Words With Friends

Amy, Tiff, Janice, Summer, Melanie, Rebecca, Michelle and me at Rosa's!

The other night, we were hanging out with Matt and Tiffany, some of our close friends.  Our family was right in the middle of a wild week of travelling...staying in a different city every night for almost a week.  We were all unwinding after the kids were in bed, chatting away.  Matt said something to the effect of "You need to spend as much time with us as you can because you won't be able to when you get back to Thailand."  


I cried.


Actually, I stuck a pillow over my face and shamefully cried behind the pillow.  Because, I am still afraid of what others are calling the "Ugly Cry."  And, I had mascara on.  


I cried because it is true.  There simply isn't enough time this summer to spend with all of our friends, family and others in a way that is quality and memorable.  This really pains me.  I wish we had a year here, but then again, I know I still wouldn't be satisfied.  It is my nature.  


Then, Treavor caught me off guard and told me to stop crying.  "Why?"  I whined...


"Just stop crying,"  he suggested.


I was offended, for sure.  But, I dried up my tears and we resumed our conversation.  Later that night, I asked Treav why he told me to stop.  He shared that he thought it would be better for me to have some happier memories of the short time we have with our friends than ones of me blubbering on the couch while everyone else felt awkward.  Of course, I disagreed, because my emotions were raw and I just wasn't getting it.


He listened to me whine on and then concluded, "Well, I think you just need to cry with your girlfriends, then."  You have to understand that it wasn't a cop-out...it was true!  If I wanted time to connect with my friends on a deeper, heart-level, I was going to have to set more time aside to make it happen.


So, I did!


The picture at the top is of a Girls' Night that I threw together last week.  I emailed (so fancy!) some ladies and we met at Rosa's Cafe for dinner.  Thankfully, seven ladies were free and gave up their Wednesday night to chat and make me feel like a million bucks for just spending time together.  Nights like that were something I literally dreamed about while in Thailand.  We have amazing community there, too, but being here has helped to resurrect old relationships and keep them going as all our friends are blazing through life.  It was so fun.


To end the night, we headed on over to U-Swirl. I died.  Basically, for all my overseas friends to understand, the frozen-yogurt-and-then-add-a-million-toppings-of-your-choice fad is all the rage.  They weigh your bowl, no matter what is in there, and then you pay per ounce.  Genius; self-serve and quite addictive.  You choose from a myriad of flavors (I chose Cake Batter and Red Velvet Cake - I know, I'm a health nut!)...then you top it with stuff.  There was everything from cherries and fresh raspberries, to cheesecake bites, Ghirardelli caramel sauce, and chocolate-covered waffle bits.  Like I said, I died.  And, then I ate my frozen yogurt and went to dessert heaven.  It was fabulous.  

Did you just gain five pounds looking at this delight of a dessert?  Awesome.

I never ended up crying with my girlfriends that night, but now I have a lovely memory to help carry me through the inevitable, lonely days of living as an expat in a foreign country.  I might have to plan my own Girls' Night over there!  Too bad they don't have U-Swirl in Thailand...