Yet again, LONG TIMES have passed since I've been around these parts.
It really hit home when I ran into my VERY FIRST EVER roommate in Walmart yesterday.
*because over the years, I've had several amazing roomies, but this girl was The first*
One of my very best friends from high school ;)
We had the best of times!
Court was always so much fun!
We laughed together so much!
She was one of THE funniest people I knew and I LOVED being around her!
Oh, Courtney....
1997. 1998. 1999 (and years and years before that...)
So, getting back to the point of this tangent...
We see each other in Walmart - I'm doing my ritualistic Saturday morning grocery run, buggy full of stuff, on the last leg, the produce.section.
Looking for White Sweet Potatoes (should have known Walmart wouldn't have them) for a new "swoodle" recipe I want to try... because I recently got a Paderno Spiralizer and I want to spiralize ALL the things!!
And there she is with her little girl in her buggy, doing her own shopping.
Hey!! How have you been?!!??!
and together, we answer at the same time, with the same word...
Busy.
because it's the truth.
20 years ago, we never could've imagined all that we'd be doing to get to where we are - both almost 37 years old.
Lord, if that doesn't make you feel old, I don't know what will.
Busy.
Busyness.
It's the new normal.
It's a good excuse too.
Oh girl, I can't hang out this week - I'm too busy -
Hailee has Girl Scouts Monday evenings, Run Hard Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have appointments with patients to see in Orangeburg, Bamberg, Holly Hill, and Williston 3 days this week then I'll be in the office catching up on phone calls the other 2 days. I have to remember to put in my expense report for mileage and my nursing license that is renewed this year.
Not to mention, the house is an absolute disaster zone because the weekend is THE ONLY time I have to catch up with laundry, all the dirty dishes, paperwork that gets crammed in Hailee's book bag throughout the week, dinners and lunches to prep for. Bills I have to make sure are paid on time.
There's the Charleston field trip Roger is going on with Hailee Thursday - they'll be getting back that evening - so I guess Run Hard is out that day... AND, Terminex is coming Thursday to do their quarterly spray for bugs - I have to make sure I'm home by 6.
Hailee's birthday and Easter fall on the same weekend this year and I may have only bought 2 presents and NO Easter stuff yet - her 9th birthday party? Yeah, haven't made ANY plans for that yet - I can't even get that far in my brain because it's still 2 weeks away.
Our 17 year old selves had no idea.
They had fun.
They went to school, did homework, went to their part time retail jobs, went to the movies, spent the nights at each others' houses, drank wine coolers sometimes, got grounded for doing things we shouldn't have been doing, went on beach trips, talked about boys, listened to each others' CD's, wore each others' clothes, drove each others' cars, talked on the phone all the time (because no, we didn't have cell phones back then, so talking on the phone was second nature, not texting).
I played guitar all the time, wrote a lot of songs, played songs for our parents and friends, played in the youth group band, went on ski trips and summer beach retreats....
And it was A LOT of fun.
Then, slowly, gradually, time passed.
And it's moving faster and faster, despite us and our busy schedules.
Time gets away from us.
Time passes and suddenly, it's been 20 years since I've seen her - or any of my high school besties.
We get college degrees, start our careers, get married, have babies, buy houses, pay bills, devote ourselves to our families, and lose track of each other.
I do like Facebook because we DO still have some kind of link to each others' adult lives.
Because even though we don't get to spend time with each other like we used to, we can still be in touch with a part of them.
To be completely honest with you, I think we need to be connected to our friends and spend time with them whenever time permits. I miss the part of my life where I had good, close friends.
Yes, my husband is my best friend and we do everything together, but we joke sometimes about not having any friends to do things with.
We do though, and busyness plays a huge part in whether or not we do things with them.
There is so much to catch you up with in my world - since it's almost been a whole year since I've done so - but even when I sat down to type this out, there was interruption after interruption...
Hailee - mom! where are my pants?
Hailee - MOM! I need to go play with Whitley, she's on the trampoline!
ME - Hailee! you cannot wear the same clothes 2 days in a row, they're dirty!
Hailee - it's ok mom, they wear the same clothes all the time.
ME - brush your hair! Wait, I should just put it up because you're going to be running around..
Hailee - Mom, there's not a brush down here!
ME - Hailee, it's right behind me - you didn't even LOOK for it!
Roger - I think I'll ride my motorcycle to the store - I need to go get new pants
Roger - have you seen my wallet?
Roger - have you seen my keys?
Roger - where is the bottled water?
Roger - can you zip up these pockets on my riding jacket? I have my helmet on and can't see them
ME - second cup of coffee
ME - feed kitty MoMo
Now, I have to finish washing dishes, start a load of laundry, and clean up all the stuff.
Busy.
Always Busy.