"I was barely there. I was so depressed at the time."
"We wore so much black, don't you remember?"
"How could I forget?" He looked at my bright cherry-red dress. "Thank God we are done with that phase."
I smiled up at him. "Yup. There are so many more choices if the color that you want is not black."
"When do you leave?"
"I told my dad I need a couple days to pack. I will go by the end of the week.”
"Do you want help packing? You have a tendency to pack five suitcases for a weekend trip."
I swatted his arm. "That's an exaggeration. A huge one. It's more like three. Who knows what the weather will be like? It's not like I can see the future."
Andrew rolled his eyes. "No, but most people are happy just packing a jacket if the weather gets bad. You have to pack an entire winter wardrobe."
"I have to buy an entire winter wardrobe. My dad says that Wisconsin is a lot colder than DC."
"Yeah, it is. You know that I found out about my asthma when I lived there."
"Yeah." I shivered. "And you told me the story about the time that your hand stuck to the gas pump. That sounds horrible."
"It's not a big deal. You just need to make sure that you fill up your gas tank when the weather is good."
"When is the weather ever good? You told me about the weather, and you said that the snow did not melt from October to April."
"It's true. You have never been sledding on the real hill, though. You barely even made snowman when we were kids. There is kitesurfing on the lakes in Madison, Monona and Mendota."
I rolled my eyes. "I am not planning to stay for very long. I just need to meet him. I was thinking about having my jet stay on the runway while I went for a visit."
"You are so rude."
I gasped. "I am not! I just don't want to spend my entire life with some hick named Jimmy Fox."
"Did you just say Jimmy Fox?" Andrew blinked. "Jimmy Fox?"
"Yeah. I did. Do you know him?"
"Yeah, he was one of my euchre buddies."
"What on Earth is euchre?"
"It's a game."
"What kind of game?"
"It's a card game."
"Yay. I get to look forward to learning how hicks spend their time."
"Seriously, chill out. Enjoy it. Eat some cheese curds."
"Oh my god, what are those?"
"They are a by-product of the cheese-making process. You can only eat them fresh, though. They squeak when you eat them."
"So instead of mice squeaking, you get your food to squeak?" Horror filled me. "This isn't like going to another country. It is like going to another planet."