Wait For It

I have been anxiously awaiting this.  I knew it was coming and had a bit of a countdown going on in my head.  And finally this past week…..it was time.

This arrived in the mail:

Who knew they even made NASCAR Illustrated?

This is not the big event that the above was referring to, however, it was still a pretty long-awaited time as well.  I read it cover to cover the day that it arrived and as soon as I was finished, I started a new waiting game for my next one to arrive……in another month.

It was also time for this:

Sweaters, glorious sweaters!

That would be a sweater.

I have been waiting anxiously for it to feel a bit more fall-ish around here.  To bring out the cozier blankets and to sit around a fire roasting smore’s and not get heat stroke.  With all the pumpkin deliciousness going on and the cute fall clothes that I have bought for my little people, it’s about time it not feel like the 4th of July.  And on Friday it finally happened.

Today, my child wore shorts to school and a polo shirt with not a trace of a sweater.  It seems that we are back to Indian Summer again.  But at least for the weekend it was fun to pretend.

The Fall weather still isn’t what I have been awaiting the most though.

I have these friends, girls I have known since my last name was still Reese.  Girls that I have known since before there were babies, before there was a Brandon….and before we discovered what a difference eye liner could be.  They are my college roomies and even though we all graduated many, many moons ago…..we have still made it a point to stay caught up in each others lives.

Each of these girls has a tie to one another and that seems to be what helps us stay connected to each other.  That and we have been passing the same pot of maternity clothes around now for several years.  All joking aside though, these are some of the best ladies I have ever known and I am so thankful that they each fell into my life.

We don’t live particularly close to each other any  more, me here in Memphis, others in North Carolina and Florida, and Angela all the way out in sunny California.  I do share this fine state with my Kristie, but she’s all the way at the other end so it might as well be Florida, North Carolina or Cali.  But we decided that enough was enough, it was time to see each other all together again.  To share 48 hours of just sitting in our pajamas and with no plans or obligations, and enjoy each others company.  And that we did.

Funny, the last time we did that, we had 3 fewer children than we do now….4 if you count the one on the way.

We are a group of very different ladies.  If we met each other now, who’s to say that we would be as tight as we are.  Our days are longer nearly as similar as they once were.  Myself – I’m a stay at home mom that my children don’t even know has ever had a job.  Others have very full-time, successful jobs.  Really important people jobs.  One dear friend just had her very first little one and though we are the same age, I have one that will be 9 this winter.  When you think about it, I will have a kiddo graduating from high school when she has one starting to learn multiplication tables.

But we are still tight.

This group of ladies and me have been a part of each others stories for a very long time.  I can look around my house and find pieces of them, whether they be photos from the past, Christmas cards from last year, a pair of earrings I got as a bridesmaid gift, my very first coach purse, the socks I’m wearing today.

They are the Favorites on my cell phone, even though I should probably call those numbers more.

Looking around the room Saturday morning, I suppose time has changed us a little bit.  Hair-styles are a little different, our weight has fluctuated (we have had 9 babies between us)….but for the most part, we are just as we were those years ago that we shared dorm rooms and apartments.  We have experienced so many things, accomplished so many things and even lost so many things since those days….but there in our jammies drinking coffee, it’s like time has stood still.

Lila Bird and 2 of her special “aunties”

Everyone needs a weekend to go back in time and I loved every second of mine.  We had big plans to hit up our old favorite campus breakfast place, but when it came down to it – our  Alma Mater was too far away.  By too far, I mean, we were too lazy to leave our cozy den.  We did venture out to take Lila and her newest “cousin” on a small little neighborhood Trick or Treat.  I was shocked that the girl seemed to know just exactly what to do even though she has never actually Tricked and Treated before.  And after handing off the babies to their daddies, that’s a plus of friends marrying friends – our husbands are all friends, too –  we ladies went out for a kids free dinner.  I know this doesn’t sound particularly exciting at all, but to us, it was pretty high up there to not have a single kids menu in sight.

Its always great to be with old friends, but to get to do it in the same place where so many of your memories were actually made is a plus.

So now I will just sit and wait to see what this weekend brings.  I am still currently waiting for my tooth caverns to finish healing.  Now that will be a day to celebrate!

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