One of the best things about being a woman is having female friends. Whether one's marriage is great, good, bad, or nonexistent, female friends, if they are good ones, are comforting, entertaining, supportive, and absolutely necessary. Men have friends, but usually not the kinds of friends that women have. And perhaps the saddest thing in the world is to be a woman with no women friends. I don't mean acquaintances, either; I mean real friends with whom you can share everything, knowing your secrets are safe, knowing that they love you unconditionally. There's no jealousy, no idle gossip, no back-biting. These are the people you could call in the middle of the night, the ones who would hold your hair back if you were throwing up, who would drive to your house to take care of you if you were alone and needed care.
I have such a group of friends; we call ourselves The Wimmin, and each of us has a special wimmin's name.
There are six wimmin: Lucy, Ethel, Dagmar, Audrey, Demonia, and Maxine. .Five of us--sans Maxine--took a girls' overnight to Tyson's Corner, Virginia, this past Saturday. We secured excellent and economical lodging thanks to Demonia's daughter, who works for the hotel chain and got us the friends and family rate. Before we checked in, we went to the Silver Diner for lunch. It was, as always, excellent, except that Audrey, with so little flesh on her bones, was cold. Next we drove to the hotel and checked into three rooms. Audrey's main goal was to bask in and around the pool. The rest of us wanted to do some shopping. We started by driving a mile or two to the Container Store, home of all things for organizing, storing, or otherwise holding everything. We were there a long time and we bought lots of stuff--a case of clear shoe boxes, folders for school papers, colored clothespins, a folding drying rack. From there we went to the TC Center, a very large mall with lots of great stores. We introduced Dagmar to Levenger's, home of the Circa organizing system, fine leather accessories and high-end pens. She got a free gift. Then we went to Sephora and bought girlie stuff--lotions and lipsticks and combs--oh, my! We stopped in several department stores, clothing stores, and assorted other places looking for a purse for Demonia to carry when she attends a wedding in a couple of weeks. No luck there--our choices were either the wrong size, the wrong color, or, worst of all, the wrong price. Who woulda thunk it? $350 for an envelope clutch? Yow!!
When we were all in, we called Audrey--who had stayed in the pool for three hours--and told her we were coming to get her so we could all go to dinner. She had asked if we could have Thai food for dinner, so we found a place in the mall that was well-reviewed, and it lived up to those reviews. I don't remember its name, but I think it is the only Thai restaurant in the Tyson's Corner Center. The food was quite good, very flavorful. We saved dessert for the room, however.
Before we left the center to get Cynthia, we had stopped at the Godiva store and bought a box of 16 assorted truffles. Our plan was to get into our jammies, meet in one room, and watch a movie, so that's what we did. The selection on the pay-per-view wasn't great, but we decided on the latest version of Jane Eyre. It was rather dark and gloomy, in the way that it always is, but it was a pretty good version of the book. We ate truffles, opened a bottle of champagne, and lounged. Around 11, we all scattered to our rooms and went to bed. Demonia, who had a room to herself, had a wonderful night's sleep. Lucy and Dagmar played tag-team snoring, until Lucy went into A-fib and had to get up to take medicine. After almost two hours and two doses of meds, she finally converted .Over in Ethel and Audrey's room, however, bad things were happening. Ethel had been feeling stuffy and bloated earlier in the evening, but sometime in the night she woke up with nausea and unpleasantness in the bowel area. She and Audrey didn't get much sleep. In the morning, Audrey got her some ginger ale and left her alone, as was her wish. The other four of us went back to the Silver Diner for breakfast--most excellent once again--and then back to the mall for some last minute shopping. We knew Ethel needed her sleep or needed to be left alone close to a bathroom, so we felt we were doing her a favor.
We went into a few more places, including both Barnes and Noble and a henna tattoo kiosk, and then headed back to the hotel to pack and check out.
Luckily for her, Ethel was feeling better, but Audrey drove so she could relax. Demonia was going in a different direction, so we said our good-byes and headed off.
I'll be back tomorrow with the adventures that didn't start until we tried to leave Virginia; suffice it to say it involves Sunday elections and Peruvians by the thousands, not to mention an entirely unintended drive through our nation's capital.
Good night.
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