Girlfriends

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I'm very blessed to have active friends from pretty much all stages of my life.  The other day I was so completely down about pretty much everything that I had to force myself to think about what is right in my world.  Girlfriends popped into my head.  I have girlfriends who go waaaaay back.  No joke.  All of the women listed below are solid people who have my back--and we are close.  I was running through a list of my friends mentally and decided to write it out as a reminder.  I can't list everything that is great about each of them here and much of their greatness and attributes overlap, but I tried to come up with something pithy about each of the following.  I've also met many other fantastic people along the way who aren't mentioned here--this is a list of women who've seen me at my worst and my best and have longevity on their side.  I also have had to come up with nicknames on the fly for some of them--for no particular reason, some people don't have set nicknames.

There is KC, my friend from Kindergarten who pretty much knows me; we went to school all the way through primary and secondary and even graduated from the same university (although she had a short lapse in judgement and attended Washington State University for half of her time; eventually, she came to her senses and attended the University of Washington, graduating from the better of the schools...). 

There is MT--I met her at a job I had during my college years (I juggled 3 jobs at one time while carrying a full-time class load).  We've known each other through marriages, children and deaths.  We used to write letters very regularly--email, cell phones and life changed that for us, but we still write on occasion.  Over the years I've collected kitschy postcards to send to her.  We love mail (of the non-bill variety).  She visits us and it's as if no time has passed between us.

My mentholatum sister--we met the first year we both moved to Phoenix.  She is my spiritual twin.  We have so many commonalities.  Like KC & MT, she can pretty much read me like an open book.  While vastly different on the outside, our families are very similar on the inside--which is really the part that counts, right?

My neighbor from our old 'hood, Coffee Girl.  We had dogs who looked a lot alike--hers was the furrier and less timid model.  She does all the girly things with me: makeovers, shopping, classes, lunch and the bonus, says the things we all think but pretend we don't. 

My ASU graduate school and, later, mom friend, Wow.  (That nickname has a separate story of which I'm am not a part.  I just don't have a different name for her & I seemed to have started something with the secret squirrel names!)  She's been through much of the good, bad and ugly with me and many, many tears and soapbox rants.  Who am I kidding?  All of my friends have been subjected to those!  Wow has just heard more of a variety in the rant department.  After all, we did teach together, carpool and we are both moms to 2 boys. 

Through our kids, Wow & I met an amazing group of women and we meet once a month for dinner, lots of laughter and some kvetching.  Sad for us and fantastic for her, Wow moved for a great job.  So, we have dinner without her & text her the pics.  Last time we had some sort of bowl-like drink requiring sharing and very long straws--that screamed take a pic and send it.  No, really, it did.  Actually, I think she asked for a pic because she was sad to miss:(  But, not a drink pic a dessert pic.  Oops.

Dog Crazy I've known since Chief finished residency and she gets living with a surgeon, raising kids kind-of-sort-of alone and having crazy dogs.  She's always been there to help out--especially when I was trying to finish my dissertation.  She really helped me with the boys.  After I had surgery a few years back, she drove me around like Ms. Daisy.  She's even put up with my lipstick fetish a couple of times, patiently waiting for me while I tested a bunch after lunch (that sort of thing is not her gig).

Our current neighbor, if I had to give her a nickname right now it'd be The Competitor, because she likes to compete and win, but in a funny way not annoying.  Her family might beg to differ but I saw her go to town at a craft class and it was funny.  Her and her husband are a hoot--they really helped us through our remodeling nighmare with another firm and helped create a beautiful oasis in our backyard/pool/pond area. 

Rodeo is Dog Crazy's niece and while we've only known her for 5 or so years, she, too, is like family.  She's as crazy as my boys.  We think in very similar "flight" patterns. 

Crazy Mom (her nickname, not mine--honest!) has boys who went to preschool and Kindergarten with my boys.  Our 2 youngest are close buds.  She's peeled me off the ceiling more than a few times when the other moms said things.  She sees many of the same things I do but cuts through the chaff very quickly, unlike me.

I also count Chief''s 2 female partners as close friends.  They get my silly jokes, my crazy children and my goofy husband.  They also regularly read my blog, lol!  Seriously, they are funny, lovely women with big, kind hearts.  Although, don't mess with them because they have balls of steel and don't fool around (again, that's theme with my women friends--in a good way).  They are upright and upfront.  Super Green is very close to the boys and they love her and her husband.  Again, like family--she's known them since Big Monkey was a year old and Little Man was still in the womb.  She reminds me what a precious gift I have in the boys and (like many of my other friends) what I am doing right.

