Squinting for the light

The week before a vacation is always the worst. Not only am I counting the minutes, but there is always a million little things to do before I go.

This time, my boss asked me to "stockpile" some articles so they would have something to run while I'm gone. So, no problem, I'll just work two weeks in one.

Right now I'm searching for the light at the end of the tunnel that is Friday night, when my plane takes off for Colorado, where I am going to meet one of my best friends forever, Ben.

I'm headed to Lake Powell in Arizona him, his family and a group of others. The plan is to camp out on a house boat, go jet skiing and hike the lake's famous slot canyons. It's just what I need.

Ben and I met when we lived on the same floor in the dorms freshman year in college. We all dubbed ourselves the "Knowles Hall Mafia" and remained friends throughout college and even now.

Anyway, Ben and I still keep in touch, anywhere from once every few weeks to every other day, depending on if he has a girlfriend or not. (He he, just joking Ben). Our conversations are often just a few minutes. At some point, Ben inevitably will interrupt, sometimes mid sentence, and say, "Alisha, can I call you back?" Then I won't hear from him for a few more days. Unless he calls me in the middle of the night, which he has been known to do. I act mad at him and beg him to let me go to sleep. Or we talk for an hour and I'm wide awake for a few more.

The last time I saw Ben was a wedding almost exactly a year ago. So it's about time we hang out again.

Lesson learned: This week is going to be torture.