arriving at the house and claiming our rooms (we could each have our own room!), and everyone forcing me to have one of the rooms downstairs because something about how the last time we were in Orlando and I fell down the stairs and nearly broke a toe? see also: multiple broken ankles.
sharing a deviled egg sandwich and an inside-out quesadilla with Bri during Friday night dinner.
spending about 20 minutes at dinner scrolling through our various medical apps to compare bloodwork results because we’re all midlife ladies.
singing our hearts out to Avril Lavigne on our way to ice cream after dinner. not a single one of us was in tune, but we had a lot of enthusiasm.
amber, when someone asked if we weren’t going to get dessert at the restaurant, “But I really want Twistee Treat!” (she got her Twistee Treat, don’t you worry)
a nighttime dip in the pool where we floated and chatted and laughed while listening to music
coming in from the pool, putting on my pj’s, and going upstairs to the comfy couch to read my book – two friends joined me before the rest of the crew arrived, wherin we opted for chit-chatting over reading
waking up to fresh bagels thanks to Bri (who else?), and enjoying a delicious asiago everything bagel and iced coffee
playing my NYT games next to Lynn, who is one-fourth of our book club Wordle/Connections group chat, so it was fun to play with her in real time!
amber making the executive decision that we would drive over to the clubhouse pool rather than walking (a fantastic decision, especially when we were done at the pool because it was HOT).
a morning spent at the clubhouse pool with some of the book club crew (our other two friends have young children and opted to starfish in their beds for as long as possible, enjoying the uninterrupted sleep and quiet house) – we were mostly there for the lazy river, which was exceptional, especially in the morning before any children were at the pool.
a mango swirl by the pool (mango swirl = mango daiquiri + pina colada) while reading my book
eating so. much. watermelon. after coming back from the clubhouse pool
being the MOST book club by floating in the pool at our place while reading our books – this was the peak experience for me this weekend
all of us having our own introvert time (yes, even the extroverts!) in the late afternoon, everyone going to their separate rooms to read, nap, play on their phones, etc. (I took a wonderful nap myself.)
a lovely conversation with the whole group about motherhood and guilt and anxiety and therapy.
a catered dinner to celebrate 16 years of book club! (October will be my 14th year!) we reminisced about book club memories during dinner, including how we all found the book club. (most of us found the book club on meet-up when it was called the “young women’s book club” and for women 21-35. all but one member has no effectively aged out of the original book club! eeps.)
playing a few games that made us hysterical before retiring to the couches to chit-chat. (I was soooo tired at this point, so I don’t think I did much more than listen.)
leaving a wonderful weekend away with a full heart and more core memories made with these beautiful souls.
***
I had no idea that I would find the people who would be my ride-or-dies throughout my 20s and 30s by joining this book club, but I took a leap of faith when I was scared out of my mind, and it worked out. Not every leap of faith works out, but this one did more than anything else in my life. This is more than a book club. We’ve been with each other through weddings and divorces and babies and cancer and losing homes from hurricanes and pets dying and new jobs and new relationships and so many books. One of our members moved away for a decade, and when she came back, she slotted right in as if she’d never left. We call ourselves a book club, but what we really are is family.
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