a true friend stabs you in the front

I have some pretty freaking amazing friends.

No kidding. I have a capital set of cronies.  I'm just lucky I guess.

Some of these exceptional people are navigating rough seas in this wild ride we call life.

And I just want to say to them- damn it all.  I wish I could lift your burdens.  

Problem is, I'm short on wisdom.  

But I got some chocolate and a listening ear.

And I will always tell you the truth as I see it.  Always.

A true friend stabs you in the front. -Oscar Wilde

soul sisters

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Every year my soul sisters and I get away for a weekend together.

Correction: Every year we try to get away together.

This year we were only able to swing one day.


BUT-

it was a great day.

No kids, shopping, talking, laughing, crafting, eating, complaining, analyzing, diagnosing, crying, eating, laughing and talking.

I got home at three in the morning.

One of the highlights of the day was when I posed in this delish Anthro sweater but I was laughing so hard I fell into the fluffy paper puff window display.

I tried to refluff.

I apologized for being so obnoxious.


I love you girls. Next year we are getting out of Dodge for an entire weekend.

thailand- take two

Kimberly, Dona, Kari, Tara, Michelle, Maren, me, Emily, Tami

I got together with the Thailand girls last Saturday. We were minus four. Amy was in Chicago for St. Patrick's. Sabrina is racing on the World tour and the two Aussie chicks, Jo and Clare, for some reason couldn't drop everything and catch a flight to the States for the weekend. We missed them, but we had a blast.

I'm the one in the smashing red macintosh that I got on sale at the Gap for a mere $25. My word, I do love a bargain!

P.S. Did I tell you I'm getting a baby? And my peach tree is blooming.

lola b.

I sat once on a bench in a park, alone with my thoughts. From seemingly nowhere, a child appeared. She stood in front of me with her pom pom pigtails standing at dog ear attention, her little brown belly peaked out from the bottom of her shirt. I thought at first that she had mistaken me for her mother, but as she inspected me I could see that that wasn't the case.

"Hi", I finally said out of discomfort.

"Hi", she said without any apparent discomfort.

"What's your name?", I asked.

"Lola B." She made no indication that she would be moving along anytime soon.

I leaned forward and looked left and then right wondering where her mother might be.

"Hi Lola B. I'm April." I mumbled, taking note that the name Lola was back in vogue.

"I like your earrings." She informed me.

"Oh thank you, I made them."

Lola moved closer and inched her little bottom up on the bench uncomfortably close to me. She looked up and smiled. I smiled back. She kicked her legs. Pink Mary Jane's went back and forth, back and forth. She twiddled her thumbs. She had chipped polish on her tiny nails.

"Purple is my favorite color." She said after a while.

I was still looking around for a parent.

"Purple is my favorite color." She said again.

"Oh, mine too! That's neat. We have the same favorite color. Where's your mommy?"

She pointed across the park to a strikingly beautiful black woman holding a baby in a sling, engaged in an animated conversation with another woman. Her large hoop earrings flopped from side to side.

"Oh." It was apparent that Lola wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. So we sat. I stared at strangers through dark sunglasses and Lola swung her feet. We didn't talk. We smiled at each other every now and then. We were just girls together on a park bench one afternoon.

It was nice.

partners in crime

I am from the school of thought that every girl needs a best friend. Sisters don't count.

You need someone that you have chosen and that has chosen you. Because you are better together than apart.

This is Jenny. Jenny is my Ethel. Why do I get to be Lucy? Because this is my blog and I have red hair. That's why. Also, Jenny's husband is bald, like Fred.*

I know that Jenny loves me because when I run my mouth, as I am prone to do, she says "Aprrriiiillll!" which is her nice way of saying "Shut it sister." She saves me from myself.

And once, on New Year's Eve some years ago, I got sick and threw up in a public bathroom and SHE CLEANED IT UP!!! In. A. Public. Bathroom. True story.

But mostly I know she loves me because she tells me the truth. She tells me when I'm wrong and she listens to me when I complain about people who bug me. I can complain all I want to her because she's a vault. She will never trash talk someone, which I actually find quite annoying, but I know that deep down she is sending them bad voodoo vibes for me.

So why am I just now, after close to a year of blogging, mentioning Jenny? Well, I guess it's because there are a few things in my life that I hold close to my heart and I am a little reluctant to share. But I think it is time.

World, I got her first. Go get your own Jenny. Believe me, you need one.

* Guaranteed, Jenny just thought "Appprrriiilll!" in her head.

evidently

There is a little something that has cropped up over the past little while. A few of my friends have remarked on it, and after the twentieth person said something, I started to take it seriously. Evidently, I have a phone etiquette problem.

I don't say "good-bye" at the end of the conversation.

I guess I just don't think it is necessary. I mean, if you say to me "okay, tomorrow then, at noon", and I say "yeah, I'll see you there", isn't that the end of the conversation? Do I really need to say some sort of trite farewell after having said "I'll see you there"? In my mind it's a closer. Click. I guess I could add "with bells on!", but that's just cheesy. The conversation is obviously over, right? Hang up.

But evidently, some people rely on the traditional good-bye to acknowledge the end of a phone conversation. I would love to promise you all that I will, from now on, give you the proper good-bye you are looking for, but that is just so accommodating, and not like me at all. But, what I will do is this. I will start ending my calls with "10-4 big buddy".

Will you be needing me to say "over and out" afterwards?

Okay, on to other business. Could the maker of this goooorgemoose gift please step forward? I received this super fun surprise from my Pink Christmas secret friend and, as so often happens during the Christmas chaos, I lost the note that came with it and I desperately need to thank this talented girl for her thoughtfulness. I remember recognizing her as one of my readers so I'm counting on her to get this message. She also sent along a magnet board from Steel Dreaming Designs which I immediately hung and put photos on. It was such a fun package to receive!

just the girls

Once a year, my group of really good friends undertake a project so big it rivals the filming of Titanic. All five of us arrange our lives to get together for Girl's Weekend. There are many obstacles to over come. Namely: scouts, soccer, piano, tutor, church groups, birthday parties, nursing schedules and bedtimes. We must butter up our hubbies and save up our pennies. All this before we even decide when and where to go. One thing's for sure though. Shopping will be involved.

This year everyone came to my house. The plan was to get up early on Saturday morning and hit the shops, but that plan went to hell in a hand basket when we stayed up talking until 2 am and didn't even eat breakfast until 10 the next morning. We ended up spending our time together eating and talking and laughing and diagnosing and eating and laughing and eating. We didn't shop at all. And you know what? It was great.

Thanks girls. Let's start planning for next year.

Don't forget, you have until Friday to enter to win Secondsister jewelry!