on gaining those footholds….

i want to paint a picture for you.

not like bob ross style or anything…but maybe something still, and quiet, and soft - an image like that of a Sally Mann portrait…



around 19 years ago.

summerish.

a girl - (that would be me)- and a boy, (that would be XH)…were hiking in the woods with some friends.
 
it was a gorgeous hazy day - XH was in process of hiking the trail, and we had driven out to meet him.

i would have gone to the ends of the earth for that man.  well, that boy.  at the time he was just a boy.

i was independent and so YOUNG strong…i thought i had the world figured out.

this boy and i - we were gonna have the love story of a life time.

my memory of so many things is shoddy, and our long strange trip over the decades has ended on a bitter note, but as of late, i find my mind wandering back to that trip…

while we were trouncing through the woods, and climbing over rock crevices, i remember him reaching up and grabbing my hand to help me step down…i faltered slightly, and he said this to me…

"don't ever be that girl...the one who is afraid of her footing, and where her next step will land."

at the time i took his hand, and smiled.  who knew 20 years later that moment would be stuck on the highlight reel as a lesson to listen more closely...

so here's the funny thing - the older i got - the more afraid of my footing i was i didn't trust my gut…i became codependent…and scared to stand up for my fire.

i became a mom.  i hid behind my momness.
i rocked every part of parenting…textbook well.

but my spark dimmed…and my fire - well, it was nothing more than smoldering - at best.

i will say for about 8 years of my marriage, i WAS that girl.

when XH moved out - i called my dad to come over and change a lightbulb for me.  helllllooo independent.

DAMNIT.

where was that GIRL?  that girl who moved mountains?  that girl who stood up at her high school graduation and spoke words out loud…who owned her truths. who danced in the rain and didn't give a shit what people thought.

now don't mistake i am blaming XH - i am not.

he didn't cause this…it was a simple, but not so simple byproduct of our marriage.



our "partnership…"  the loneliest i ever was was within my marriage.

at the end - i was doing it all alone anyway.  and it fueled my need to leave.

my steps had ceased,


and


sitting by my grams death bed - day in and day out - for weeks…i came to a HARD realization.


the marriage was dead.

and that girl…she was suffocating….

for a time, i stuck it out and tried to make myself fit the mold…but eventually that weak and scared girl lost her battle….because the warrior mama personality will always prevail.  always.


and because i couldn't hold my breath any longer my steps began to move forward…at first small steps, before i broke into a run...

and now...
I AM right here.

as for my strength…

i know exactly the moment it started creeping back in…it was the day i stood up at my grandmothers funeral and spoke words that hurt….they ached to say…but one by one as they left my mouth they began to sew the shards of my heart back together…and my step became solid again…it was just pre divorce, but the beginning of my strength finding its way home.


and NOW…several years later -

i am embracing the life that i CHOOSE to live and the chaos that we call home.

we are NOT perfect.  far from it.

BUT

here we do high emotions.
we do lots of lovins and snuggles.
we do love is love…and we mean it.
we yell, we kiss and make up…but most importantly, we trust.

I TRUST.

i trust my footing.

and the path that i am on.

i am not afraid of my next steps.  finally.  i am excited about the potential to fail.  because i fail forward…and my failures make me strong as HELL.

and hell hath NO fury, like a girl on fire.  we know that much at the very least to be SO true.

so live and love STRONG homies…and TRUST your step.


i am.

*a

hug.

a hug…

so there is this crazy thing about hugs.  the intention behind them, the theory, the idea of them….why we give them, how they feel, it's just this THING i have been stuck on all week.

i had a few hiccups this week, and in those moments, i was able to breathe, and pull myself back to center - with a hug or two…sometimes virtual embrace, and others were literal hugs, the ones that fix it all...

like when my babies fall down and get hurt, how they need a hug, to reassure them that they are ok…

or when they run off the big yellow school bus and they are so happy to see me after a long day away, how they jump into my arms and the world feels like perfection…

or when my students pop into my room between classes needing a hug, i have found that middle schoolers love hugs, like love love them, and ask for them freely…because that is a common misconception...

then when the world seems like it can't throw any more catastrophic bullshit in my general direction, that a hug from my circle seems to glue all my brokenness back together…

or how about the awkward hug, when you aren't sure if its ok….but you go for it anyway, and hope for the best...

but then there are those times when i see a friend, that i haven't seen in awhile and the hug is no different than a smile amongst friends…that physical contact that says hey, i'm here..


so what is a hug really all about?

is it the reassurance?

or the touch?

or perhaps the capturing of a moment in time, where souls connect and the world stands still - because if you think about it - it kinda is the way it all goes down…you get captured in an embrace, arms around you, and your whole world stands still and in that moment, in a GOOD hug, nothing else enters your mind - nothing leaves it, and nothing even matters - the world stands still.  i had one of those today - and MAN, did it make ALL the difference. *FUN is.

those are the hugs that keep this mama moving forward….one foot in front of the other...


sending out some giant virtual lovins and hugs your way, homies.

xox, a

REALTALK 2015

so in deeming this the year of REAL TALK per my girl Nina's suggestion…i'm about to drop some real talk on yah.  

hold on tight.

today was a blissful day….one full of magic and happy and crazy and messy…but blissful all the same.

i spent the day loving up on my benji, and spoiling him rotten. why?  because its my right to do that….and when life is so damn hard sometimes…well - you get a little slack and you run with that shit.

it was an amazing day.

today i felt like everything was just so good, and then at the very same time, it was all so catastrophic…there was so much unrest trying so damn hard to weave itself into the fibers of my world…and i almost allowed it…ALMOST.

