It’s About Time!

She never forgave me for going away to college. I met my friend JLS at church in 1990. We were both transients to Atlanta, GA, but as a member of the choir for a year already I felt it my duty to welcome this new girl, a couple of years my junior, to our group. When she decided I was still cool despite tripping over the microphone stand in my haste to greet her, I knew I had a friend for life. We were like sisters, the blood kind, not the nun kind. Don’t get me wrong, the church brought us together, she asked me to be her Confirmation Sponsor, etc., but we giggled during most of the services we attended together. Terrible, I know, but at least we were at church every Sunday. The great thing about us was, despite the fact I did leave GA for TX, whenever we would get together it was as if we had never been apart.

As is our custom,

we tend to dress similarly

purely by coincidence.
(Solid tops,
flowery, knee

length skirts.)

Now, all these get togethers, keep in mind, were in Atlanta. It was always when I was returning to visit my grandparents that we would meet up.

Here we are with our friend FPG in my GP's Atlanta apt. October 2007.

A few months ago she emailed me and asked if I’d like her to come and visit. Well, heck yeah!!! So, after much planning (before or after DH finishes his thesis, during or after my bday) she finally got on an airplane and flew out here to see me and meet DD for the first time. While DD and I have visited my grandparents at their place, they now live in FL, so it’s not as convenient for us to pop over to see each other.
Okay, so…we finally decided that JLS would come to visit the second weekend of July. After we returned from Norman everyone pitched in to help get the house ready. DH finally got rid of graduate school text books, BIL made me declutter the computer desk of fortunes and hand written notes, FIL fixed various items around the house and hung up portraits, I did about a month’s worth of laundry, and MIL watched DD so we could get all this stuff done.

Here's the office

converted to the guest rooom,

complete with mints on the pillows.

Prior to picking up JLS at the airport DH gave me the sound advice to make sure she didn’t come on too strong to DD so DD wouldn’t hate her during her visit. Not only did JLS take this advice, but DD was holding her hand and giving her hugs within a couple of hours of first meeting her! I was absolutely thrilled. It was great for DH and I, too, b/c it was like we had a third set of hands to help us out with her. That night we hung out at home, and after DD went to sleep the three of us stayed up talking and watching videos. About 5AM I finally called it quits and went to bed, after reading a bit from Harry Potter. DH and JLS stayed up chatting, and by the time DD woke after 10AM, they were the best of friends. DH and JLS had only met a couple of times before, and both times he not only had to get to know her, but her hubby as well, so this was a nice change of pace for them. This was really great for me, as DH was sort of dreading JLS visiting, long story. Now they were friends, so all was well.

We spent the next day just hanging out together, but in the evening DH and I had a bridal shower to attend, so we dropped DD off at her grandparents, and JLS off at Half Price Books (her new Nirvana), and spent a couple of hours talking museum business with some other shower attendees. When we met JLS at HPB (now here’s something ironic), there was a Harry Potter party going on. In honor of the new movie they had people dressed as various characters, books masquerading as ones written by Lockhart, contests, crafts, pictures, all sorts of things. Oh, how I wish I had known about it before hand. Of course, there was that shower, so it really wouldn’t have mattered, but it was pretty cool none-the-less. We left to pick up DD, and she amazingly was perfectly happy without me! After getting her to bed we introduced JLS to the wonderful world of HP. She had never read the books or seen the movies, but was hooked after the first movie.
The next day JLS and I went to meet a pen pal for lunch and then go ice-skating. The funny part of this story is, we didn’t get on the ice until the time I had hoped we’d be heading home, and then we weren’t skating for ten minutes before the zamboni was brought out. DD stayed with DH and his family, and again was content without her mamma around. I love her to pieces, but this was a nice “vacation” for me as we are seldom apart. Later that night the four of us went to celebrate my bday and DH’s master’s degree at Master Grill (fitting for DH), where I was sung to in Portuguese.
We continued to have a good time the rest of her visit, and DD gets excited whenever she sees JLS’s picture, so “Auntie J” definitely needs to make a repeat visit.