Lunch on a wagon train

A very special friend wanted to have lunch yesterday. I did, too. We have been friends since before I birthed children. She used to come to my exercise classes, then when I started my own business, became a teacher for me. We have shared some very important pieces of our lives, and i don't think I could ever do without her.

As it turned out, yesterday at work,we had a short term front desk helper who needed to leave before lunch, so I picked up some box lunches for the boss's meeting and got two for us (on our dime, of course. )I figured if she came to work and we sat in my office I could still catch the phone til the afternoon relief arrived to take over.

She was amenable to the plan and readily came over. While I was out picking up the lunches, my car decided to cough. (I had just spent 300 $ earlier in the week, but guess I missed getting the car flu shot, so I hopped it over to the mechanic's. I figured they had left something loose.
They had. So it was a quick fix. )

When I got back to work, my buddy had made friends with the front desk person, and had read through half of the morning paper. We carried the bags of boxed lunches to my office and the receptionist left.

There were 50 gargantuan tablecloths parked in the huggy chair, so she pulled the recliner across the room in front of my desk so we could share a common table.

We began to eat.

BAM!! The door opened, and someone flew in slamming the door against the recliner, sending the first full bite of lunch out of my friend's mouth and onto my lay leadership list. We laughed.
We cleaned up, I answered the visitor's question and they left.

We began again, chatting about our families, and such. A bite or two of fruit salad and WHAM! I'm wearing cantalope. ( It happens to be a good color for me)

The visitor went to the closet and found what was needed and left. I went outside and changed the note on my door from "at lunch" to "Maternity Leave". The traffic didn't stop-

Our conversation tried to continue, but after a while, my friend began to turn green and voiced that she was beginning to feel a little seasick from all of the waves crashing into her chair.

We packed up our lunches and pushed them aside.

I called upstairs to the youth duo and requested sodas from the machine to go. They were very kind in accomodating me and treated us to boot!! ( they are wayyy tooo good to me)

Soon we had Avon people coming in for some assistance an hour early. sighhhhhhhhh
My boss came in, banging in with the Pastoral Care that only HE can.... and he was delightful. He grabbed the bag for his meeting and backed out. He may have been hoping I was screening someone for him, but he was probably just glad to get away from what was clearly momtalk. He is intuitive that way, and such a smart man, as you know. At times like that, it always surprises me that he takes the iniative to do things like seek me out and get the bag rather than just calling me on the intercom or yelling across the office, "Where is our lunch?" Which is what I expect but rarely if ever get. No, he's very respectful of the Grand Central Office.

Over time, this office has redefined itself. I love that. A job that is growing and taking an office along with it.Sometimes my corner alley of the building is a haven for griefstricken people who just want to sit in the huggy chair and listen to me type along with the mystery radio show that plays on the radio.
Sometimes people need a sense of control in their out -of -control life and they pilfer through the nut mix to Choose their favorite legume or fruit. Choices are good salve when you run out of them in other places of your day.

Sometimes, people come in like hornets, and need to vent. This is when I open the window, to let those heated words escape. There is something healing about watching venom slam into a brick wall

Sometimes, people bring by treats just because they are thoughtful.

Other times they drop off items that have no where else to go- call me orphanage

Mostly, my place is a pitstop for a quick breath or a piece of gum and a kind word. And Iwouldn't have it any other way.

Yesterday, It was a rough ride on a wagon train for my friend,but I think she fared okay. I watched her walk to the car and she only stumbled a few times.

Although it was great to see my oldest and dearest friend, all I can really say is that her kids are growing up. The other details are scattered on the floor around my desk.