Mother-Son Dance

I can't not share this.The local Rec Dept put on a Mother-Son Dance this past weekend. When I asked Holden if he wanted to attend, I was pleasantly surprised when he agreed without question. God forbid I keep things simple, so I opened my big mouth and said, "You wanna cosplay it?"

Which thanks to a friend who made the dress (because "Stolen Earth" Rose wasn't nearly dressy enough for a dance) we went like this:

Nope, not a soul had any idea we were cosplaying. Pretty sure they all just thought we have really odd fashion sense. But true to form, we didn't care. After they fed us and everyone really started dancing, I encouraged him to move to the front of the dance floor to dance with the other boys. He's not a shy kid, but he declined and said, "No let's dance back here where there is more space." And then proceeded to swing dance with me. I've been teaching him basic spins forever, but it's only very recently that he's grown tall enough to spin me and really lead. Which is the reason why I didn't bother getting the pink heels that would complete the Rose Tyler outfit. With heels on I am too tall for him to spin.

We had a great time, dancing to the beat of our own drum. (kinda literally) Here's hoping he can get through his teen years with the same Zero F**** to Give (in a good way) Attitude.

Incidentally, I posted the pic on r/cosplay and someone commented, "So who won the Motherboy Award?" 

I am soooo bringing one of my nephews to this event next year and making him wear a mechanical/fake hand.

**Lots of Geek/Internet Culture references in this post. If you have no idea what I'm talking about with all this, stay tuned. I'll go back to Paleo/Crossfit/Travel/Race chatter shortly.

I am an athlete.

The Indian River Rowing Club took part in National Learn to Row Day on Saturday. An old friend stopped by the library to personally invite me. The canal where they practice is practially around the corner from my house. Plus, I've always been curious about the sport. How could I refuse?

Here's me desperately trying to appear as if I have any clue what is going on.

It was really interesting and the people were very friendly and welcoming. I absolutely love sucking at something. Well, for a time anyways. I love, love, love the thrill of trying new things and learning to get better at them. Which is one of the reasons why I love Crossfit so much, sooooo many skills to learn and with the combinations always changing you never get perfect at it. Which is good. Always something to strive for....but I digress, as usual.

Will I join the Rowing Club? Unfortunately, probably not anytime soon. I enjoyed it, but not so much I would give up weekday Crossfitting for it, or any of the weekend activites I do that Crossfit prepares me for. But if I was retired or didn't work? I would totally make it part of my repertoire. There was something extremely zen-like to it. I would get into a good rhythm and just focus on the cadence of the person in front of me. I foudn it to be very calming, for lack of a better word.

That said, a tiny little comment by one of the Club Members made my day and made me think again about how far I have come in the past 2 years. As we were chatting, and I was explaining that I had never had any experience with this kind of rowing, she very obviously looked me up and down and said, "Well sure, but you're an athlete, no?" And she said it very matter of factly. Naturally, because fat-brain still takes auto-pilot duties a lot of the time, I started to say, "Oh, no. I'm not an..." 

But I stopped myself and said, "Yes. Yes, I am."

I do Adventure Races, they may only be 3 hour versions, not 3 days, but we usually place pretty darn well, dammit. I'm a Crossfitter. I am by far no where near the fittest in my Box, I'm no where near the bottom ether. Throw a Warrior Dash, hell, a Tough Mudder even and I'm in like Flynn. Want to so dome rowing? Hell, sign me up! I'll barely even break a sweat. HA! I'm lying. I'll totally sweat, but I'll not tire.

So yes, I am an Athlete. But not because of the races I do. Because I am out there, moving my body as much as I can, as often as I can in the time/space my life allows and continually striving to to be the fastest, strongest, most tenacious I can be. That's what makes me an athlete.