Thoughts while Traveling

We have a double date lined up this weekend incorporating my favorite thing: Ice skating. I just LOVE the weightless feel of landing smoothly after a triple axle. It's my one moment where I feel what it's like to be a bird.

Wait, it's not even close to the middle of the list of my favorite things. A triple axle? I can't even do a cartwheel. Trust me, I tried and tried for years. Ask Sarah.

I hate ice skating. I am always afraid of breaking my bloody arm.

The repercussions of childhood trauma, I suppose. Anything involving my legs wobbling on top of 8 wheels or a single blade of metal results in a panicked lump moving slowly up my throat.At this point you can usually find me groping the railing all the way back to the little tiny opening leading back to the bleachers. Ah, the safe haven of bleachers and hot chocolate. OR, I play the whole thing off by becoming the photographer of the winter wonderland of friends and family frolicking on the ice. That gets me off the hook, too.

I may be posting some great pictures of the Ice Capades in the near future.

It's always so darn interesting to me how much we carry our childhood fears and inhibitions into our adulthood. You see, as much as we don't want our pasts to in any way define us, it somehow does. Like the age old fear of us women turning into our mothers the older we get, or even slightly resembling them at all. Then at family gatherings we watch our mother's acting just like our grandmothers. While it may be funny to comment about and have some nice friendly banter, we secretly begin to wonder if it's that obvious with ourselves, or will it be when I am her age?
And why is that the worst possible scenario?

I know there are ways I am just like my mother. I mean, we have virtually the same face; the only difference is that I inherited my dad's skin tone and more of a "Jewett" nose. The rest is obvious. There are similarities in the way we are very detail oriented in some areas- and not at all in others. We love creating comfortable spaces. We love decorating and have the ability to shop until we literally drop. She is an extrovert, I am an introvert. She carries her years of life experience with her as do I, making up quite different perspectives and goals. Ours are very different lives weaved into the same quilt.

How did I get off on a tangent about my mother? Not sure. I believe I have become so much more aware of family and what that means in the past few years. I don't think there is anything more important. Growing up, I tended to be a whole lot closer to my mentors and my friends than my own family. I let these other people see my heart, and my family usually only saw my arse. We tend to take our frustrations towards the world and everything else out on the people the closest to us. That's sad, you know, because none of us are promised tomorrow. I was home not feeling well yesterday afternoon and ended up watching Dr. Phil. There were 2 sisters on there that were so brutal and mean to each other, it was shocking. It made me sad for them, and grateful for the relationship that I have with my sister and my brother.

And so what if I have "Martha" tendencies? At least I will go out in style...

Hey guys, wanna go ice skating over Thanksgiving?