I saw this sign as I passed the window of a local gym today and was immediately drawn to it. I had to stop myself from running inside and demanding to meet the person that was busier than me. Instead I stood outside wondering if this person ever wakes up at 5 am to make breakfast, lunch, and pet meals. I wondered if he had ever prepared his child a ziploc of dog food while making the dog a gourmet turkey sandwich. I wondered if he had recited quadratic equations out loud in the school drop off lane while replacing dog kibble with a bag of smart food popcorn. I wondered if he had ever opened his computer bag to grab his power cord only to find out that what he was actually holding in his hand was a pair of black volleyball socks.  I wondered if he was ever ready for lunch at 8 am. That's when I decided not to go into the gym to meet this physically fit individual after all. He deserved an award or a prize of some kind, and the only thing that I had to offer him was a snack sized bag of dog food and a pair of dirty socks.

 Today Maddy was in the spelling bee. Standing on that stage with a smile from ear to ear, she knew the words being called out by heart and her face showed how proud she was. She made it to the eleventh round with two other great spellers and finally got knocked out on the word "disingenuous".  Years ago she had horrible stage fright. Her eyes would well up with tears, and it was all I could do during those performances not to snatch her off stage and hide her from the world.  We worked and worked on it, and I told her how hard it was for me to sit in the audience while she cried on stage.  Today during the spelling bee, I was the one with tears in my eyes.  I didn't expect the tears, but they sprung up out of nowhere and threatened to flood my face.  It was one of those rare moments when you are so happy that you can't figure out why you are crying. I hoped Maddy wouldn't see the tears from where she sat in seat eleven, and the irony of a world that had just reversed itself didn't escape me. I was watching a little girl so full of confidence, exuding pure joy and pride, and there was absolutely nothing disingenuous about it.  As she won the hearts of those watching her, I realized that she had won something much larger than a spelling bee {love l-o-v-e love}.

   Before we go any further down this road of getting to know each other, there are some things that I thought you should know about me…1) I saved Eartha Kitt's dog.2) Little Jimmy Dickens saved my dog.3) I live in a log cabin that was a tollhouse in the 1830s.4) I fell off a cliff in a car, landed in the ocean {and lived to tell about it}.5) I leave my Christmas decorations up until Valentine's Day.6) I am psychic {psycho to my close friends}, so watch what you think about me {I can hear you}.7) I was being discharged from the hospital on September 11, 2001 in New York City.  My uterus had ruptured while giving birth, and the doctors saved my newborn and me in 4 minutes. While coming to the hospital to take us home, my husband and one year old daughter witnessed the planes hitting the World Trade Center.8) In Raleigh {a city of over 400,000 people}, I moved out of the same house that my future husband moved into next {before we knew each other}.  Before he met me he got my junk mail, now he just gets my junk.9) If you can’t find me behind my camera, I might be on the tennis court {and you may not want to get too close}.10) Without knowing who he was, I gave Prince Edward $5 off discount coupon advice in a store in NYC. He was very sweet about it, with his gorgeous British accent {and his laugh}.11) In college, I rode through a car ...