Kayaking with the Hills

My friend, Natalie, is my friend. I say that because I've learned through the years that I haven't always understood what a friend is and have been surprisingly hurt by people I thought were my friends, but weren't. But Natalie is exactly what I need. We go walking three times a week, and we talk and talk and talk. Sometimes she suggests that we sit and talk after we're done with walking, but I would rather feel like we never finish so that we can just pick up when we start the next time ;-)

She's been trying to arrange things to do with the four of us (John, Dan, Natalie and me), and I've been hesitant. I kinda worry that if she really gets to know John and me, she might decide that we aren't for them. In other words, I want to maintain a bit of mystery ;-) She got us to go out to dinner the first time (Steve and Rocky's, a GREAT and upscale restaurant where a man needs to wear a collared shirt), and then we went over to their home to play games. They aren't quite on the level we are with games, but the charcuterie tray she serves us? Heavenly!

They like to bike, and they keep inviting us, but I'm not even sure we own a helmet, so when they suggested kayaking, I was on board! (see what I did there?) We even arranged it with the girls' work schedules that they could come too. A Wednesday afternoon, kayaking down the Huron River, in Pure Michigan. It doesn't get any better in summertime.

It IS funny to see us in life vests because the water wasn't more than a foot deep....and we're SCUBA trained swimmers! But the rental company required them.

I don't need to write about the experience, because it was a typical kayaking trip, but it was for my introverted self, a very atypical social experience. I've been working on lowering the bar I have for myself and for other people, and I've discovered that I'm able to enjoy so much more about life when I do. It was one of the best social experiences I've ever had. I was relaxed and happy and just able to enjoy the moment instead of having a million different voices in my head telling me how I need to act, worrying about how I'm acting, and trying not to act in a way that people won't like me.

We were out a little over two hours, and at the end, I was ready to do it all over again. I was driving, so I took us to Culver's for dinner, and we drove home with the windows rolled down.

Comments

The Quest for Birkenstocks

One of the main reasons I go to Germany every couple of years is to restock my supply of Birkenstocks. I started buying them when I lived there, and I basically can't live without them now. It just about kills me when a pair runs its course and needs to be thrown away. I think in my lifetime, I've thrown away only three pairs. One that never was quite right (the straps were plastic and would cut into my skin after a long day), one pair that I wore gardening one too many times (the brown dirt stains wouldn't come out of the white leather), and the pair that I was wearing when I broke my ankle (they were an unfortunate casualty of broken ankle PTSD because those purple and blue paisleys go down as one of my favorite pairs of all time). I only threw out the garden ones a couple of days before I left for Germany, because I knew I would be getting a new pair. The only store where I have ever bought my Birkenstocks is Hoffmann's in Speicher. (Well okay, t...

Like Dominos....

It all began with glare. Simple, obnoxious, I-can't-stand-it-anymore glare. Our 60" rear projection TV in the family room was basically unviewable except after 10 o'clock at night. The glare from the windows was making it impossible to see anything during my 10 minute lunch break each day, and something had to change. Too, the TV didn't fit in the entertainment center from Germany. John, wanting bigger and better, hadn't considered that the space is only 40" wide. For the past five years, I have been nagged by 6" of overhang on both sides of the TV stand. I went to Lowe's to price blinds. $1,043 for five blinds, and that was at 20% off. I figured a new TV would be cheaper than that. I was right, even with the state-of-the-art receiver and new HDMI cables that sly salesman told us we needed to have. But where to put the old TV? It just needed a quiet, dark place to retire. Glo's bedroom. Her TV was a relic from the paleoneoneand...

Johannah's Bridal Shower

One of the only reasons to lament my daughter not living in Utah anymore? Sister Mecham. When I think back to the absolutely classic, beautiful, elegant, heart-warming bridal shower she threw for Glo, I literally sit in awe. Her talents and abilities are unmatched! Believe me, I was hoping anyone would volunteer to throw Hannah a bridal shower. Being only two weeks post-op, I knew it was going to be very difficult for me to stand up let alone host the thing. I even asked several people about me throwing it, thinking they would tell me it wasn't up to me, but do you know what they ALL said? Of course I should host it. This is what we do, baby! So I took a deep breath and decided to do it the best I could do it, knowing that I would never equal what Becky Mecham could do. Since Hannah's wedding colors were Tigers colors, and since Hannah loves baseball, I figured a baseball-themed bridal shower would be perfect for her. And she agreed! But l...

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Search This Blog