...quiet, about a lot of things...

My mother in law is coming out for a visit..this weekend. She is an amazingly strong woman..of Scottish descent. We get along fine, better than fine, well. We are, however, TOTALLY different. More opposite you could not be. She is level headed, close to her sleeve, and pragmatic. I am a ditzy..(sometimes intelligent way), open book,out of the box, use every bowl in the kitchen to make a meal...kinda gal.

Her only son,...her BABY of 5 kids,only son... chose me...to marry. I think this kind of left he shaking her head a bit....almost 20 years ago.I catch my husband shakin his too sometimes..trying to clear my wifely fog...but, again I digress,...entirely seperate story.

Helen, (we'll call her Helen...) looked more than a tad bit like Elizabeth Taylor (Liz in her National Velvet period) in her younger years. Bold eyebrows, framed beautiful eyes. Those eyes always had a commanding look to them. I have never seen them look warm, in photos. Knowing, yes. Cool, yes. In charge, yes. Inviting, welcoming, curious..no. Not a bad no, just NO.

Helen has seen me dabble in a few passions..other than her son..through our years together. She's seen me decorate,oh, 6 houses. She seen pictures I've painted, and photos I've taken displayed in exhibitions. She's watched me go back to college...in fits and spurts.. and NEVER quite make that finish line..yet.

And then...Helen saw me get my first HORSE!...and all those past follies just fell away...I think she was waiting for it to be "just a phase"...but as the phase grew into a decade, it became clear to her, that maybe this one wasn't passing so easily... (reminds me of my kidney stones...but again...different story!)

So, Helen arrives this weekend. A weekend that hold a HUGE competion for me. I'll be riding in two classes a day..and have a meeting scheduled with the coach of the USA paralympic team. I'm trying to nail down my place on the paralympic team's "ADVANCED RIDERS LIST"..one step closer to USA on my show jacket! She'll arrive to see my living room/dining room, torn up..as we are installing new floors..not simple hard wood... but a hard wood border, with a maze of patterned carpet in the middle..and she'll know for sure..it was my handiwork, my design. Had to be..there's nothing SIMPLE about it...

I'll pop out for a quick lesson..to try to polish more, what I've been polishing for years.. I'll yell out as I leave..

"Helen, I'll be back after my lesson at the barn...."

"lesson??" she might reply " Haven't you learned to "Ride a horse" (or finish a project) YET???

She'll glance over her shoulder,get a look at the puzzle I've created in my living room...and chuckle.....Truth is..she likes puzzles..doing them at least..so maybe, in a strange way, she understands. I hope so.