A break at the lake

"I said in my heart, "I am sick of four walls and a ceiling. I have a need of the sky. I have business with the grass."
-Richard Hovey



I returned this afternoon from a weekend at the lake with about 18 of my favorite people. Several months ago my friend AR, who is basically a human sounding board and keeps track of everything going on in the lives of our friends, sent out an email to a group of my college friends to see if anyone would be available this summer to do a non-wedding-related reunion weekend.

There was a collective cry of affirmation across the email chain, and thus Best Friends Forever for Life Weekend 2008 was conceived. I know what you’re thinking: that doesn't make sense, what’s with the superfluous “4/for”? According to AR, it was more aesthetically pleasing on the pocket-tees she was ordering to commemorate the weekend.

And commemorate we did. Being products of Chi Omega, we would be a shame to our chapter and to sorority girls everywhere if there WEREN’T t-shirts made.

We arrived in rapid succession on Friday; the first few girls getting there to open up the lake houses (next door to each other) do the grocery shopping and test out the lake water. Friends flew in from Denver, Phoenix and New York and drove from all over Texas to be together.

I picked up my friend AR II (my other friend with the same initials) from the airport Friday after work in Dallas, and we made our way to there with the help of Yahoo Maps, my friend HR’s “girl directions” as I call them (no NESW, just a lot of landmarks and random R&L turns, that’s how women give directions) and of course the voice/map on my trusty nav system.

Listening to both “hers” (AR II and the nav lady) was a little chaotic, but not nearly as much so as pulling up to the house, being greeted in the driveway by barefoot friends screaming and clapping and rushing up to the car, then walking into the house and into a pandemonium of Nike shorts, Jelly Belly’s and SO MUCH YELLING because HA BURNED HER ARM ON THE COOKIE SHEET, which had just come out of the oven carrying the garlic bread. It was pretty much all I could have dreamed of and more, sans-burn.

The mix of personalities present this weekend was far and wide, which made it even more enjoyable. One thing all of my friends have in common is the ability to snap into Hostess Mode at the drop of a Cath Kidston apron. There was no shortage of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, lemon bars, chocolate peanut butter bars or birthday cake; nor was there ever a problem finding willing hands to chop, stir, heat or slice anything when it came time for meals. Dishes were always coming in or out of the washer, counters were getting cleaned and chairs were always getting put back where they were found.

Blackberries were left indoors and cell phones were abandoned while we spent hours on the dock laying out, hoping on and off jet skis and boats and lounging/napping on hammocks. We got to catch up and discuss the kind of things that aren’t the same over the phone or email; the working world, Rick Warren’s interviews with McCain and Obama, dating/relationships/marriage, laser hair removal, good book recommendations, our collective love for Shawn Johnson and a multitude of other things.



The parents of our friend HR, whose lake houses we were invading, even drove down Saturday from Dallas for the day just to make sure we were having a good time and drive everyone around in the boat. I chatted with H’s mom while she was in the middle of gardening, and she was just beaming watching all of us run around and saying how she and her sorority friends from college still come out there altogether whenever they get the opportunity. 15 months out of school may seem a little soon to be considered a reunion, but we have all heard that if you don’t do it the first year out of school, it will never happen...

... and any good Texas A&M Former Student knows the value of a good tradition.

"Always leave enough room in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, or even joyous."
-Paul Hawken