Getting older . . .

Sometimes reality just smacks you in the face and lets you know you are indeed getting older. Le Husband and I had one of those moments this past weekend. We traveled to the homestead in Ohio to visit with family and start off the Christmas season. We have five beautiful nieces and nephews who are all growing like weeds! As anyone knows who has watched kids grow up from afar, every time you see them they have changed. Either they have lost teeth, acquired braces, lost the baby fat, or grown six inches overnight. It is always fun to see them and see what has changed in their lives.

The oldest of the group is our lovely niece Miss E. Now I can remember this chubby baby getting a bath in my kitchen sink on a visit to my house. It seems like just overnight she has grown into this beautiful young woman who proudly showed off her learners permit to drive . . . yikes when did that happen! OK that should have been an indicator that yes, I am getting older. (Notice I say older, not old!) Not only is she a beautiful girl, but she’s a pretty amazing swimmer as well. We had the chance to see her swim this weekend and it took me back to the days sitting at swim meets watching her mom swim. OK at this point the ol’ getting older indicator started to flash red blinking lights!

We were invited back to Miss E’s house after the swim meet to visit. She and a bunch of her teammates were going to be eating dinner there after a long day of swimming. In trouped a large group of teenage boys and girls; young fresh faced high school athletes . . . ah youth! After dinner they headed to the basement to hang out, listen to music, play ping pong and generally do stuff that teenagers do today. There came a moment when Le Husband and I were alone in the kitchen and were listening to the music and sound of laughter wafting up from the basement . . . that’s right, we were the adults staying upstairs! And here it came . . . Le Husband looked at me and said “Wow, we’re getting old!” . . . the slap of reality!

After that sting wore off, I have to admit that if getting older means getting to watch these beautiful kids grow up, then that’s alright. Besides, I think this weekend I’m going to crank up the music, and get in touch with that teenager who is still inside and see if I can’t still annoy my parents!! (Just kidding mom and dad!)

xoxo

How cold is it . . .

It’s so cold my hair froze!! Yep kids it’s that time of year again, winter has arrived. Now I realize that on some official calendar out there it is still fall and winter isn’t official yet. However, it has been snowing for two and a half days; as I write this it is 14 degrees and -2 degrees with the wind chill; if that’s not winter, then I don’t know what is!!

Growing up my mom was good about bundling my brother and I up and shoving us out the door to go play in the snow. Truthfully I think it was just self preservation on her part, but we’ll say for the sake of argument that she was getting us fresh air and physical activity. Mom was always good about making sure we were dressed properly for the weather; hat, gloves, scarf, heavy coat, long johns, extra socks were all on the list. We were bundled up like the little brother in that movie A Christmas Story.

But one thing I don’t remember being told was not to go out with a wet head. There is that whole school of thought that this will cause the immediate onset of a cold! Apologies to mom if she gave me this lecture, but I don’t remember it. As an adult, I have always left the house with a wet head in the morning. Obviously I am not a slave to fashion and no longer spend the hours I did as a teenager blow drying my hair. So it was the ultimate sign this morning when walking to the office from the parking garage, my wet hair did indeed freeze. It’s the funniest feeling because it becomes stiff and crunchy. So I will take that as my sign that winter is officially hair . . . I mean here!

xoxo