Sunshine Makes Me Happy

We took to the park today to enjoy some of the sunny weather that came along on the heels of several days of cloudy, raininess. Symbolic for my life this week, no? A little sunshine goes a long way towards improving my attitude. Although, as the beautiful and talented Kristi tells me, those who live in sunny locals long for cloudy days, so it just goes to show you that no one is ever happy.

We enjoyed ourselves at the park, as usual. Sophie was her usual flirty little self. She quickly made friends with a 2 1/2 year old girl and the two of them spent an hour running around together while her mother and I had a nice talk. I keep reading about snobby or snooty moms at playgrounds, and maybe I have just been lucky, but every one that I have met has been super nice.

After our new friends left, Sophie and I were hanging out next to the big kid swings when a little girl came up to me. She was about four years old, with a blond pony tail, and just as precocious as could be.

Little Blond Cutie (LBC): Did you see a little girl over here?

Me: What does she look like?

LBC: She has skin like mine and she was on that swing over there.

Me: When was she there?

LBC: Just a few minutes ago. She's pretend.

Me: Oh, well...wait, she's pretend?

LBC: Yes.

Me: (blink, blink)

Me: I'm sorry, I didn't see her.

LBC: (looks around perturbed and runs off)

Maybe I should have said I had seen her.


PS - Thanks for all of your kind comments yesterday. I had publishing remorse as soon as I hit the button. Sharing makes me feel kind of oogy. A little good, but also a little weird. I don't really like to open up that depressing can of worms, but some days it's all that will come out. It's comforting to know that I'm not alone.

Have a great weekend!

Parking

We took advantage of the sunshine and slightly warmer weather to take a trip to the park today. Not surprisingly, it was a pretty happening place. In addition to many of the usual suspects we see there on weekdays, there was a contingent of kids who would normally be in school who were there running, jumping rope and ball playing. Although my primary motive was to get Sophie and myself out of the house for a few hours, I also wanted to get outside and try out my new camera in natural light.

There are two large playground installations. One is obviously for smaller kids while the other is much bigger, with longer slides and more complex activities that are clearly aimed at older kids. After playing on the small one for some months, I thought we would give the big one a try. This is when I discovered that my little daredevil thinks she can fly. Standing on the platform at the highest level, she stepped off into the nothingness. Luckily, I was standing right next to her and caught her by her hood. If I had been a little slower or less attentive, or if my grip on her hood had been less secure, she would have fallen 8 feet or so to the mulch-covered ground below. It took a good 10 minutes for my heart to stop feeling like it was going for a world speed record. I think we'll hold off on the big playground equipment for a little while.
















We also spent some time on the swings. How I loved the swings as a kid. Going so high you thought for sure you could go all the way around. Flipping off at the highest point of the arc, legs kicking in the air before landing roughly in an awkward run. When I first started putting her on the swings, Sophie was a little nervous, she tucked her legs up next to her chest and pulled her arms in, like a cannonball, rarely smiling. Now she lets her arms and legs swing loose and spends most of her time smiling and laughing. Today was no exception.

The isolation of the stay at home mom is magnified during the wintertime when it is too cold to go out of doors. These lovely days will keep us sane as we forge on through to spring.

What Do You Do?

This past spring and summer I spent a good deal of time walking at the park. I fell off the walking wagon a couple of months ago, though. I can't say for sure why. I think in part it was because I had been walking several times a week for months and seen absolutely no change when I stepped on the scale. I'm not one to go strictly by weight, though, so with great enthusiasm I took all of my key measurements at the beginning of my foray into the postpartum exercise world. After six months, I hadn't lost an inch. NOT ONE SINGLE INCH. After what was probably hundreds of miles walked, I was in no better shape than before. Talk about disheartening.

But really, that wasn't the point of this post so much as a tangent that I veered off on to explain why I haven't been walking lately. I would like to get back into going more often, even if my behind isn't any smaller for my efforts. Which is why, despite less than ideal weather, Sophie and I were there today.

The park that I go to has a wide, paved, 3/4 mile path that goes around the circumference of the park. People walk and bike in both directions. I will generally walk 3 or 4 laps depending on Sophie's temper, the weather, etc. As I pass each person on my first lap, I smile, make eye contact and say hello. Even as I see people for the second time, I will still look them in the eyes and smile. But what are you supposed to do after that? I pass each person two times each lap, so that could be 8 times for any one person. Am I supposed to continue looking them in the eyes and smiling every time I see them? Although the scenery is pretty, there isn't much to truly distract me from looking straight ahead.

Every time I go, I think about this and I always feel weird. So what do you do when you're approaching someone down a long hallway or sidewalk?

Do you:

A) Look at the them the whole time, smiling. Perhaps a nod when you walk past.

B) Look around awkwardly until the last second and then look up and smile?

C) Never make eye contact or acknowledge their presence, pretending there is something terribly interesting off in the distance.

D) Pretend you just got a text message or phone call.

E) None of the above. You avoid walking down hallways and sidewalks at all costs.

On another note, after walking, we spent a couple of minutes at the playground. Sophie loves the slide and can now go down all by her big girl self. I recorded this video on my phone (which is why it's so grainy) and sent it to Neil, who has been walking around the house saying "Weeeee, Yaaaaay!" ever since. In my defense, it didn't sound goofy at the time, but the more times I see it, the goofier it sounds. Meh.