Baby Steps

A few years ago I went to the spa and Gigi was so jealous.  She begged to return with me the next time.  Pleaded.  Whined!  I think she thought the spa was going to be pepto pink with a sparkly makeup counter and elegant women puffing themselves with lush, sweet smelling powders and applying the prettiest and fanciest makeup.  Sparkles, too.  Of course.  So.  Many.  Sparkles.  I found out that she had to be 13 before she could walk those halls, though, so she elicited a promise from me that at the stroke of midnight on her 13th birthday we’d go to the spa on a school day.  That’s right.  A personal day was promised, so you know this was serious!  These days she’s not a sweet little eight year old anymore, though.  She’s a sweet little junior high kid with responsibilities and tests and stuff, so it took a few weeks until she felt okay enough in the rhythm of her days that she would join me.  Today was that day and it was AWESOME!  We had a great day together.  No pink rooms, a lot of reading, chilling, chatting, giggling, soaking and even eating.  We ate in the spa restaurant and enjoyed some new to us foods.  Both of us tried bibimbap, neither of us loved it but I was thrilled to check that off of my list of curiosities.  Mostly, though, I think we started something.  I love having a buddy to take to the spa with me!!!

{Freddie Sparkles has decided it’s sweater weather and I’m obsessed with these gorgeous mushrooms I’m seeing everywhere!  We need some elves and fairies to fly around them to complete the scene. }

But, of course, I woke up and it was sunny as anything and more beautiful out than any November Pacific Northwest day ever is.  I slept well, rolled over and knew I was going to take a stab at my first post-injury run.  My big idea was that if I did engage the sciatica again during the little 1.5 mile run, at least I was planning to spend the remainder of the day laying in a variety of heated rooms, soaking in pools and steaming my muscles into submission!  Lucky for me, though, the only thing that happened was that I surprised myself by running faster than I thought and nothing hurt.  Not even tonight, I’m still just fine.  I feel soooo happy!!!  I’m still planning on taking it slow and meeting with people, learning exercises and everything, but I’m going to start taking some baby steps.

{Hat Day plus Halloween plus silly string recess plus Monday and I was still smiling!  A good day.👍}

Now onto gossipy goodness.  My gossip is that I love Ben Folds now.  I mean, I have enjoyed him in the past, but I always said that given the opportunity, I’d eat dinner with another celebrity.  Ben always seemed to be compensating for something, making him seem somewhat poseur-esque, not at ease with in his skin with his success, but this new album paints a very different picture of a different man who has grown into his piano and space in the world, I guess.  Perhaps in him I also see me, a person who was occupying space apologetically for years.  A surprise baby who squealed her way through childhood with persistent demands only to grow into the embodiment of my own personal disappointment: obese, insecure, depressed woman who was trying to make a solid go of it.  Faking it till I made it.  But I, too, have grown into my skin over the past few years and feel so much more okay about occupying the space I require to live.  Seeing that in someone else, no matter how much more it’s an inference over reality, just makes me like him more.  I have a habit of developing and enjoying celebrity crushes, and sheesh if I’m not digging on Ben Folds since that concert.  Swoon.  LOL!
The other men on my list?   I like them tall, funny, with glasses if at all possible, negotiable facial hair…

• Ewan McGregor – he may be short, but he makes up for it in integrity, kindness, authenticity and magical babeliciousness.
• Stephen Merchent- he’s so tall. And I like tall. He’s also crazily funny as one of the cowriters from the original Office series. And did I mention he’s, like, 6’7″ or something something?  
• Donnie Wahlberg- my first one.  Never forget.  I haven’t.  He’s got the right stuff and I’m still hanging tough.  I think I’ll be loving him forever.
• Colin Firth- he reminds me of Bradley.  Smart, serious but with the right person, hilarious.  And a babe.
• John Krasinski- tall and funny.  Though I have to admit that I’m probably really crushing on Jim from the Office here. 😉
• Jim Carey is tall AND funny.  More than that, though, he sees the relationship of love and fear and uses that as his divining rod for life.  He chases love.  How can I not love him?  Furthermore, Jenny McCarthy has dated two of the men on my list: Donnie and Jim.  She and I could have a fun girls night together.  
• The Batch, AKA: Benedict Cumberbatch.  He’s new to my focus group, but after watching him as Sherlock, I went down The Batch’s rabbit hole, exploring anything and everything I could get my hands on.  What I could get my hands on lead me to believe he chases parts because he’s a certain kind of man- ache generally plays misunderstood, sensitive, brilliant characters with a soft spot for love.  I like.  And despite not being ridiculously tall, he reads as tall and that means a lot.  He he.

Alrighty then.  I think we are done here.