Anatomy of fun

Red light, green light. Freeze tag. Hide-n-go-seek. Truth or dare. Candy store in the backyard clubhouse. Elaborate Barbie cities. Swimming by moonlight. Walking barefoot on freshly tarred streets.
Lying on my back on the driveway under the streetlight, dreaming of a future that I knew nothing about but could feel in my head and my heart.
When I think back to those days, my childhood, these are the things I remember. We had fun, so much fun - me, my brother Derek and his friends Carroll, Joey and Jimmy, my best friend Kathleen and her little brother Steve, the Ratliffs and Jackie down the street, Scott and John, the Youngbloods, and the rest of the neighborhood crew.

Just before the stink bomb went off.

Even the mean treatment I got from Derek and his friends seemed fun to me then and now. I was always on my guard when they were around. I never knew what practical joke I would be the butt of next, so I was wary, always wary. When I heard strange noises outside my window or when Derek said, "Hey, Kristi, come 'ere a minute!" with that sly half-grin on his face, red flags flew up and I responded with caution.
Sure, I was pretty mad when they tricked me into eating Gravy Train dog food candy they made in the garage. But I got over it pretty quickly, about as fast as the story became legend. Really, I didn't mind. Derek and his friends (being three years older than me) could have just ignored me completely. That would have been a far more terrible fate to me than being teased and pranked. Besides, not only did they deem me worthy of teasing and pranking, I was also included in their fun play - street games of Frisbee, garage ping-pong tournaments, marathon Monopoly games lasting into the wee hours of the morning, tree forts and baseball diamonds in the field behind our neighborhood. I could sense their admiration of me when I was the only girl who would play football with the boys. It made me proud.
We had the most fun.
I've always been a big advocate of fun. I believe we should make the most of life and have the most fun we can possibly have, day in and day out. In fact, fun has been my motto since my divorce six years ago. Of course, I was also concerned about other important things like working, going back to college, surviving. But fun is important too. If you don't have fun on a regular basis, all those other "serious" things can drag you down.

San Juan River kayaking trip.

I think I've been pretty successful thus far. I've had more fun in the past six years than I had the first 42 years of my life. I've danced and hiked and traveled, listened to some great music from some talented artists, met some interesting and awesome people and developed deep and lasting friendships. I white-water kayaked, camped out in beautiful, snowy mountains, and soaked in primitive natural hot springs at 8,000 feet. I flew through Utah's Valley of the Gods in a hot-air balloon and sun-bathed in the middle of Alpine flowers.
I've had the most fun.
And it ain't over yet. My journey into fun continues, and now, I have someone to share all my life adventures with. How sweet is that?
A friend of mine asked me the other day if Chuck and I have fun together. I answered with an unequivocal "Yes!" No doubts at all. No stopping to consider the question.
"We both love baseball, so we watch all the Rangers games together, and we go to games and talk about baseball, and we play softball together, and we like to look at houses together, and we both love movies, we watch movies every single night and also go to the theater. And we both love music and going to concerts, big ones and little ones." - deep breath - "So yes, we have a lot of fun."
When I did allow myself to further explore my friend's inquiry, I realized that I have fun with Chuck no matter what we do. Just sitting on the couch together, eating our "Chuck Chow" (healthy nutty chocolately fruity snack mix), is fun to me. Playing with our dogs and picking out new fish for the aquarium is fun.

Here's to fun.

Talking to him about life and family and friends and finances is interesting and comfortable and satisfying and, yes, fun. I hope he feels the same way. In spite of all my wonderful traits (heh!), I know I'm no walk in the park. I can be difficult, I know, but hey, I'm probably the funnest person he has ever known! I think so, anyway.
Couples having fun together is an integral part of a successful relationship. That's not just according to me, it's also a popular and ancient belief of the world. Dr. Steve Stephens, author of "Blueprints for a Solid Marriage," wrote that "couples who know how to play and have fun together develop a bonding that can carry them through the most difficult of times.” Yes, I agree.
And old King Solomon, who is often considered the wisest man ever to have lived, told men to "Enjoy life with your wife..." Amen and amen.
Fun. If you're not having any, it's never too late to start.