Great Way to End a Bad Day

The wonderful bike ride I went on Wednesday was actually the first good thing that happened that particular day, of which I'd spent a good portion crying for various reasons (the primary one being I learned my plans to be in London and Paris with dear friends over Christmas/My Birthday/New Year's were dead, because we didn't have time to come up with the $2000 down payment, which I learned at lunchtime that day was due that day).

So, going on my first real workout in weeks and having it go well was exactly what I needed that night. And then it just kept getting better.

Shortly after I got home - hadn't even changed out of my bike gear - my friend Debbie called to announce she was on her way over for a joy ride in her Grandma's birthday present. She's storing the surprise in her garage for 2 more weeks and wanted us to have fun with it first. Needless to say I was all over it.

So I grabbed a beer - 'cause hey, it's got cupholders - and we (me, Debbie and her sister) cruised our neighborhood in this ridiculous Nascar-themed bright green golf car. It was freakin' hysterical and we laughed our asses off.

The funniest part was that, while we were tooling along, a guy on a Harley went by. Then we were stopped to chat by yet another neighbor, and while we were sitting there the Harley guy came back around. It was my friend Jim. He lives in another part of town, so this was a major coincidence.

He'd just been out for ride, enjoying the nice day. And then he passes us and is thinking "Was that?!... Michelle??? ...drinking beer in a Nascar golf cart?!?" So he turned around to find out if it was really me or if he had inadvertently taken some powerful drugs.

So that was a blast. Then I got home to find my friend Regner calling to see if I was available to go out with his girlfriend Friday night (she only recently moved here and was a bit shy about calling me herself, which I thought was adorable considering she and I have already spent an evening drinking together). She was setting up a girl's night out because she got tickets to the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia!!!

The best part was that she didn't know it's a gorgeous outdoor venue and we get to bring a picnic, and she was sooo happy when I told her. (Oddly enough, just a few weeks ago I scored a brand-spanking-new, tags-intact Ravinia backpack at a garage sale and have been looking for an excuse to use it.) A few quick phone calls later we had our foursome - none of the girls hesitated for a second to jump on board. We're so excited it's not even funny. This is going to be So. Much. FUN!

I guess the powers that be were trying to make up for losing out on Europe, because I when the day ended I'd completely forgotten my disappointment and only had things to be happy about.