but then not so much.

tonight i was blessed enough to really fall apart.  like messy cry it out…snot dripping puffy eyes kinda mess.  

but yah know sometimes, there is NOTHING that puts your puzzle pieces back together quite like dumping out the whole damn box.  tonight was a messy cry it out  - the ugly cry kinda tears, and speak in truths so hard that they almost try to claw their way back down your throat kinda truths.

i feel blessed - truly deeply blessed to have peeps in my world that i feel SAFE enough to go there with.  people who love me no matter what…and who bend their definitions on LIFE to keep me around.  tonight i said words that i dreaded saying.  admitted out  LOUD things that i don't even like to acknowledge creeping around my brain…and it helped.  

the fact is this. i own my shit.  i big own it.  

i make mistakes. lots of them.

and my world, its messy.  

and my parenting- it may not be conventional….but its mine.  

and even as hard as this is - i still choose it over complacency. 

because at the end of the day - it works…and we find sunshine in even the darkest hour, and at the very end of my story - it will still be just as interesting as the beginning - this i know beyond a shadow of doubt.

my babies are happy and settled in my arms, and i know that they are going to be 3 rockstar adults when i am done with them.  

so what is my point?  my point is this.  every now and again, you gotta let yourself be weak…feel those bullshit feelings that punch you in the gut and turn your calm center into a storm.  then you put on your big girl panties and you adjust those mother f-ing sails and put your warrior back on. 

i may be a girl on fire - but i own that fire.  

xox *a

Snowishness and other magical updates….

hey there folks.  

its snowing and this is a LONG time coming….ready?

i know i know.  3 F-ING years since my last post.  

who knew. 

who knew that the girl who used to blog all shiny-happy-humorous-truths about life and love and chaos would hit a wall.  

well she did.  i did.  

i did just that. and it was a BIG wall.  

and i hit it hard….so sit on back.

my last post is from august of 2012.  i can barely even sit through reading it yet. because NOTHING,  almost NOTHING in my chaotic life remains the same.  and man is it hard to read through for that reason alone.

  I'm glad its there - because someday - i will be able to look back and smile….  but right now?  right now I'm nothing more than a mama trying to catch my breath…a girl on fire,  in a world of madness that swirls around me…

me and my beans.

i stopped blogging because i started to feel like my walls were closing in.

like i was fighting to stay positive in a place that i had no more smiles to share, no more love to give, and no more stories to share.

it's not true…i need to write...

  the crumbling of those walls crushed me for a hot second but I'm OK.  we are ok. 

 we are, I am….here now.

im gonna see if i can even remember how to do this. 

here goes nothing...

i am no longer married.  

that man i used to call hubs, he was my whole world and my best friend…well - he's just a guy that i used to know.  (cue cheesy music playing…)  we divorced under the guise of staying best friends and raising our children in a different kind of love story. 

well.  that being said…that man no longer exists in my world.  for about 24 hours that looked like an amazing plan, and then, XH we will call him, moved in with his "new girl"  and yeah - well…not a day goes by that i don't wish things were different. 

we could have rocked the whole friendship thing. 

i know it in my heart of hearts - we so totally could have rocked it.  

 

the children still see their father, but as things remain, we don't speak, and those pie in the sky ideas of raising our children, well they died with the demise of the marriage.  i find myself at low moments just walking around my home and shaking my head.  i'm a wicked head shaker.  its not a good practice.

i know walking away was the right thing to do, for so, so many reasons…but…but..well, i'm gonna bite my tongue here, as there just isn't a whole lot i can say just yet.  

YET.  

because i will secretly never stop hoping that XH will remember who i really am.

my grandmother has since passed on - i wrote about her in my last post - and man does that SUCK.  she was my voice of reason, even when she was SO far off the mark, there was always SOME truth in her advice that i was able to grasp onto and find my way to breathable air.

as for the rest of our lovefest chaos…the beans are AHHHHMAZING. 

 i wake up feeling truly blessed every day…its not always good here, there are days that are so f-word hard i want to throw in the towel, but we get by.  i have a support network around me that keeps me sane…and these beans… blissful.  

Biggest bean is 11. He owns ALL of the hellishness that comes with 11.  he is battling demons that no kiddo should have to, and i am amazed at his will and strength to fight for what he believes in.  the kid is going places…just maybe awhile before he gets there.  its not gonna be an easy road for this one, but i've got his back.

the little miss…well - she's a hot ticket.  Keeps me on my toes and has a fire to her that could only have come from this mama.   and i encourage it because god dammit - this world NEEDS more girls on fire. complacency in this life is NOT an option people….stop allowing for JUST good enough…

 and the littlest bean….well, he is turning 8 tomorrow.  EIGHT.  its insane.  he's my sunshine in a world of sometimes not so hot.  he has a smile on his face and possibly the BIGGEST heart that one could ever come across…he's chock full of magic and i feel so blessed to be his mama.

so all in all, the world keeps on moving forward in beanville…we are OK.  that shiny happy place we used to rock, well….we have some scars over here, but they definitely don't define us, they simply add some color.

 our story will still be an amazing one at the end of the day.  

so for now, we spend most of our time immersed in hockey and family and friends and goodz...we don't know whats coming next, but we are standing our ground.  and its SOLID.

i was called a shitty mom this week by XH, and told i am self focused, and to "go post another selfie, bitch"  SO, in true fiery mama status - happy snow day homies  - with love - the BITCH.

my aim is to get back here - and to write again, because writing heals me …so here's hoping i can make that happen.

have missed this process.  xox, *a