I Love Michigan

I spent the last weekend in Michigan. I had an absolute riot, spending time with friends and family. In the first picture is my former dance company, The Grand Rapids Ballet. My awesome friend, Lisa, and I decided it was high time to get these crazy bitches together for a little raucous reminiscing. We had a hilarious evening capped off with mojitos and DVD's of ballet performances. As teens we spent hours together 5 or six days a week in leotards. Some of us are still involved in the dance world, some of us have recurring nightmares about a certain teacher who wore green Spandex jazz pants and said inappropriate shit, and some of us have rekindled our love affair with the leotard. I fall into all of those categories, in case you wondered.

The second pic is of me and my Uncle John, my mom's brother. He is a bad-ass cyclist and quickly puts my skills to shame. BUT he was kind enough to take me on a rather hill-laden trek in Grand Rapids. We rode 35 miles on our bikes and I even did that on three hours of sleep (post reunion). The terrain in Michigan makes Illinois look like Kiddie Land for bike riders. God damn, when Uncle John said, "Oh there are some rolling hills." he meant to say "There are some hills that will kick your sissy ass and make you curse worse than you do when you can't find your keys." Thank God he rode ahead of me to let the wind muffle my f-bombs.

The last pic is of me and my best friend, Sara. We have known each other since we were 8 years-old and have been through a lot of shit on our lives together. Her sister, Emily, is in between us. Lord, we all used to play with our Cabbage Patch Dolls together. I got to spend the day at lake Michigan with Sara and my kids. So nice. I am obsessed with Lake Michigan. It feels like home to me.

Along with these adventures I enjoyed a girly night, a very sassy mani/pedi with Lisa, LOTS of laughs (someone I know even pissed herself because I made her laugh so hard. There is no better compliment than that.), time away from my kids (that is not selfish or mean. For Gods sake, they rode on a paddle boat, went fishing several times, went to a nearby farm and pet baby animals, picked their own vegetables, and got to sleep in late. They were fine.), and some nice relaxing meals and wine with my mom. It makes me sad I can't visit more often, with my teaching and the kids 101 activities starting next week. I will enjoy my memories of Michigan until I visit the mitten state again. I don't know about you but Mommy is READY for school to start!!!!!