Weekend with a good friend

My friend Julia came to visit us last weekend. Due to some strange blip in her work schedule, she had a 3-day weekend at the end of March and she decided to spend it with us. Woo hoo!

It was dreary, cold, and wet the whole time. We did regular day-to-day stuff, but every day felt like a holiday because we had someone new to share it with. Julia and I cooked great food together, went to a baby shower, helped serve dinner to 50+ ladies at the church, and then met with some other friends at a chocolate cafe. That was only Saturday! (Thanks to Bobby for watching Alice while we went gallivanting about town all day.)

Sunday morning was church. We forgot to bring the diaper bag, but thank goodness for the "emergency" car kit in our trunk. It had dipes and wipes so we didn't have to drive home and back during Sunday school (that's a 30-minute round trip!). I gave the lesson in Relief Society and learned a lot about myself and the women in my ward. I didn't expect such an outpouring of so many emotions. It was group therapy. After church, Julia and I lounged about the house reading, playing with Alice, and preparing good food while Bobby did all the gallivanting.

I don't know how she does it, but the simplest questions from Julia just pull the deepest, most elemental response from me. I give it willingly and I'm never embarrassed for answering so honestly. That doesn't happen very often in my life. More often than not, a good soul-bearing session from me leads to an instant dissolution of the relationship. I've hurt a few very good, very dear friends that way. I just can't stand to have someone know me so intimately, or need me too intensely. Julia and I have known each other for years. We've had some rough bits, but we somehow continue to be friends. Maybe that history has freed us from all the small talk.

Anyway, Monday was great, too. We ran errands and played with Alice. Alice went down for her afternoon nap and we popped in a DVD of LOST (3rd Season) and watched as much as we could before Alice woke up...and then some more while Alice was awake. Julia's work schedule doesn't allow for much leisure time, so she's still working through Season 3 for the first time. She happened to be up to the exact point in the season when Bobby and I stopped watching TV last year. I got to see 3 episodes I missed! (We still don't watch TV much, but I've managed to keep up with LOST through the online releases at abc.com) It was great seeing those episodes for the first time but still knowing how things turn out in the future. All the subtleties actually MEANT something since I knew the answers to some of the questions.

Julia had to leave Monday evening after dinner. Alice had actually started warming up to her by then. We made a delicious seafood bisque. Yes, I actually enjoyed it, even with my general aversion to all things fishy-tasting.

It was raining pretty steadily and water was overflowing from our roof gutters, but Alice wanted to play outside. We waved goodbye to Julia as she drove away, then Alice started exploring the driveway as if the rain weren't there. She noticed her hair was wet and she didn't like the water landing on her face, but she was having a great time. She pulled a soggy leaf off the ground and flung it around.

Julia took a few pictures throughout the weekend. When she forwards them to me, I'll post a couple here.