Summer 2011

Don't tell anyone, but I've started worshiping golden idols...

15 days, 11 hours and forty-five minutes
(but who's counting???)

Summer Fun

Last summer for my sister-in-law's birthday, she chose to have a girls day at a local ski resort. There was a zip-line, an alpine slide...you get the idea. We were standing in line and I was grumbling about how I really couldn't afford this when my other sister-in-law turned to me and said, somewhat fiercely, "You do realize that we never do anything fun, right??? We are doing this!" She then grabbed my hand and hauled me back into line. She did me a favor because I proceeded to go down the zip-line, the alpine slide and even rode a mechanical bull. By the end of the day I had managed to have fun.

This brings me to today. I promised my daughter that we would go swimming, just the two of us...a little girl bonding. The only problem is, I spent my morning hyperventilating about these plans. Don't get me wrong, I love swimming. Some of my favorite memories growing up were the summers when we had a family pass to the pool. I'd swim as far as I could underwater, holding my breath until I reached my dad, who'd back up whenever I got close, pushing me to new records. I remember the sting of the chlorine in my nose, the smell of the Coppertone sunscreen we'd baste ourselves in, the exhilaration of jumping off the high dive. So what's the big deal with a couple of hours at the pool with K? I'll tell you what it is. I have an issue with letting go. My head is always full of the things I'm supposed to do. I should be doing laundry, making dentist appointments, returning late library books. So today I tried to stop thinking. I tried to stop making mental lists of things I should be doing instead of relaxing and making sure my daughter has some of the same memories that I do. I don't think my dad was standing on the other end of the pool all those years ago, mentally reprimanding himself for having a good time with his daughter instead of being home mowing the lawn. In fact, it was his remembered smile (the one that let me know he was proud of me) that stopped me in my tracks today and helped me forget the lists and actually HAVE FUN.