Way to go, Superstar.

So...

41 on Sunday. Huh.

It's been an interesting week. I hope Sunday isn't quite as interesting and is just enjoyable.

That's what I have to say about that.

Wedded bliss...

I love being married to Dan. It's just everything good. Not that before we were married anything was bad, but it's just sort of nice to know it's really not going away. Bronte was right. You can't put a house on your finger.

Today

This is me at Matthews Winters a month or two back. Not today's ride.

Today I climbed a mountain. No it wasn't the infamous 14er that so many Coloradans do, it was much smaller. But it was on my bike! O.K. so some people ride around Green Mountain all the time, but for me it felt like a big deal. Even a year ago there is no way I could have ridden this mountain. No way. But I did it!! I feel like I'm in the best shape I've ever been in. Woohoo! I love that I'm 40 and in better shape than I was at 30.

Processing...

This evening I realized I've had quite a week and a good portion of it wasn't wedding related. I had a whole round of mammogram/ultrasound fun whole just hoping that the "abnormality" wasn't anything serious. It wasn't, but I still have to go back in 6 months. I had a biopsy on a mole to make sure it's not anything serious (don't know yet). Got contacts. Realized how ridiculously ungrateful people are when it comes to "perks" at work. Slogged through some wedding stuff that is still not resolved. Finished some other wedding stuff that wasn't a big deal and was completed like it wasn't a big deal. Last, I am fighting off a cold.

Wait, that's not last. My daughter started middle school and my son needed a $100 calculator in addition to other supplies that we didn't know about. That's both good and bad. Mostly just stressful. It's been a CRAZY week. Why did I list all this stuff? Not sure, but maybe just to help me justify why I feel so tired at 9:00.

I'm hoping this weekend I can just get a few rides in, clean up the house a bit, and relax. I just need a little bit of normal stuff.

friends

Friends are like the family that you get to choose. In my case I couldn't have chosen better. They are an amazing array of accomplished people who I know through thick and thin have my back. Through all my kissing frogs, through all my triumphs and tragedies, through all my ups and downs they have been there for me. We could have talked months ago or just yesterday and I know that they love me as much as I love them. They are the true blue real deal of friends.
When I got engaged I was worried that these wonderful people wouldn't be able to be with me on that special day, because even though they are all talented and wonderful they are not rich. Not by any means. I had resigned myself to the fact that it would be a few family and local friends on my side. And then somehow, some way these very same people surprised me and WILL BE AT MY WEDDING!!! Writing that just made tears come to my eyes. I love my friends and one of my most special days they will get to be there. I'm a lucky girl in many ways. One of which is because my friends love me.

The Skinny on long weekends

This weekend we spent approximately 20 hours on the children's sporting events. My house is still recovering from our "pit stops". The dogs are still paying us back for ignoring them for two days. We are all still recovering from the amount of time we spent going. That being said I wouldn't have traded this time for the world. I clearly realized this weekend that I have such a short time with my children to make them have a memorable childhood that I need to take each of these opportunities to really love them and be with them. It's only a few more years before I'm packing them up to college. That is scary. So, in the meantime, I have right now to enjoy with them. I hope that when they are grown they will look back and see how much they were and are loved.

Quick note for Spammers

Dear SpamBots,

Amazingly enough, I still do not need to enlarge "my" penis, get discount Viagra, or want to "make her scream all night long." I'm not buying your crap products made for men, so you can stop filling my junk mail box. Thanks.

Cheers,

Smoooochie

P.S. I am not fooled by your misspelling a product to slip by my spam filter and neither is my spam filter.

wraps make me gag

I don't know what it is, but sandwich "wraps" just make me gag. I can't eat them. I just tried. It didn't work. I like the stuff in them individually, but once it gets all wrapped up the texture just gags me. blech... note to self- avoid wraps at all cost.

Jesse James is Alive and Well

O.K. I have to admit it. Jesse James is a Dead Man is my new guilty pleasure. There is just something about this show that I can't get enough of. It might be how crazy he is. It might be how he's a dynamic guy. It might be the fantastic stunts and things that he does. It's probably a bit of it all. I just love it. If you've got cable then check it out.

Water World is fun

Yep, that's right folks. An amusement park made up entirely of water rides is my cup of tea. We got to the park before the rides opened so we could ride the high demand ones first. That was a good decision because even on a weekday there were long lines waiting for a few of them. There were two that I rode several times- the race one where you are on these lugey like things and then the wave rider one where you bacically are body boarding. That one banged me up a bit, but it was so much fun! Oh, and the wave pool was fantastic!! Bronte and I had so much fun in that, but it really wore me out fast swimming in the waves.
The one thing that I realized (other than that water parks are fun) is that there are a lot of fat teen/twenty somethings who shouldn't be in a bikini. Christ! How can a 40 year old woman have a better body and muscle tone than a 20 year old? That ain't right! Or at least cover it up, girls! Seriously.
Alright. Time to go pass out after "working hard" all day at the wave pools, etc. :)

Thursday afternoon

The rain that 'they' said was coming this afternoon is about to arrive, announcing itself with distant booms and ominous clouds. It's creeping in to ruin the activities planned for later. The rain isn't unexpected or unneeded, but somehow just unwanted for today.

On another note...

I have been known to say that I was 12 lbs lighter when I met my fiance. This is true. I was. It certainly has been an obvious indicator that my lifestyle has changed. I am a part of a we. A comfortable we in many, many ways. Is my weight gain an indicator of the comfort? Perhaps, but there is lot less obvious signal that my life has changed. It is the fact that I am now able to take hikes without becoming hopelessly (and dangerously due to my asthma) winded. I can also gladly and willingly take 10 mile bike rides without feeling as if it might kill me. It's a lot of little indicators that while my size may have slightly increased my comfort, health and experience have been the cause.

Thoughts on a bike

I've been riding my bike a lot again. I love it. Really, it's good exercise and a mostly stress free way to get from here to there. I say mostly because it's not always the case because when people are involved there is bound to be some rudeness. Here just a quick refresher for everyone on the rules of the biking road.

- Always ride on the right. That's right. THE RIGHT, because when you ride against traffic (even bike traffic) you are going the wrong way and you could get hurt or hurt someone else.

- Ride single file. I shouldn't have to be stuck behind your big fat bottom because you want to have a conversation with your riding partner. If you want to chat then stop at the next bench and enjoy.

- Obey the traffic laws. If it says "Stop" then stop!! Nobody wants to see your brains splattered across the street because you couldn't follow the rules.

- Wear a helmet. See the above reason for why. In addition, your family shouldn't have to change your diaper for the rest of your life because you were too self absorbed to wear a damned helmet.

- Yield when you are supposed to. It makes you the hero. Really, it does and again you won't hurt someone else in the process.

- Lastly, when you are passing call out "Passing on your left" before you whiz by. This protects us both. Me from going to jail for assault and you from being assaulted. Besides, you get brownies and other good stuff for being polite. O.K. that might not be totally true, but it is good to be polite anyway.

If you still aren't sure of the rules then here's a handy link to help you out.

Analog

is dead. Long live digital... or is there something faster?