Conquering Fears & MORE Reunions

PC and I returned last night from another weekend in Michigan (thanks K & J, enjoy your blueberry cookies!). It truly was miraculous that we were able to go AGAIN, for the second weekend in a row. PC will be taking Girl & S up there soon for a long promised trip without the boys, and, hopefully, he and I can get SmallBoy up there once this summer, too.

Strange things happen when we're in our cozy little Michigan Paradise. We were fortunate enough to have PC's cousin, Cous, and his girlfriend, Burrito, join us, and Princess had come up to spend the week with Meem & Phil (FIL). It was blazing hot this weekend, so, of COURSE, we headed to the beach. I DO NOT swim where there are fish, and for pools, well, they have to be bathwater warm before I'll get in. I was planning to wear my bikini top and my short shorts down to the beach, as I had NO intention of leaving the perfect basking spot. Well, Princess is a hard face to say "no" to, so when she said, "MG, why don't you put on your bottoms anyway...just in case you change your mind, " I, of course, said, "Gee, you're so smart. Perhaps I'll do that."

As fate would have it, the water was unbelievably comfortable, and I was incredibly relaxed, and melting-ly hot (is that word?). I put my feet in the water and ended up being out to my ankles! The waves on Lake Michigan were quite large and managed to get me wet up to my navel.....yeah, that was interesting. Suddenly, the next thing I knew, I had bribed Princess to go underwater with me (she's about as fond of the going under part as I am of swimming with fish). I told her, hey, getting IN the water was a big deal for me, so let's do this together. So, on the count of three, we both went under - ok, I went under and she did the face dunk, but that was HUGE for her.

Soon after, PC, Cous, Burrito, and I were all out at the sandbar! How the hell did that happen????? They had brought the frisbee down and we were passing that back and forth. Ok, makes sense, especially since I can't catch or throw. We also invented a new game - wet T-shirt ball. Burrito had worn her t-shirt over her bikini out in to the water. Once it got waterlogged, she took it off, Cous tied it in knots and we started pegging each other with it. Yes, we were not our usual mature selves, but dorks having a blast! I found myself swimming...swimming swimming, not just dog paddling to stay afloat. I discovered that I actually enjoyed it, was craving it and the workout from it the longer I stayed out there. Finally, after about an hour - hour and a half on the water, we all tuckered out...either that or we needed a beer! Would you believe I went back out AGAIN yesterday? Sadly, we didn't have much time, since we had to leave to return home, but it was wonderful. How much I've missed by giving in to my irrational fears...ok, not irrational, I got swiped by a manta ray when I was calf deep in cloudy water in the Marco Islands. NOT cool - not to mention that my fascination with shark movies hasn't helped either. Regardless, I was loving being in the water and I regret that I've missed SO much fun!

Our wonderful reunion with Marti, MechanicalMan, & Child last week began a week of fun reunions. After PC & I got up to Michigan on Friday, we unpacked and headed down to the beachfire. We ran into TONS of PC's friends that he had made while spending many many summers there as a kid. I'd heard the names and the stories for the last three years. This time, almost all of them were there - some married with kids, some not, some hanging out for a while, others for just the weekend. Whatever they were doing, we all had one thing in common - the beachfire! And we did something we grown ups never seem to do anymore - partied until dawn. We've stayed up until 5am at a beach fire before, but this time was more like 6:30...and we weren't the last ones to leave! When we got back cottage, we stayed up a little longer and grilled some hot dogs for breakfast! It was really nice to kick back with some old friends, and be totally, ridiculously irresponsible.

As adults, we seem to shift into parent-mode so much sometimes, that we forget to relax. We look at other adults who are having fun and are either terribly jealous or judgmental. We get upset that they're having fun and either poke fun or say they must be terrible people to be acting that irresponsibly. It's really kind of a shame that we do that. We all have our families, and reality dictates that we must be adults, lead by example, be responsible, do the right thing. For the most part we are all very successful at doing that. Unfortunately, we forget from time to time to just let our hair down and enjoy the few moments a freedom that we are granted from our everyday lives. Much as we love and adore our children, our lives, and, perhaps even our jobs, it's nice every once in a while to escape from them!