seven months late to get up to speed

Last night I reached into the mailbox and found a postcard from Egypt sent by pp. She had visited there LAST SPRING and apparently sent it then, but there was no postmark to cancel the stamp. Maybe that's why it took an entire season for it to arrive--even if a little battered from the trip--at my door. And as usual, it made me smile.

She had written a pretty detailed message; something about being tempted to trade our friend the Kind Dentist for a camel, but holding out for a better offer; pp's definitely not one of those "Wish you were here!" card senders. In fact, I was going through a huge accordion file of cards and letters I've saved over the years recently and came across some real gems from over the years. Laughing about the card that came better late than never, I realized it'd been several months since I'd hung out with pp and nearly as long since we'd had a nice long chat. So I grabbed my phone.

The best part about longtime friends is that you can go months or years of not being in close touch and pick up as though little or no time has elapsed. The conversation will no doubt include phrases like, "you know how I am," or "some things just never change" and it's so warm and comforting to be reminded why you thought the other person was so dang cool in the first place. Then of course you kick yourself for letting so much time go by.

Pp is in much better touch with our girls from college than I am, and gave me the nitty-gritty lowdown. This is very valuable because we're all getting together for brunch next sunday and I haven't seen most of them in a few years. Some have gotten married, some divorced, some have more kids, new careers, new homes and all kinds of good stuff.  And it's a good thing I got the rundown, too, because there are some once-very-prominent fixtures in the group who have slid into the He Who Must Not Be Named category. The last thing I'm craving for dessert is my own foot. Thanks, pp!