Girl's Weekend

I went to Hilton Head Island again last weekend for some R and R. This time it was with my girlfriends. Don't get me wrong, I love to go to the beach with my kids, with Ryan--of course. But that is a different sort of vacation.
This vacation I was only responsible for myself and my fun.
I got to go running both mornings without worrying about leaving Ryan for too long with the kids. I could get in the ocean and body surf and not worry about my kids getting in and being concerned for their safety.
One day, I even slept til 8 am--unheard of for me. I enjoyed nice restaurants and the only person's embarrassing behavior I had to worry about was my own.
Talk about relaxation.
During the day it was great to sit on the beach and not be plagued with anxiety about one of my kids drowning. Nor did I have to raise my voice all weekend, well maybe a few times just to get a word in edgewise. Everyone knows I am a talker but get a couple of girls together who went to college and high school together and you got yourself some chatter.

Here's the thing about old friends that I think is so unbelievably awesome: You'll go through life and you keep in your head your memories and your experiences. They are singular, yours alone. After awhile they start to fade, get a bit fuzzy and over the years you'll forget things-- forget exactly what happened and when and how it all felt. That is you forget until you are with old friends-- those other people who share the same memories and experiences but lived them differently and remember different things--those cute details that you missed or forgot. So those memories/experiences becomes a collective when you hash it all out and you get a completely different perspective on your past, on your personal history. The empty blanks and faded places in your memory are filled in again. And your memory of those experiences becomes richer from the varied perspectives of other people's memory of some shared event.

I don't know if I am explaining it very well or if any of that makes any sense but basically I am just trying to get across that it was nice to remember good times and be reminded of great times that I had forgotten. Not to mention it was some what comforting to find out, that yes, all that really happened; it was not a figment of my imagination; I did not, after all, make it all up. It really happened; those crazy times, those people, that other life-- they were all real. Good stuff.

I am sure a lot of ears were burning this weekend as we recalled what happened and what has happened since. My only regret from this weekend was that it was too short. An extra day would have been perfect. My voice though may not have been able to take it, I am a bit hoarse.

Here are some more pictures from the weekend.

After a lunch at the Sea Pines beach club we made pals with a Sea Pines local, Chuck. He took our picture and insisted on being in a few himself. It seemed, at least what I gathered from his bar friends, that he has a reputation of taking pictures for the tourists.
Me and my running buddy, Steph, relaxing on the beach. We had some issues with getting the umbrella to stay anchored in the sand. Several times Steph sprinted down the beach to chase after it. I did not because then I might have spilled my beer.
Finally a very nice man did some trick and got in the sand for us where it stayed. He and his family had built a 5 hole putt putt course and invited us to play. Lissa and I declined but Camille and Steph took a swing at it. Apparently a sandy windy beach is not ideal conditions to get your putt putt game on.
Us at CQ's. We had an awesome dinner and I highly recommend going to CQ's if ever in Hilton Head.

Steph, Camille, Me and Lissa at Harbor Town enjoying some after dinner mudslides.