The Gap and Rent Laughter

Caroline and I...I heart her.


I just spent under 48 hours visiting Chris and Caroline McGlade in Asheville, North Carolina. I got in my car around noon on Halloween and arrived in the early evening, just in enough time to make it to the Halloween Party I had not anticipated attending. Stops along the way got adjusted and so I arrived at the McGlade house with a flurry of pressure to get a costume together. I came to terms with the fact that I'd arrive unprepared, but ended up pulling off a "Paparazzi" Costume. The party was fun, and I enjoyed meeting some new folks and seeing old Windy Gap favorites.

I spent the morning yesterday taking it easy and running to same favorite spots, and then went out to Windy Gap around 1pm. I was able to catch up with an old summer staff friend, Andrew who did Summer Staff in the Snack Bar the summer of '04 with Tiff Tiff and I. It was great to catch up with him in the store, where he is now working part of his year long internship. The circles we run in with Young Life are not as big as we imagine them to be.

This morning I was treated to a delicious breakfast with Caroline, some shopping, and then got back into the car. I am thankful for the quick visit, and wish it had been longer...BUT now I am HOME. The girls are out of the house right now, so its Gracie and I are just sitting on the couch catching up on "Pushing Daisies" and "Grey's Anatomy" from this past week.

Today in the car I was getting a little bored so I opted to listen to the entire Rent Broadway Original Soundtrack from start to finish. While I was an obsessed fan while in high school and I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I spent blasting the soundtrack, I have not paid much attention to it in years. Today I started off with the beginning, and somewhere in there I was laughing. I knew almost every single word as it played on, and I couldn't believe what memories it brought back of friends that also loved the musical and the times we made the trip from Ridgefield to NYC to view it on the stage. I suppose the greatest thing that came of all of these random thoughts and memories was the fact that I just laughed straight out loud. Laughing for no reason other then myself singing along with great enthusiasm, and laughing just to myself alone in my car at first felt weird, I got a little self conscious. But then...it just got funnier and I was just taken aback by the ability I had to keep myself entertained on my 4 1/2 car ride. It was a great experience.

Laughing. At myself. At the past. At the future. All in the Honda on 81 North today finished off a great trip to North Carolina. And look, now the girls are home and Gracie is whining like its Santa Claus... all in a day.