Tonight, tonight.

So last night I wrote for the first time in a long time, and it felt pretty good. Made me start thinking back to other activities I used to do all the time, and now miss. Ahhh, yeah, I feel another list coming on now...
1. Listening to music. Turned UP. LOUD. Feeling the bass thump in my chest. Alone, with a buddy, in the car, in the house by myself, headphones, radio, scratchy vinyl record. Smashing Pumpkins, Blind Melon, Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Nine Inch Nails, the White Stripes, the Black Crows, Soul Coughing, Soul Asylum, GNR, STP, UO, the Killers, Foo Fighters, Nirvana...hell, I think I'll go get my iPod right now.

This leads me to............

2. Dancing. People should dance MORE as they age, yet most of us quit. Shame on us. Some of my favorite memories involve dancing. Those Polish wedding dances full of sweet little kids with their dress shoes kicked off spinning around, avoiding wobbly drunk uncles, laughing, leaping, twirling, giggling. In college, visiting the Home in Hays nearly every damn night of the week. We danced for HOURS and I don't remember a single blister. Sober or drunk, in a cluster of girlfriends or up close with a love interest, I danced. Now my dancing happens in a sunny living room with a toddler's arms clutching me around the neck (and often the other toddler latching on to my leg). No complaints--this type of dancing is too sweet for words--except we probably don't do this often enough, either.

3. Yoga. My yoga phase was incredibly short, but amazing. It really did transform my body and my mind. When practiced with a competent instructor, yoga paid off with real results every single time I practiced it. I went from a dubious crouched toe touch attempt, schlumping forward with no hope of reaching my feet, to a graceful full-body bend with my legs straight and my hands flat on the floor. And it felt great. I was STRONG. Damn, yoga, I miss you!

4. Sister weekends/sister-mom weekends. We MUST bring these back! Just getting away with my favorite girls on the planet is SUCH a huge treat, yet distance, financial strain, and babies have put the brakes on sister weekends for now. NOT COOL. I hope we can make up for this lull with amazing trips a few years down the road. I also miss our gigantic long phone calls.

5. I was going to follow up the sister weekend point with "date night", but I have to admit, we were never good at starting a date night tradition in the first place. We always just brought Lauren along, and it always felt strange to go out without her. So instead of missing date nights, I miss "family dates". Going out to eat without constant interruptions from screaming children, trying different restaurants...I'm sure this is one of the first traditions we'll reinstate once the economy stops kicking our butts. Ditto for family vacations.

That's it? Not bad, once I write it out, I guess. After all, I can easily start my own yoga regimen. I can remedy the music issue, though I suspect I've let it go by the wayside in part because my frazzled nerves can't handle too much extra noise nowadays. Is this how we realize we're growing up, growing older, changing? Life is a casting off--this Death of a Salesman line runs through my mind--but it's probably good to ponder what we're casting off, what we're keeping, and why it is so.