A Caffeinated Awake-a-thon

This last weekend I met two of my most favoritest people Karen and Lori for a girl's weekend. And let me tell you, I've never been more in need of a girl's weekend. In the two days between my last blog post and the time that I met them at the hotel, I took 3 kids grocery shopping (they were actually really good), got home, fixed supper, put supper in the oven, got a call that the brakes were going out in the church van so Josh needed me to pick him up in Panama City. So, I turned OFF the oven, loaded up the kids and we headed back to PC. On the way we came to a complete stop on the highway. I thought there had been an accident. I could've asked the 50 tourist who totally got out of their cars and were standing in the middle of the road checking things out, but they got back in their cars when some crazy person almost ran them over driving down the wrong side of the road to get ahead of all the rest of us. I guess so they could WAIT at the front of the line. Anyway, we later found out we were stopped waiting for some Drones to fly in. Those would be unmanned planes flown by radio control. I was having a total panic attack because it was 4:30 and my theatre class was supposed to be meeting at 6:30 and I had no way to get in touch with any of them to tell them it was cancelled if I didn't get back in time. And I really couldn't cancel it because we really needed to practice even if it was at 10:00 that night! Thankfully we got moving and was able to get Josh and get back in time for class. That was an hour of pure chaos and then I got home to help Josh paint some more on the set. Yes, the set. We were still working on the set.

Friday  morning I met with our director to discuss the space we needed for our set. The gallery where we would be performing had been rearranged from when we originally measured for our set design! I left there stressed out and headed to Goodwill to hunt for ugly dresses because I still needed costumes for my evil stepmother and ugly stepsisters. Thankfully, they had just what I needed. Back at home we were finishing up the set. Something I had really planned to have done, like, 3 days before this. I won't lie, I was really feeling stressed. And I kept telling myself how blessed I am if a set made out of cardboard boxes is the most stressful thing in my life. It just felt like it was never going to be finished and since the church van was at the shop it was going to take multiple trips in both of our vehicles to get it where it needed to be and I really needed my class to have a chance to practice with us changing the set behind them. Ahhh!!!!!!

Finally, I had to leave to meet my class so I took the first set of boxes. I got to the gallery and they had rearranged again!!!! We had designed a 12 ft. set and we ended up only being able to use half of it. I really just felt bad for Josh because he had worked so hard on it. Anyway, I was just pretty ready for it to all be over. We met 2 and a half hours before the show to practice and get costumes and  make-up on. And, to actually practice at the gallery. Which turned into them just wanting to walk around and scare me by touching artwork and begging for the food that the caterers were just beginning to set out. I was also really nervous that our audience might not get our sense of humor, but there was one guy who laughed at everything so I just focused on him. :)  After all was said and done I was very proud of my kids and they told me they had lots of fun and that's what matters, right?

It was finally time for me to leave for my girl's weekend. All 3 of us had just gotten back from other trips so we decided to just meet in Dothan, Al. We realized after our last trip that all we really wanted to do was sit around and eat and talk anyway. It was a very nice drive for me, including many opportunities to sing great songs at the top of my lungs with no one to be embarrassed or disturbed. I missed my turn once I got into Dothan and ended up in a part of town with a lot of tattoo parlors and psychics. I was already living wild. I forgot to pack my vitamins, I might as well go ahead and get a tattoo, right? :)

I was kind of bummed it was already about 10:00 when I got there and so I figured most of my Friday with the girls was gone. I was wrong! We stayed up until 5am (6:00 my time) talking! It was so fabulous. That was how the rest of the weekend went. We ate and talked and slept for a few minutes in between. So far we've only been able to do this once a year, so we have a lot to talk about when we all get together. :) I consider my friendship with these girls one of the greatest gifts I've been given. I've really realized what a blessing it is to have people in your life who you can just be 100% yourself  with. Do you know what I mean? I feel totally free to say exactly what is on  my mind, no editing needed. I feel free to laugh and make jokes that a lot of people wouldn't get or would think were the cheesiest things they've ever heard. I feel free to cry and don't worry that I'm being a debby downer. I feel free to listen and not have to provide perfect advice. I feel free to drink 15 Diet Cokes and eat candy bars and not be judged. :) Basically, I just feel free to be me. And that is a gift.

Thank you, Lori and Karen, for being a safe place for me. A place of refreshing. A place of encouragement. A place of fun! And a place of rest, even when there is no sleeping going on!!!!

Me and my friends who are beautiful, inside and out!!



I have to add this picture and tell you that we never made it poolside until about ten o'clock Saturday night. No bikinis and umbrella drinks for us.  More like jeans and double chocolate chip blended cremes from Barnes and Nobles. And very serious conversations. At one point a guy came out by himself and was texting the whole time. I'm pretty sure he was updating his FB to say, "Sitting poolside with some crazy women who are discussing church business meetings. Not my idea of a wild Saturday  night!"

Oh well. At least he finally left. And if only he knew. If only he knew I left my vitamins at home and we stayed up ALL night. We are wild!!!!!! :)