23 hrs with Tricia and Nutella -

Well back in August, I was trying to help Tricia design something. It all started out very honorably. I put on my "I'm great at this" cap, and we skyped while we started designing it, and then, my dear readers....it all went downhill from there. My "I'm great at this" cap was replaced by my "You've got to be kidding me" cap, and soon we realized doing it over Skype was just 1 way to go insane. 

I stared at her sweet face on Skype, and said "Can I come up? I'll bring dinner.". She protested and wiggled around in her chair and tried not to smile, but I told her if I was welcome, hey, I'd been wanting to come up for a night all summer. She even called me while I was getting ready to come (i.e. putting on mascara and brushing my teeth) and told me she didn't want me driving all this way to help her. In fact, I shouldn't do that. I was like "Why not? I do this all the time for my other friends." and then she says this "Because I'm not as important as them.". And then I blew up. Not really, but then I was like "Well. If that is what you think, I am definitely coming up and we will have an amazing time, because you are worth so much more than a tank of gas or zillions of dollars." And so I did. 

And Hoozy-Daisy. I couldn't be happier that I did. It was such a great time. 

Soon after I arrived and gasped over how much C-Monkey had popped her belly, and said hellos to David, and hugged Tricia a few times, we realized we needed dinner supplies. So off I went to Publix, where I had a panic attack because I couldn't find the normal pie crusts in the cool area and apparently Publix loves to watch people hunt through 1,000 cans of Campbell canned products to find the OTHER brand of chicken soup that I needed. Thank you, Publix - not really. And then because I was starving and had money for dinner and felt like it, I also bought salad dressing and Nutella and my favorite juice because I'd been drinking it when we skyped and Tricia wanted some and you don't really care. 

The point is, I came home with dinner supplies AND Nutella. I may have felt like a conquering hero. 

And then it rained, and Tricia put on Big Band music for us to listen to while we cooked. She tied on an apron over that adorable baby bump she is rocking, she danced around the kitchen to Glenn Miller, she kissed David on the forehead, and she cracked jokes even though earlier she said she was tired. 

And I stood there and thought "Yep. This is why we are best friends.". I always feel at home with her.

We opened that huge jar of Nutella (that was on sale), and I showed her the genius of mixing peanut butter with it and dipping apples into it. We stood there in the kitchen and ate and ate and David kept wondering how his apple was different from ours. Tricia kept looking at the Nutella and then back at the peanut butter, and then finally she looked at me and said "We need more apples.". HAHA. So great. But hey, she's pregnant, and I'm...me, so we had some more. Oh, it was good. 

and then we put dinner in the oven. See? ;) This is post-Nutella-hyperness. 

and then we inhaled that amazing chicken pot pie (no I didn't take photos, because we were eating it), and spent time with David and then he went down for bed, and then we thought "Hey, we can work on that project again!", and so that's what we did. For the next 5 hours we were working on that project until we were blue in the face, pretty sure every font in the world couldn't make us happy, Tricia couldn't believe Monkey was spelled M-O-N-K-E-Y, we were ready to throw the entire project in a bonfire and start over, so we did....twice, stared at the screen until I'm sure smoke was roiling out of our ears from the intensity of our concentration, and cried from laughing so hard. My ribs ached. 

It was the best kind of best friend night. Unless you plan to actually get something done. In that case - not so much. 

And then around, oh....12pm, my parents called and were like "It's raining. It's late. You are tired.", and so I stayed. But of course, we kept working on the project, because we were loving not getting anything done, and loving going insane, and mostly because we couldn't just leave it like it was. 

We finally figured it out...the next morning. Yes. We spent about an hour lying in bed laughing about it some more, mostly out of exhaustion and frustration and saying "What the heck, why won't it work?!!". Hahahaha. 

So an impromptu 5 hour visit to see Tricia turned into a sleepover and a 23 hour visit of pure fun and hysterical laughter, plus sleep-deprived-failure at getting things right the first time....or the 17th time. Singing along to music, dancing in the kitchen, organizing and cleaning and hanging out with David....feeling sweet hellos from Case Monkey, eating Nutella and getting it everywhere, laughing in the face of insanity and then trying it all over again....it really couldn't have been a better late-summer present. I came away feeling SO blessed and encouraged and so thankful for my dear, wonderful, amazing friend Tricia. 

"Nutella - the best lunch you will have all day! .......ok. I did not think that one through - and probably the ONLY lunch you will have all day! Unless you have multiple lunches!" 

Saturday morning found me playing trains with David, who was extremely excited about seeing Thomas ON my camera screen. He kept guiding me to take more photos of his trains so he could see them. ;) 

Thomas, and clearly James Bond's SUV. 

There's Percy ..... 

Percy trundling through the forest. 

David is a huge lover of trains, which is not that big of a surprise, since his dad, Cody, is too! 

And then David played some beautiful music for us while we went about our morning. I got some adorable shots of him, which I love. With the light streaming in, and the simplicity of it, I was thinking it looked so much like an old fashioned English photo. You know? Shadows and baby and those curls. mmmm. 

Such a doll. 

Oh my heart. 

So precise in which keys he presses. :) 

Be still my heart. 

I'm a sucker for toddler photos involving pianos, apparently. 

He is such a beautiful kid. Love him!! 

Laughing at Auntie Jean Marie. 

He shot me this amazing look while his Mama sat down to play the piano. SO cute! 

In his train conductor shirt, playing trains "Vooo-Voooooo!"! 

It was seriously such a sweet 23hrs of late summer. I had a blast. 

Oh, and HERE - is the project: Nutcases and Noggins! Tricia is blogging! :D

Tricia - I just wish we could have gotten a photo of the two of us, with Nutella. HAha. Thanks so much for blessing me, not just back in August, but every time I talk with you. I love you, Sassy Pants. You are the best.

With love always,
~ Jean Marie ~