Adventure Time

I'm flying to Lubbock Friday morning. It's probably been nearly ten years since I have last flown anywhere. My husband has been with me on every flight I have ever taken. I'm flying out of Houston, so I know it is a relatively simple process (though we will be landing in Dallas, I believe). But still, I am a tiny bit worried about getting to the right place at the right time.

I have never spent the night outside in a tent. Well, I don't know, I might have stayed out in someone's back yard in a tent when I was a kid. But my point is, I've never been on a real live "all night in a tent in the middle of nowhere eat what you bring to cook sleep on sleeping bag/air mattress" camping trip. I know. I've lived a shelter life!

When I land in Lubbock, a woman I have never met will come pick me up and take me to the camping place (unless she is actually an axe murderer, in which case...)

Any tiny bits of discomfort and anxiety I am feeling as so very well worth it, because I am about to fulfill a dream of many years--an item on my unofficial bucket list that I keep in my head (mostly). I am about to meet several of my blogging/writing friends whom I've known only through the internet! I will be seeing Spooky Rach again, after having met her several years back in a cemetery in Galveston. There will be a few friends whom I've also wanted to meet in person who will not be able to make this trip, but we are already talking about another trip next year. Whoo-hoo!

It's sometimes hard to explain to others who do not tool around the internets much (some of whom tend to see the whole process as a bit scary), but I consider my small group of blogging/writing buddies to be one of my tribes. I've felt supported and encouraged by many of them through the years and I hope they feel the same about me. They have enriched my life by allowing me to see women and lives that are in many ways different from mine, and yet there is also the common thread of something-or-other that caused us to connect in the first place.

So, many firsts for me this weekend and I'm looking forward to every single one of them.

(Oh, we're going to a very lovely State Park with scenery that is totally different than anything I'm well acquainted with--and no humidity, how will I survive? I will let you know! There will be pictures to follow!)

More to come. . .

Oh! And in addition to this little adventure, we had a program through the wellness program where they offered classes on learning to swim or improve your swimming. I said if they ever offered it where you could go after work, I would sign up. Me and my big mouth! They offered it right after work and I signed up! I can swim a little bit. I do really well when I know I can stop and my feet will touch the ground! :) But I do want to learn to swim better and possibly utilize my newly improved swimming skills for exercise purposes!