Rico's Roommates - 1997
Sharon, Tam, Me, Meg, and Annie
Last week I was able to enjoy probably one of the funnest weekends I have had in a REALLY long time. The past few months have been nothing short of stressful, overwhelming, exhausting, depressing, and down right difficult sometimes. I think last weekend made up for it.
My dear SharBear- one of my freshman roommates whom I have stayed close contact with decided to go through the temple on February 7th. About two weeks out, she emailed friends and family and invited them to go- I doubt expecting many to actually travel for this special event. To her and (my delight), all of us frosh roommates were amazingly able to swing this last minute trip. This. Trip. Was. Awesome.
My blessed husband volunteered to let me leave and fly down to LA despite our current financial woes and sick babies. With the help of my parents, I was able to fly down for less than 24 hours, literally. I met Tam at the Oakland airport and we flew down to Burbank Sat morning. We arrived about 25 minutes before Annie and Meg were to arrive. It was our duty to pick up the rental car. Funny thing. As soon as we got on the street to look for the rental companies, we both realized neither of us knew which company Meg had rented from. :) We proceeded to call Dan, Meg's husband, who hadn't a clue. We tried to have Kevin look up on an email Meg sent. That didn't work. So, in the end, we just went to a counter and rented a car. Picked it up and pulled up to the curb just after Annie and Meg landed. Quick hugs and then off we go to make the 1:30 session. We had a little over an hour to make it to the temple in time to change, etc. We made it....barely. As everyone else was too afraid to drive in LA, I was elected for the job. Tam had printed out directions directly to the temple, but Annie brought "Maggie"- our slow talking, too late giving GPS system. Between our two sources of directions, we made wrong turns, exits, and turn offs almost every 5-10 minutes. What should have been a 45 minute drive turned into about 65. But I have to admit, it was a fun drive. Just like old times.
The LA temple is MASSIVE. As we checked in, the greeter informed us the LA temple is the largest in the world. I believe it. It literally is in the middle of Babylon and looks over the city. It was a beautiful clear and cold day and a perfect day to go to the temple. It was a sweet feeling as we entered and the session was very peaceful-just what I needed. Sharon was an angel.
After the session, we proceeded to take a lot of pictures. We really are dorks and none of us has grown up these last ten years. It is amazing how quickly old friends pick up right where we left off. Famished, we headed off to Sharon's for a Soiree at her bungalow.
To spare the boring details, we all spent the next 8 hours trying on Sharon's clothes (wink wink), sitting on the floor gabbing, and eating, and eating. Terribly fun. By the time the party died down, Sharon had to run her sister to the airport for an emergency flight home. Sharon's niece had to go the the ER and her sister needed to get there. Sharon took Linda to the airport and the rest of us hung out and then later ventured out w/ Maggie to find an In' n Out.
Now, for those who remember what it is like to be pregnant, you will understand my state of mind and being. I rarely stay up past 9pm. I am eating every 2 hours (or there abouts) so I don't get sick. By midnight, I was a zombie and starving and in desperate need of food and pain killers. As soon as we walked in to In N Out, I almost threw up. The grease smell was almost too much. But, in the end, I knew if I didn't eat, I would be worse. So, I ate 2 Burgers!! I knew I was hungry, b/c I have never had 2 before. My poor Buddha! Thankfully, Linda was able to get on a flight and Sharon later joined us. Now we could really start catching up and playing.
By the time we got home it was about 1am. We all got comfy as Sharon started to catch us up on all the dirt in her life. Two hours later.... Meg and Annie were asleep on the couch, I was partially awake on the chair and, Tam, like a champ, was up the whole time. Ahhhh... the good ol days. I stayed up another hour w/ Sharon (got my second wind), and then crashed to realize I was supposed to get up in an hour to take Meg and Annie to the airport at 5am. Thankfully, Sharon got up and took them, as Tam and I didn't have to leave for another 3 hours.
All in all, it was a FABULOUS trip. I miss my roommates so much and am so grateful we are still friends and that we can still be dorks together. I can't wait until our next reunion!!
okay, this was suppose to be the "silly" one... why am I the only one making a face?
Gotta love auto timer!
Why are my legs the whitest?
Way too photogenic this time of night
I think the evening showed on us a little more than T&A
Sorry Annie, but this was too much- Modeling Sharon's HS Prom dress
I seem to remember a photo like this outside one of our apartments...
Just like old times
Respite amidst Babylon
Yeah... we are finally here!!
Listen, Maggie will get us there!
Someone had left about $200 of Costco and Trader Joe's groceries on our porch. It is like they knew exactly what we needed (including a 50lb bag of rice... I wonder how many years we be eating that!). It was around 8pm and there was a knock at the door. I thought a grandparent was coming to wish Chloe a happy birthday. I was totally stunned when I saw all the food on our porch. It is no real secret we are down to a partial income, but I never thought anyone would do this for us. We are not quite in dire straits, rather starving students, but I was so touched. I have to admit, I got a little emotional that someone was thinking of us. What a blessing to be surrounded by such wonderful giving people is such difficult times for so many families. I only hope that we can do the same for someone else in the future. So, to our secret Pixie, Thank you. This meant a lot to us.
Twirling in her new TuTu 