I don't feel like I can begin to do my friends justice here but I hope you get a little sampling of the fantastic women who grace my life.  They are all very funny, good-natured and kind-hearted people who really do cut to the chase and call it like it is.  I have managed to keep a good friend from each of the various stages of my life.  I will continue to keep them close to my heart and hope we continue to stay close for many years to come.  I also hope that you are equally blessed with wonderful girlfriends who help you stay afloat when you feel like you're sinking and provide you with much needed laughter and perspective!  My girlfriends are my best cheerleaders and, in many ways, that positive energy and support is what makes the world go 'round.

Dessert Stomach

I have this theory, which is completely, anatomically incorrect: we have a "food" stomach and a "dessert" stomach.  I used to say that a lot, before kids.  I'm full up with food, but there's a little room "up top" for dessert and a decaf. 

We've been on Little Man lately, because he says he is full when in fact he is not.  He just no longer wants what he has on his plate but is still hungry.  So we had to make it really clear to him that he needed to be specific about what he means by "full."  Is he no longer wanting food or is he full of what he has and would like something else?  Not that he's going to get a short order sort of meal because he needs to know that we eat dinner and then are done when we leave the table (he'd prefer to graze, if he could).  Tonight, he was very specific about his level of "full" and what that entailed.  I was really surprised to hear my "theory" presented to me by my youngest, who has previously not heard this.  He actually pointed to a place on his upper abdomen where the food part stops and then showed where the dessert part has its place.  Again, I'm really pretty sure that he has not heard me say that but wonder where this comes from.  Genetics at work?  Who knows.  I do have to say that I agree with the kid! 

Extracurricular Activities

Who needs extracurricular activities?  I certainly don't--we have them all right here in our own home.  Here's a short list of some of the activities occuring on a daily or weekly basis:

• A boys' choir (I am frequently serenaded).
• Dance parties--say no more, the boys like to shake their groove things (husband included--only one of the three has consistent rhythm, I won't say which.)
• Yoga--headstand/headstand prep are favorites, preferably done on the couch while watching tv.
• A strange hybrid of martial arts and boxing, otherwise known as sibling punching and kicking.
• Wrestling.
• Circus tricks and attempts at acrobatics.
• Then there are the usual suspects, swimming, running and biking.
• The biggest is the drama "club"--we are big on drama around here.

So I ask--why drive around town and pay big money for these activities when you can "enjoy" them in the privacy of your own home?  In case you're wondering--you can spin doctor anything. 

Mystery Garbage Man

Last week I was driving up Central when I saw an old man emptying his suitcase into a public garbage can on the Bridle Path.  He was systematically taking clothes, still on hangers, and putting them into the garbage can by a bus stop.  He had a rolling suitcase with him and another carry-on piece and looked like he was going on a trip.  Perhaps he escaped from the old folks home.  I don't know.  He filled the garbage can pretty quickly.  Did he accidentally take someone else's luggage and then not know what to do with it, deciding to ditch it at the last minute?  Was ridding himself of his former life?  I have to say it was an odd sight--even more so because he was so methodical about the whole process.  The clothes were spilling out of the can for a couple of days after so it gave me extra time (and physical reminders) to think about this odd  and frail man.  I'm sure he had a reason and of course I wonder what it was.

Pumpkin Spice is Back!



I might've been "robbed" on Monday but I'm o.k. with it.  There was a sign advertising the fall Starbucks drinks at the Safeway Starbucks--Pumpkin Spice Latte and Salted Caramel Mocha.  Yumm!  I gleefully went to the counter to order my beloved PSL ("Is it true that Pumpkin Spice is back?!!!") and the barista looked stunned and was speechless until I said, "There is a sign over there--are they not in, yet?"  Hasty and nervous response, "Nooo--that starts tomorrow."  He was nice and all and his look of dismay was actually a little funny; besides, I've been waiting this long, what's another day, right?  He made me the best Caramel Macchiato I've had in a long time--so no sweat.

Yesterday I had a PSL and it was like euphoric music and magic elixar happening all at once.  I think the barista was actually more excited than me--can you believe that? 

These drinks did come with the "cooler" weather.  It's not as insanely hot and the evenings and mornings are tolerable.  So I'll continue to say that when the Pumpkin Spice arrives it's "officially" fall in Phoenix--at least my tastebuds say it is.

