Meetup at the Strawberry Patch

It all started with a simple tweet (that's a message on Twitter, for all my family members who aren't familiar with the terminology ;o) from one of my favorite bloggers.

"This is what I'm doing on Saturday morning. Any CLE peeps want to meet up w/kids for morning playdate? http://www.sunrisefarmgifts..."

I immediately recognized the link was to a local farm that offered pick your own strawberries. I'd been there last year with the kids and they LOVED it. I was actually planning on returning again this year and this seemed to be the PERFECT opportunity to hit two birds with one stone, so to speak. Picking strawberries and FINALLY meeting Pauline.

I've been anxious to meet my online friend for some time. I was originally going to meet her at the Cleveland BlogHer meetup at The Greenhouse Tavern earlier in June, but plans fell through at the last moment.

During the week, we exchanged messages...setup our meeting time and we even opted for a more kid-friendly location that was closer to home. It was all set.

Until good ole mother nature decided to rear her rainy head...and nearly ruined the whole thing.

Yes, on Saturday morning I woke to rain. "Great. Just my luck. Another chance to meet OHmommy is literally going to be washed down the tube."

Then I received another tweet that she was still going, just a little later than planned.

With an 11 am baseball to get back to, I didn't have much time to waste. So I swiftly swooped Miss Monkey in the car (without me realizing that she hadn't even eaten breakfast...no, I'm not a bad mom, they usually get their own breakfasts) and headed to the strawberry field.

As I drove, I wondered if I was being foolish. There were so many dark clouds and nonstop drizzle. How in the world was this going to be a good experience?

When my phone rang, I half expected it to be Pauline saying she decided to bag the trip. But it was my husband.

Mike: Where are you?

Me: I'm at 87 (more than halfway to the berry patch, I thought)...Why? (I said with hesitation)

Mike: All of Mr. B's baseball gear is in the back of your vehicle. You need to turn around so he'll have it for the practice they just scheduled before his game.

Me: *sigh* (you've gotta be kidding me I thought) Okay...I'm turning around.

My head was swimming, trying to figure out if I even had enough time to make another attempt at strawberry picking that morning. It seemed that most signs pointed to another meetup failure.

And then, the skies started to clear...just a little. And I decided to go for it.

A quick equipment dropoff was made and I was back on the road (for the 25 minute trip north to Patterson's).

It started raining just as I entered the property...but Miss Monkey and I were already there so we decided to done our jackets, grab the umbrella and brave the elements.

Our basket was nearly full when Pauline arrived with her three ridiculously cute children. They were sporting their ponchos, not willing to let a little rain dampen their experience.

And then the skies cleared. Just like that. Perhaps Mother Nature didn't have it out for me after all.

Our visit ended up being very short (since I had to dart back for the baseball game). But certainly sweet. Full of Hugs. Photos. And laughter as her youngest repeatedly picked green strawberries and proudly showed them to her momma.

I had finally met my friend...and life was good. She even offered to take a photo with me and my sweet girlie (a rarity since I'm always the one taking the photos.)

Oh yea, and I gotta make pies. Strawberries pies. My favorite summertime indulgence.

P.S. Don't worry about Miss Monkey missing her breakfast...she made up for it with strawberries.