EIGHTEEN weeks & catching up

[August 22]

Since there's not a whole lot of changes since my last update, I'm going to write about something else reallllly cool that happened in Santa Barbara over the weekend (No , I didn't attend the Kardashian media circus, I mean... the Kardashian wedding).

I got to reconnect with women that I haven't seen since we were teens.

Word got out that my first gymnastics coach that I had, was going to be in town at the end of August. Thanks to the connectivity we all had through facebook, one of my old teammates organized a reunion for all the gymnasts that were available, and we got together last Saturday. It was the first time I had seen my coach & former teammates in (gasp!) 18 years!

It was an awesome afternoon. I went to Santa Barbara and braved the whole hulabaloo about the K wedding to visit my granny (Granny & mom's houses are about a mile from the Estate where the K wedding was held) so that my granny could meet my belly. Granny did not get to meet any of my previous bellies, and with the nerves I have been having lately about viability, I just had to let her meet this one ...As expected, she was thrilled. After a visit with Granny which included stealing a few kit kats from her snack-stash, I grabbed m

y mah and we were off to the reunion.

I bet you're thinking....You took your mom to a gymnastics reunion???

You bet I did.

My mom was an integral part of my life as a gymnast. You see, my mom was a gym parent. The best kind out there. The quiet kind. The kind that did whatever was needed to help the program run smoothly,not just for myself, but for others as well. She befriended my coaches, and made them feel supported. I love the involvement my mom had in my years as a gymnast. Other gymnasts loved my mom because of her leotards. Mom started a leotard business in the early 1990's and carried it through my collegiate career.

She suited up many a gymnast and I was touched to see her name on the invite to the reunion, and also thankful she wanted to go as my security blanket (=

[Mom, Julie & me]

photo by Kristen Lunceford of http://www.kristenluncefordphotography.com/

The reunion was great. We all got to catch up on one another's lives, and meet each other's children. Talking to some of them was like we never missed a beat, and I walked away from the afternoon with a smile on my face. One of the girls is a fantastic photographer, and I am anxiously awaiting her to post the images she captured of the day.

[L-R: Kristen, Stacy, Jamie, Coral, Vanessa, Julie, Melissa, Brie, Mary, Lisa]

I can only hope, as I get closer to the reality of motherhood, that I can be as supportive of our future children's endevours as my mom was/is. I'm sure there were times she'd rather have stayed home than to sit through a 4 hour gymnastics meet session, or to be out gardening rather than fitting gymnasts for leotards, but she did it..because she loved me.

That woman set the bar high--but it gives me a good place to aim.

Love you, mom!