Young Son

Ah, my baby, my youngest has flown the coop, left the nest, and it is hard. He is such a great kid, such a tremendous young man. He is following his heart, listening to his spirit, and going where it leads him. In this case it has led him off to North Carolina for a mission for his church. What a dedicated young man. Giving up two years of his life for what he believes is right, what he believes is important.

It scares me, it brings out my worst fears of what could happen in two years time, of what could change. It doesn't take two years for something to change, that can happen in a second. But a lot of things can happen in two years, so many things. And I can't see him, cannot talk to him except on certain occasions. He won't be able to come home for a visit.

Two years!

I came home this morning after taking him to the airport, saw his car in the driveway, the one he is selling to help pay for his mission, saw his empty room and I broke down. How could I not?

He updated his "My Space" profile last night, and wrote in it that I was his hero. Way to make the tears flow. His other hero was his sweetie Val. He wrote that she was the swetest girl in the whole world, which of course cracked us up. What a thing to be, swet. He fixed it.....

Val and I took him to the airport. He said he was happy that his two favorite girls, his two heros were there with him.

I hope the two years fly by, and that all is good in between. What a great kid, he will be coming home a great man. He is really already there.

More tears.

Working Out

I am a fairly entrenched couch potato, at least when it comes to exercise. I think people who exercise all the time are narcisistic, at best. Back in college, I flunked one class, "activities for fitness". It just was NOT fun. Over the years, I have resisted all my doctors best efforts at getting me to exercise, I won't run, I have refused to go for walks, and my body really doesn't want to hike up hills anymore. I like racquetball, but haven't made the time to go and play.

Lately I have changed my mind. Kind of. I have decided to exercise. I actually joined a gym, and have been going and working out. I have also been walking with my friend Larry. He is a couch potato too, but I think we both have realized that it is now or never. Get in better shape, or be prepared to go down down down......

So I have joined the gym, I had a personal trainer work with me twice, so that I could know what all those machines were for and how to use them. I have my little routine that she gave me. I also go on the treadmill. One night I really got into it. I worked out on the weight machines, I pedaled the bike for 30 minutes at level four, I got on the treadmill and went another 30 minutes. I was a driven woman! It was a friday night, and I ended up being the last one there, besides the desk guy. I was kind of surprised that everyone cleared out of there like that. Finally, I quit, and he says "Oh, are you done?" I assured him that I was, that I worked so hard because I hadn't been there for a few days. I told him that I had even walked around the "lakes" that morning. Nice boy that he was, he acted impressed, and said he would see me in the morning!

And then he wished me a cheery good evening and I left. I left, and saw the hours posted on the door. I had kept him there for a full 45 minutes past closing time! On a Friday night no less! A college student! I was mortified! I would never do something so rude on purpose!

I showed up the next morning, and apologized. He was extremely nice, shrugged it off as no big deal. Then I asked him if he skied or snowboarded. He gave me a very funny, wary look, and said "well, I snowboard". So I gave him a couple of tickets to the Summit, and thanked him again. His look of relief was hilarious! I think he thought I was gonna ask him on a date! Now whenever he sees me, he says "stay as late as you want!"

I am kind of liking working out. But I do have an ulterior motive. I have this fantasy of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada next summer. That would be the summer of 07. Why I want to do this is fairly inexplicable, given my inclinations towards physical inertia, but I want to. My brother Dan and I are loosely planning this together. It sounds like a grand adventure, and I am all about adventure!

So that is my story, and I am sticking to it.