Ode to a Best Friend

My bestie, Bret, is moving away :( After a decade of living in the college town where we first met and a lifetime in Colorado, she is ready to try something new. On the one hand I am super proud of her and I can totally relate to the feelings she is having about wanting to live somewhere else and spread her proverbial wings and what not. But the evil-selfish Natalie wants to kidnap her and chain her in my basement so she can't go anyway.....what? Sure you're all judgy now, but if it was your friend you'd want to do the same thing. Anyhoo, as of today we have just under a month to soak up all the time we possibly can....can you see the hick-up yet? Yep, Natalie is suffering from self-banishment for the next two weeks until her final exam. So, since I am an anal calculator (ewww that sounded gross and wrong....but funny so I am leaving it there) that gives me exactly 9 days from my test to when we go to Texas for Spring Break (had I known that she would be leaving before we planned the Texas trip I totally would have gone with her instead, ROAD TRIP!). So yeah. 9 days! That is like no time at all. Of course we are planning to get together at least twice before my test and then I decided that I am taking the day after my exam off to stalk her spend the entire day with her.

Do you think it would be too much to schedule a photo studio session for just the two of us? No...I am serious...okay well only half way serious, meaning the thought did come to mind. But what I am really thinking is we should spend the day in said college town where we first met and just relax spending the day together. I am imagining cupcakes and tea (Celestial Seasonings, of course, because we both worked for them in college) and just basking in the gloriousness that is our friendship. Now I know we're going to be fine....mostly because I am making her sign a contract guaranteeing that on or before June 1st 2013 she will be back in Colorado (FYI she is moving to pursue a graduate degree in Occupational Therapy...she wants to become a hippotherapist working with children and people with disabilities or undergoing rehabilitation by putting them on horses or some bleeding heart helpful thing like that....what a girl scout...I guess I should cut through the angry sarcasm to note that we both volunteer at a barn here in Colorado that does just this....what freakin' girl scouts we are). Anyway she PROMISED me that she would come back to Colorado after she received said degree  of course evil mean Natalie wants her back way sooner than that ...But I have decided to be the uber-supportive and encouraging friend that I know I can be when I put my own selfishness aside and I am giving her a big ole push out of the Colorado nest! Plus, I know that it will only be a couple of months until I will be able to come visit her and there is already talk of a trip to Mexico in search of a rare and special elixar... I can't remember what it is we're in search of, I am thinking it is a tequila of some kind...anyway who really needs a reason to go lounge on a beach in Mexico? Not me!. We've spent WAY longer apart and this will be no different. Actually it should be better because we will actually have the means to see each other more and I have a whole list of places to visit in and around where she will be moving. So chin up buttercup!

I LOVE you Bret and I am so proud of you for taking this leap out into the world! I know you will be a huge success at all your future endeavors....but I hope your most successful endeavor will be moving back to Colorado in 2013. Go Girl!