Whimsy

This post was inspired by this post by my cousin Amanda who has voiced a plea for all things "whimsy."

I love this. Life is too heavy. I've been having similar thoughts and feelings and "coping methods" lately. I wish we were closer. You're right. Sharing things with friends (cousins) is much better.

My whimsy this week has come from end-of-team-huddle cheers in volleyball like "butt cheek" "marshmallow" "bunny rabbit" and a synchronized "weoimewoiavehao" when what we really wanted to say was, "make the other team mad!"

My whimsy has come from impressing myself with a tuck-and-roll-backwards somersault during ultimate frisbee. I was always so envious of people who could do that. What I didn't realize was that it's not a skill. It's the only possible action when you hit the ground with extreme force and momentum propeled by your desire to get out from under the big guy who's inevitably coming down on top of you.

Whimsy comes from realizing you're one of three girls in your entire volleyball league who still serves underhand, but claims to be a competitive volleyball player. And knowing that it's okay, because I love the game and you gotta do what it takes to get the ball over the net.

My whimsy came from sharing a 12-pack of tacos at my friends' softball game instead of going to Zumba.

My whimsy came from hiking in Palisades and maneuvering and scaling around trees and rocks to climb my usual spot, even though the whole area was being taken over by the overgrown creek.

My whimsy came from the "Kira Willey" station on Pandora where they play songs like, "There ain't no lobsters on me!"

My whimsy came from coining a new verb "turtleize." And then figuring out how to respond when Kylee says, "Prepare to be turtleized!"

My whimsy came from freezing in a parking lot with Kari because the best part of institute comes AFTER the class is over.

Like Amanda so eloquently stated: "If you’re not sure what [whimsy] is, it is anything that makes you happy and you aren’t entirely sure why. It is a bit of beauty in the middle of chaos – putting flowers on the crazy, cluttered, messy table. It is silliness when everything around you is serious. It is cupcakes for lunch and unplanned hikes and blowing dandelions on your own lawn. It is anything that is both absolutely unnecessary and urgently imperative at the same time. It is painting your nails to go to the garden and a night off when you need to work."

It's what makes this frustrating, overwhelming, crazy life worth living.

overdosed on grapes

It takes time to be witty. Who has time for wit?
Sometimes, when I'm distracted at work, I think about blogging and what I might write about. But instead, I end up eating grapes and chatting with Kristin about Geminis and nameless guys on motorcycles. Those also deserve attention.
It's all cloudy and rainy outside. Know what that means? Softball could very well be canceled tonight, but Brooke and Gina are in New York, so there's no one to pass that information on.
Tonight's our last volleyball game of the season before tournament starts next week. It's been an AWESOME season! Last year's women's league was rough. (Girls can be fickle, no matter what their age!) And I was really hesitant to do it all over again. But I'm so glad I did. These girls are so much fun to play with. We've even won a few games! And we have wicked awesome team t-shirts. Why haven't I been bringing my camera to games? I really hope to remember it tonight. Oh, and we're going to win tonight. Yessiree, we are!
This weekend was my birthday. I was actually trying to pretend it wasn't happening. (my whole life, I've been convincing myself that the world DOES revolve around me on that day, and most years, I've felt special enough to believe myself!) This year, I knew that wasn't happening. My parents were out of town. Brooke, Gina, Jamie, Kylee, Keri, Jeanna, Willie were out of town. Many friends and family LIVE out of town. I was abandoned. Does this sound like the world revolved around me that day? I sure didn't think so.
But guess what? My birthday DID happen. And it really was a lot of fun. Zumba with good friends, a lonely 28 mile bike ride complete with sunburn and sore bum. Then, a bunch of in-town friends and I piled into vehicles to head to West Yellowstone to Playmill. I love that place. I love that I know people there. I love that after all these years, it still kinda feels like home.
It was a great place to be on the day that wasn't mine--but kind of ended up being mine, anyway.