Parenting from Scratch

(Post walk/run, post hydration, post shower. Still red.)

Okay, so I’ll admit that I’ve been boy-crazy my whole life. I always crushed easily, and I typically took it in stride. I had this theory: if you didn’t put yourself out there, it was almost certain that nothing was going to happen. So I kind of went around telling most of the boys I had crushes on that I was sweet on them. Sweet on you; that’s what I’d tell them: I’m sweet on you. Because I was.

My crush on Trevor was pretty bad. In fact, I couldn’t even get up the nerve to tell him in person that I was sweet on him. I had to write it in a note. I’m not sure what it was…maybe his quiet nature, but he made me nervous in a way I wasn’t used to. After he read my note, he didn’t say anything. Being who I am, I had to bring it up. I don’t remember quite how the conversation went, but I remember it was in his car, traveling back from Hot Springs after going to the 2003 Documentary Film Festival. I didn’t feel like we really got anywhere with that conversation, other than I was pretty sure he was sweet on me, too. I knew I had to step up my game, so the next week, I did.

I feel like we’re in a place where I need to step up my game again. We’ve gotten pretty comfortable with this parenting gig, which is awesome. But sometimes I feel the crush slipping away. Or I forget that I even have a crush on him. But then he’s in the kitchen, shirtless with his steamy man arms (sorry, y’all–it’s so true), DOING THE DISHES. And I’m crushing all over again.

Trevor, I know you’re reading this…. I’m still totally sweet on you.

For this week’s Wayback Wednesday, we’re not going too far back, but it seems a lifetime ago for me. These are some of the first pictures I took of Sadie with my phone. Look ab how tiny she was! It’s so hard to remember her that little. I always have her current little self in my mind when I think about her. I guess this is part if what causes The Baby Fevah. That I do not have. Yet.

These are the women of my family. My mother’s side of the family is pretty dominantly female, both in numbers and in character. Some of these women have already passed, but I hope to at least pass some stories down to Sadie. We had a big Borden Family Reunion last summer, and we plan on making it an annual event. I missed out on a lot of time with this family, for various reasons, so it’s important to me that I reclaim some of it for myself, and that I help Sadie be a part of it.

From left to right, we have my second (third?) cousin, Gay. Then my mother, Laurie. Then her mother, Margie Russell. She’s holding my third (second once removed?) cousin, Andrea. Next to her is my Aunt Lyn. Then another third (?) cousin, Bliss, and her mother Chambliss. Next to Chambliss is Mama Helen, my great, great aunt. On the bottom left is Laurie Jean (she went by Honey), another great, great aunt. And another, Little Helen. Up a little is my Aunt Margie, who raised me after I was 9. Finally is Sadie Lee, my great grandmother. She was feisty. Sadie is her namesake, and I suspect we were on to something when we picked it.

This was on one of our hikes. I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but I think we did a 13k. If you look closely, you can see my pre-braces snaggletooth that we all hope Sadie doesn't get. And you can sort of see the last of my blonde hair, before it all turned totally brown.

This is a special shout-out WBW, for my childhood BFF, Mary. The first time we met was at a high school football game when we were 10 or 11. I told some stupid joke about thumbs (acting like I don’t remember it, but really I just don’t want to horribly embarrass myself), and–not surprisingly thanks to my joke–it took another year or so for us to become friends.

Mary’s dad’s job moved her family to Dallas after we finished the seventh grade, and this picture was taken in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado that summer. Her family went (and still goes, I believe) to Estes Park every summer. This particular summer it was just the two of us girls with her parents–much to my relief, as I was always intimidated by her brother, Tom, who picked on Mary like nobody’s business. It was one of the best trips I’ve taken anywhere. My aunt was totally shocked when I asked if I could go, because the plan was to do some serious hiking, and up until that point I wasn’t exactly known as someone who liked to exert myself physically or to be warmer than climate-controlled room temperature. The Blackfords may remember differently, but I think I was a champ through the hiking. Not so much on the mountain bike excursion. Which is a story Mary’s dad even recalled–in front of people I didn’t know–at Mary’s wedding about a year and a half ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah… so I might have pretended my gears weren’t working, and I might have had to walk my bike up the mountain most of the way, while Mary (the epitome of fitness) cruised on up. I just kept waiting for Mary’s mom to drive by and offer to pick me up. No such luck. I’ll never live that one down, apparently.

Anyway, Mary and I did a great job keeping up with each other with near-annual visits all the way the way through high school. We’ve hardly seen each other since then, but we were able to make it to each others’ weddings, which I think was fantastic. Mary, her husband and their dog live in Washington, D.C. now, and I hope that someday they’ll get to meet Sadie. So, Hello, Mary!