Since he was gone, that meant… I had an ENITRE evening to myself! What to do first?!
It’s always funny when I find myself alone. I want to do so many projects, watch movies, read my books, read blogs, write AND usually I want to do them all at the same time. Since I am writing this post, it’s obvious which one won out, but it was a tough battle to the end. In fact, I have a movie on in the background and a new book that I just got in the mail today, titled, “The Influencing Machine” by Brooke Galdstone right in front of me just screaming to be read. The book is actually more like a comic book than an actual “book” book; which works perfectly for me since I respond well to picture books as of late. I’ll write more about my crush on Brooke Gladstone’s writing and commentary as well as my opinion of the book in a post, later. However, since I am still torn as to how I want to spend this precious time this evening, I'll type fast so I can move on to my next project.
I guess I should back up a little. Before the book, movie and computer smack down this evening, I also went to dinner with one of my dearest friends, Lesa, who was one of my roommates in college. Lesa is one of those friends where we can pick up where we left off from the last time we were with each other. The years in between don't matter. Don’t you love those kinds of friends? They’re actually the only ones I keep. Lesa is a keeper.
I have a lot of memories with Lesa. In fact, I went to my first foreign film with her at “The Tower” theater in downtown Salt Lake City when we were about 19-years-old. Now, each time she and I get together, we usually like to go to something artsy and mostly foreign and then gab about it and other foreign flicks we’ve seen for hours afterward.
One Summer, between our sophomore and junior year in college, Lesa and I lived in Greenwich, CT with our good friend, Melissa. We were all lifeguards on the weekends, substitute teachers during the week and waitresses in the evening. It was an unforgettable summer. We road our bikes everywhere, had huge crushes on preppy East coast boys and I think we even worked for the mob at one point (At a restaurant where I am sure money was being laundered nightly.)
One day, when I am good and ready, I think I should write a book based on that summer. It was truly a sentinel “coming of age” period in my life. The kind where you finally figure out that you are becoming an adult and have to make adult decisions and think about your adult future when, in fact, you're still just a kid and have no idea what being an adult means. I probably should get started on this book since it happened almost 23 years ago and while my mind is still intact, or at least while it’s still functional. I mean, it won’t be anywhere close to a John Irving novel, and my characters are a lot more innocent, but it still is a great story to tell about our experiences and the people we met over that summer.
I should have taken a photo of the two of us together tonight. Lesa hasn't changed a drop, just add five kids in tow. She doesn't even have a wrinkle. I have a ton of photos of us when we were young and childless, but it’s late, and really, do you want to look at the evolution of my eyebrows through the years?
Ahhh... Here are two photos of us when we graduated from BYU almost 20 years ago. Hopefully we look the same minus our choice in earrings.
Ahhh... Here are two photos of us when we graduated from BYU almost 20 years ago. Hopefully we look the same minus our choice in earrings.
I love being her friend.
