27. “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”

27

"GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN"

CYNDI LAUPER

W ithin twenty minutes, Kari and I were floating around in the pool, our spill-proof cups full of pi?a colada tucked safely into the hole in our rafts. I closed my eyes and let the sun warm my body after the shock of jumping into the cold water.

"So… tell me all about this writer's retreat," I heard Kari say from her floatie nearby.

I took a sip of my pi?a colada and returned it to the cupholder. "As you know, I have five women here who are pushing hard for this."

"Are you pushing as hard as them?" I knew I could depend on her to ask the questions I was afraid to ask myself.

"I am now. I wasn't so much in the beginning because it seemed like a lot of work, but these women are so motivated to make this happen that they've put together to-do lists for each of us. And they have someone lined up to help with marketing."

"Tell me what you are envisioning," prompted Kari as her raft caught a jet and spun toward where I was floating in the center of the pool.

"I'm thinking the women that sign up will arrive on Thursday night. We would have a quick meet and greet, basically a social hour with some snacks, and everything would kick off the next morning after everyone is settled in. We would get up, and there would be a light breakfast for whoever wants it. There's another member of the unofficial planning committee who's offered to provide breakfast pastries."

"Oh, that's always a good idea. Is she offering free samples?"

I laughed. "I can find out. You'll be meeting them while you're here."

"I'm looking forward to that. I've heard so much about them." She fell silent for a moment, and when I looked over, she was sipping her pi?a colada with a thoughtful look on her face. She paddled one-handed over to the poolside, refreshed the sunscreen on her face, pulled her floppy brimmed hat down to shade her eyes, and then threw the sunscreen at me.

"I feel like I have a permanent coating of sunscreen on my face." I laughed, "but I can always use more."

"It can't hurt. Anyway, I'll admit it, I was a little jealous hearing about all the new people you're meeting, but I'm really glad you have some women to support you here and keep you company now that I can't." Her voice broke on the last word, and she cleared her throat.

How many times had Kari been the one to pull me from the depths of my despair? As it was, she had been calling or stopping by every night since Anna left for college. My mind drifted back to the summer between eighth grade and Freshman year of high school when my Dad's mom had passed very suddenly. I'd never lost anyone important to me, and my grandma and I had been very close. At that point, my parents didn't understand me (or so I thought) the way she did, and I ran to her with everything that was even remotely distressing. Somehow Kari knew exactly what to say to soothe my broken heart; no doubt her long history of forced goodbyes came in handy at that moment. She stayed with me for a week straight, forced me into the shower, washed my sheets, and made countless grilled cheese (her specialty) for the four of us. She unwittingly helped us all by caring for me so my mom could care for my dad's tender, broken heart.

Back in the pool, I felt her anguish and wished I could hug her. "I miss you terribly, Kari. I really do." I paused to give her a moment to collect herself. "I've been blessed to meet these women when I did. They've been great. I don't know that I would have the energy to get this idea off the ground without them."

"I highly doubt that."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but let's be real here. Tiny details aren't my specialty."

I heard Kari snort at this, probably remembering one of the many times I'd shown up at her door with a look of panic and a pile of papers that needed to be filled out. "I am thinking about having some kind of writing workshop scheduled after breakfast. When I see Caleb on Wednesday, I'm going to ask him if he'd be interested in teaching a few of those. He's been so great in helping me find my way through my writing process, and I really want to provide some kind of service to the attendees other than ‘here's a desk. Good luck'."

I heard a splash and opened my eyes to the sight of Kari making her way toward me with her cup held aloft. "Hold that thought. I'm going in to top us off and run to the bathroom. Can I get you anything else?"

One look at my wilting retriever answered that question. "Looks like Roxy is done hunting lizards. Can you let her in and make sure she's got some water in her bowl?"

"Done. Let's go, Rox. Naptime for you."

A few minutes later, I heard the beep signaling the opening of the back door, the swish of water nearby, and moments later, my cup was in my hand, heavier than it had been when it left.

