The best extended sleepover ever.

You know you have found good friends when you leave them feeling:
encouraged
refreshed
inspired
more comfortable in your own skin
more yourself
understood
and so so sad that they had to leave.

I met Elizabeth and Molly on the internet through blog-land of all places. On my birthday in November we had a skype date and they surprised me with a video full of pictures of them and caption bubbles. It's grand finale announced that they would would be flying in from Alabama and NYC to Ohio to visit me. Me! I can't tell you how special that made me feel. I couldn't believe it and by now you can probably guess that I cried from joy because that is what I do. I spent the next 2 months randomly getting butterflies in my stomach because I would remember that I get to spend almost 5 days with friends that were becoming dearer and dearer by the day.

We had such a darn good time. I don't know how else to put it except that we have friend chemistry that is rare and good. It was just easy to be around each other as if we had known one another for years.

When I dropped them off to the airport on Monday afternoon I literally had to do that thing where you disconnect from what is happening so that you don't get all mushy gushy and cry all over the place. On the way home Westley was fussing in the back seat (probably because Everett and Elizabeth weren't sandwiched back there with him) and so I started talking to him. I said, "It's okay buddy! We are going home now. Our friends are going to fly on a plane to their homes and it will be just be us and Scoutie and Dada again." And then I stopped talking because my throat got tight.  When Drew Jones came home from work and I showed him the paci that Everett forgot in his bed here he got all misty eyed and said, "It's so weird, I really missed them all day today. They just feel like family."

So all of that is to say, thank God for:
long late night talks
Drew's Diner
A&W root beer
two nakie babies in our bathtub
Jeni's ice cream
slap happy laughter
and the sort of understanding and connection that is rare and precious.

Now prepare to be assaulted by photos of our sweet time together...