I mentioned earlier that I had to go to a meeting of all the Chief Selectees' wives to go over what was going to happen during this insane time of initiation. There are five wives and one girlfriend, and I hesitated to say anything about them. I'm not too keen on one, another one I can tolerate, the girlfriend seems sweet but shy, and the other two seem like they could be friends of mine. But I figured that nothing would come of it since I live on this side and no one wants to spend the money to come see me.
Late Saturday night I emailed one of the ones I felt I had a connection with (let's call her AA), just to see how she's doing with her husband being gone. Sunday AA called me... and we ended up talking for two hours!!
She's just so easy to talk to. She's very open-minded about a lot of things, so even if she disagrees with something I believe, she won't try to force me to change my mind to what she believes. We have very intelligent discussions on a huge range of topics. It's really cool!!
Then at the end of the conversation, I asked her what she was doing that day, and she invited me over. I grabbed up Grace, checked the ferry schedule, and headed out. Unfortunately the ferry cams are down on the website, so I didn't realize that the Bainbridge Island ferry was backed up, it being a Sunday and all. I ended up driving around to Seattle, where is where AA lives, almost down in downtown. It is an easy drive; I just wish I hadn't gone down to Bainbridge first because I ended up backtracking. Plus Gracie got a good nap in, which I knew she needed.
We spent the entire evening chatting, AA and I. She has two kids, a boy and a girl that are 9 and 11, and they love Grace. It was so nice because I got a huge break from her. They all piled into one of the kids' bedrooms and watched movies all evening while AA and I chatted in the living room. And again, we talked about EVERYTHING. I can't believe she and I think so similarly on a lot of topics because I always felt I had some crazy ideas on life. Yet she has the same crazy ideas!
I had called her from the ferry terminal to tell her I made it safely, and I didn't end up getting off the phone with her till 2:30am, well after I arrived home.
I'm so excited I have possibly made a really good friend! The only minor fly in the ointment is the ship doesn't have a billet for her husband as a Chief, so it's quite possible she could be moving within a few months. But Kurt and I have that same problem. With him, they're just going to put him in a different division; he can be a Chief Electrician's Mate instead.
Cross your fingers she doesn't move! ;o)