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Monday, January 24, 2011

The further adventures of Missy and Sherri

Friday my friends Missy and Ally decided to come to our house for a spur of the moment slumber party. Missy packed up the twins and headed out. Friday traffic on the 91 is a beast, but she got there. Ally had to finish work so she started out a couple hours later. She called to tell Missy where she was and as she was talking to her the car died. In rush hour traffic, no one would let her over of course, this being California and all, the land of selfish and idiotic drivers. Finally she was able to move it over. I grabbed my keys and took off to meet her (Missy stayed with the kids and put in a call to AAA, while Sara made us all dinner).

So eventually I get to where the tow truck had towed her off the side of the road in the McDonald's parking lot. I filled it up with water and we limped it almost to my house and it died again. So we parked it and headed home. We decided to just put it out of our minds and continue our fun-filled slumber party. We ate, we talked, we played games. I made the most awesome Gluten-free peanut butter cookies EVER. No kidding, those things were actually good. We just enjoyed each other. Saturday came around and we just couldn't part. So the over-nighter became a weekend getaway for a family who really just needed to be around people who cared about them.

Because they hadn't planned on staying an extra day Missy didn't have enough medication so we decided to head over to the OC and pick them up while the girls headed to the park with the kids, planning to meet up for pizza in an hour and a half. Yeah, SURE.....

Well first there was of course a big ole traffic jam, this being California and all, the land of selfish and idiotic drivers, oh wait I think we covered that part. So anyway after about 2 or more hours in THAT we made it past the jam and cruised on, chatting the whole time. Eventually Missy looked up and realized she didn't recognize where we were. "Are you on the 405?", she asked. Um, no was I supposed to be? Ooops. Ended up in Costa Mesa. No problem I lived in Newport Beach so I knew right where we were, flipped around and headed back up the 55 to the 405. We finally made it to their pad, gathered up our supplies and took off for the IE.

Fast forward to about 35 minutes later when I notice nothing looks familiar. Yep, you guessed it, I missed the freeway interchange again. This time we really had NO idea where I took us. So we just kept going while Missy frantically tapped on her iPhone hoping Google maps could locate us. "Get off the next exit and turn around or we are going to end up in San Diego", she declared. Ooops, guess the 5 South isn't where I was supposed to be. But I did get to see me some Aliso Viejo. In the dark. For one exit. Then we headed back frantically searching to see if between the two of us we had enough cash to take the toll road and cut across the mountain. We did. So crisis averted. We did eventually make it back home. 4 or 5 hours later. But we just laughed about it and enjoyed the time we spent together getting to know each other. I gotta say I've always thought my friend Jocelyn lived an interesting life full of adventure, but Missy is running a close 2nd. She's really lived. I don't really envy that, I'm not a wanderer. I'm too small-town. But I respect her tremendously. Like my sister Audrey, I live vicariously through their world travels and life-experiences. 

So Sunday rolls around, we all had good intentions of getting up and going to church, but Ally isn't feeling good, the kids are tired. Well, we kind of all are. Me and Missy go grocery shopping and pick up breakfast for the gang. We all chill and watch TV with the kids and visit. Then me and Miss head out to take care of the car situation. Once that is done we pull up to the house and Ally is rollerskating in the driveway, the sidewalk are all sporting sidewalk chalk artwork that Sara and the kids worked on. Looks like they all had fun.

Ally asks me to take her for a ride on my motorcycle. So of course I oblige. Anyone surprised that I kinda got lost? But no harm, no foul an hour or so later we pull back in. The kids are in a huge cardboard box in the garage they made into their very own house. And everyone is chill and happy. Time for lunch, some Scooby Doo, then movies for the kids and football for Sherri. Everyone kinda heads off around the house to do their own thing, laptops and iPhones come out and we just BE. Eventually, it's time to pack up and say goodbye to our friends, who for the weekend became a part of our family. And Le Chateau Paxton becomes very quiet. Too quiet. We missed our friends and the life we had created though the weekend. So Missy, Ally and kids. Please come back and do that again sometime. And this time I think someone else should drive.

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