Top Ten: I came to dance, dance, dance. . . . .

on Wednesday with Lisa K.

I came to dance, dance, dance, dance

I hit the floor

'Cause that's my plans, plans, plans, plans

I'm wearing all my favorite brands, brands, brands, brands

Give me some space for both my hands, hands, hands, hands

Yeah, yeah

'Cause it goes on and on and on

And it goes on and on and on, yeah

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes

Saying a-yo

Gotta let go

I wanna celebrate and live my life

Saying a-yo

Baby, let's go

~ from Taio Cruz' "Dynamite"

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Man. It was quite a week. Some parts were eventful. Other parts less so. But overall I'd say my first full week as a forty two year-old woman wasn't too bad at all. The high points outweighed the annoying points, that's for sure.

Hey! I wrote a little top ten about it! Like to hear it? Here it go!

THE TOP TEN PARTS OF MY FIRST WEEK AS A BONA FIDE FORTY TWO YEAR-OLD GROWN ASS WOMAN

Leh-go!


#10  Refreshing!

Okay. So usually I don't go wandering up into Starbucks too often because I'm a little on the cheap thrifty side. But! When you have a birthday, people do things like sliding Starbucks gift cards into your birthday snail mail (Thanks, Crystal!)

And so. Armed with my free-to-be-frappachi(no) gift card, I rolled up into the Starbucks in Emory Village. The barista (why do we have to call them that?) asked me what I wanted and like always I got mad overwhelmed.

"Uhhhh, errrr, ummmm. Let's see."

"Something hot or cold?"

"Errrr, yeah. Okay. Cold."

"Caffeinated or not?"

"Neutral."

"Milk based or not?"

"You definitely don't want me to have any milk, bruh."

"Have you tried the refreshers?"

"The who?"

"The refreshers. Cool Lime is my favorite. And it's low calorie and no added sugar."

"No milk?"

"No, ma'am."

"Bet."

"Huh?"

"Oh sorry. That's slang for 'let's do this.'"

"Pardon?"

"I'll have the Cool Lime Refresher. Dang."

"Tall, Grande or Venti? Or Treinta?"

"Surprise me."

"How's a Grande?"

"Bet."

Wait. What's the point of sharing all of this? None whatsoever. I just want y'all to know that the Cool Lime Refresher is like a citrus party on your taste buds. Kind of like a guilt-free collision between a mojito and some lime juice without the rum.

Yum. And to think I have nearly twenty more dollars on my card. WOOT! WOOT!

#9  Do it for the story, man.

Okay. You know of my obsession with flash mobs. Clearly I have been waiting for the big moment to arrive where I got to either witness one or -- GAAAHH!!! -- be in one. And y'all! That big opportunity finally presented itself. YES!

Aren't you just SOOOO excited at the idea of me getting to be in a flashmob? I know you are!

Well. My friend Lisa K. teaches my step class and Body Pump classes at the Y--but she also happens to be the coordinator of wellness at an assisted living community. She's been working on a project about active aging and wanted to put on a flash mob with people of all ages. And so she started planning and, of course, called her flash mob obsessed friend to join in the fun.

And so. We learn the moves. We wear the requested colors. And we arrive in downtown Decatur at the appointed time. That appointed time was twelve noon on Wednesday and it turns out that there are a whooooole lot of folks that are actively aging in the Decatur area.

Like a whoooole lot.

So check it. You know how in a flash mob one person just randomly starts dancing and then others surprisingly join in -- astounding everyone with their knowledge of the choreography? Well. It turns out that the senior flash mob works a bit differently. And by differently I mean that at noon everyone got in their places and stood there with frozen jazz hands waiting for the music to come on. Like for at least two full minutes.

And me?  I'm all like, "HEY! You're supposed to just inconspicuously walk by and then break out with the moves! Stop with the jazz hands. Look normal!"

And the man I told was all like, "Vaaaaat?"

"Normal!"

"VAAATTTT?"

So I tried to explain again and he just kept saying the same thing until the music came on signaling that it was time for him to get his groove on. So all the jazz hands started moving in very slow, happy unison and as soon as we did, I was immediately super glad that I was there. Hell, even if we didn't surprise anybody with our sneak-attack choreography we were at least a mob. Even if we weren't a flashy one.

My favorite part was the seventy-seven year old woman next to me who was shouting out all the moves along with a constant eight-count. And she was mad loud, too, kind of like the lady on Dance Moms.

