Fresh

It has been an interesting couple of days.  Two notable things happened this week.  Leonard got new skin and I took a chance.

This morning as I was walking by Lenny the Lizard’s cage I tossed over the usual “Good Morning Leonard”.  Out of the corner of my eye I thought he had two heads. As it turns out he was shedding his skin and the two headed effect was a result of the cracking of the old skin off of his head.  He is a reclusive nocturnal dude and I have never seen the actual shedding process.  It is pretty cool and it made me a few minutes late for work.  Well, 20 minutes late. The gross part is that he eats his old skin but that is another topic. 

I took a chance on a crazy ad to sell my remaining inventory of jerseys – and it worked! Who knew?  Six emails and two phone calls later and it all will leave on Monday.  I have had a business selling hockey jerseys for the last 6 years.  The Husband and I had the mesh spun and jerseys manufactured for us from a friend in Asia. We imported 15,000 pieces and JJ’s Jerseys was born.  It has been a successful run and I have met super people. Hockey guys are great to deal with. Over time my inventory has dwindled and I feel the business has run its course.  As a result I have been left sitting with a mix of leftover sizing in my garage – until now.   Not only does this sale mean The Boy has more room for his social life in the garage (he has a poker den for his friends) but it is a big weight off my back. And rather than me having to pay to landfill the jerseys someone is buying them from me and they are picking them up.  I am pretty freaking happy about the entire scenario.

Tonight I walked by the lizard’s cage and tossed over the usual “Good Night Leonard”.  He was resting proudly in his new suit of armour, pulling off the last bits of his old skin from his toes.  He looks fresh.  Tomorrow I think I will put on my weekend bra and dye my hair.  Why not?  Life is good.

McFly...McFly...

So it is back to school day today.  This day ushers in the return to routine for many folks.  It is kind of a late year new resolution time.  Back to the gym or to eating right or to regular bedtimes.    For me it is some of that but mostly it is back to the future for me.

No, I do not have a Delorean – sad face – but I do have a bit of a time machine:  Old photos.  They capture moments in time.  I tried my very best to be that mom who took the photo of the kids on their first day of school.  I have many of the early years and I will freely admit that at least one was taken a day or so late.  But somewhere around junior high those ended.  Probably a mix of teenage distain towards me and my overwhelming relief that they were out the door for 6 to 8 hours per day lead to this photographic documentation breakdown.  I admit to celebrating more than one back to school moment with a shot of Baileys in my coffee and toast to me for not being arrested for a rendering a child silent over the super special summer break.

Today I have a different non-Baileys toast though (non-Baileys becasue I have to go to work soon).  This toast is not to me but to The Kids.  I toast them for having graduated high school.  I toast them for having at least one good friend that they can count on and a few more waiting in the wings.  I toast them for both being strong enough people to know what they do not want – for now – because they have the rest of their life to figure out what they do want.  I toast them for making me (and The Husband) crazy with some of their choices and decisions and having the fortitude to challenge ours.  I toast them for being good people with big hearts and open minds.

Life lessons cannot be taught.  They have to be lived.  I am not a teacher of such lessons but I am a student.  Every day opens a new chapter and it is up to me to let the lesson of that day resonate.  My photo today looks different than it did 14 years ago.  The Girl was out the door early to work on her way to her next chapter.  The Boy was gone soon after on his way to his new beginning, text book in hand.  The Husband is immersed in his next edition.  And me, at the moment I am hanging with The Dogs before work.  And this is all good.  It is time to put the back pack on and get learning.