Mother's Day by Laura

Well, I finally fell asleep around 3 a.m. this morning. I don't know if I was waiting for a call from the slumber party, or just in a typical insomnia mode, or maybe a bit of both, but I couldn't get to sleep! We were supposed to pick Kaylee up at 8 a.m. I woke up out of a dead sleep with the word "Kaylee!" ringing in my head. I rolled over and saw 7:40 a.m. on the clock. I poked Steve, and we hopped out of bed and got to the car asap. Originally I was going to have him go pick her up himself so I could sleep in, but I ended up not wanting to do that I guess. :) So I walked into the gymnastics place in sweat pants and a slept-in t-shirt, uncombed hair, no make-up, and sunglasses. The funny thing is, I wasn't the messiest one there. Curly hair is a blessing-you really can't tell half the time that it doesn't look 'that way' on purpose!

I couldn't see Kaylee at first, but finally I spotted her sitting on a pad in her Tinkerbell pajamas, staring into space, her 1980-style side ponytail all ragged. She looked exhausted! She finally spotted me, and without a word just threw her arms around my neck, buried her face on my shoulder, and just hugged me. I carried her into the house that way too, wrapped in her blanket, and put her in my bed, and we all laid down and passed right back out. I woke up again at 10:30, Steve woke up a bit later, and Kaylee finally got up at 11:50! She told me later that they played games, and she got wrapped up in toilet paper as a hula girl. They got to jump on the trampolines (her favorite part), and they did some dance/music games too. I asked her if she liked it, and she claims that she had fun and wants to do it again sometime, and she sure didn't seem to be nervous after she got there. All in all, I'd call it a successful first-time sleep over. Whew! :)

This afternoon, Steve got my motorcycle (Suzuki 500E) started and run a bit, and then we pulled it out into the street, and I rode it for the first time in years. After an initial wobbly start, it came back pretty quickly. I went to get gas first, and all was well, though the bike seemed sluggish. Then I decided to hit some back roads with less traffic and get some practice in. I got up to 50 mph for the first time, and suddenly the bike just got slower and slower until I was coasting off to the side and waving traffic around me. It died. I sat there a moment, got it going again, and rode around for awhile. It wasn't as zippy as it used to be, it felt sluggish, and it kept popping and backfiring, and pretty soon it started surging. I wasn't that far away from Glenndale, so I went in there to get a drink and sit for second, but right as I turned into the driveway, it went up to about 6000 RPM (and climbing), even with the throttle closed. So I shut it down and pushed it up to the building, went in, had a coke, (nobody was there), and relaxed for about 5 minutes. Came back out, and decided to push it down the loose gravel driveway and be ready to just go on the pavement. It did the same thing the rest of the way home-I'd be going down the road in a low gear with the throttle closed, going faster and faster and faster. It made it a tricky first ride for me, but I made it. :) I'd have to brake and mess with the clutch just to slow down. Got it in my driveway, and again, shut it down when the RPMs wound up to about 8000 with the throttle closed. Safe and sound. Basically, when Steve first started it up, it wouldn't idle, so he turned up the idle to get it to run. When I ran it out harder, I apparently cleaned the bugger out, at which time it didn't need the idle cranked up that much any more. So here I am, screaming down the road. I'd come up to a stop sign or stop light and groan, because I'd be in neutral with my RPMs screaming and I know everybody around me had to be looking at the chick who apparently didn't know how to handle her bike. lol It was fun though! Now that Steve dialed back down the idle, and I apparently blew out the problem, it's running great, back to its usual zippy self. I don't even know how many years have gone by since I last rode it, so it felt good to get back on. I'm going to try to take it out more often now.

For my Mom, yes, I wore my stinking helmet. I look like a doofus and I feel claustrophobic, but at least I won't have a Traumatic Brain Injury to go with my Road Rash should I wipe out. Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't talk about wiping out. I'd rather you just worry about me in airplanes. No wait, that's not right either... See, I can still be a brat at 35. ;o)

Miscellaneous Ramblings: 1). We have a family of baby bunnies in our back yard. They are terribly cute, and I'm a tad worried about them with all the wild cats that live around here. Dulce always stalks them from the deck, from window to window. She's definitely still got the most "wild" in her, even more so than Roadie. 2). I somehow managed to get a "blemish" on my face. I am not 15, I am 35, but even at age 15 I didn't get a lot of these things. How nice for me now. Kaylee was sitting on my lap, and she kept poking at it. "What's that?" "It's a zit." poke poke "It's purple". "I know, thank you. Stop poking me!" *sigh*

So, today was Mother's Day. Kaylee wanted me to open her gift, but she said "You won't be very excited about it." in kind of a sad voice. I reassure her that of course I'll love it if it came from her; it is a little jewelry box that she had painted at school at a ceramics shop field trip for that purpose. She'd used purple paint because purple is my favorite color. She was worried I wouldn't like it because it's the same jewelry box she gave me last year, only last year it was painted pink. Of course I love it, she painted it and she put her initials and the year on the bottom. What mom wouldn't like that? She also gave me a card she made, and she wrote out her own note in it. Her spelling and reading are getting pretty good! It was a good Mother's Day. Flowers, chocolate, hand-made ceramics, a motorcycle ride, blue skies, and a nap. Oh, and makeup. This afternoon, Kaylee got out my makeup, lotion, body sprays, etc. and while I sat in the living room, she did me up with the full works to make me look and smell beautiful. What more could a mother ask for? :)

I'd like to wish a Happy Mother's Day to... 1) My mom, who was more patient with me than I feel with mini me sometimes. 2) My mother-in-law and sister-in-law who are also wonderful examples. 3) My friends who are all really fantastic and Very Busy moms. and 4) My SMA family, some of whom are missing their children today. You don't become less of a mother when your child dies, but you sure feel the empty space in your life even more. I'll always remember the first Mother's Day after Devon & Sidney were gone; Steve brought me flowers and a pretty angel box along with a butterfly figurine, and wrote a note to me from the boys. It really hit me, not just because I missed them, but because it validated what I'd felt inside but tried to bypass for that day...that I was still and always a mother.

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful ladies out there!