"Shuffle-one, two, three, down-four, five, six, shimmy-on-the-eight!"

And if you are clapping your hands and saying, "That's AWESOME!" while cracking up laughing. . . . know that it was twenty times more blogworthy than it even seems here.

Seriously, though? It was really fun. Talk about doing something for the story.

P.S. I'm still looking for a big ol' complicated flash mob to be in. If you get any ideas, holla at your girl.

#8 Salon on a Sunday!

Okay, so no. I didn't really get my hair done on a Sunday. But! The salon girls took me to a casual breakfast on Sunday. My awesome stylist Sakinah bought me a delicious mimosa and we all sat and yucked it up just like in the salon. We talked junk and discussed everything from politics to whether or not TJMaxx is more exhausting than Ross for Less. (Answer: Nothing is more exhausting than Ross.)

All we needed was a dude to walk in selling some peach cobbler and it would have been exactly like the beauty shop.

#7  Twenty years later!

We all met each other back in 1992 as first year medical students. Now, instead of young girls from Tennessee, California and Georgia, we're grown women with kids and doctorates. We reminisced on the crazy things we got into as med students and tried our best to get our minds around how we did anything social in the pre-cell phone era.

Those were the days!

#6  Good-byes SUCK!

I've been in denial about this. So much so that I haven't even uttered it aloud because it seems real when I do. My dear soul-friend David M. is leaving Grady to go work in Philadelphia. It's a great opportunity for him and I'm happy for him. But sad for me! Sad for me!

Yeah. So we had a going away dinner for him last week. It was cool. But I was sad. I still am.

#5 Cupcake Red Velvet!

I tried this for the first time because people kept telling me it was yum-tacular.

I concur!

#4  Drive-by Teaching

I snapped this picture today of one of our former residents doing some teaching and consulting on a complex EKG. Sonny--the one reading the electrocardiogram--is someone that I've known since his first day of internship. Seeing him now as a Cardiology fellow advising my colleague Schuyler and teaching all of us something that we didn't know warmed my heart. I love being in this kind of environment.

#3  These pictures are just cute.

I usually don't think they look alike. But here? Dang. They really do.

#2  Tuskegee Girls.

On Saturday, I spent some time with my sorority sisters. Sonya, who pledged with all of us, turned forty and had a big ol' party. Of course it was fun. It's always fun when we all get together.

#1 Look out Peyton and Eli. There's a new Manning in town.

Before anyone asks--yes, I am okay with my child playing football. Let's just stop there with that line of questioning and any worry-wart commentary that may or may not be tickling the tip of your tongue.

It took everything in me not to tackle him to the ground with smooches.

Okay. Where were we? Oh. Football! Yes! Can I please tell you how fun it is to be a football mama? Oh my GOSH. It's on a whole 'nother level! The energy is SO amazing, y'all.

Seeing him come in from practice all hungry and sweaty makes my heart ache. Something in my mind just fast forwards to him being a high schooler sitting at my same table.

Harry's a coach--and he really gets into the spirit. Peep those socks! Lawd.

And what's also SUPER awesome about all of this? Isaiah. He flat out expressed no interest in playing football but was fully supportive of his brother's desire to do so. (Isaiah says that he's "a fan of the feet and not of the hands" so has chosen to stick with soccer.)

Future David Beckham and Cam Newton

Look how laid back and genuinely encouraging he looks here. I just love that about both of them. They have their own interests. They are developing their own self images and marching to their own drums. Zachary announced that he wanted to play football this year. And since we love team sports for kids and grew up on them, we found a well organized league for him to join.

Y'all! He's fast, too!

And that Isaiah is playing soccer and also asked to join the Chess team. Which he sure did join. (Despite the fact that NO ONE in our house other than him knows the first thing about how to play chess.) Zachary made it very clear that he preferred anything other than the Chess club but he, too, listens and encourages Isaiah when he shares all the details.

Yep.

I just love this phase of life with my kids. I'm enjoying watching them discover who they are and what they love. I love seeing them try at things and hearing them discussing it when they're supposed to be fast asleep. These are special times.

Whelp! Gotta go to bed so that I can rest my vocal chords. Lots of hollering goes on at those games. And just a wee bit of trash-talking!

***
Happy Almost-Saturday. And may the Flash-Mob be with you.

And now playing. . .Zachary's favorite, favorite song.