Girls Gone Wild...again!! (A mulit part story)

Wow. Yep, that's all I have to say about the weekend.

Hahahaha, right...we all know me a little better than that. This may be a multi-day post because there was so much fun and fabulousness (is that a word? - Executive? Soul Mate?) that it cannot be contained in one posting. FYI - I'm writing this at 11am on Monday at my kitchen table with a cup of strong coffee and a croissant from P. Croissants that I brought back from AZ. I'm still in my pj's and threw a ball cap on to contain my hair.

Friday - I was right, I couldn't sleep Thursday night and probably got four hours of sleep before the alarm went off and I had Trainer yelling, "are you almost ready," every five minutes. I finished packing in the garage because Fido freaks out at the sight of a suitcase. He's a bit of a momma's boy... I get to the airport and find that the security line is insane. Now, Austin is a tiny, tiny airport and we never have to wait in a security line. The most amazing thing happened though, and I wish I was the one who did it... I was standing in the middle of the line that was, again, LONG, and a soldier in full dress came up from the ticket counter, looked at the line and said, "Shoot" (that's not really what he said, but you get the idea). He was obviously cutting it close to catch his flight and again, Austin being a tiny airport, doesn't move it along at a fast pace. The guy standing next to me said, "Hey" and waited for the soldier to acknowledge him and then said, "Take my place." The soldier did and the other guy went to the back of the line. I was almost in tears. THEN a family that was in the ropes already said, "Come over here, come, come..." and they let him cut in front of them. I was just so proud to be in a crowd of people who were so kind and giving. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have happened at all the airports around the country. I made it through security with plenty of time to spare and sat down waiting to get on the plane...which of course was delayed. BUT, it was okay because I was going to see all my friends in AZ and I was in a great mood.

We boarded with no problems, I pre-board to get the front seat on the isle, and the flight was great. I made it! I call The Saint and she came to pick me up. After I dropped her off I headed out to BFE to see Sports Mama. I had forgotten how big the Phoenix area was. You get spoiled in Austin, as nothing is more than 15 minutes away. We had an awesome visit and the promise of a good home cooked country breakfast was delivered. I had my favorite breakfast of eggs over medium, hash browns and toast. My dear friend is looking for a job in property management at the present moment so if any of you know anyone in the industry...she's have 14 years of experience and is wonderful with customer service! (That's my unsanctioned plug for her!) After breakfast I went over to see Yoga Zen Babe and her little one. He is SO cute and very astute. He looks at you and scrunches his little brows together and looks oh so serious...then he cracks up and the dimples just brighten the room. Adorable. We chatted for a little bit and then I headed to Soul Mate's house to see her and her babies. She has twinkies (twins) and my adorable little Pumpkin. The twins are just 15 months and Pumpkin is four years old today! By the end of the visit I had them all on my lap and they were fighting for my attention. See, trickery, that's how you become popular. ;) HAHAHAHA!

Once that visit was over and I had my two pounds of coffee (thanks to Soul Mate) safely in my bag, I headed back to pick up The Saint. I hit a traffic jam on I-10 and remembered exactly why I love Austin and it's small town/big city vibe. The Saint had printed out directions and we headed to the Biltmore. By this time all the girls were on their way and calling to see when we'd all arrive. It was so exciting, the anticipation of all 7 of us being together at the same time. This hasn't happened since I left Arizona...crazy. We got a little lost, Google maps...sheesh. By the time we arrived we had a caravan of cars and I jumped out to greet everyone. Tight hugs and kisses and 100 degree heat...yes, let's move it inside. The Biltmore is an amazing property, just gorgeous and take pride in their customer service. We made it up to the rooms, which were awesome, and started chatting it up. The volume kept increasing as we were all trying to talk at once and to different people...it was great.

The tragedy of getting older is that while you're having your family and focusing on your career other things slip away, like your time. The priorities are what they are...that made this weekend even more precious, even to the six that still live in the same state. I'm so happy that I booked my tickets, The Saint found a hotel, and we all agreed to make it happen. Not easy with seven busy women. We brought snacks and wine and before we knew it there was an open bottle and I was drinking. The loose schedule was to go something like this:

Friday -
Chill and chat, drink, order pizza, drink some more, fall asleep eventually after playing games.

it really went like this:
Chill, drink, chat, drink, go to wine tasting in fancy bar, drink, go back to the room, chatting, drinking, order pizza, drinking, wait for pizza guy forever, hotel delays pizza guy, drinking, drinking, laughing, pizza arrives we eat and chat, tried to play "Never have I ever" and we don't make it past the first person, more drinking and laughing.

The volume level was out of control. I think I saw a boob or two, got mounted, learned some new tricks, drank a boat load of wine, and then got to fall asleep on a heavenly mattress with Soul Mate. I didn't sleep very much since I drank about a liter of water before going to bed and my body was on Central time getting me up at 4:30am, then 5am, then 5:30...you get the idea. Finally I just said 'eff' it and got up, got dressed and went for a walk. I made it about 20 minutes when The Saint called me, she wanted to walk too, so I went around and got her and we walked for a good 45 minutes. I was pretty proud of myself for even getting the work out clothes out of the bag! HA! We got back and showered up and found a nice breakfast place off the property. I had this dish called the "Wolf Pack" and OMG...heaven! It was eggs, bacon and cheese layered in hash browns. SO delish and it hit the spot after consuming at least a bottle of wine (each of us that were drinking) and some champagne.

As soon as we got back we all changed into pool gear. We also hired a masseur to come to the room for the day and give massages. We had a method, as soon as the person that was getting a massage was done she would call down to the pool and send the next one up. The Director had to go first because she was being a good mom and had to leave the 'girls weekend' briefly to go see a dance recital that her daughter and husband were in. But she got some pool time in before she left. We ate bad food and ordered drinks as soon as we got down there, which was about 11am...right when the bar opened. I love vacation... The Executive found herself a floating device, it was one of those long thin blue rafts and she sat in the middle of it. She had a blue 1940s sheik swim suit on with a floppy hat and looked like a movie star. The floating device became "the blue taco" and she almost bit it a couple of times. Oh, fun... We were all so good about sunscreen, hats and being staying in the shade when possible. Had we really matured???

This is where I'm going to stop for today. I know, it's not really a cliff hanger, but seriously I need to shower, find more coffee and then wait for Trainer to get home so I can have some...lunch. ;)