Yay! I'm home!
No matter how much fun I have on vacation, it's always good to come home. (Although the stacks of mail, piles of laundry, and empty fridge are a bit daunting!)
But I'm terribly jet lagged, having only clocked about 90 mins of shut-eye in the last 28 hours, so pardon me if this blog goes a bit awry.
But I have to tell you this...
Last Friday, my in-laws took me to the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh. I was ready for all kinds of Scottish-y goodness--bagpipes and kilts, thistles and tartan, etc, etc.
Think cows, sheep and horses instead. A real agricultural fair.
Now, we've established before how I'm not an outdoor kind of girl. Let me also state for the record that I am not a "country girl" either--the 'burbs are my home.
But there I am, watching sheep judging, examining really BIG tractors, not wanting to think about what I was walking through (and wishing I had another pair of shoes so I could burn the ones I was wearing...), and amazingly enough, having a great time.
Amazing Child, of course, had a blast, but I was surprised that I enjoyed it so much. And I learned so many new things, like:
--Horses are really, really big.
--Bulls are really, really, REALLY big.
--There are like 40 kinds of sheep.
--Even dressed up in their Sunday best for the judging, livestock still stinks.
But beyond livestock, I learned a lot of other cool stuff as well, like:
--Scotland has a Youth Hostel in a haunted castle.
--Mead is actually kind of sweet, not beer-like at all.
--Australians make sweaters and socks from opossum fur.
--Hay bales are really not that comfy to sit on.
So I was completely out of my natural element, but came away with so many new experiences and wonderful ideas that it was well worth my time (even if I hadn't enjoyed it). Have you ever been completely outside your comfort zone but came away with new knowledge or just a wonderful story to tell?
Now, I'm off to bed to try to sleep. But before I go, I need to wish Darling Geek and Amazing Child a very Happy Birthday today!
Problem Child
4 comments:
Welcome home! We missed you! But it sounds like you had a wonderful trip, ag fair and all.
I know y'all aren't going to believe this, but at one point in my life I was so shy that being with people was outside my comfort zone. Make me talk to them and I'd nearly break out in hives. My husband's office parties were like a torture chamber.
I'm still what I would call in introvert, but I'm not painfully so. I made a conscious decision to change. I learned a few things I could talk with people about. I found out it was actually FUN to dance in public.
And what did I come away with? Well... all my friends at the Playground and at Heart of Dixie and in RWA as a whole. My husband and I lived overseas for 4 years and I have enough memories from that to fill volumes. And by overcoming my fear of talking to people I've met some of the most amazing folks.
Then of course there's motherhood. That was WAY outside my comfort zone, but look what I got out of it: two great boys, a terrific daughter-in-law and the most beautiful granddaughter in the world.
PM
I don't know, I think perhaps I live outside my comfort zone :-) which provides quite a bit of fodder for the imagination.
Happy Birthday to Amazing Child and Your Darling Geek!!
And Welcome Home. We're really glad to have you back. I've missed my partner in crime ;-D
Instigator
It's good to have you back, PC! I'm glad you had a grand time examining livestock. I think that kind of stuff, beyond the smell, of course, is cool. I've been to rodeos and country fairs myself. And I've even been a couple of times to an outdoor cheerleading competition at the Alabama State Fair with elephants, strange septic smells, and all kinds of livestock grazing nearby. Believe me, that's a weird combination!
Feeling out of place... that's moving all over the world as a young kid, leaving friends and not knowing if you'll ever make new ones. Being a commander's wife and trying to make other wives realize that you are just like them in that they miss their husbands and want them home, are trying to keep their family intact, are miserable because they have no one to lean on, and desperate to know someone cares.
There have been so many times, but every time I've had to step out of my comfort zone, I may or may not have liked the process, but I was forever changed by the experience.
Happy Birthday to your loved ones!
Kathy
Happy birthday Darling Geek and Amazing Child!! How cool to have your birthdays on the same day (except that Darling Geek gets ignored, doesn't he?).
I think the one episode that stands out in my mind is going to my first RWA meeting. Remember, I grew up as a twin, so I always had my sister to go with me into new classes, large gatherings, or anything. This was my first time to go into a group of people as just me.
I remember being afraid to say a word and the few I did say I wish I'd kept inside. Everyone else seemed so brilliant and I felt terribly insignificant. I'm sure many of our members wish I still felt that way, because then I wouldn't talk so much!!! :) Now they can't get me to shut up.
But I found a home, people who understand me, my best friends, and an identity for myself. Amazing!
Angel
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