Lemonade Out of Lemons

"Hun, do you think you could take the car in for a service on Thursday? We can take care of that recall issue, too."

Hell no! Not having to deal with car stuff is one of the perks of marriage. Crap! I have nothing better to do, and he has to work, and I need the car to be in good shape for my travels in the next few weeks. "Okay. Call and make an appointment."

This appointment was slated for mid-morning, and the service was suppose to take "half a day." I asked my sweetie exactly what that meant, and he said he wasn't sure, but that's what the service tech told him. Great. Half a day.

I psyched myself into a long wait and picked an interesting book to delve into, but this morning, I woke up thinking, "Don't I have any friends who could come rescue me from a day of misery?" Oh course! In fact, my walking/bird watching/photography friend lives less than a mile from the dealership, so I called her to see if she was free for a few hours.

In fact, she was free for a few hours before she had an appointment of her own. We set out for the mall, which is not my favorite place, and is a completely foreign place to her. I had a little errand to run, and then we stopped for iced chai tea.

And then we just sat and chatted.

During the summer, I have recluse tendencies. It's hot outside, and if I leave the house, I just spend money, so why not stay inside where it's cool and save my pennies? Unfortunately, I forget how much I enjoy visiting with my friends. I forget how much I appreciate the connection. Sure, in the evenings, I have my family to connect to, but it's different. None of them are conversationalists, except for my 9-year old and he has the bad habit of just talking to hear himself talk, so half of what he says makes no sense. (Maybe it would if I were a young boy?)

Apparently, I'm not the only one who becomes reclusive in the summer, so the visit was particularly welcome when my friend and I both realized that as nice as it is to escape from work and the world, it's nice to come out and play sometimes, too.

I know myself well enough to know that I probably will continue to hide out in my home this summer, not wanting to be bothered with socializing with people outside my family, but perhaps I should seize the moments when I do have to go out to reconnect with my friends. It makes those errands of drudgery tolerable, and it will probably keep me from becoming too socially inept.