Therapy

All of a sudden, summer decided to make a surprise visit earlier this week just to tempt me, and then it left again today. But we had a few nights of summer, which helps ease me into the season. Because lets face it, living in Idaho with it's bipolar weather keeps you on your toes. Or makes you need therapy. Either way.

On Monday night, KJ and I went walking, and the entire time we were out there, we talked about getting ice cream. Somewhat defeating the whole purpose of walking, yes but we were practically salivating over our imagined sweet cream concoctions. And yet after all that walking and talking and salivating, we each went home deciding that all of the really good ice cream places had already closed up for the evening. Even though that was the best kind of therapy I could think of.

Tuesday night we canceled walking for the evening because her lil peanut snack baby boy was already asleep. So I listlessly wandered around my house before deciding it was much too hot inside. I found Scotland on the back porch working on his project bike and chatting it up with our always-leather-clad-biker-next-door-neighbor. So I made myself halfway scarce and pulled weeds so I could listen in without being bothersome. And after a million milkweeds met their untimely death, I was sneezing so bad I thought I might have a stroke. So biker dude took off and Scotland convinced me that he needed some ice cream therapy that evening. So we went out for blizzards and instead of driving home Scotland took me across the river from the temple and we parked the car and talked for a while. And I have no idea what led to it, but he started sharing a story about him making out with some girl up at BYU-I which made me feel like I needed therapy to burn that offensive image from my brain FOREVER.

And last night even after it started cooling down, (yes I was a little slow on the uptake) I stopped by KJ's apartment and as we were discussing the options of pool vs walking (which really was not much of a discussion I suppose because who really would take walking over swimming?) Scotland called.

He said: What are you doing?

I said: We were just talking about what we wanted to do tonight.

He said: Well I just wanted to remind you to keep me in mind. You know, if you go swimming.

Like that was a reeealll subtle way of hinting for an invitation to our very exclusive pool therapy party. Sheesh.

So I told him to come over, and KJ and I went down the stairs to get the stroller out of the car for her baby. And wouldn't you know, as soon as he was settled in the stroller we pulled out his blow up swimmer, The Green Frog, and his face lit up like the Fourth of July. Because at six months old that child is already a genius and he knows that Green Frog = Swimming in the Pool. (Thus endeth the paragraph of gratuitous capitalization. Thank you.)

So we walked over to the pool discussing our astrological signs and obsessions with Modbe swimming suits and entered the pool compound with the members only key. Exclusive. And after KJ had affixed a swim diaper on baby J, she handed him to me and let me attempt to wrangle him into the cutest blue swimming trunks ever made. Whew. I am still really lacking on the one handed-ness that motherhood requires.

Then Scotland showed up and I toted baby J all the way back around to the gate to let him in and promptly asked him if the baby made me look good. The answer was yes, thank you.

And we promptly got in the pool and put baby J in the green frog which he was immediately entranced with even though he has been swimming like 30 times in the last three days. Scotland spent like .2 seconds in the pool before abandoning us for the warmer waters of the hot tub, and I swam away with baby J while KJ was momentarily conversing with the six million passersby that she knows.

Then baby J and I played an endless game of Green Frog peek-a-boo because I just can't get enough of that child's laughter. And then it started to cool off a bit, and I saw his lips all a quiver (or rather, a qwiwer) and we got out and wrapped the towel around us both to warm up our wet skin for a bit. And KJ joined us when we went into the jacuzzi room to relax and we put our legs in to soak. And we talked about a million things while I made fish faces at baby J. Which made me think that it was possibly not so much pool therapy as it was baby therapy, but whatever, you say tomato and all that.

And today, Idaho has turned its bipolar weather around again and given us a cloud covered sky, gusts of violent wind and the distant rumble of thunder and threats of rain, and I wonder at all the therapy of the past week being washed away in one summer thunderstorm where we forget that it is almost July and supposed to be hot and dry in this desert we live in. And yes that was the longest run on sentence in the world thank you, but after all of that therapy what do you expect.