Busy Bees

Nora is busy.  I suppose that's because I'm busy.  And I like it this way.  Oh sure, I complain at times.  I loudly exhale at the end of a busy day...grumble about a packed schedule, lots of transitions, energy spread around.  But I really do fair better with a lot to do.  I had stepped away from my social calendar for a few weeks...leaving wide gaps between visits and adventures.  I had started to miss people.  Noodle and I were a bit stir crazy.

My Monkey Mouse may not resemble me that much...but we are cut from the same cloth.  With our circling feet to music, our gigantic foreheads, our alien little toes, our yearning to be around people and make loads of friends. 

I was reminded of a moment in Boston that represented the trip so well.  After a scant 20 minutes in the art museum, here we are on the bus heading back to our apartment.  Nora was thrilled.  She was roaring past people and cars and buildings...listening to fellow passengers talk and laugh and cough.  It was her world.  We could probably ride the bus and blue line here in Long Beach and easily satisfy her traveling desires.  It would be cheaper, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Craving busy has do with September approaching.  The beginning of the school year.  Every year for 10 years, I was starting with a new group of students this time of year.  175+ youth that craved fine literature and grammatical prowess (that's a joke, you know).  They carried with them the marks of too much sun, too much sex, too much television, and too much energy.  I carried with me a gigantic smile, a stern voice, a plethora of activities to hook, snag, and coerce them into reading and writing.  Each day, each period, each minute offered thousands of opportunities to direct, guide, motivate, lament, order, instruct, answer, and observe these young people.  My mind was always buzzing with ideas.  My heart raced most of the day.  My palms sweat before each lesson.  My feet ached from weaving in between my scholars.

And this year...for the second time...I approach September with Lulu as my primary focus, the main recipient of all of my creativity, smiles, and lessons.  She may not respond like 175+ teenagers but her observant nature and curious spirit manage to inspire me to fill our plates with activities, moments, diverse people and adventures.

Yesterday, we waited in the infamous lines for the gourmet food trucks.  I ordered an ahi tuna poke nachos and then sat on a sea of bright blankets with 18 other moms and babies.  Nora shoveled in dehydrated corn kernels, plump blueberries brought directly from Michigan, cheddar puffs, and choke-worthy carrots.  I chatted in German with a fellow mom's husband...oblivious to Nora's near death experience with the aforementioned carrot.  Thanks goodness there's a "takes a village" mentality to our mom's group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning we headed to the park for a workout.  Nora frolicked with the men playing soccer, the big kids near the swings, and the mini-German who paid her no mind (typical of a German man - too busy playing with himself to pay attention to the smart olive-skinned woman next to him).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And suddenly, there it was...I looked down at my yoga mat for just a second and when I looked up, Lulu-Bell was there, standing up, watching kids play.  A big girl.  My baby-baby no more.  But still my baby.

Ugghhhh...can she just slow down?

 

Comments

[Aunt Kathy & Uncle Shane]

AHH! How adorable she is. So tiny, standing there in the sand. So sweet.

And blueberries from Michigan??? Does California forget that their fine neighbors to the north grow lovely blueberries? We've been enjoying them all summer long :)

Hugs to you all...