This has been one of those gruesome weeks between being sick with the sinus infection, some other drama, getting the stupid bacterial eye infection, blah blah blah – I really needed a break, some downtime, some recharging of the mental batteries.
My best friend saved the day. We started, early in the week, planning a journey to Ikea on the other side of the state – to spend the day talking, laughing, and shopping for cheap random things at Ikea (I never really go there looking for something, but usually end up finding something totally random that I never knew I always needed). She swung by at 8ish yesterday morning, after I had dropped of the girls with my mom (Yay for grandmas!). We made a quick Starbucks pit stop and picked up some wiper fluid at the gas station and we were off.
Not only did I need the time to spill my mind and vent and process – I needed to dialogue with another adult human person. You don’t always get a whole lotta interaction with adults when you’re home with kids all day and it’s tax season and you catch a glimpse of your husband for about five minutes every other day (I’m sort of exaggerating). Even when I was quiet and listening to what’s been in her world, it made me feel more like myself than I had felt in a long time. Needless to say, the whole day was a much needed break from my current reality.
After two hours of driving, we embarassingly breezed through Ikea in less than an hour. Neither of us really needed anything – it was more of the getaway anyway. I completely forgot that I meant to look at a dining room table. I’m somewhat of a furniture snob – however, my dining table is in need of being replaced, and I still have kids that are young enough to think a table looks prettier with stickers on it. They also don’t think twice about beating the table with the tines of forks. I don’t think I need to tell you that I don’t want to spend money on a super nice table (which I want) until they break themselves of the furniture beating habit.
I left Ikea with some new dishtowels, drinking straws and an apple corer. Oh yes, so exciting. We then grabbed some lunch and turned the other direction to head towards home. Or, towards the outlet malls that happened to be in the same direction as home.
My face hurt from laughing so hard – my best friend has been a part of my life since we were 13. There is no mistaking that there is a very clear reason why she has been like my family for nearly 20 years. When you can laugh, cry and hurt with someone without fear of judgement, that is a person you want to keep around. We don’t always see eye to eye – but she’s really always been there for me.
We had a truck of some lovely man-specimens waving and smiling at us (please note: by “lovely”, I mean they were only missing some of their teeth). They kept pulling up along side us to smile and wave – then they’d pass us, then slow down, then wave and smile. Absolutely nutso, but we were laughing so insanely hard about it.
At the outlet mall, I got some very cute long sleeve tshirts, a new purse, a new wallet and a pair of underwear that says “I love you” all over them (I’m guessing that was a Valentines day clearance thing, but whatever – they were funny).
So many jokes and comments sent us into fits of giggles – including the time she made me laugh so hard I had to open the car door so I could spit out the water I was drinking before it came out of my nose.
Everyone should have at least one girlfriend like this. One who can take what feels like the crappiest week on the planet and turn it right.
Where You’ll Find Me