Michelle vs. Vanessa

Michelle and I have really gotten into fitness. She's probably more into it than I am though. She told me this morning that she was doing Zumba moves through the local cemetery as she walked her dogs. One of her moves looked kind of like an ostrich to me, but I'm definitely not the expert here. When we go to our Zumba class, I stand in the back, doing my best to be invisible. The other ladies say, "Come on up to the front; no one's looking at you." Yeah, right...I know that's not true because I definitely watch them and let me just say that I'm not the only non-expert there. When the hour class is over, I am covered in sweat with a heart rate that would rival that of an Olympian, and I have been well entertained, mostly by my own antics. (BTW, never heard of Zumba? Check out zumbafitness.com)

We're also crazy for racquetball. Michelle is teaching me. Nothing that requires any athletic skill comes naturally for me. That's probably why she likes to play with me. She told me today that although I lost (again), I'd made a valiant effort. My translation: "No matter how hard you tried, you failed and you'll never amount to anything on the racquetball court." (By the way, I immediately put the word "valiant" in my Book of Favorite Words.)

So I think that we will add a new dimension to our fitness program...one in which I can excel and possibly even win. A spelling bee perhaps...

P.S. Just so you know, Michelle is one of my favorite people in the world and I thank God everyday that she is a part of my life. (Of course, sometimes I thank him while holding a small doll of her likeness and a cushion of pins in my hands.)

Snow Day!

We held our first 2nd Saturday event today, Snow Day! Now as those of you from our neck of the woods well know, we don't see much snow in Madison, Georgia. But we love to read about it and talk about it and even make it. Yes, we made snow and snowballs! Michelle dazzled us with her storytelling abilities, reading my new favorite book, Thomas' Snowsuit by Robert Munsch, author of the beloved Love You Forever. If you haven't read it, you must! You'll laugh out loud when grouchy Thomas ends up wearing his teacher's dress. What mom hasn't battled with her child over what she (or he) refuses to wear! I remember the day my son announced he was no longer wearing anything that included even a hint of purple, and it seems as if 30% of my daughter's clothes made her itch.

We gathered with a capacity crowd and had a great time. The kids even made an edible snowman out of that preschool staple, marshmallows. It's amazing what you can do with a marshmallow! Add some pretzels, a dab of icing here and there, some black gel, a junior mint and somehow you end up with a snowman. Our February 2nd Saturday Love-fest is already full. So if you're interested in March, call now!

Gotta go...it's January and I'm always on a Flurry Watch.

Happy New Year!

I love a new year; it's a clean slate, a field of freshly fallen snow, one with no footprints whatsoever. You find your own path. You don't have to travel the same route you did the last time you found yourself navigating that same field. You have choices, which make that field that you've traveled more times than you can count, totally different from the last time you traveled it. It's time we all put the mistakes of the past behind us; unburden ourselves of the decisions that have weighed us down; release the hurts that we have held close, and FLY. Rise above it all. When you get enough distance between you and all that "stuff," you'll find what everyone else already knew. None of it even matters. Come fly with us in 2009!