Back to the land of the living..

Well hello there. Yes, I do realize that it has once again been a LONG time since I've blogged but at least I have an excuse this time! Yes indeedy, I have in fact just returned from a week-long vacation to Las Vegas and I'm trying very hard to get my mind around being back home and in the line of fire after a truly amazing week of living the high life in the land that never sleeps.

Ah, what is it about vacations that make them just so hard to return from? I'll be the first to admit that I had a REALLY hard time of it last night trying to adjust to being back home again and I am pretty sure of the reason why but it still doesn't make it any easier. I guess it comes down to the fact that I had such a great time, even far beyond my own expectations, that it was hard to let go of that. I guess I should maybe explain a little about the vacation and how it came to be.

About two and a half years ago, after the initial onset of LOTR-mania, I stumbled upon this website dedicated to one of the LOTR characters (and for those of you who know me, you know exactly what character I'm talking about..lol). Anyway, through this website, I had the lucky fortune of becoming friends with a woman named Michele who was a fellow LOTR nut and needless to say, we hit it off right away. Through many conversations, first on MSN messenger and then on the telephone and eventually through the webcam, we discovered that not only did we have loads in common but we got along REALLY well. You know, it was the kind of feeling that you get rarely when two people really just seem to click..yeah, that was Michele and I. I can't even imagine how much time we have spent in the past 2.5 years just talking and talking and talking but to me, it has always felt that I knew her even though I had never met her face to face. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that she lives clear across the country in Oregon while I'm just outside of Toronto. Tell me that doesn't throw a little wrench into the friendship plans.

But we didn't let that little obstacle stop us. I can honestly say that I have talked to her virtually every day in the intervening 2.5 years and have also had the pleasure of getting to know her two little 'uns and her husband while she has got to know my Adam as well. And while I would have been the first one to admit, way back when this all started, that I was more than sceptical about the ability for a friendship like this to endure, somehow we have been able to make it work. And let me tell you, it hasn't always been all roses either as Michele and I have encountered more than our fare share of rough spots that come with the territory in a friendship such as ours. We have stuck with it though and our friendship is all the stronger for it.

But then came the day, about a year ago when we got this brilliant idea that maybe it was time for us to meet. I mean, it would be the next logical step, right? Riiiiiight. So there began the intricate deliberation of deciding on where exactly this meeting should take place and when. Would we go by ourselves or take our husbands/families with us? If we do meet, how long should we stay for? Should it be at one of our perspective houses or on neutral ground? Trust me, the questions were endless because above all else, there still remained the fact that although I considered Michele to be one of my best friends, I still hadn't met her and for all either of us knew, we could have been far different in person than what we had made ourselves out to be. Oh yeah, we both had learned that lesson the hard way.

So on and on went the deliberation, moving forward just a step at a time until we finally reached a decision. Neutral ground would be best and for this first meeting and it would be just the two of us to avoid any other unneeded pressure. We chose Las Vegas for the destination since it is about a neutral a city as they comes and besides, if by some chance we did wind up hating each other on sight, at least Las Vegas was big and busy enough for us to lose ourselves in for the remainder of the trip. So a plan was born and airline tickets were researched but I can honestly say that up until the night that I actually booked my flight, I don't think I really thought that our trip was going to become a reality.

But as the days passed, the reality of the situation started to become increasingly clear and yes, I did start to panic. Would she like me? Would I like her? Could I deal with the let down if it turned out that we didn't mesh as well in person as we had over the internet and phone? But in the end, for better or worse, I was committed to this and I was going to go...just as much for the prospect of meeting Michele as to prove to myself that dammit, this was something that I could do by myself. Of course it was all made so much easier by the fact that both of our husbands were completely and utterly supportive of our decision to finally meet and were very excited about our trip to Las Vegas (especially Adam as this was a sort of "Happy 30th Birthday to me" present on my side).

So slowly but surely the date of our trip approached and suddenly I found myself standing on the other side of the security barrier at the Buffalo airport last Sunday afternoon with my boarding pass clutched in my hand waving tearfully (but excitedly) at Adam before making my way to my appointed gate. It took up until that very moment for the whole situation to become a reality and I made up my mind then and there to make the very most of any situation that might present itself in the coming week. Yeah, I was ready.

And you know what? It was amazing....simply amazing. From the moment that we actually first saw each other, I knew that everything was going to be fine. We gave each other a big hug and both started talking a mile a minute and it was just like being on the phone with her but without the annoying after-effect of a sore ear caused by pressing a piece of plastic against my ear for long periods of time! lol And what started off great on Sunday night, standing at the baggage claim at the Las Vegas Airport, just got better as the days passed. Yeah, I think it is safe to say that we got along quite well and I will never, not even for a moment, regret making the decision to meet her because now I know that the friendship we share is real. There may be 3000 miles separating us but we have enough memories from the past week to hold us over until the next time we are able to see each other. Yeah, we are thinking of making this kind of trip into an annual event (but we'll include the husbands next time..lol).

So I know that the sadness from last night, in part, came from the fact that I miss her like crazy and wish for the zillionth time that Oregon was just a wee bit closer to Ontario. But there is a point to this rambling blog of mine. I am sure that some of you that may be reading this have become very familiar with the concept of online friendships..a sign of the time that we live in. But I also know just as well that there are many people that would scoff at the idea of these sorts of friendships being real, true or feasible. My advice to you is to not let yourself be discouraged by the naysayers because, as far as I can tell, there is no written rule that says that good friends must always reside within a 30 km radius of your front door. The world is a big place and there are a lot of people out there..and as far as I'm concerned, the friends that I have made online mean just as much to me as the ones I see face to face every day.

I can not tell you the number of people that I came across, especially in the few weeks leading up to our trip, that looked at me like I had three heads when I told them that I was travelling clear across the country (by myself) to spend a week with someone that I had never actually met face to face. And yeah, they would have had a point if this were someone that I had only just started talking to or had never actually seen her and her family on the webcam. But 2.5 years is a LONG time to keep up any sort of farce so I was pretty confident that she wasn't an axe murderer.

In the end, I was proud of myself that I went through with it because I was able to prove to myself that I could do it. And I will be eternally grateful to my lovely husband for having enough confidence and trust in me to drive me to the airport and send me off into the wild blue beyond, not to mention taking on everything at home so that I could be footloose and fancy free for an entire week. And most of all, I am so happy and just plain tickled that my friendship with Michele is stronger than ever. Needless to say, I can't wait until next year.