Would've, Should've, Could've

Vulnerable post alert!

 

Last night I drove past our local sports fields.  The air was cool but still comfortable, and the daylight was just starting to turn to night--you know that magical time when everything feels kind of like a dream?  I looked over to the fields where the kids were practicing, instead of the usual football or soccer practice that is common in fall here in WA, I saw a large group of cheerleaders.  They were dressed in pink with fluffy white pompoms, and my heart sank just a little.  

I always wanted to be a cheerleader (and a dancer).  I am sure nobody knows this, because I don't think I've ever told anyone.  I was too scared.  I was too shy to put myself out there, too nervous to let anyone know my silly dreams, and too afraid of failure to even try.  Ugh.  I hate this.

I am now 48 years old.  I have zero desire to be a cheerleader (or a dancer), but my heart breaks for little Anita who was too scared to do what she wanted to do and too shy to be her authentic self.  But honestly, I do sometimes still catch myself letting fear dictate my path forward.  At least most of the time, I tell it to buzz off and do what I want...but it still lives in me.

As I get older, more and more things that I want to do are getting harder or impossible.  As I get closer to my next big birthday (50...gulp) I just want to do it all...as much as I can squeeze into this life! (I am not too adventurous, so some of that includes swinging in the hammock on a beach somewhere or getting a facial haha;))

I like to add to this:  "do it with a broken knee" because that was my mantra all summer.

Summer Round Up

I have a hard time being organized.  I mean, I know it makes me more productive and feel better, yet I still resist it...ESPECIALLY in the summer!!! And Summer (my child) is the worse enabler because she just wants to laze around and do nothing all summer (as many kids her age like to do).  So the past couple years, I have made a "Summer Bucket List".  It helps me plan a few fun things, and makes sure we don't miss out on some things that we really want to do.

This year we completed most of the things on our lists!  

I got the idea from my sister Lisa's blog to rank all the things we did.  Mike, Summer and I all gave rankings out of 10.  Maybe this will help determine what gets on our list again next year:)  Summer definitely brought down the average haha. 

North Carolina, Canada, Sleepovers, and Crepes made the top of the list:)

And here we are doing some of the fun things from our list (that I haven't already blogged about)...

Canada

The Fair

Birchwood Dairy

And now that summer's over...we start MIDDLE SCHOOL (well, I guess just Summer does)!!!!  Now we are forced into an organized schedule, which includes a 6am wake up call--ugh.

The Jetty

 It's been far too long Jetty Island!

Love the ferry, the wind, the water, the sun, the blue skies, and the kite flying!

It is the epitome of "summer"