Chip and Dale Designs

                          My bags are packed and I’m ready to go-

 Well I am off on an adventure.  I am off to see my oldest and dearest friend. Yep- she is pretty old. We grew up across the street from one another in our tiny little town. I cannot remember a time when I did not hang out with her. We ran in different circles in high school. She was very funny and social so she hung out with the jock crowd while I was a band geek and hung out with fellow band people. But we drove to school together every day and still managed to get ourselves into quite a few messes.

Here we are in Brownies. I am at the top in the really cool glasses, and Penelope is in the fashionable aluminum hat.

 

One such adventure relates to a party out in the middle of the nowhere. One of the guys was being a jerk to Penelope. When my car got stuck in the snow later trying to leave the kegger kool aid party some of the guys, jerk included, tried to push us out. I yelled out the window to keep his fricking ( I did not use fricking- I was in high school and had a potty mouth) hands off my car, and then thought- what the hell did I just do? Luckily, my car worked it’s way out of the snow and off we went, without the help of said jerk.

My father used to like to go on Sunday drives. Most times we ended up in Amish country as it was so beautiful. Bless his heart, he even tried to get me a prom date with an Amish kid once-it didn’t work out. Anyway. Sometimes Penelope would go along. This was only in the summer when she could roll the windows down as the chain smoking that was being carried out in the front seat suffocated her.  On one memorable trip, I had my arms out the window. I used to like to grab leaves off of the bushes and trees along the road. Give me a break, everyone. We grew up in a VERY small town-we had to get creative to have fun. Anyway, right after my mother bitched at me to put my hands in the car I grabbed a damn sticker bush. Penelope still laughs about that to this day. I am sure the story will come up again as her sisters and mother will be there for this visit as well.

Penelope had a pool-a pretty large concrete one that sometimes would have water in it during the winter which would of course turn into ice. Then we would put on our very own Donny and Marie ice shows. Thank God there were no videos made of those shows! I could never skate backwards anyway.

Then there was the time we found some kind of cream in the band hall and spread it all over us because we didn’t have any sun tan lotion. (Remember this was before we knew about SPF or cared). Anyway, we ended up FRYING! I think I used 2 gallons of Noxema  that week trying to get rid of the burn.  I had a small spot removed from my arm last year- I bet it had to do with that incident LOL.

One day, after riding our bikes in the 1,000% humidity we decided to rest and sat down by our neighbors’ fence. All of a sudden a swarm of killer bees started coming out the damn poles! (ok, maybe they weren’t killer bees but they were sure scary)They were everywhere, but for some reason they liked her a lot more than they liked me. I am not sweet enough, evidently. We ran/biked home, screaming the whole way. Oh the good times-

We both ended up moving out of state. She has lived in quite a few different states and I came to Colorado. I have managed to see her several times, but not near enough. When we get together it is as if time never stopped. We talk non-stop- just ask our husbands- and we still laugh at the same stupid stuff.

I will find a card that makes me think of her, and pop it in the mail. That very night I will get a long e mail from her. And it has happened more than once. Very weird.

Penelope is a very gifted artist. She paints peoples’ houses using the trompe l’oeil technique. Of course the bitch hasn’t painted my house yet but oh well.  She painted this picture on canvas and then  I quilted it. Our idea was to combine our passions and sell this shit but we don’t have the time right now. I was supposed to send this back to her but once I framed it I just couldn’t.  It now hangs in a very special place where I can see it and think about her every day.

 

Anyway, I am so very lucky to still have Penelope as my friend. Her oldest daughter is having her bridal shower this weekend- hence the trip. I got to hold the Megster when she was just a month old- she was the very first baby I ever held so she holds a very special place in my heart.

Here is to very special friendships- and hoping every one of you has at least one this special.

 

Love,

Courtenay