I'm a Lamster!

The Graphics Fairy sent out pics of a lobster today and it reminded me of Little Man when he was about 3 years old.  He had his back to us as he was digging through a kitchen drawer and when he turned around he held up his hands like a lobster and exclaimed, "Look I'm a lamster!" 

"Lamster" was his hybrid word for lobster--lobster and hamster.  He likes Zhu Zhu pets and Kung Zhu and all those hamster-like toys.  He loves animals, in general.  He also customizes words, a lot.  Remember the "venting" machine?  That was his word.  The funniest part of this was he had taken rubber bands and put them around his fingers and held himself very much like a reluctant lobster coming out of a tank (before going for its final scalding swim). 

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Here are a few other customized words the boys have created over the years:

"garbaging"--Big Monkey came up with that one when he was about 2 years old.   First usage:  "Aaargh!  You garbaged my picture!  Don't garbage my stuff!"

"wrapage"--basically, shrink wrap or the packaging on products.

"shrinkly"--when you are "water logged" or have been in the water too long and get all wrinkly.  Others would call it "pruney."  Or, maybe not.

"skelekin"--skeleton

These come immediately to mind, but there are many others.  "Sportly" is the one I made up that immediately comes to me--we all do it.  Have you made up any words, lately?

Yoga Games

I've been simultaneously entertaining and making myself crazy with yoga class card "games."  I have a couple of cards from different studios that are expiring around the same time and I am running out of time to use them.  I was a yoga class slacker this summer and went sporadically because of summer camp schedules as well as general apathy on my part.  I've been calling this current frenzy to use up my class cards a number of things: yoga class card bingo and wheel of yoga are my two current favorites.  I have to tell myself and my friends, "No, sorry I can't go then--yoga bingo says that I must go to class at 10:15.  I can go after that."  To my husband I say, "Are you going to be around this afternoon?  I need to play the wheel--of--yoga!"  I find my game playing completely entertaining and think myself clever and funny, but it's also allowing me to avoid expressing what a lame position I've put myself in.  All this joking around about these cards that I should've used long ago (especially the one because I had an entire year to use it!) masks my anxiety over going to so many studios.  Why is this such a problem?

I'm a loyalist at heart.  I love the teachers I have at the different studios and I am currently finding it difficult choosing a studio.  Going to just one would be the economical (and loyal) thing to do--I try to go 5x a week, so if I buy an unlimited it really reduces the price.  For a long time I was both unable and unwilling to go to my beloved studio.  I say unwilling because of my all-or-nothing attitude--I wanted to go 5x a week and could only make 2 of the classes while the boys were in school.  Sadly, I chose not to go at all instead of being moderate and sensible, going to the classes I could actually attend.  Then, the Groupon gods started introducing all of these yoga studios I never would have tried before.  I probably wouldn't have gone to these studios looking at their offerings, but the deals were so exceptional and I could actually make classes at least 5x a week that I had to try them.  If I only went to a couple of classes, that alone would pay for the Groupon itself.  If I didn't like the studio or the yoga style there was no harm--I tried something new and wasn't really out of pocket.  I used this approach with two new studios as a kind of trial and then really enjoyed them (I went to studio #2 for nearly a year before trying studio #3--I tried studio #3 because studio #2 was becoming a little stale--my regular classes became rote--and had some weird politics going on). 

As I mentioned, I wanted to go to only one studio to save myself some stress and anxiety and I've realized during this yoga bingo card blitz that I might not be able to because what these 3 studios offer is all very different.  Going back to studios #1 and #2 I realized how much I really do love both places.  All 3 are good in their own ways and I benefit for different reasons.  I've also formed enriching connections/friendships at all 3 places.  Everyone is working something different on me.  Before, I might've found that to be distressing.  Right now, I find it to be good.  It's the ambivalence in my head and all the crazy stories I've concocted that's not so good.  I was really making myself crazy because I felt like I was "cheating" on the different studios by hopping around. 
Initially, I wanted to share my stupidity and gem of humor about yoga classes and then found myself waxing philosophical about shaking up my practice with different studios and teachers for the good of my body and to keep my brain on its proverbial toes.  If I could only let go of the guilt I tend to carry with me...

About the pic--I found that sheet of paper on the backpack bench in our foyer the other day.  Big Monkey wrote that on the back of some class worksheet.  I wonder what that's all about?

Maybe we both need to step outside of our heads.