Oh how I love the Holidays!!

Remember how I wrote in one of my previous blogs that I was in charge of Thanksgiving dinner?? Well, it was FANTASTIC! Or, as I said to my friend, we will know for sure if we are in the clear in about 4 hours. I always worry about the turkey and whether or not it was actually done...but I think we are good.

So, here was our menu...22 lb turkey, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, corn, Brussels sprouts, stuffing, gravy, 2 kinds of cranberries, rolls, apple pie, berry pie, pumpkin pie and persimmon cake. The turkey took a little longer than expected. But, thankfully, we were well stocked in the wine department. Everyone seemed to go with the flow and that made for one very happy and thankful host.

I love the holidays. I love having friends and family over for a festive day of eating, playing and watching football! Honestly, just thinking about it makes me smile. And there is something super special about Thanksgiving. I actually got a little teary eyed tonight cause I took it all in and really watched my kids, my family, my hubby and my friends. I watched them hanging out in my house and I was very touched. I am truly lucky and I know it. I am thankful everyday day for days like today!

Here is to my Stanford girls.

What do they say...is it your high school years or your college years that are supposed to be the best years of your life. I think if I had to choose, it would be my college years. This is not to say that I would want to go back but I did make the most of my time at Stanford. I was on scholarship for my first 2 years and then I gave up my NCAA eligibility to take money before the 1992 Olympics. From that point on, I was writing the checks to pay for my hefty tuition bill every quarter. Every time the bill came, as I was writing the check I would ask my best friend, Heidi, why am I writing this check? She would quickly repy, to have the wonderful friends you have met.

She was right! I was more than lucky and it was more than worth it. Oh yeah, and the education wasn't half bad either :)! But what I loved most about my experience at Stanford was the humbling environment. I came back from the Olympics and it was no big deal. There were people excelling and winning the equivalent of a gold medal in every field. There was greatness all around and everyone was celebrated. I loved that.

My friends were the best part of my college experience. I met Heidi at the end of my freshman year. Her and 2 other volleyball players, Piper and Dani, soon joined us 3 swimmers, myself, Laurie and Lea as roomates for our sophomore year. It was fantastic. We were all very focused on our sport, our studies(some more than others) and our fun(some more than others). But we also made time to just chill. I remember a few nights when we would turn the lights off and Laurie would play DJ. We all loved U2 and she would turn on "One". It will go down as one of the most relaxing moments of my life. We were all there together calming our busy selves to just enjoy the moment. (that is a moment I would go back to)

My 15 year college reunion is one week from today. All of my friends will be there, many with their hubbies and their kids. I was all set to go. Hotel reservation in hand when my plans changed and I got a job. When they told me I got the job, they didn't tell me the dates, but deep down, I knew it would be over my reunion weekend. I am so very sad that I won't be there. I was looking forward to the football game and the dinners but mostly I was looking forward to hanging out with and absorbing the stories of the women that have made such an impact in my life, my college friends.

For those of you who went to college and/or had a fantastic experience you know how rare it is to get back on campus and relive a few of those awesome moments with your grown up college buddies. The great thing is that in the wonderful group of women that I am so lucky to call my friends, we have a stellar organizer named Annie. Every year she gets us together for a girls weekend. Reunion is our girls weekend this year but I know I will see them all next year, hopefully with a little(maybe a lot) of Chardonnay!

I guess I will set will look even more forward to my 20th! Good thing we don't get any older. And I just for the record, I think the best years of our lives are in front of us.

Schedule the Guys night and have a happy marriage.

The concept of the Guys Night was a collective decision. It came from a really cool group, our friends. I say "really cool group" because I feel so lucky to have found these people. It is fantastic when you find couples to hang out with where both the fellas and the ladies genuinely like to hang out. We all have common interests, kids the same age and a zest for life.(really, we do) What we also have is a respect for "girl time" and for "guy time".

Honestly, I don't know if we all would have been so UP for giving the nights to our spouses if it wasn't a group decision. But that is how it went down. We all decided that we deserved a night. It was great for the guys to hear it from us and vice versa. I think it meant even more because the spouse at home agreed to be responsible for watching the kiddos. That meant there was no stressing over finding a babysitter or whether the kids were okay. (life has gotten busy for a few of us so babysitters have occassionaly been hired:)

But here is the deal, I really like seeing my hubby have some true guy time. Don't get me wrong, the fellas work out together, go on bike rides and the like, but true nighttime guy time is really hard to come by when you have 2 little kids. I love how happy he is when he comes home. Happy cause he had fun and happy because I "let" him do it. What an easy and wonderful gift. And I know how it feels.

Last night my girlfriend and I went to yoga, grabbed some food and a beer to go and snuck it into a movie. (we kinda felt like we were 16 again!) We cried like babies in "Love Happens" and then swung by the grocery store on the way home. It was a fabulous night. I was looking so forward to it that I was watching the clock...waiting for 5pm. When I come home from a girls night I feel rejuvenated. Like I was refueled because I got "me" time.

So here's the deal. Don't keep score. Don't lay any guilt trips. Let your spouses have a night. Let your spouses have fun and be happy for them. I think it is good for the marriage and good for the soul. Give it a try!