Girls Day

This past weekend my husband went on a golf get-away. 3 days of guy friends, beer, poker and 18 holes of golf a day. As Tim the Tool Man Taylor used to say, argh argh argh. I am never a big fan of my husband travelling for a few reasons. Well, the first reason being the most obvious, he is my husband and no wife should be happy their husband is leaving, but the 2nd reason is I have this terrible fear of something happening to me while he's gone. I guess you could say I have OCD as my nightly ritual when he is away is to check the front door to make sure it's locked and then check the back door to make sure it too is locked. Then back to the front door, then to the back door and so on...you get my point. After I repeatedly check the doors I then start to walk through the house to check each window (yes on the 2nd floor too) to make sure they are locked. Not only does this routine involve checking each lock on the window, but I also try to open the windows to make sure they don't budge. Once the windows are all done, I put a chair in front of the front door. If by chance the burgular breaks through the screen door lock, the door lock and the deadbolt lock, the chair will then fall over and wake me from my sleep. This is assuming I have fallen asleep because once I finally climb into bed I lie wide awake imagining my escape route with my 75 pound labrador retriever if there is an intruder. I know, FREAK!

After a night of pretty much no sleep on Friday, I am happy to speak to my best friend (whose husband is also on the guys weekend trip) on Saturday morning where we plan a day of shopping! I have always been an avid shopper and can enjoy a day at the mall, but my friend Sarah, can shop me under the table! I never thought I would meet someone who could make me shop 'til I drop and this girl can. It's great! It's one of the reasons we became such good friends. We meet in the afternoon and make our way up to the White Plains mall. For a mall, it's the mecca of shopping. We briefly cruise the first floor that we term as the expensive floor. We pass by the Stuart Weitzman, Juicy Couture, Coach, Dooney & Bourke stores and take the escalator up to the 2nd floor, the more affordable floor where the shopping really begins. However after 3 hours and 7 minutes of shopping we leave the mall feeling slightly defeated. We both went there with great expectations of coming home with a new Spring wardrobe and all Sarah ended up with was a frame and some bottles of soap and I bought a pair of Converse and 2 skirts. Now to the average shopper you might think this sounds like a success, but not to my best friend and I. I mean, we had a 25% off coupon to JCrew where we bought NOTHING! We didn't even try anything on?!? Has my guilty conscience gotten the best of me? Should I feel badly that people I know are getting laid off from their jobs right and left around me and I am upset that I only spent $150?

With our feet aching and feeling kind of bummed about our shopping experience, we head back to my house. The conversation on the way home is light, we debate on where to go to dinner and what time. We're both starving and decide to go for a snack when we get back to my house. I offer Sarah a soda and she says, "Actually, I think I'll take a beer." Now we're talking! 4 beers later the conversation has covered all spectrums and we decide to head to a local Mexican joint for dinner. The hostess tells us it's going to be just a moment and instead of waiting at the hostess stand, we take a seat at the bar. "2 Cadillac Margaritas please! On the rocks, one with salt the other without." We toast to a great day and take our first swig. Whew! Pure tequila and pure heaven! 4 margaritas, some guacamole and some burritos later we head back to my home where we crack open 4 more beers and proceed to have the best night ever. I told my husband this morning last night was the best time I probably have ever had with Sarah. There was not one lull in the conversation and we pretty much covered any topic you could possibly imagine, from work to friends to family to our husbands to sex to music to love to babies and to death. We cried when we talked about death and in the next moment we giggled like two 12 year old girls at a slumber party. It was the best night I have ever had hanging out with a friend.

At one point in the evening I told Sarah I have this awful fear of death. She asked me if I knew why and I told her I think it's because I am scared I am going to die and not have said everything I wanted to say to people. I am scared my brother won't know how proud I am of him. I'm scared my husband won't know how much I love him, and I'm scared my best friend won't know how much I appreciate our friendship. Sarah, in her infinite wisdom said, "Well, you have to make sure you tell all of these people how you feel. So they will know when you're gone." So, Sarah, thank you for being the best friend possible. I hope you know how much I appreciate our friendship! Last night I went to bed only checking the doors once, no chair next to the front door and no multiple laps around the house making sure the windows were locked. I slept like a baby.