In which I find out that I'm as short as Ahalya

First off, I had an AMAZING time with Ahalya. I love seeing a friend in her new life and super-happy. I now know people that she's describing. She's just finishing the Edison program at General Electric. Saturday I took an early bus down there. We ate and caught up in the morning, before leaving to drive over to her friend Brian's house to meet 6 other guys (3 were Brian's college friends who were visiting for the weekend). We caravaned over to a river, where we signed up for the 8 mile trip with two canoes and 4 kayaks.

May I first comment on how funny that ratio is to someone in the "helping profession" such as myself. There are 5 girls and 35 boys in her program. It was just fun to hang out and banter. I am someone that likes to DO things. I need both guys and girls in my life. Everyone was super-nice to everyone, and I've missed banter. 

Anyhow, for the next 5 hours, we paddled, splashed, swam, drank adult beverages, sang Disney songs, jumped off of small cliffs, and tipped each others' vessels (tipping my kayak is an act of war). It was a blast! Four of us got BBQ after, while TheCollegeFriends went home. Afterwards, Ahalya and I took a naps. We got up at 10ish and met up with more guy friends at Brian's house before going to an oldies bar (think 40s 50s 60s music) to dance. Blast again.

Yesterday, three of Ahalya's guy friends joined us for brunch. Afterwards, we went to the observatory on a tall building, walked around the parks, and got a beer by the Reds' stadium. All very fun. It's a neat city! Ahalya and I went back home and hung out before checking the mail and realizing that she had received Liz's wedding invitation (another best friend). This is exciting, since I won't get to see mine until I get home in September.

Afterwards, we left for the bus station. Ahalya is definitely coming in September to visit me in Columbus, and I'm excited about that. It's fun to have friends all over. There was an exciting story after I arrived back in Columbus, but I'm too tired to do it justice. 

Today was one of those surreal days at work where every child was excellent and making lots of progress. It was nuts, and so exciting. I'm going to miss some of these munchkins so, so much.