15 years ago i started a movement. among some friends. we started going away for a girls’ only retreat to scrapbook, laugh, and get away from the everydayness of mommyville.
my friend, jennifer, once told her husband it was a RETREAT- not in the Christian women’s time away for Biblical reflection and edification sense, but in the military sense of we were RUNNING away waving white flags and screaming RETREAT at the top of our lungs so that we wouldn’t die kind of sense. yeah, she nailed it with that description.
and we go RETREAT every february. the first weekend. right after the dust has settled on Christmas and new years. the kids are back in school. there aren’t any real holidays anymore. it is dark and cold. and we need some warmth and perspective or we will never make it to spring break.
a lot of these women are teachers that i used to teach with. and then there is my HOME TEAM that goes also (dina, deaver, and karen). and some various and sundry other characters just to keep it all real and fun.
we used to go to my mother-in-law’s beach house in garden city, sc. but that was far for the nashville girls. we tried some other places that were okay. but now we have got the PERFECT PLACE. and this was our third yerar there. we go to a 4h camp in eatonton , GA. rock eagle. and stay in the founder’s lodge. it is perfect. lots of room to scrapbook. right in the middle of where we all live (only a 5 hour drive for dina and deaver. 4 for me. about an hour for everyone else.) someone cooks and serves all three meals to us everyday. we never have to take off our pajamas (if we don’t want to. and some of us don’t want to). someone makes my hot tea in the morning and hands it to me. let’s have a moment of silence for how wonderful that is...
the whole weekend (which begins on a wednesday, so it is a bit more than a weekend) is just heavenly. we sleep. we eat. we scrapbook. we eat again. we sleep someone. sometimes we never even set foot outside the entire time. my car thinks i have died since i park it and no one drives it for FOUR FULL DAYS.
it is where i recharge. relax. RETREAT.
and make a heck of a lot of scrapbook pages.
and even more memories.
it is fun to have been with these gals through potty training. pregnancies. entering school. and now the teenage years. our stories keep flowing. sometimes we have to tell the old stories over and over again. we have all stepped on each other’s toes enough to just keep dancing because it is all a part of the process. it is comfortable. and reassuring. to have such long term accepting friends is a lifeline.
it is like someone handing you a cup of hot tea. with just enough cream in it. and then handing you another one when that one is gone. rare and beautiful. warm and caffeinating. it is real and RETREATing. and worth repeating every year...
