Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Oh, how I missed you and I hope you missed me just as much! I have been a little MIA lately, but that's not because I didn't want to be here with you. It's just that my schedule has gotten a little bit hectic lately (particularly, the weekends) and I just plain ran out of time to write a blog or two.

I figured I'd save up all of the missed blogs for a two- or three-parter. Beginning with this one.

As some of y'all know, I had a roadtrip planned up to Alexandria, VA to spend a weekend with my old roommate from California, Jen. I've seen her once since we both moved from CA to the East Coast and that was at her wedding 6 yrs ago, and as you can probably figure, we didn't get a lot of time to spend together...her being a new bride and all. Well, that and the fact that she needed to speak to all the guests at the reception, I'm thinking I got all of 30 seconds in before she had to move on to the next guest. So, I guess I wouldn't really call it a "visit". More like a drive-by "Hi, great to see you here! So glad you could come! Enjoy yourself! Eat, drink and have a good time". And then she was gone - on to the next table of guests to do the thank you thing. I did, however, have a fun swing dance with her handsome Dad, along with catching up with friends and acquaintances who flew out from CA to the wedding.

This visit was different. We both wanted a little bit of nostalgia and we figured it was time for a visit.

So, I headed out on what we originally assumed would be about an eight-ish hour drive.

Wrong!

It was almost ELEVEN HOURS!

But that was ok. This ain't my first trip around the block. I've made 11-hr trips (each way) many times from OH to GA and back. So it's the same, except different because I'm a little older now and my body just can't handle it (I found out after I rolled my 41-year-old decrepit body out of the car when I arrived).

Needless to say, I was a wee bit tired when I arrived at her place at 11:00 pm Friday night after being up since 7:00 am and working till 12:00 before getting on the road. Ok, A LOT tired. But as soon as she opened the door, it was like I was back in CA again, only 10 years later.

It was time to catch up on what had been going on in both of our lives. So she broke out a bottle of wine, and we commenced to chit-chatting, gossiping, reminiscing and all kinds of fun conversations.

Two bottles later, at 4:00 am, we died.

But, during the time between the start of my drive and the end of those two bottles of wine, I thought a lot about how we met, the year that we lived together, and how two very different people formed a lasting friendship. I mean, normally you have a roommate in another city (OK, at the other end of the country!), you do your roommate thing, then move on, eventually falling out of contact, only to wonder a hundred years later what ever happened to them. And it could've easily happened that way. We never had a whole lot in common, other than we both liked wine, a cappella and a good party. But, friendships form for all kinds of reasons, and this is one of them.

So, here's where I'm going to let Jen explain to you her thoughts about how we met and the resulting, unlikely, yet enduring friendship we formed. If you would, please take a moment and CLICK HERE to read her take on our friendship because I really think you would enjoy it. She writes way more eloquently than I. And she is definitely going to get a giggle or two out of you. (Don't worry - the link will open up another screen so you won't have to hit the "back" button to get back here.)

I'll be back after you read it......

Ta-ta!

Ok, did you read it? (I really hope you did!)

Anyway, there is a lot to tell you about, so I'm going to write the blog in parts. Three max, but maybe I can get it all in two. Wait...I forgot that I tend to get a little long-winded when I write, so it'll probably be three parts.

I hope you'll come back tomorrow for Part II because, for only being there a couple of days, there's a lot to tell!