Crazy's About to Get a Little Crazier

Oh yes it is my friends. I'm going to tell you why.
Ashley's coming home. My childhood friend. She moved about 12 years ago to South Carolina. She went with a boyfriend, broke up with him, got married, got divorced, worked 150 jobs, rescued animals, and made friends. Now, after all that time she's coming home. She just passed South of the Border.

There's nothing like old friends. I really believe people come in and out of your life for a reason. Every single one of them. Sometimes it's really hard to understand that reason at the time. You gotta think long and hard to "get it." Many, you have to let in to learn that lesson and then when it's time, you need to let them drift out again. It can be hard and sad and confusing. So that's why, when you have people that you have known forever and a day. When you have had your rough times with them and your great times and your distant times and your close times and they are still there after years and years, to me, there is comfort in that. Comfort and so much happiness.

I have run the gamut with Ashley and I'm going to tell you something, she's crazier than me. WAY crazier. She won't even care that I wrote that. That is one of the many beautiful things about her. She owns who she is. Very real. Crazy, but real.

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Okay, back to the Oprah list. Today's quote is an age old fact:

being a mother is the hardest job on earth. women everywhere must declare it so.

So this isn't news, right? We (all us Mothers) know this. People who aren't or don't have kids yet so don't get it. They have no idea. No idea that from the moment that child decides to join us in the world, a day doesn't go by that there is not worry or guilt or the overwhelming need to protect them from all the ugliness of the world. And when we realize we can't, there is more worry and more guilt. Toss in there physical exhaustion when they are little and mental exhaustion as they grow. It's amazingly rewarding and something I wouldn't trade for the world, but God damn, it's not easy.

There are a million lovely, easy moments. Moments where you look at them and you can't believe these little people are yours. At least I feel that way. I look at my kids, who are both gaining on me in height and I wonder, how'd they get here? They are almost ten and eleven. Their baby hood seems a life time away. Is baby hood a word? What's that called? The other day I was trying to describe something to my friend Sue, I was talking about people in prison, "What are they called, jail people, you know, the ones in prison.?" "Prisoners?" she said. Sometimes I forget words. Sometimes I forget the date, sometimes I forget appointments, sometimes I forget things people told me, sometimes I forget to make dinner. I blame it on kids. I don't really thing it's their fault, but it seems fair.

Okay, my kids were at a relatively easy stage not to long ago, I think that's passed. My daughter is 11 and is always on the phone, always has a friend over or is with a friend, she wears my clothes, puts on make-up, has boys calling our house and is only about two inches shorter than I am. She will not take no for an answer. She will push me until she gets me to cave. If I somehow stand my ground, (which I have been doing better at lately) she will hound me through all that technology can offer. She will txt me, e mail me and leave my messages on my phone. She will do great in life. At times, I wish she'd just let up on me a little.

Then my son. He has always been the easiest, most polite, kindest little angel I have ever known. This year he has turned a corner. He doesn't do his homework, he tries to make people laugh and gets in trouble, he can be extremely lazy, he doesn't care for the word no either. Tonight he did make ME laugh though. It went like this: (you must first know his tv privlidges have been REVOKED, that stemmed from me having to spend 45 minutes on the phone with his teacher telling me he doesn't do his work.) So now he gets to read himself to sleep. He has been doing awesome. He doesn't really complain. Tonight though, very nonchalantley he says to me, "Hey Mom, am I allowed to watch the weather channel?"
Seriously, The Weather Channel.
It's come to that for him.
I said, "No."
Score one for me. Three hundred and twenty three thousand THEM, one for me.
Small victories.

Thanks Mom and Dad. I love you.

Snowing with Asude

So this is how it went down: Going to bed last night watching the snow fall and fall and fall. Just knowing I wasn't going to be teaching yoga today. Keep my laptop by my bed so I can check school closings. 5:15 am, they're going in 2 hours late. 7am, school is closed for the day. I see my phone blinking, txt from Asude, Jade is off school too. I call. "Hey, wanna take the kids skiing?" She sounds a little sleepy. She asks Jade. Jade is down with the plan. "Be ready in 1 1/2," I say. I get it together over here and we throw all our gear in the car and off we go.

We are we going? I don't know. I 'm following the nav. It seems to be taking us an odd way. Sue assures me it's fine, we are heading North. "How do you know this?" I am perplexed. I knew Sue was smart, but she knows what direction we are heading at any given time? This could somehow be useful. "My nose always points North," she tell me. I mull this over. Is that why sometimes she faces away when she is speaking to me? Then she points to my rearview mirror and lo and behold there is a little N on it. Her nose might now know, but my car sure does.

We get to the mountain. This is the first time ever I am snowboarding. I haven't stepped foot on a mountain full of snow for a few years. The main reason being, I don't particularly like snow. I think it's stupid. This year is different. My kids are snowboarding and skiing. I can't just sit around and look pretty. Well, I could, but that would get old after a while. Maybe...

I get Chase and I a lesson with a snowboard guy. He teaches us like two things, which I do not master and then he wants us to go up the mountain. Um. No. I can't turn or stop Brian. Take my kid and go. I'll practice here. And practice I do. I cart myself up to the first rung of the fence where the elevator for the baby hill starts and I practice turning. I try to go a little farther every time. But I don't. I can't stop, I find myself saying, "Hey watch out." And secretly being annoyed that others are in my way. Sue comes over. "Watch me. Watch me," I say. Really proud of myself for snowboarding 6 feet and hurling silent obscenities at small children in my way. Sue claps, dutifully, then goes on her way.

Meanwhile my nine year old is beating the instructor down the hill. Of course, he isn't great at stopping either, but he doesn't seem to care. I was proud of him.

Saige was already going up the big chairlift with Jade. Kids have no fear. That was my favorite part of the day. Seeing them rock it out.

Then my second favorite part was sitting in the lodge by the fire drinking a glass of wine and running into people I have known from all over the place. Old hairdresser, work guy with Marc, school parent (but a cool one), old college friend. Sue. It was fun, baby. Snow's not as bad as I thought.