7 days together in one house after a 23 year absence and when the husbands have never met!
We so enjoyed Marcia and Jeff's visit to Maryland from 3/25/11 to 4/2/11. It was a 6-hour drive South for them from Mexico in Upstate New York to Germantown in Northern Maryland. They arrived with a car full of food and wine - so what's not to love about that? Jeff and I hadn't seen each other in at least 100 years so we started off with a tentative hug. Kevin was off washing the van when they arrived (family joke) and took quite a while to get back. I think the guys both had a bit of social anxiety but you can't really blame them. We're proud they were willing to do this grand experiment for the sake of the ladies :-D.
Marcia and I celebrated our birthdays (her 50th and my 46th) by attending the "Get Radical" Women's conference in DC on 3/25. We got motivation (and some laughs) from Doreen Rainey, Rhonda Britten, Jillian Michaels, Ali Brown, Deborah Owens and Niecy Nash. For lunch we walked around China Town and had a bite at the Pot Belly Deli. Afterward we wandered a few blocks to the National Portrait Gallery in the beatifully restored Patent Building and shared a birthday toast of vino in the lovely atrium (ok, the Cabernet had a screw top but who cares when the location and the company were magical and we were tuckered out so it tasted like award winning wine). Truly a very nice day with my long lost best friend.
Kendall (9) got to meet and bond with Marcia. Made my heart go pitter patter. Since we both missed sharing the 5 other kids (Lauren, Aaron, Eric, Ryan & Donald) growing up during our 23 year hiatus (yikes - what were we thinking?), it was so sweet to have this last chance to share a kid! Marcia brought Kendall his own "kid" knife for the kitchen (big, big hit!) and spent time baking with him - they made gooey filled cupcakes and a scrumptious cake. Kendall was ever the "hugster" and took to Marcia within seconds of entering the house. She may never recover from all the hugs. During the baking events, Marcia Skyped with Aaron so we got to "meet" online. (Hoping for more of that later).
The culinary theme continuned when Jeff and Kevin shared a little male bonding by getting out the tools, putting the new BBQ together and tossing back a few cocktails. Jeff made us a lovely meal almost every night (NY Steaks, Pork Loin, Beef Burgundy, Mac & Cheese, Lasagna). Kevin made his signature Margaritas and Quesadillas and we had to introduce them to Yumm Bowls. I worked on organizing the kitchen and vowed to start cooking more. (Marcia informed me that flour from 1996 might have bugs in it. And it did - ewww). We girls visited the Lancaster Market in Germantown to check out the fresh pickin's from our nearby Pennsylvania Dutch neighbors down from Amish country. Hard to believe we never went out to dinner once. Jeff left us with a bounty of food in the fridge/freezer and wine in the mail slots that will keep us going for quite some time!
Did I mention that cheese was mightily available? Marcia was also somehow present and involved in all the cooking (hmmm, I suspect she just might be the brains behind us all).
Another theme was electronics. Wow - we are all just so plugged in these days with our laptops and smart phones, aren't we? It seemed we were constantly checking our social networking and looking for car chargers and outlets. Marcia and I both love photography so had fun there too with our digital SLR's and phone cams.
Marcia and I enjoyed sightseeing at the Cherry Blossom Festival (blessed with awesome weather and an early bloom on that day), a drive around to some of the DC sites and a visit to Frederick, MD. The weather was chilly and dull on most days so we took it easy a few days too. We did all of our exploring alone with just the two of us - Jeff suffered terribly from a pinched nerve in his neck so couldn't do much. It was hard to watch him suffering - especially since it was also his birthday (51st) and he'd never been to DC. Kevin also had to start work unexpectedly (gotta love the golf industry in the Spring). So we made the best of it sneaking out when we could. Overall, we had a great time rekindling and introducing the family. It seems we are all quite comfortable together which is good news to Marcia and me because we aren't letting this friendship go again. By the way, I got the biggest hug EVER from Jeff before they left (ok, maybe he was resting on me due to his shoulder pain but I'll take it!)
Love my BFF! More get-together's to come! Next up? Hopefully a cabin stay late this summer in Mexico, NY. Until then, Marcia is next off for her annual "Sister's Trip" and has a vacation planned with Jeff in North Carolina. We have Judy and Ivan coming in late May and Ryan is coming for the summer in mid-June so there's plenty of excitement this year. Yeah us!
Rhonda Tisinger
Friday, April 1
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