Every year my daughters’ school holds an optional mother daughter retreat at the beach. The first year we made a weekend of it (Marg and I). The second year, we came to the beach and skipped the retreat. This year we followed year two tradition, but brought Alice since technically, if we were actually attending the official retreat, she would now come as well. The last two years we were treated to high winds and sideways rain. Not so much this year. So we will spend the day wandering and beach combing and occasionally having awkward conversations with school friends we run into who are actually attending the retreat. I guess I could pick another weekend but half the fun is in relishing our freedom to not participate in group activies and banquet food. Enjoying the perks of being an introvert today. Accept who you are and play to your strengths.