Kari spent a full minute thrashing around, trying to get back on the floatie before she finally threw herself across it like a killer whale delivering the final blow to its lunch. She wriggled her way around and found herself with her feet where her head should be while the section under her upper body threatened to deposit her back from whence she came. "Does this thing come with an instruction manual? What am I doing wrong here?"

I was laughing so hard I was unable to give any kind of verbal instruction, so I settled in for the show. After a few more failed attempts at turning herself around, she finally managed to get her head pointed in the right direction and lifted her cup in the air in victory. "Thank God for spill-proof cups." She took a hard-won sip of her pi?a colada and settled back on the attached pillow (the one that should have signaled which side was for her head in the first place). "Phew! Ok, where were we?"

"I thought you were supposed to be graceful, yogi," I teased. "Next time, give me a little warning beforehand so I can record that process for future entertainment."

"In hindsight, that might have been easier with two hands. I would pay good money to see what you looked like getting onto this thing for the first time after a few cocktails! You can barely walk a straight line stone cold sober. "

"I resemble that remark," I quipped while wiping tears from the corners of my eyes. "And I wasn't about to give out any pro tips that would have ruined my chances of witnessing that impressive display of agility." A snicker bubbled up from the bottom of my belly once again, and before I knew it, I was back to a fit of laughter that threatened instant karma if I didn't get myself under control. When I started to wind down and could open my eyes again, I saw I wasn't alone in my amusement. Kari was silently wheezing with laughter and gripping the sides of her floatie with both hands in an attempt to avoid capsizing again.

"Whoo! Oh my gosh! Ahhhh… I needed that! Deep breaths, Pa ige." I breathed slowly in through my nose to regain control. "Ok. Ok. We were discussing having Caleb—or someone like Caleb—come in and teach some writing sessions."

"Oh, yes, yes. Geez, that conversation seems like ages ago. I think it's a great idea," said Kari, her own laughter finally winding down. "Maybe you can have sessions that change over time so he's not saying the same thing month after month. Every session could have a different theme, like editing, idea development, or plotting. That kind of thing. They would know what the session topic will be before they sign up."

I washed down this inspiration with pi?a colada. "Oooohhh, I like where this is headed. Keep going."

"Maybe over time, if he shares his presentations, you can have those printed out in a binder in each room, or you can put them on your website for people to see what the past presentations were about." She paused and tipped her cup most of the way back. "You could put a newsletter pop-up over them so they'd have to sign up for access. Something like that."

"We should have some paper. We're never going to remember any of this after a few more of these," I said, holding up my pi?a colada before taking a giant swig. "Down the hatch."

"Someone needs to invent waterproof notebooks." Kari mused, then tipped her cup back again, further this time. "So what else are you planning?"

"After the Friday morning session, I think there'll be time for discussion and brainstorming, and then everyone will find a quiet place to work on their books. Then, we all come together at the end of that time to talk about what we'd accomplished and ask the group questions. Maybe get some feedback or get an idea on something happening in their book, or you know… that kind of stuff. Then everyone goes their separate ways for dinner."

Our rafts had floated close enough together that I was able to throw my right foot over Kari's so we would remain facing each other. I was getting whiplash, trying to look at her while we talked. She drained her pi?a colada, slid the lid closed, and tossed the cup into the pool. "What about Saturday?"

"That's where it gets fuzzier than my legs before Memorial Day. I'm trying to come up with an activity for the morning, then the rest of the day would be identical to Friday. Sunday would mostly be socializing, wrapping things up, and packing, then they'll all head out around eleven."

"Listening to this makes me want to write a book! I think we need to eat something," said Kari, her topic quickly signaling the end of our float.

"Let's head in and start thinking about dinner. And Roxy is probably green with envy by now."

Kari, realizing that meant she was going to have to figure out how to move from the floatie to the pool in her current condition, leaned so far to the left to peer into the depths of the pool (possibly to devise some kind of rum-inspired game plan), and dumped herself right over. She found her footing a moment later and popped up from the four-foot depth, threw her arms up in a "V" for victory, and yelled, "Ta-da!"

