Cartoons & Culver's with Carleen

I’m not sure Christians are supposed to believe in being psychic. But I think I am a little, tiny bit psychic.

Well, only with my friend Carleen.

The two of us have this weird sort of bond where we always think of and call each other within moments of the other one thinking about us. It’s not unusual for either of us to say, “It’s so weird that you just called. I was about to call you!”

I’ve never had that with anyone before, but since we WANT to see each other, it’s a nice little phenomenon.

Now if I could only do the same thing with lottery numbers.

Either way, Carleen called me (just as she had crossed MY mind – freaky!) and said that she missed me, and we should get together. Now I know I’m 28 (almost 29!), and I should have more self confidence than to be absolutely floored that someone actually likes to be around me and misses it when we don’t get to spend time together. But I’m not. It still felt nice. I went all gooey-friendshipy warm inside.

Carleen and I used to work together, before she climbed the corporate ladder and became the CEO of a local company. She eventually headed back home to be a stay-at-home-mom to her two adorable tots. When we worked together, we had so much fun; it was hard to get any actual work done.

After we stopped working together, we discovered we deeply missed seeing each other every day. Since then, we’ve both made the effort to see each other at least once a month. It’s been rewarding to be in a friendship with someone who wants it to flourish as much as I do. To tell the truth, I think that’s why we have such a solid relationship. We MAKE time for our friendship and for one another.

Last night we met at Panera for bagels and soup. Delicious! We debated which movie to see – License to Wed or Ratatouille. It wasn’t too hard to decide. The last movie we’d seen was Because I Said So – the Mandy Moore bomb that thoroughly disgusted both of us. This time LTW was getting horrible reviews, and even my love of John Krasinski’s comedic talents wasn’t going to outweigh Robin Williams’ familiar old shtick and Mandy Moore’s horrible acting.

So, Ratatouille it was.

Afterwards, we agreed it had been the perfect choice. We added our accolades to the already glowing reviews. The artwork was amazing, the plotline REAL and not formulaic, and the vocal acting some of the best I’ve seen in an animated feature.

And since we went on a Monday night, we enjoyed a rather sedate crowd. The little kids shushed the other little kids because THEY didn’t want to miss any part of the movie.

Worked for me.

We decided to end the night on a sweet note and stopped by Culver’s for a peanut butter mixer (me) and a raspberry hot fudge sundae (her). Soooooooooooo good on a hot night! Although, poor Carleen was freezing in the AC at Panera, the movie theater, and Culver’s.

I, on the other hand, was in heaven. Crank it up!

We talked for hours, and Brett only called once (around 10:30 p.m.) to tell me he saw a weird commercial for a new dog hotel. Right. A dog hotel. I think he was just really tired.

Carly and I talked about all manner of things as only old friends can do. Former co-workers up to their same old tricks. Her life – should she stay a stay-at-home mom or re-enter the workforce? Should she have another baby? I talked about my family and friends who were going through divorces and such. We talked about clothes and what we would do if we won the lottery – what charities we would give to and what we do for our loved ones.

It was a conversation peppered with laughter and moments of seriousness as we pondered these years and our lives. It was a really good time.

Somehow, I think she had as much of a good time as I did. Somehow, I just know.