Moving On

February 5th  already.  I was never fond of the month of February when I was younger.  Now that time speeds on by so darn fast I wouldn't mind if it lingered a little longer - at least now that I don't have to put up with winter, and there is Valentine's Day right in the middle, so it's doable.

Was the Super Bowl super for you?  Our team didn't make it this year, not even close, so I really had no interest and neither did Ray.  NE and Bill Bellichek are not his favorites (sorry Katie), mine either for that matter so we didn't even watch.  It was a productive day though.  We went to brunch with friends and I managed to talk Ray into going shopping.  He needs new shoes and it's the one thing I won't buy for him, he's too hard to fit.  He lucked out and found a couple of pair at Skechers. After making a few more stops we came home and watched movies the rest of the night.

Here is the continuation and the END of the story I've posted the last couple of weeks.  I'm moving on for the moment. 

The next morning I sat with my cup of coffee on my still sore backside and thought about Rhonda.

Could we become friends? After all, we shared a bond most women would not understand, at least not the women of today.    Most of my old friends from here had moved on and the only women I knew were the wives of my husband’s colleagues.  Hardly, the people I wanted to include in my life.  They were nice enough on the surface,  but I wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing any secrets with them. 

I contemplated this thought as I squirmed around in my chair trying to get comfortable.

“What’s wrong this morning, honey?  You’re squirming around like a worm on the end of my fishing line? “ He had the nerve to ask me that with a smile on his face.  I really wanted to wipe that smile away but with Lindsey sitting there at the table with us, I just sent him a glare that immediately removed his smirk.

“I was thinking of inviting Rhonda and her husband over to dinner.  I think we may have a lot in common.”

“You have to be kidding, didn’t you hear anything I said last night?”

“I heard plenty, thank you very much.  Lindsey, sweetie, isn’t it time you started getting ready for school.”  I saw the look on Rod’s face, he had forgotten all about Lindsey sitting there. When Lindsey left the room I told Rod that I thought that Rhonda and I shared a bond.

“You do what you want but no more parties.  I don’t know why we have to have dinner with them.”

I called Rhonda later that morning and invited her to lunch sometime that week.  My thinking was we could start off just the two of us and then include the husbands at a later time. I knew Rod would be more comfortable with that.  To my surprise, she turned down my invitation.  I was hurt and she must have heard it in my voice so she explained.

“I’d love to take a raincheck on your invite.  You know how I talked about my husband’s old-fashioned ideas, well as part of my punishment for not letting you in on what you might encounter at our party, I’m grounded for the remainder of the week.  I feel so embarrassed saying that but you already know about the rest.”

“Yes, sadly I do.  My husband made sure that I wouldn’t accept any more invitation to parties where we could not take our daughter.  I’m still sore this morning after the belting I received.

“You too, huh. 

“Well, since you’re grounded, how about I bring lunch to you and we can sit and commiserate together.”

“ I would like that.  Can you make it about one, I have some other chores to do first?”

Just like the line in the movie Casablanca, that was the start of a beautiful friendship. Eventually, I did invite Rhonda and her husband to dinner.  As much as Rod hated to admit he might have been wrong about them, he found himself becoming friends with Jeff.  Rod even accepted that Jeff continued to imbibe his marijuana but never in our house and never around Lindsey.

It wasn’t until about a year later that Jeff decided Rod was going to partake of some of the joys of weed. By this time, dinner at each other’s house was a normal thing.  We’d have cocktails, dinner, play some card or board game, get in the hot tub more times than not and then home.  This particular night, Jeff clued me in on what was about to occur.  We were invited to their house for dinner and spaghetti was on the menu.  

We had wine before and with dinner and shortly after dinner Rod began feeling the effects of the ‘oregano’ in the sauce.  He commented that he was feeling the effects of the wine and backed off drinking but became more and more ‘loose’ and we were enjoying his ‘inebriation’ when he announced he couldn’t believe how hungry he was after such a filling dinner.  We thought we would all die laughing. Not all, Rod couldn’t understand what was so funny.  Rhonda served dessert and I laughed as I saw Jeff scarf down three brownies – this from the man that never liked dessert.  He definitely had the munchies.

By the time we hit the hot tub that night we were all enjoying the effects of friendship, laughter and marijuana.  Rod was the first in and soon off came his trunks as he threw them onto the decking.  To say I was surprised was an understatement – here was my husband skinny dipping, so to speak, in our neighbor’s hot tub.  Jeff, not wanting him to be alone, joined in.  It wasn’t a big deal for Jeff, he’d done it many times before as had Rhonda and me, although never with Jeff around.   Sometime during our time in the spa, the effects of the marijuana began to wear off and Rod realized he was sitting there nude.  He jumped up which immediately set off a round of laughter from us as we saw the light bulb come on.

That’s when he realized what had happened and that I was in on the joke.  He pointed his finger at me.  Jeff interceded and said it was all his idea and he wanted Rod to see there was really not much difference between alcohol and marijuana.  Well, except maybe for the munchies and that you were relaxed a lot sooner and had none of the after effects.  Rod took it all in and sat there as Jeff and Rhonda climbed out.  When I started to climb out, he pulled me back.

“You are not getting out of this hot tub nude.”

“Well, Rod, I can’t stay here all night.”

“I’ll get out and get you a towel.”  I laughed at him which probably wasn’t the smartest thing I could do, but it was so silly.

“Honey, too late, Jeff and Rhonda have already seen me nude.  You know what, they don’t care, why do you?"

“No one besides me sees my wife nude.”

“Honey, that ship has sailed.  Rhonda and I sit here nude almost all the time during the day.”

“You mean to tell me you sit out here, sans clothes, so anyone can see you.”

“Yup, that’s what I’m saying.”

“That does it, when I get you home you’re going to have such a red ass that you won’t want anyone seeing you nude.  There might even be some black and blue marks.”

I laughed – again probably not the smartest thing I’ve done.

True to his words, Rod climbed out and found a towel and shielded me from any prying eyes as I climbed out of the hot tub.  We got into our clothes and walked into the house.  Rhonda and Jeff were sitting there in their bathrobes. I was surprised that Jeff was as nonchalant as he was as he shook Jeff’s hand and gave Rhonda a kiss on her cheek.

“Thanks for a fun evening and the lesson.  I might have to rethink a few things but right now we’ve got to get home so I can impress upon my wife it’s not good to have fun at my expense.”

I rubbed my bottom.   Rhonda giggled and I told her that she owed me one.

Sure enough, it was a few days before I wandered into the hot tub nude.  My bottom was painted with enough color to be a painter’s palette and sitting, well that’s another story.

See you later for more Aimless Ramblings.