surprise!

my dear friend "good life' asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner with her a few weeks ago. With a move looming on the horizon we find ourselves squeezing in lots of "one last..." I was happy to say yes and looked forward to an evening out :)

She came to get me and Beloved was a little late getting home so I invited her in to wait..not thinking that we were in hurry. Looking back now I have to laugh because she was less than relaxed and even asked if I ever left H to baby-sit. (laughing to self while remembering) I was so clueless, I thought she was upset because her husband had the kids and with everything going on and never suspected a thing. Finally Beloved arrived and we left and she sped down the road. I kept saying, "oh we have all night, don't worry" and she's was like "oh I'm so used to rushing!". She even drove right past the restaurant and had to u-turn :) We went to Joe T. Gracia's, where I had been only once before. Last time we ate inside and I had no idea, it is not the same experience at all. The outside gardens are so lovely and festive and fun. Normally there is a HUGE line (like plan on standing there for an hour or two) I headed toward the line and she said no we don't need to,and went in and talked to the hostesses. This part is cracking me up too. They had seemingly no clue so we stood there for several minutes until R broke out her Spanish and in flurry of words finally got through to them. I was just standing back watching her and enjoying the scenery, and all the people and then we started walking back. The server pointed to spot after spot and R shook her head no and I never thought anything but "hmmm, who knew she was so particular, which she is not at all it was rather odd and still never suspected until we turned a corner and there was a table with my dearest friends at it. Then, being the super observant sleuth that I am I suspected!

I truly never even gave it a thought that it was anything but me and R going to dinner and what a fun surprise! They had been waiting for us for an hour, so we ordered right away and the food was yummy and it was just so fun. Tori brought a box of chocolates for dessert, and we passed that around, the perfect treat for the end of the dinner, and it was funny to watch everyone pick and hope for the kind they like.

I could write a VERY long post on each of these dear sisters and how much they mean to me. I would never adequately find the words to express my feelings. The love I have for them. The inner peace it gives to me knowing that I have people I trust that can watch my children when I need them to, or help with any innumerable number of things. I really can't even say. These are the people I celebrate with, talk to, counsel with, laugh with, spend my time with, help, serve, trade kids, cry, worship, complain, problem solve, pass the time of day, worry, read, go to the park with, and hope for a brighter future with. I will always keep them in my heart and really it's a small small world and I have no doubts that we won't run into each other and renew our friendships in the future.

For more photos look here.