Girls' Weekend

I consider it an honor to be part of a very special group of friends. I met these gals when I first started working for Dr. Bowers seven years ago. Because time passes and lives change, we don't all work together anymore, but the five of us remain close. We make it a point to get together for a girls' weekend about once a year.

This year our get together was held at Paddy's house on Cooper Point. This note was attached to the front door, and this is what we read before entering the house:


Here we are. The five of us. See why I consider these friends very special?



Honestly, it doesn't matter that there's a big difference in our ages. These gals welcomed me into their group with open arms. And ya know what? These girls can drink like fish and cuss like sailors. And ya know what else? I've found it's a wise move in life to have friends with more life experience than you do. You can learn a lot from them.

Before I go into detal...let me introduce you to my friends.


This is Paddy. Yes, spelled with D's instead of T's. Paddy McGuinnis with red hair. Hmmm...Irish? I was born on St. Patrick's Day. See the connection? The natural flow of the universe makes us friends. Paddy was the full-time hygienist for Dr. Bowers and I took over her position as she slowly phased out. I think this woman is classy and sophisticated, yet down-to-earth enough to throw out F-bombs just to spice up the conversation. She is now retired, but she and her also retired dentist husband travel all over the world providing dental services in underserved countries. She is the person who has given me the desire to also serve a dental mission. Paddy is kind and welcoming friend.




This is Janie. I graduated from highschool with her son Eric. Whenever I want to know what the latest is with any of my former classmates, I just ask her. She always has the most up-to-date gossip. I just love Janie. Nothing ever upsets her. Ever. She is so go-with-the-flow. I once asked her if, at any point in her life, she had gone through depression. "Well, once...", she said, "after Eric was born, I felt really overwhelmed at the thought of my husband going back to work, but that only lasted for about an afternoon and then I was fine the next day." Janie once gave me one of the nicest compliments I have ever recieved. She said the reason why I fit into their group is because I have an old soul.




That's Debra on the left. She worked in the front office when I first started my job. Whenever I had downtime at work, I'd usually wind up wandering up to Debra's desk and chit-chatting. She is very logical, chooses her words very carefully, and always gives good advice because, in my opinion, she is a great problem solver. I miss having her around the office.

Monica is on the right. I have talked about Monica on my blog before. She is my running buddy...although lately we've been quite lazy! I knew it was going to be a fun weekend when she told me ahead of time to pack my running shoes so we could burn off all the alcohol that we would be consuming. We were roommates that night and before we turned out the lights we joked about accidentally cuddling with each other or farting in bed.

What a great time we had. The weather was nice and warm. Paddy's house has a huge deck that looks out over the salt water, and that was where we spent 90% of the time. We were each assigned a dish- which, let me tell you, whenever we have our girls' weekends, I always look forward to whatever Monica brings. She is like a freaking gourmet chef. At work, she'll be eating leftovers for lunch, and I'll be all, "What's that??" and casually, she's all "Oh this? It's just some lime and lavendar infused Italian risotto with shaved truffles on top. I just threw it together last night with some stuff I picked out of the garden..."

I brought bruschetta for an appitizer and homemade chocolate cupcakes for dessert. We also had caesar salad, grilled asparagas and salmon (thanks, Dr. Bowers!)






After dinner we stayed out in the warm air until well after dark, where we enjoyed wine and dessert and wine.

The next morning we hung out and enjoyed a lazy breakfast (where else?) out on the deck. I was enjoying myself so much out there that I think I drank about five cups of coffee. I pretty much got wired and that chased away any traces of a hangover!
I snapped this pic of Janie's pre-breakfast. I thought it was pretty darned funny.







See you guys next year!