"I feel lucky, oh oh oh, I feel lucky, yeah… Think I’ll flip a coin, I’m a winner either way. Mmmmm, I feel lucky today." (Mary Chapin Carpenter, "I Feel Lucky")

It’s 5:30 am at Las Vegas’ McMarran Airport on a Thursday morning. Outside, dawn is breaking and it seeps through the window overlooking the tarmac, casting a soft glow on a row of empty slot machines. The air is filled with the jangling electronic melody of the ubiquitous slot machines but in my head, Mary Chapin Carpenter sings “I feel lucky.” I walk to my gate, accompanied by the smell of warm cinnamon rolls thick with icing, wafting from the Cinnabon shop. In my hand I carry my boarding pass, a mocha espresso scone and a very strongly-brewed large iced tea.

I do feel lucky today. I am heading to New Hampshire for a “girls” weekend. There are five of us “girls” who leave our husbands and kids behind twice a year for a weekend of shopping, eating and most importantly, talking.

The five of us became friends way back in the -80’s when we each graduated from our respective colleges and moved to Dallas, eager to begin our professional, adult lives and on our way to becoming “yuppies.” Since then we’ve all added home ownership, marriage, motherhood and other assorted milestones to our real-life resumes. We are now scattered across the United States from the southwest to the northeast yet we remain close enough to share our hardships and joys, our laughter and our tears.

This weekend we are getting together at the vacation home of one member of our little group. We will share our latest stories, cook gourmet meals, drink fine wine, stay up too late and get up too early (especially for me since I am the only one on Pacific time). I am lucky to have these friends and these weekends.

Lest I worry that I’m leaving my family behind while I go have fun, my husband and daughter planned a father-daughter weekend in Seattle for a baseball game, a trip to the Space Needle and dinner at a restaurant called “Purple.” Knowing that they will have a great weekend leaves me free to enjoy myself. I am indeed very lucky.