The nicest treat happened this past month: my female friends from college organized a women’s getaway weekend in Southern California.
We picked out a date waaaaay back in August, then reserved a beach cottage in January. After the requisite bumps in the planning process (and a zillion e-mails) we all arrived in San Diego.
Our first evening there was sunny and festive.
BUUUUUUUT the following day was filled with what I have been informed is called “the June Gloom.” Ergh. This was kind of disappointing, but I wasn’t planning to go in the water much anyway (I didn’t bring my contacts, so I had to keep my face above water).
And THEN Julia fell and hurt her hand which was still healing from a previous break. (Nooooo!)
(AnnaJune spent time braiding Julia’s hair to look awesome, which I hoped helped her feel better.)
AND THEN the beach was taken over by a creepy pro-Trump “March Against Sharia” that made my stomach turn. (Even after a counter-protest showed up.)
But the idea was to hang out and talk and eat junk food, and we accomplished that with élan.
Every time I get together with the Plethora I am startled by what a different person I’ve become since I finished college. I love these people; they are like family. But to tell the truth they are also like family in the respect that, if I met some of them today for the first time, I’m not sure how close we’d be as friends, if at all. I’m wouldn’t be surprised if they felt the same way. Perhaps that’s why it’s important to reconnect with the people who knew you when you were young.
That’s a gift, isn’t it? To be friends with someone who you may never have taken the time to introduce yourself to if life hadn’t done it for you. I did have a lovely time and I hope we can do it again in the future (perhaps in Chicago? We ruminated over it in an attempt to lure East Coasties to join in).
ANYWAY — the other big news with me is that I finished Draft #3 of my novel in time for Father’s Day. Reading my book is what Brian wanted for his present, and I had a fair amount of hoofing at the last minute to meet the deadline. But meet it I did, and now I have the pleasure of watching Brian read it every night at bedtime, and he even chuckles at the parts that are funny and sometimes he stays up after I’ve turned off the light because he finds it interesting enough to not want to stop and it is the sexiest thing imaginable.
The only downside is the cringing truth that this draft took far too long to finish. I’m working at about 1/2 the speed which I ought, and it grates on me. I want to keep working over the summer, but I don’t know how that’s going to shake out now that the kids are out of school. (Especially considering that I need to keep practicing piano every day!)
I did give myself a victory lap this week — the last week before school ended — and spent time not writing and going out to lunch with friends and visiting the Terracotta Warriors exhibit at the science museum. (All by myself! I got to spend as much time as I wanted reading each and every informative plaque. Most startling information gleaned: the weapons the statues carried indicated that the Qin empire had discovered mass production and interchangeable parts a good 1800 years before Europeans did.)
Summer is now upon us, and I’m looking forward to lots of fun adventures with the kids, and experimenting with ice cream. Here’s to hoping I can find a happy balance and enjoy the sunshine days!
Casa Camisas 