When You Hit a Certain Age...

... you got a choice between sitting on the bench for the rest of your life, or living a little.

I decided I was not going to be one of those that sat on the sidelines, so I took on some challenges. The first one being the climbing wall. Man, are those things hard. It was easy for me to sit at the bottom calling encouragement to my children as they crawled up the wall. I figured it was easy. Easy? Not so!

Checking My Safety Harness

As I stood looking at the wall I suddenly realized (duh!) that I was expected to climb a *vertical* wall. I guess I figured the rope that was attached to me did the work. I guessed wrong. How did I think I would get my foot onto those tiny little bumps and pull myself up?


I probably stood there longer than most people, as I tried to decide how on earth I was going to scale this wall! Not only that, I knew I was being watched by all the other mums, since I was the only one that had decided to make a fool of myself! The sign said something about 'Excitement', and I nauseously thought, "Excitement? HA!"

Keep That Tight!

Once I was up a few feet I turned around to let the belay guy know that I *expected* him to keep the rope tight. I was trusting him with my life!! I wanted to feel it, so that I knew that if I fell I wasn't going to fall feet, but rather inches. Actually, I was hoping that he would just keep me from falling altogether!

You see this? The guy had his head turned away talking to someone, while he had this panicked woman hanging on the rocks above him. Didn't he realize he was risking his life, not to mention *mine*?

You *Are* Watching Aren't You?

Trust me, I was checking on him everytime I pulled myself up another rock. I almost quit a few times, but each time I did he would suggest which rock to reach for. I relied on that information and kept on going. It was a real internal struggle: quit or succeed? Big question. I felt I would be fine if I quit, but at the same time I knew it would be cool if I, a mum, made it to the top.

Once I made it to the top the guy said to me, "Just sit back, put your feet up, and bounce down."

Was he nutty? He expected me to sit back in the rope and just relax? I didn't have much of a choice, so I did it, and honestly, the bouncing down the wall was the best part! I was so glad when I got down! But at least I had conquered the wall.

The following day my right arm was so sore. It is pathetic how many muscles we do not use!! I know that if I had someone to help me again, I would do it again. It was a real mental and physical workout!

That was Saturday. Then on Sunday, I decided to try something else.

It was time to learn to ride a dirt bike. Now, this bike is not the one I will be riding when I begin. It is Austin's so it is too small, but it was a good place to start. And it was fun!

If you had seen my hubby's face it was hilarious! He had a grin on from ear to ear. Probably figured he would never see his wife riding a dirt bike! lol It was easy and you wait til I get our house built. I am buying myself a nice one and I plan to have a blast with my kids!
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