unexpected

There is one thing that I have gained since becoming a mother that I did not at all anticipate. It is something that most new mothers probably do not have, or if they do then it was already well established. (Or maybe they are just cooler than me?) It is also something that it has always been a struggle for me to maintain/find/enjoy for most of my life.

It is the ever-elusive "social life".

It would seem (or at least I assumed) that once you have a little person dependent on you for food, shelter, and most other things necessary for survival, a social life would go right out the window. Kind of like free time and sleeping in (oh, goodness, how I miss sleeping in...). But in the past few months I have found the opposite to be true.

I attribute this to a number of things. First, and most importantly, I have an amazing and supportive husband. He is so wonderful with our little girl and is willing, even happy, to be home with her in the evenings while I work (and now play some, too!) with hardly a complaint. I am also much more comfortable being away at night now that Laine has a set bedtime routine. Every night by 7:30 I can be fairly certain that she is asleep and will stay that way for approximately 12 hours (am I a lucky woman or what, y'all?). Also, I have entered into situations that are conducive to forming adult friendships, the first being a group of new mothers that meets weekly at Full Bloom, which has become the foundation for Mother's Night Out festivities, weekly playdates, etc. The second is the production of Carousel that I recently auditioned for and was cast in. Being surrounded by such passionate, clever, talented, and fun-loving people has been rejuvenating for me in so many ways and has really filled a hole in my life that I wasn't even really aware existed.

All this is to say that I am happy and fulfilled beyond measure at this time in my life. My daughter is precious and healthy and happy and brings me joy daily (hourly, even). My husband is an anchor and compass for our family and for me, and has proven his love for me by allowing me and encouraging to do things that I may otherwise have let pass by. And my new-found friends and freedom have reminded me how much fun it can be to define myself in terms other than "mother" and "wife" and "teacher". Things like "performer" and "friend" and "adult". And the more complete a person I am, the more ways I find to define myself, the better I become at those first, most important, three.

changing the world... one blog at a time

It seems that I have been inspiring people to start their own blogs... namely my co-workers! Fortunately for me (and for those of you who like to read blogs), I work with interesting, creative, and artistically talented people.

First to join the blogging fun were my bosses, Shane and Terra. They started theirs to celebrate and document the arrival of their third son (!!!) Chase and the goings-ons of their busy little family (running a dance studio and taking care of three little boys under 5 would give anyone something to blog about!).

And then came Wonder Woman, AKA Lucy. Lucy wears many hats around the studio but basically she runs the joint. Between keeping up with accounts and tuition, to ordering costumes and organizing everything for our showcase and performances, Lucy is the go-to gal for pretty much everything on the business side of things. She also happens to be a talented actress in her own right and is going to grad school in L.A. next year. Sad times for me and the rest of the staff, but SO awesome for Lucy!

The last one to tell me of her new foray into bloggerdom is fellow teacher Hillary. Hillary is the only teacher that has been at the studio longer than I have, and she is hanging in there even now that she is teaching middle school math, and coaching both soccer and cheerleading! Her dedication to and love for her students is really amazing to see... and they definitely return the feelings.

It's exciting for me to see all of these people jumping onto the bandwagon and sharing their perspectives and lives via blogging. Anyone else joining in the fun?

happy mother's day!

It's amazing beyond words the changes in me (my perspective, my priorities, my family and marriage, my internal clock, my capacity for anxiety as much as for joy, my body, my ability to do things one-handed, my definition of "free time", the size and bounds of my ability to love) from here:

To here:

To here.


Happy Mother's Day to all who are blessed enough to be one, have one, or become one.

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new." ~Rajneesh

sprung

It is SPRING in Georgia, y'all! I can say with the authority of about 25 years of experience that spring is the best time to be in Georgia and that Georgia is the best place to be in the spring. Azaleas, dogwoods, perfect temperatures... pollen coming out of your ears, but that's another story. This poem always comes to mind when April rolls around. Here is to opening the eyes of your eyes and awakening the ears of your ears!

i thank you God by e.e. cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

holy followers, batman!

Whoa you guys! When did I suddenly jump from 5 followers consisting almost entirely of blood relatives to 21 followers?? I know 21 is kind of a measly number for some big-time bloggers out there (dooce would totally scoff at me I bet) but I have to say I am pleased as can be to see all of those anonymous little blue-blogger heads over there sin my sidebar. Welcome, newbies! I guess now I should start blogging more regularly...

Joe and I are coming up on of 3 year anniversary this week. We have a pretty good track record of anniversary celebrations (is 2 really enough for a track record?). Our first year Joe surprised me with a night at Chateau Elan complete with spa treatments for both of us (yeah... my husband got a pedicure... hotness.) and fancy multi-course dinner. Last year I reserved a cabin for us in North Georgia with a hot tub (which of course I ended up not being able to get in due that whole pregnancy thing I found out about the week before we went) and a mini-arcade for Joe. This year we were both kind of slacking and hadn't planned anything at all beyond "well... I guess we can go out for dinner the night of"... and then I ended up getting scheduled for a rehearsal that night (for Carousel... in which I have one of the lead parts... more about that later but suffice it to say that I am super excited and it's basically awesome). So we were fast approaching anniversary d-day with no plans whatsoever, let alone fancy weekends away.

Last night we went with Joe's boss/friend Josh (look, Josh, a blog shout out!) and his lovely date Jessica to a Terry School of Business Alumni gala in Atlanta. Fancy stuff, y'all. As part of their fundraising efforts they had a massive silent auction as well as a live auction after dinner. On a whim I decided to bid on a package for a trip to Vegas including limo service and tickets to Love, the Beatles Cirque show. There was only one bid on it so far, so I wrote myself down and figured I'd be quickly outbid. (Can you guess where this is going?) Much to my excitement and Joe's surprise, no one else bid and I WON! Upon seeing the final list of auction winners, Joe smiled (a little smugly in my opinion) and said "Happy anniversary, babe."

Sometimes I think I make things too easy for him.

and the winner is...

Whirl (aka our good friend Stephen... but I swear it was chosen blindly by my better half), who said "It's like Free Willy, but for old people." A close second was Pamela with "I swear, guys, that's my wife!". Thanks to all who entered, but only Stephen gets the rockin' prize of a ten dollar Target gift card! (Or I'll take you out to dinner, Stephen, your choice...)

We will now return to our regularly scheduled blogging. Stay tuned for more contests and giveaways in the future though!

caption contest!

Stephen, purveyor of all things weird, random, and hysterical on the internets, linked me to this goody this morning.



Yeah.

I wasn't sure what to do with it at first, but I knew it must be shared. So I decided to use it for... wait for it...

my first blog contest (insert fanfare, drumrolls, canon fire, fireworks, etc.)!!!

Leave a comment with a caption that best suits this picture. After a few days I will read them to Joe and have him pick the funniest/most appropriate one (without knowing who said what... see how legit this is?) and the author of said witty and hilarious comment will be THE WINNER! The GRAND POO-BAH of ALL BLOGGERDOM.

I don't know what you will win, but it will be something AWESOME. And CHEAP. And probably from TARGET.

Now get to commenting, my witty friends! Can't wait to read what you come up with!