The Gift of Girlfriends

I am a little late with this post. You see my birthday was more than a month ago, but I have been wanting to write about what a great birthday weekend I had this year.

 

But before I get to that I need to back up a few years and explain that back in 2006 I went through a bit of a mid life crisis. There were some pretty big changes in my "inner circle" that fall. My baby girl went away to college to spread her wings and find herself. I was ok with that, after all I had spent eighteen years preparing her to go out into the world and make something of herself. I would be fine, I still had my good friends to see my through. OH WAIT...NOT! You see, two of my best girlfriends moved away around the same time. The NERVE, the GALL!! Didn't they know I needed them? Didn't they know it was all about me?? Forget that one was going through a not so fun divorce and the other was moving her family so her husband could find work. I needed them!

Fast forward to my birthday weekend 2009. We had planned a great girls weekend getaway,  It was great to be together again. We had a blast and someone got themselves hitched! For more on that trip see this post from my friend Becca. And don't forget the surprise ending of that trip here.

Now back to this year. I had been in a funk. It was a big, ugly, unemployed, what am I doing with my life, feeling sorry for myself funk. So when my dear friends told me they would like to come for a visit and stay the weekend with me I was so excited. They will tell you they came to see other people too, but I know the truth. It was all about me! They both arrived on my birthday after all.  One brought along a little friend, the other one brought a mumu.

It was like a high school slumber party. We laughed, watched movies, ate junk food and caught up on each others lives. 

We explored Pirate booty at the museum. 

We played in the park. 

Then we laughed and talked some more and made plans for a big reunion dinner.

I didn't take nearly enough pictures to chronicle our adventures and unfortunately the ones I did take were with my phone, but I had a blast (funk officially blasted away).  We're already talking about next year. 

THANKS GIRLFRIENDS for the best birthday gift ever!

Special Delivery... it has come full circle.

I had a rotten day at work. I won't bore you with the details but it was bad. Until around 3:30 pm when a package arrived for me.

I have been waiting for this special package from across the sea (France) for a while now. I had it sent to my office because I couldn't take a chance that it would be left on my doorstep unprotected. I know what is inside and it brings a smile to my face and a tiny tear to my eyes. I carefully walk back to my desk to open my special delivery when a co-worker asks, "Is that what I think it is?" she knows I have been waiting. I walk to her desk instead and open it carefully while she watches. This is what I find inside.
For those of you that read my blog, you know. For those who are reading for the first time here is a bit of the story behind this image. This is a birthday gift for my daughter who turned 21 on Wednesday. It is a one of a kind original painting by a very talented lady, Gretchen Jakub Fabre of Chichiboulie.

It is also a tribute to another mother, a sleeping beauty, who has touched my heart. Her name is hidden in my painting. It's sweet reminder of why this was created. I won the auction Gretchen had to raise money for Nie Nie. I had this done to celebrate the bond I have with my daughter, and my hope is that my donation in some small way helps NieNie to have the chance to build a similar bond with her daughters.

Suddenly my "bad day" seems so insignifigant, who am I to complain about anything...life is good.