"May I introduce.."

My best friend, Jenny, has a tough gig.  Her job involves her traveling all over the state, collecting samples of water for the Department of Environmental Quality.  She's outdoors a lot, sometimes in the most beautiful parts of the state.  When you think about it, aside from the driving and hauling of the boats and equipment around, it's not a bad way to make a living.

She called me last week, and we were trying to figure out each other's schedules because we are going on a girly date very soon. 

I hear her chuckle, as she says, "I should sign Nolan out next week and take him with me." 

"He's on break," I told her, "where do you want to take him?"

"To work with me.  I'm going to Lake Havasu for the week."  She senses I'm perplexed, and before I can respond she says, "You know, some of the colleges are on Spring Break now, too, and I'm sure he'd enjoy being on the lake at this time of year."

Okay, so I was a little slow that day...and she had to spell it out for me.

"It'd probably jump-start his hormones, seeing all the scantily clad college girls."

Ooohh.  Wait.  OH!  (The lightbulb suddenly goes off in my head.)

"Jen, he doesn't need anything jump-started right now, I'm sure everything is working like it's supposed to."

"You're no fun.  I was just kidding, anyway."

So I relay this little story to Nolan, just to see what he'd say.  "Your Tia Jenny said she wants to take you with her to Lake Havasu.  She's working there next week."  He looks interested, I go on: "It's Spring Break, so there will be lots of college girls running around half-naked, and lots of drunken folk running around in general."

And wouldn't you know it, he got a little gleam in his eye.  "Awesome !"  he says, "can I seriously go?" 

Is that a smile spreading across his face?

Leave it to Jenny.  She, who introduced me to Mr W.  She, who is trying to convince me that a bikini wax really "doesn't hurt that much."  She, who was in a Jeep rollover this weekend, out in the boonies, that commented "It was a blast!" when she told me about it.

She, who has been around since I was 8, making yet another connection for me.

"Anna, allow me.  Have you met the puberty monster?"

You know, I knew he was sneaking around, trying to find a way in....

With the way my mind has been working lately, I wonder if he ever really left.