Ooh, You Make Me Live

I am a very lucky girl. I have family that loves me in spite of myself. I have my boys…who even though they often act like I’m invisible, still manage to occasionally (grudgingly) grumble that maybe I’m not actually the worst, most clueless parent to ever walk the face of the earth…maybe. And I have friends...who somehow manage to see me slimmer, younger and smarter than I ever thought I could actually be. All I know is that I like myself a lot better when seen through their eyes than through my own, so I’m keeping them close.

These days, it can be hard to find the time, energy and incentive to develop new friendships. We hurtle at warp speed through our lives…responsibilities nipping impatiently at our heels like ravenous little puppies…go to work, do the chores, try to spend quality time with the kiddies and the spouses…I have a good friend who told me once that “I don’t have time for the friends I do have, much less to meet and develop new ones.” Such is the life of the modern, adult, busy woman.

So, what does it mean when your life collides head-first into someone else’s and you feel this undeniable….connection? Do you stand up, shake yourself off and continue on your way, or do you stop and take a good, hard look at the person you’ve just collided with?

If you’re smart, you STOP. I truly believe that different people come into and out of our lives for a reason…and if we’re paying close enough attention, we’ll realize that each of them has the capacity to change the course of our lives…or at the very least, make the ride a hell of a lot more fun.

Heavy stuff, eh?

(Dude.)

Didn’t know I could be so philosophical?? Sure you did.

Thing is, it doesn’t last very long.

Set scene: Tonia’s beautifully decorated-to-the-gills home. (Think just like mine…only, not.)
Tonia nursing a glass of some sort of red wine…Kathryn putting the glass to her lips but not seriously drinking it and wondering how long she can politely wait before retrieving the Cloudy Bay she’s stashed in the back of her trunk.

Tonia: “Are you hungry?”
Kathryn: “No. Are you?”
T: “I could eat. You need to eat.”
K: “Nope. Still not hungry. You?”
T: “Let’s go eat. We’ll take your car. I’ll drive.”
K: “Uh, okay.”
(Tonia drives the car halfway down the street, then stops.)
T: “Your car is very….sluggish. Ya know?”
K: “You’ve got the emergency brake on. Kill the brake.”
T: “Where is it?”
K: “On the floor. Push down on it and it’ll pop back up.”
(Tonia feels around with her hand, then kicks with her foot at the air in the general vicinity of the parking brake to show effort in following my detailed instructions)
T: “Why did you put the brake on in the first place? You didn’t need it.”
K: (Sighs) “Just kill the brake. Don’t tell me how to park. I’m not telling you how to drive.”
T: “When we get to the restaurant, we’ll get permission for you to drink the Cloudy I know you’ve got stashed in your trunk.”

She scares me sometimes...

Set scene: Margarete and I finish a marathon (for some…not us…) five hour lunch.
During this time, we’ve inadvertently managed to torture our poor server, who asks if we’d like anything else.

“No,” we reply in unison…making a slurping sound with our straws to get the last dregs of alcohol out of our glasses.

She brings the check.

We then decide we want to see the dessert menu. (“What if they have key lime pie and we miss it?” we whisper to each other like hopeful six-year-olds)

She takes back the check and brings us the dessert menus.

There’s no key lime pie, so we pass on dessert.

She brings the check back.

Then we decide we’re ready for another drink.

To her credit, she managed to stay on her feet with a plastic smile on her face till the bitter end.

Margarete and I parted ways in the parking lot…kiss-kiss, hug-hug, seeyousoon…but we’re both still hankering for that key lime pie. I actually think I saw her mouth the words “KEY LIME PIE” to me in her rear view mirror…but she might have said “GET YOUR BRIGHT LIGHTS OUT OF MY FREAKIN EYES, DAMMIT!” I’ll have to ask.

I go home. SHE goes shopping….for food.

Text messages me from the market: “Hood makes key lime pie ice cream at Hannafords!…..Margarite”

I respond: “Ok…don’t telk me ur rtill therd! Isit ny gud?” (Translation: “Don’t tell me you’re still there! Is it any good?”)
I respond again: “Do they hat ciao bdka gelauo? CHAO AABELLO GEKATNO?” (Translation: “Do they have Ciao Bella Gelato? CIAO BELLA GELATO?” For some reason, I felt if I shouted the name, she’d know what I meant. Jackie knows what I mean.)

She responds: “Lol…got em both…sad thing is I could read your text…Margarete.”

Me: “Guf but do thdy haved it? Ur meam makimh me text.” (“Good but do they have it? You’re mean…making me text.”)

She: “Good practice for your next shopping trip…let you know how they both taste…gonna have them for dinner ;-)…Margarete”

Well, now she’s just showing off.

Me: “Yu sind ur nbme? Ur such as hoof. U bot da wine ome amd da keww limp y one?” (“You send your name? You’re such a show-off. You bought the wine one and the key lime pie one?”)

“The wine one,” you ask? (A hopeful glimmer in your eye…) Margarete loves her cabernet. I was grocery shopping and found an item I thought she’d like and took a picture with my phone (yes, I figured out how to do it. It took a l-o-n-g time and it was a labor of love.):



How could she not love this? It’s got chocolate, cabernet sauvignon and ice cream all rolled into ONE. (What we lovingly refer to as a WIN/WIN.)

Jackie….Tonia….Margarete. I’m honored to call them my friends. They embody all that is good in this life: friendship, alcohol and food.

But the greatest of these is…alcohol. ;-)