Never underestimate the power of friendship. That is one of the things I've realized after moving. You truly figure out who your friends are and who is just one of those for the moment friendships.
This weekend I took Andy and Sarah back to Dallas to see some of our friends. A couple of weeks ago I was feeling all sad and mushy and nostalgic and missed my friends terribly so when I got an email from Spirit Airlines about their cheap, cheap fares I had to go. Seriously, cheap. Of course they nickel and dime you for everything, but still cheaper than anybody else. And, they sell Cup Noodles on the plane. What other airline does that? Why would an airline do that?
Anyway, the kids had Thursday and Friday off due to teacher evaluations and I signed them up for first thing Thursday morning so they were schedule free after 10 a.m. on Thursday. We woke up unbelievably early on Friday morning and were in our rental car by 11 a.m. We made two quick stops, one of them to buy our favorite pancake mix that we haven't been able to find here and costs about $8 a box via the world wide web. Andy and Sarah told everyone we saw the rest of the weekend if they wanted to visit us they must bring at least one box of Aunt Jemima Whole Wheat Blend pancake mix or they couldn't get in. I'd let them in anyway but frown in disapproval.
From there we had lunch with a bunch of my wonderful mommy friends, dropped by Andy's old school so he could say hi to some friends and teachers and then went to the splash park they built right after we moved and topped it off with the best shaved ice ever. EVER. Andy got to go see Star Wars with his best buddy, Mark, while Sarah and I stayed with Larisa and Natalie (and little Max). We didn't do anything amazing, just sat around and told stories and laughed and laughed. Such good medicine.
The next day I got up and walked eight miles (that's right, have I mentioned I'm walking a 1/2 marathon in November?) and then we went to one of our favorite taco joints to meet up with my hilarious friend, Melanie, and her two kids. Melanie is so much fun you can never, ever, be in a bad mood after hanging out with her, especially when schooners of Shiner are involved.
That afternoon we saw Jim and Sharon and their kids and we just relaxed outside while the kids swam. It was heaven. Then we went back to Larisa's house and had a dance party with the girls while the boys played hours of video games and we laughed some more. Breakfast the next morning with another visit from Melanie and then lunch with my old friend, Bren, and her wonderful hubby and kids. A weekend with all my favorite people.
The kids stayed up way too late both nights and there was a tad too much whining and crying here and there, but overall a wonderful weekend. I would love to do it by myself next time, but then my friends would have to dump their kids too so maybe instead I can entice them into joining me for a weekend away. I don't really care what we do, I just want to make sure I keep up with the people that count, the ones I love most and have shown me that they are going to be my friends for the long haul. You know who you are!
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