friendships

I have been blessed with some pretty great friends. This weekend just showed me that one more time.

10 of us from our homeschool community went down to the Dallas area on Friday to hear the founder of Classical Conversations speak. 6 of us left at 8am on Friday so we could get some shopping, eating, and relaxing done. It is always a blast when we break free from the kiddos and get to chat, so being locked in a car together for 10+ hours in 2 days resulted in some good laughs. And tears. It was neat to learn more about these great ladies that I spend a few hours with each week....and about 8pm last night, on the drive home, the silly sleepies kicked in and we learned WAY more about each other than we imagined. The last two hours driving were filled with many tears from laughter.

On Friday, we found a great, outdoor mall in Southlake, TX and enjoyed the gorgeous weather with a lunch on the patio of a Mexican restaurant before hitting the stores. 6 people in a SUV didn't leave much room for purchases but we had fun anyway and I was thrilled to see a Naartjie store. That is probably my favorite kid's clothing, but we don't have any of their stores in OK. I bought T and P things there and then ran into Aeropostale for something for C (one place he will actually wear things from that aren't OU). That's it. Just some clothes for the kids...happy, Big T?

Leigh Bortins was a great speaker on Saturday. The beginning session was about the class I teach in the afternoon on Mondays and the afternoon was about homeschooling through highschool. The thing I loved most about this wasn't even the content of the seminars, but getting to hear Leigh and see that she is a normal mom. When I think about this amazing program she began, and think about the 37,586 kids currently doing it, I guess I put her on some pedestal that was out of reach. Hearing her talk made her more real...and more of a person instead of just a name we throw around in the CC world. I'm glad I went.

And that's not the end of the fun....my dear friend heard I was going to be in her great state and drove 3 hours to see me for lunch. What kind of friend does that? She is amazing. It was so much fun to see her again and meet her precious girls. Thank you, SE, you rock! I might have introduced her to Naartjie too...I hope her hubby doesn't hold it against me. But really, with the sale they were having (40% off clearance), it was almost like they were giving the stuff away. It would be rude not to take a gift, right?

I hope you have great friends in your life too. They are truly priceless. Speaking of priceless, the boys can text on their ipod touches and took advantage of that to stay in touch with me this weekend. It was awesome. I love that they missed me, even only being gone 36 hours. I have a great little family here. I am blessed.