Totally Unfair!

Rachel, Carol, Carrie, myself, and Becky

A certain SOMEBODY who also attended our first Internet retreat at Julie's home in Ohio e-mailed this "blast from the past" right after the Topsail retreat.

With the exception of having met Julie previously, this retreat was my first time to actually MEET all these women I knew so well online. With Nikki's help, I dragged an 18-month-old B across the country as he was still nursing five times a day. In Columbus, we met up with Becky at the airport, rented a car, and drove from the capital of Ohio nearly to Cinci where we met up with other women whom we knew at a heart-level, mind-level, and soul-level, but had never seen "in real life."

When we all were assembled in Julie's cheery kitchen, humuus in hand, there was this strange silence, as if we were disconcerted by finally meeting these women in the realm of physicality rather than in the typed word and expressive emoticon.

Well, there wasn't an ax-murderer in the bunch, and we spent the weekend joyfully "hoofing it" in Julie's backyard as Becky taught us Victorian dances, talking, reading poetry together, sketching, talking, watching Les Mis and U2 videos, talking, drinking wine, consuming chocolate, talking, and staying up most of the nights ... talking.

So thanks to Karen, for sending us this "blast from the past" and noting that our eyeware has definitely changed for the better over the past six years....