i also am comfortable with "becky home ecky". not because i am, but because it's just not something i can achieve. i really believed that once i was married and had children, i would have worked out all of my "kinks" and live the life of my daydreams. NOT! reality kicked in very soon.
my husband was more perfect for me than i could have dreamed. stories abound of "life with liz" as biff calls it. from the very start of our relationship, "little mary mixup" reared her pretty little self. many with my reputation may have been daunted by the moniker. thankfully, our liznbiff dating season allowed the honest to goodness me!
actually, mix ups took place from the first date! oh wait, mix ups began the first time biff asked me out! we stood at christopher morley park where we met ice skating. we talked about our work in sales......and selling styles and working our own style into the sale. biff put his hand on my elbow and said, "like if i were going to ask you out on a date, i'd touch your arm like this and say, how would you like to go on a date?" i totally missed the invitation, thinking it was his selling style. i never imagined that this great skating guy was asking me out. "chatterbox", a name my dad called me, from the time i could talk. biff was onto that from our first conversation.
when he pointed out that i had missed his cue, i questioned his sales technique since it hadn't really worked out selling me! although, we did plan to go out on the weekend....only i thought it was friday night....and he thought it was saturday night. on that friday night, i thought i had been stood up by my charming "skate date". here i am and there we were....apparently we've learned to communicate a little bit better than our first "mix ups". although, you might say the "mix ups" have kept our marriage fresh. a sense of humor is a very good thing!
okay. by now, you may have noticed that i have a touch of "a.c.a.d.d." or "after children attention deficit disorder". orderly is the furthest thing from my mind. having a track record like mine, i worked double time so that our children would live a full and blessed lives without mix ups...mix ups due to me, that is. and don't forget, it IS all about ME. actually, my "little mary mix up" reared up just the afternoon before my first baby arrived. i stopped to have a manicure and pedicure ("applesauce" pink was the color!...important detail!).....thank goodness my childhood friend called the night before and informed me that i was in labor! to find out the next morning, when we called the doctor to let him know labor had begun! thank goodness my childhood friend called the night before and informed me that i was in labor! "late bloomers" ring a bell? "late bloomers" ring a bell? while on the phone with the doctor, biff was notified that i had missed an appointment.....and where was i ......getting my manicure and pedicure! and how happy was i! my nails looked great during childbirth! AND the mid wife loved the pedicure and the color....enter "applesauce" pink!
all that, to explain "little mary mix up".
today was a quiet day. not at school bus time. our ninth grader was hysterical before 7:00a.m.
for the 3rd day in a row, the bus driver rolled by without even stopping. even my little girl, who was born running and arrived equipped with a wristwatch and a date book.....(pre laptop)...and lots of plans, could not catapult herself onto the moving bus! "epic fail!", as our kids say. and don't quote me because they feel that we are too "old school" to use that term.
after the bus drama, i walked daisy and posey......a speed walk. and off to the Y to swim laps. i must stay on the move....i must keep this routine going.....i drive off to the Y, with bathing suit, towel and goggles......but, wait! what did i forget? the bathing cap. the olympic style, not the smelly plastic one with the colorful flower petals and chin strap. i'm an o.k. swimmer, but i'm no esther williams.
so, to many, a forgotten bathing cap is not a real problem. however, i just had my blonde highlights/ lowlights/ toner/ and "especially developed shampoo for colored , dry, damaged hair. not a big deal to most. however, to me, it's"happy hair"! and it has taken months to get the color and cut back to normal. did i forget to mention that i had a little "mix up" last february with a "temporary" color fix from a box purchased without reading the details. and the part about testing a strip of hair was conveniently overlooked.........NEVER AGAIN.....and my hairdresser made me swear on a stack of styling magazines that NEVER AGAIN would i attempt this at home. and that's not even including the mullet of a haircut i had from one of my "instant gratification" hair appointments with a random hair stylist that had availability at the time of my neediness...........now we know why she was available!
wait...i was talking about swimming and exercise routines....i digress. i'm not even going to ramble on about my thought balloons over my head while hopping around on the cold, puddled floor in between lockers, matronly bodies, modest moms and marathon swimmers. going by the rules, i tip toe over to the showers only to find that there is a large green tarp dividing the shower area in two halves.......plumber sounds, deep voices and clunky tools banging on one side and wet seal like bodies of all ages waddling across the wet tiled floor. after tiptoeing through the janitors closet, it was only steps to the pool.
my swim was wonderful. such an achievement, just to get into that water. i could leave proud just knowing i had accomplished the biggest hurdle.....jumping in my lane. i swam lap after lap day dreaming about my kids, my husband, my great, healthy start to the day.
i had guilt that the dogs only had a short walk, but realized it would all work out because i would walk them at the beach later in the glorious sunshine......a puppy playdate......my kid playdate days are over. that means MY whole playdate social life is over. HOORAY!! that's another story. now, i can plan puppy playdates with people and puppies who know how to play nice and don't feel the need to impress me with puppy over achievements and filled up schedules...........and no one ever tries to impress me with overdecorated dog houses and educational dog toys.
while gliding through the cool, clean, chlorinated water, my trance like state allowed me to feel the joy of swimming while counting my blessings to have this sparkling clear, clean water at my tippy toes. only months old, this pool was a gift. life was good. life was great! and it was only after eight. filled with pride from my tippy toes to my dripping yellow (green) hair! and i strutted back to the locker room. after the same dripping drill, i was warm and fuzzy in my weathered sweats and could begin the day!
dog walk...one thirty at the beach in the warm sunshine with our frolicking four footed friends.
ahhhhhhh......peace and friendship for all! free, unencumbered....no pressures of schedules, sports or complaining kids! as we walk with our three joyful pups, we come upon a woman with two miniscule dogs....(our cats are bigger)......we all walk and talk and walk .....with dogs all around! ahhhh nature. life is good. life is a gift.
WAIT, there's more! friendly conversation leads to a common concern.....H1n1 VIRUS..... our newfound friend tells us of her middle school daughter at home with the flu....she tells us of the school closings...she tells of her kids' swim meet with hundreds of kids at the indoor pool, steamy and stuffy.....i ask where the kids' swam.....it was at my pristine pool where i had probably taken in gallons of water just hours before!
QUESTIONS, WORRIES, SCAREY STORIES AS WE STUMBLE, INSECURE AND HORRIFIED back to our cars with our pets...wet and sandy...and smelly too! we part ways with our new found, alarmist friend. my friend and i sit on a rock basking in the sun and sighing at the realities of this "PANDEMIC" scare when the phone rings and it is my son. he is home. he has not gone to cross country practice. his voice is weak. he is tired. he has been hot since lunch.............my friend checks in with her son. same age, same school. he is still a little horse. he reports of a scratchy throat. before we leave the beach, my nose is running....maybe even draining. i am now preoccupied. what do we do...do we need shots....will we all get sick....did my daughter look pale yesterday........
i got home to find my son half asleep. my daughter called to get a ride home after her sport. she was tired too. students were out sick....teachers too. the next town over had closed the schools. i remembered the girl, with her team shirt, in starbucks, coughing over the milk and sugar.................
before dinner, i was on the couch with a quilt.....the news was on....more schools in connecticut were closed. there was no need to panic...no one was to worry....shots would be available....to people with compromised immune systems....story after story reported on this flu.....the flu that was premature in the season.....my throat was scratchy.....i turned off the news since i already had a headache.............
and now, i sit. thinking. still grateful....a little uneasy, exhausted.....prepared to dream.
and my name is liz, little mary mix up, becky home ecky, chatterbox and mom.
and more.............................
lizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
