Pen It In

Sometimes penciling in an engagement or event isn't good enough. If you want it to happen, you better put some commitment behind it and use a pen.

You'll be glad you did.

My girlfriend Becky and I live about 1.3 miles apart, if that. For sure we see each other once a year at Camp Crop-A-Lot. Then, on average, maybe only 2-3 times the rest of the whole, long, entire year. Sad, but true. Yet predictably, each time we do get together, we say, "We definitely have to do this more often."

But we don't.

Life gets in the way. Our kids are of the ages that our lives are revolving around their schedules.And, right now, there is not really any overlap between theirs and ours. A few weeks ago, though, we decided we should get out to dinner, just the two of us, and catch up. We picked a date that might work and I said, "I am putting it in PEN on my datebook. This is going to happen."

Guess what? While the original penned date (last night) had to be switched at the last minute, we only postponed it one night.

We had a nice dinner at Anchor Bay Bar & Grill on the Wisconsin River. We sat outside to enjoy some live music, a gentle breeze and the view. You may notice that even though it is August first and typically the hottest time of the year, we are both in long pants and long sleeves. Hello, Wisconsin!

Spent a few hours catching up on everything from my dad's death to her dad's illness to our kids and, well, scrapbooking. We can be predictable that way.

We also got to see a pretty sunset on the river and, to cap it off, we did PEN in another date to see each other. Sure, it's not until October, but we do have a few PENCILed in alternatives between now and then.

Some advice -- to myself included: If your friends are that important, get out the ink. They have a permanent place on your heart so they deserve a permanent place on your calendar.

Make the date.