I Have This Kid...

Yeah...

That one.

The one who steals her grandmother's walking aide and then proceeds to walk beside her grandmother while overexaagerating how Grandma walks when she uses it. (she doesn't use it all the time) The one with war paint on her face because they were having a knock-down-drag-out water fight. The one with the Care Bear bandaid and tie-dyed shorts. The one who's working three jobs this summer to save enough money to go on an inner-city missions project. The one who rescues stranded turtles and baby bunnies.

This kid is as goofy as she is amazing. She's wise beyond her years, funny, patient, kind, and an awesome person. She knows what she wants out of life and is already working toward those goals.

And I'm feeling nostalgic.

I picked her up from camp counselor training today. She had a blast and is really looking forward to the coming weeks when she'll interact with the kids. Most of the kids that come to the camp are underprivileged city kids, many have never been in the woods before. She's also decided that she's going to work an additional week there and then started talking about colleges.

As I listened to her talk about the people and the experience, I almost cried.

Because I'll miss her, and because I don't know how we got to this point where she's suddenly in charge of her life and makes her own decisions based on future goals. (Trust me, the kid has always made her own decisions, but they've been on a much smaller scale.) Because she's amazing in so many ways.

Somewhere along the way we went from mother/daughter to friends. I'm not saying we not have our share of "teenager" moments. We do. And I know our relationship will continue to change and grow. Heck, I count my own mother as one of my closest friends. I guess I faced the changes a little bit as I listened to her talk about her future options. And they kind of hit me out of the blue because I vividly remember her sitting in the grocery cart making me a "list" while we discussed what snacks to have at our afternoon tea party. That seems like only yesterday...

Yeah. I'm a sap. Deal with it.

Oh, and for your daily dose of my life...

I went to the grocery store, but then realized I'd forgotten to grab a bag of ice. I rushed back in, got the ice and zoomed around the corner for the self checkout only to slip and fall in a small puddle of water. I crashed into the video shelf, knocked a bunch of DVD's down and hit the floor with my knee. Fantastic. My finger is bruised, my arm is scratched and bruised, my knee is scraped and sore. Oh, and I landed directly in front of the manager.

There's a mental picture for you...

Behave!