Goodbye Mickey, Hello Amanda-ness!

Today was my little sister's last day of vacation in Michigan and my cue that the holidays are officially over. It's time to put away the Christmas decorations, register for Winter classes and get to work on this house! Having Mickey home is always super exciting and fun and things just seem more complete with her in the house. And then all of a sudden a few days into our time together, we manage to revert back to that magical period in our lives when we were teenagers in our parents house trying to murder each other with verbal assaults and death stares. Our visits wouldn't be complete without this mini hate fest and we always pop right back into loving each other without skipping a beat but we always manage to fit all the experiences of having a sister into whatever time we are given. I still would rather have her in MI but we'll be in Boston for Easter and that's not long at all.

After dropping her off at the airport I wasted no time jump starting my best year ever by karate chopping my to do list to pieces. I registered for the Winter semester with two management classes and a math class (pending a placement exam) that are sure to keep me busy. Next was an adaptive yoga class at Rising Sun that took me up 10 notches on the Betty scale, took a break for pork chops with the husband and ran back out for my first run of the new program. Now I'm organizing my invite list for Sunday's candle party and then it's bed time.

The yoga class was amazing. Every time I go to a class it feels like I'm closer to being myself, or at least like the person that isn't clouded up with worries, things to do and baggage from the past that you don't really remember but for some reason the bad energy has been floating around in your body causing trouble. Clearing your head and focusing on your body can do wonders. But of course, I was caught up the momentum of the day and made a terrible decision by eating pork chops and then going for a run outside. I was so thirsty but thought, "hey, I'll just drink extra water when I get back home and I'll be fine". So dumb! I was cramping up, instantly sweating like a maniac and then I got super nauseous and called it quits after .6 miles. Boooooo! Well tomorrow is another day for a much better, cooler, smarter, most awesomest run ever,  I hope.  

Reunions & Remembering.

Tomorrow is my mother's birthday, well actually today now. She passed away this past May and she would have turned 60. Since the beginning of the year she'd been mentioning how she didn't want a big party but we've never been the kind of family to let things go without celebration, especially when it came to my mother. This year won't be any different, although the festivities will be much smaller (so I suppose she's getting what she wanted).

Most of my family will be going to the cemetery with cupcakes and flowers to sing Happy Birthday but I've yet to visit her there along with my younger brother and sister. It doesn't seem like I would find her there and the thought of visiting a place where only her body is doesn't seem very fulfilling or appealing to me. Especially when she was much much more than that. I imagine that goes the same for my brother and sister but I could be wrong.

I will however be celebrating at the theatre. There was nothing in this world my mother loved more than her family, but if there were, it would have absolutely been movies. She saw every movie released which would sometimes put her in the theatre four days a week. She said it was her escape and she could always find something to enjoy, from the soundtrack to the costumes to the dialogue. Needless to say, we've inherited this hobby and nothing makes me feel closer to her than being in that theatre.

On a ligher note, our good friend Michelle will be coming home from Colorado tomorrow night and the ladies are going to go have a quick drink before she drives to another part of the state to visit her own family. Michelle moved to CO right after high school for college and we've just kept our fingers crossed this whole time hoping something brings her back permanently. She recently got engaged to this wonderful man in CO and they just purchased their first home together so it's looking like time to uncross those fingers and start on a plan B. I'm very lucky to have an amazing group of close friends and having everyone in the same room is always a spectacular time so I'm really looking forward to that. I have to admit that I am a little nervous about how I'll feel with my family remembering my mom.

Stay tuned.....

In the meantime here is some Rachel's for the occasion.