Is it warm in here?? (or a weekend with almost-menopausal women)

I am fortunate enough to have a group of girlfriends that celebrate that fact every year. Collectively, we’ve been friends since high school, individually some of the friendships started in grade 1. Although the ties were stretched (at times to other provinces and continents) somehow the chain remained linked through the 30 years since high school grad, and that anniversary was celebrated in 2002 when we first reunited as a group. Some of us hadn’t seen each other since 1972.
We are 9 in full attendance, which doesn’t happen each year, however we always reach a quorum at any gathering.
We are: Anne, Deanna, Donna, Helen, Joanne, Michelle, Susan, Suzanne & Tannis.
This year I was thrilled to host the reunion and this is a recap (remember I don't write short stories)
Friday July 14, 2006
Clean sheets on the beds, food in the fridge, most of the pet fur removed from the floor..…just waiting for my friends to arrive.
The first one to cruise past the house, pull a U-turn and then arrive straight into the driveway is…. Susan! And because she is first, she gets to pick her room – and the guest room it is. Good thing too, cuz she brought all this extra luggage & could make use of all the closet space. I thought she was moving in for the summer, but before I could politely ask, she reassured me she wasn’t. She had secretly packed clothes for hubby – as a surprise birthday present, she had booked them into a resort following our girls weekend. He never asked why he was carrying so many bags into her room for only 2 nights….smart man!
The mainland entourage (Anne & Joanne) along with Victorian Deanna arrived next. As I clomped down the outside steps to greet them, I noticed someone else sauntering along the driveway leading the group. SUZANNE! From Quebec! Quelle surprise! She wasn’t supposed to be here. I was speechless! Sneaky girl, she’d been emailing us for the past week, wishing us a good reunion etc. meanwhile she’d been visiting friends and family in Vancouver & on the island and had every intention on joining us!
After lots of bear hugs, the group settled in, finding a place to drop their bags, recharge their cell phones, and choose their bed on which they laid claim with their ‘ortho’ pillow or ‘special’ blanket….gone are the days of travelling light.
Poof- no more counter space in the bathroom.
Poof- the beer fridge is full.
Poof- Bob & the canine Chile disappear out to the RV for the weekend.
Poof- Cleo the feline begins hissing, spitting and growling because she is no longer allowed on ‘her’ bed.
The majority of the group is early morning risers, and the sleepyheads don’t have much choice but to join the coffee klatch at 7 a.m. We enjoyed a great day of touring the local farmers market and grocery store. Not just an ordinary store – it has a Starbucks upstairs where you can kick back in soft chairs and watch the shoppers spill coffee beans into the grinder, mull over a can of soup or snitch a grape. We decided to have a snack with our coffee, which ended up being lunch and then it was off for a tour of the Oceanside Area.
We were in 2 vehicles as we drove around, stopping into my office for a tour of the modular home factory, and culminating in a stop at the liquor store.
3 of us stayed in the car waiting... and waiting when we heard a very unusual sound coming from the parking lot.
Clunk-clunk, clink-clink, clunk-clunk, clink-clink.
It was the rest of our group - pushing a shopping cart (the clunk-clunk of the wheels) FULL of beer, wine and coolers (the clink-clink of the glass).
I had never seen a cart full of liquor before! (but then I don’t get out much).
Stuffing the purchases into the trunk, and under our feet we crawled back along the ocean highway to my house. The cars were so loaded down that we could no longer exceed speed limit.
While we were out, Donna (from Nanaimo) arrived at my house, and guess what? She brought beer!
The spare fridge was rearranged to accommodate all the beverages, the food in the upstairs fridge that 'could be at room temperature’ was displaced and the party began! While some of us were imbibing, some of us started prepping dinner.
Joanne had claimed she would NOT cook, but when she realized who the alternates were, she quickly donned an apron and as usual proved how great she is.
After dinner we called Tannis in the Kootenay area, who wasn’t able to join us, and left a long voicemail filling her in on all the fun stuff she missed. We also called Helen in Hong Kong (where she lives) and shared our stories. It was great to hear her voice and learn that she will be visiting in August.
The next morning Deanna served us her traditional breakfast. Afterwards some energetic souls went for a walk to find the forest, but ended up on a longer route along the beach.
The rest of us (lazy? smart?) enjoyed a more relaxing start to the day with coffee in the backyard.
After much debate on how to spend the last few hours of our visit, we ended up in quaint downtown Qualicum, then it was time to say farewell. The mainlanders had a ferry to catch and Suzanne had to fly out of Vancouver on the red-eye to Ottawa. The rest of us returned to the house, where we waited for Susan’s husband to arrive. He was presented with a birthday cake (I don’t remember if we sang – I hope not!) then he was spirited away to his surprise weekend at the resort. Donna was next to say adieu - she has so many commitments I don’t know how she keeps track of them all. Deanna returned to Victoria, but I know she’ll be back soon because she forgot her shoes!
What about Bob you ask? Well, Bob was afraid…very afraid to enter the house without knocking, knew better than to expect the bathroom to be available, but enjoyed hearing our stories and laughter wafting out the windows into the garage where he ‘was working on something’. He joined us as much as he dared, and partook in the barbecuing of the whole salmon that he purveyed. Bob has known most of these girls almost as long as I have, and is very comfortable in their presence. It was very empty in the house after they left, and I think even Cleo the cat missed everyone (well, ok who am I kidding, she was happy to get her bed back!)
Stay tuned for my next posting which will be about our friends from Chilliwack who enjoyed their (2nd) annual weekend getaway at the Qualicum Hostel (our house – self service).