Roots.

The weeks leading up to my semi-annual trips to MN are productive to say the least. I begin packing a week before departure and a week or more before that I begin making a list of items to pack. I send emails and work my little nubs sending texts and making phone calls. I make plans for BBQs, family time, friend time, quick coffee chats, dinners, lunches, brunches, breakfasts and pop-bys. My mind weighs heavy with the calendar of information and slotting allocation, but also with a large dumbbell of expectation. This is not to say that I am popular but rather, I am a freak of nature. There is an endless and impossible list of things I always want to do and people I want to see. With all of the anticipation and build-up, I am usually overcome with a mix of emotions. But, I am never disappointed upon arrival and this trip was no different. Anxiety, guilt, stress, and contemplation turns to love, joy, appreciation, laughter, happiness, delight and well…I guess a hefty second dose of contemplation. But in a good way. A nostalgic gratitude for my friendships and for my family.

MN showed up, the punctual gal that she is, in classic form. Humid and Sticky. Sunny. Wet with lakes. Gritty with sand. Funny. Sweet. Sentimental. Honest. A heartbeat of constant movement, but also stolen peace in the sharing of stories and life banter in small meetings with darling loved ones. Marked by a perfectly placed period at the end of the MN sentence, I spent my final evening with sparkling conversation over dinner with Grandma P. And when I shut my eyes to sleep knowing morning would abruptly put my on a plane to NYC en route to girls’ weekend, I felt light as a falling feather and fuzzy with cherished memories.

I was able to see my most special friend of twenty-two years in her wedding dress. She looked amazing and she will be even more amazing on their special day = New Years Eve. ● My brother and his wife invited me to play on their sand volleyball league which granted me the first time back to the sport since I broke my ankle playing two years ago. It was an intense and well-matched game and I found myself competitive and totally enraged when things didn’t go our way. Just the way I like to play sports J. ● I was thrice lucky enough to float around smiling with my parents on their boat. And when my Poppy finally flopped down into a chair after an afternoon cruise on my last day, his words, “There really is something truly relaxing about being on water.” I thought to myself: Indeed. Amen. ● My mama and I had a girls’ night out in a townie bar complete with fresh Miller Light on tap. She is awesome. ● Poppy and I had a daddy/daughter breakfast. We solved the worlds’ problems. ● I was able to see a good friends’ new-ish house and her new-to-me baby! ● Tyson and I finally saw my brother’s new house and gained insider info on his new-ish girl crush. ● We threw a BBQ in which every attendee subsequently became sick! Including us. Many, many trips to the bathroom and two days of abstaining from eating left me down, but not out. And now a curious media flurry around a MN Salmonella outbreak! Sheesh. ● I was trusted to watch my deliriously adorable niece and equally spectacular nephew. Both of these little people spark a love in my soul to which I cannot assign words. I know that when I drove out of the driveway I sobbed knowing I won’t see them again until the winter. Boy do they add a specialness to life. ● Coffee with Beth. Coffee with Tim. ● Lunch with Ann. Lunch with Jora and her Mama and sister. ● MM. ● Lunch with pals in Northeast Mpls and a dip in Lake Minnetonka. ● And really, just goodness. A whole lot of goodness.