Where Have All The Good Friends Gone?

So yesterday afternoon / early evening was my second foray to gym as part of our new programme. Not too shabby. But I was sore from Monday's session (which is apparently a good sign, maybe I'm the only person who just doesn't get how we do this to ourselves, on purpose?!?). Anyway, I'm not too sore today (yet?) But we did legs and I was sure I would be walking around on crutches this morning.

After that Loulou and I headed off to book club for a night with the girls (a lot less of the girls since 3 dropped out after last month - excuses, excuses). Was fab to see everyone again although I'm still left wondering what is going on between Lady & myself.

I'm pretty sure I don't remember doing anything to royally piss her off ... But the way she's been acting makes me think I surely must have. It's been happening for a while ... at very least definitely since I got back from my East Africa trip.

Do you know that when I sent her the details of the trip I was planning her only comment (in my memory) was "Jees, that's a lot of driving". Not "Oh nice, Gorilla's" or "Wow, unusual destinations" or anything enthusiastic at all. More of a "rather you than me" approach, really. Which I didn't really take too much notice of at the time ... until I got back and in spite of the email I sent everyone with a selection of pics and us both being on Google Talk all day, I didn't even get a "Hey, welcome back" or a simple "How was the trip?". Not until I next saw her at Book Club.

So in an attempt to iron things out with her I arranged an after work coffee ... I don't want us to end up only seeing each other at Book Club, we were better friends than that (or so I thought?). The coffee was fab and I thought we were back on track and we left things with many "Let's not leave it so long next time"s.

I haven't heard a word from her since then, till Book Club last night. The worst part is that I know they had a picnic party for Bug's 30th ... and I wasn't invited. I got to see the pics on facebook :P

And again last night when mentioning the trip we're planning with the fan-damily to the half-way point somewhere around East London, her initial reaction was "Surely East London is not half way between CT & Jhb". Well, luckily Loulou backed me up on that one. And when I mentioned that you drive via Bloem and not Durbs, all she had to say was how dreadful she thought driving thru the Free State was. Not a stitch of the usual sort of encouragement or excitement you'd expect from a friend when you tell them about a weekend you've planned or the fact that you'll be getting to see your family that doesn't actually (shock, horror) live in the same province as you (let alone 2 suburbs away!).

Even her "Oh cool, man"s have come to sound hollow, like those things you say because people expect them to be said in polite company. I guess there was no way getting out of polite enthusiasm tho since I did get to show off the new car just a little bit as we left and loaded up the books into it's tiny, tiny boot (too small for both our Book Club book crates!).

Am I supposed to try and arrange something again? Isn't it her turn now? I don't know what I've done or what is going on? As you can imagine, watching the slow steady decline of a friendship is not an easy thing, but I'm also not really sure what I can do ... I guess I'm gonna have to call her on it and ask the tough questions. I hate that. But our friendship is more important to me to lose it quietly without a fight.