"Bravo! Bravo! Encore!" I shouted as I clapped with gusto. That earned me a dose of instant Karma and over I went. When I popped up, Kari was ascending the steps to the pool deck, so I retrieved her discarded cup and splashed over to where mine floated next to my capsized raft. "When did I become the responsible one?"

"The moment I stepped off that plane. I'm on vacation, baby. Now, feed me or I'm leaving a nasty Yelp review! ‘Hostess got me drunk, pushed me in the pool, then refused to feed me. Zero out of ten. Do not recommend.'"

"Watch it, you." I laughed as I made it to my lounge chair, where a fluffy, yellow towel awaited me. Kari had wrapped herself in the light blue and white striped one I'd purchased for her as soon as she'd announced she was coming for a visit. Seeing her in it soaking wet, dripping everywhere, made me smile. It was exactly what I'd pictured when I'd added it to my Amazon cart. "Let's go, Princess. Time for you to cook me dinner."

Kari threw one arm up and punched the air above her head. "Pizza it is!"

She was asleep on the couch in the sunroom before I'd even finished placing our order.

When Sleeping Beauty awoke, we sat at the island in the kitchen and enjoyed the cold spinach and mushroom pizza that had always been our standby. Avoiding any topics related to her house, the twins, or rum, she turned our attention back to the reigning topic du jour. Me. That is, until the topic of my new story came up again. "I was thinking about your story, and I can really identify with the wife," she reflected. "Sometimes, it seems like there must be more that was meant for my life besides teaching a few yoga classes every week. Actually, wait right there."

Kari spun her stool and strode from the kitchen with purpose. I heard her run up the stairs, and a moment later, she was back with a book in her hand.

Oh no. The gratitude journal.

"You must have accidentally left this behind. I found it in your junk drawer."

"I just?—"

She held up her hand in the universal ‘stop' gesture. "Save it. But I do think you'd get a lot out of this." She set it on the counter in front of me. "Please just try it."

"Ok, ok. I will. Thanks for bringing it. Now, back to what you were saying. I'm shook! You love teaching yoga. "

"I do, but I'm teaching yoga at someone else's studio. I, too, have been wondering about what's next for me. I just don't go to such dramatic lengths to find it."

"Don't knock it 'til you try it!" I said, throwing another slice of pizza on each of our plates. An end for me, a middle for her.

"Believe me, my sarcasm is a failing attempt to mask my envy. I've been in the same place for so long, I'm surprised I don't have roots growing from between my toes. Staying in your house for the last few months has been challenging, but at the same time, has shown me I can actually survive in a house other than mine. And you being so far away gave me the motivation I needed to get on a plane and travel further than a city in my home state, for longer than a weekend. Anyway, I'm living vicariously through your new adventures right now, but what keeps popping into my mind is a vision of me leading a class full of sweaty baby crows in my own studio."

"Oh my gosh, Kari. You absolutely should! But can we back up for a moment here?" I mimicked the beep of a garbage truck reversing for dramatic effect. "Would you ever consider moving away from Madison? You've been there most of your life at this point."

"I don't know. With the boys gone now and Nick able to work from anywhere with an airport nearby, I guess we're not really stuck there anymore. It's more a matter of wrapping my mind around uprooting my life and moving somewhere else."

"Let me remind you," I said, "you don't have to shovel sunshine!"

I finally got a laugh out of Kari. "No, you certainly don't. But you do have to keep up with the sunscreen and pi?a coladas! Oh, God." I could see her stomach roiling at the mention of what we'd substituted for lunch. "It might be early bedtime tonight."

We ate one more piece each and Kari was ready to sleep through the hangover I could see was approaching like a steam train through a tunnel. The kind you could feel shaking the ground under your feet, but couldn't quite see yet. I sent her off to bed with a giant squeezing hug, put the leftover pizza in the fridge, and wrote out the names of the nearby yoga studios on the notepad on the counter.

Chances were my early bird best friend would be down before dawn and out the door shortly after. In that way, we couldn't be more different. I preferred to keep company with the dark, quiet solitude of night and wake up after the birds.