Friday, January 21, 2011

feet and such


I am officially on my way to being a stage mother.

Last night was my first game as "coach". I nervously sat each girl down in-between practicing cheers and tied huge white bows in their hair. I bent down to pick something up and got a little whiff of something special. My Secret was not being so secretive. I was sweating bullets.

I watched the clock tick down before quarters and made sure they were ready to go out.

"okay. now remember to start slow. take a big, deep, breathe. And smile. Don't forget to smile. And......"

I stopped myself because their eyes were starting to glaze over.

The buzzer went off and I scurried across the floor in my work heels to the middle row of bleachers. Front row. I neurotically sat bobbing my head, smiling like a banchee, and standing up clapping furiously after they finished.

I am so proud of these little chickadees.


As I sat back down, I took a look at my feet. Probably because they were screaming at me. And I thought to myself, How did I get here? I used to be one of them...not so long ago. And now here I am with my feet smushed into shoes that make my toes feel all cramped up like the back pew in church. (Baptist, of course.)

Life just flies by, doesn't it?


I came home to a toasty little trailer filled with two farm dogs, one cat, and one boy. He pulled my toes apart (TMI? never.) and I sat on the couch, listening to this over and over. And then we talked about how big my feet are and Andrew tried to convince me that if he didn't have a crazy long 2nd toe, that my feet would be bigger.

I would just like to state for the record, that my big toe is about a half of an inch shorter than his. (even though it doesn't look it in this picture)

and as I sat there, soaking in my work day that lasted from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., I thought to myself, here you are.

Here you are.

Here you are.

And I smiled, 'cause my heart feels pretty full right about now.

3 comments:

PJH said...

Congratulations, sista...you are skillfully weaving a world in which "our practical life IS the artful life." (Patti Digh) And that, my friend, is the key to unleashing your creativity, and your happiness! love.

Nelli said...

Val,
Congrats on the cheerleading gig! It seems like yesterday we were the ones in those uniforms. And I'm glad I'm not the only one out there with a crazy long 2nd toe. Looks like I could give Andrew a run for his money. =)

Valerie said...

Nelli! You know I immediately thought of you when I wrote about his second toe! :) Miss you so much girl and wish that you could help me remember some of this cheerleading business. It amazes me that I have forgotten things that I probably repeated 1000 times in my life!!! Hope you are well pretty girl!

xoxoxxo

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