It was a gorgeous weekend in Atlanta. The temperature on Saturday hovered around 70 degrees Fahrenheit with a breathtaking blue sky. Not wanting to let the beautiful day pass us by, my three teenagers and I headed to the lake to enjoy the day together. While there, we did nothing more strenuous than soak up some rays, enjoy the lake views and snap a few photographs…well, except for my son Alex.
Alex spied a large chunk of Styrofoam floating near the lakeshore and turned it into a makeshift raft. He climbed onto and stood upon his raft using a tree branch as a paddle. He drifted just far enough from the water’s edge to where he was unable to climb back onto shore. Ever the resourceful boy, he devised a plan to maneuver his raft around some rocks in an attempt to return to dry land. As I watched him wobbling back and forth on that raft, I was convinced he was going to fall overboard into the freezing water.
Instead of trying to help him like a concerned mother would do, I did what a blogging mom would do and turned on the video camera. I figured if he was going to fall into the lake I might as well capture it on video and share it with you. When it became obvious he was going to make it back to shore, I took a few photos of him and his raft. In case you were wondering, Alex is 14 years old and the water level was no more than a few feet, so I wasn’t acting all that irresponsibly and he was not in any real danger.
Sunday proved to be an even more spectacular day with temperatures in the mid 70’s. My youngest daughter Anya, who is a high school senior, is going to the prom in April. I have been dying to get this child into a girlie dress for years now, so Sunday afternoon, Anya, my oldest daughter Kailey and I went prom dress shopping at the mall. Our first stop was Macy’s, which had an entire department dedicated to prom dresses. Kailey, Anya and I ran around frantically like we were vying for prizes on a game show pulling dresses from the displays. Once in the fitting room, Anya tried on dress after dress while Kailey and I oohed and ahhed. I must admit I became a little teary-eyed thinking about my how my once little girl is no more.
Anya originally thought she wanted a short dress but after trying on two floor length gowns she has decided that’s the way to go. Though she did not make a dress decision on Sunday (she wants to shop again), we did find two that she really liked. Anya gave me permission to share a few photos with the stipulation that I crop her head out of two because she didn’t like the way she looked. The long gowns are the ones she loved and the short one, well, she hated it, but was willing to try it on for me.
While shopping, I came across a little something-something that intrigued me. It was, of all things, a cotton candy pink belly dancing hip scarf with silver coins that made a mesmerizing sound when shaken. I removed the scarf from the rack, tied it around my hips and headed for the floor length mirror in the back of the store. For a few minutes, I stood in front of the mirror making those coins shake by performing my own version of a belly dance. It was simply fascinating.
My daughters are past the “mom is so embarrassing” stage, so they just stood idly by and let me have some fun. I’ll bet the employees had a good giggle at my expense, but I don’t care because I had a really good time. I’m thinking a belly dancing class might be a fun thing to do.
I am so grateful for such a beautiful weekend and the time spent with my children, I’m particularly glad to have spent time with Anya who will graduate from high school in May and leave for college in the fall. Though I have known these things were happening, I have not let myself feel what was happening. Just thinking and writing about it now is causing a flood of emotions that I’m not really sure what to do with. While I try to put these emotions in some sort of perspective, I will enjoy the next few months with my daughter by spending time with her and perhaps doing a belly dance or two to make her smile.
Life was good this weekend; very, very good.
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