One For The Melly

This morning I decided to make a carrot cake from a recipe in this book (which is six kinds of awesome if you like to make cakes) to take when we visited one of my dearest friends and her adorable family. Melly was my all-time best roommate ever, and is the only girlfriend from my college years that I still keep in touch with. Sadly, even though we now live in the same state, we see each other less often than when we lived in New England…because then I would always visit her whenever I came to town. Now it's a mere half hour drive, but we'd let more than a year pass since our last visit.

Happily, the cake turned out lovely. Then sadly, I left it home by accident, which means it wasn't consumed by the large group of people that would have made fast work of it today. Someone help my hiney. Please! Let's face it. I might as well take the spatula and just smear the cake on and have done with it, cause the way things go round here, that’s where it’ll end up.

Anyway, even without the cake, it was a lovely afternoon. Bunch & Gator had a short day at school, after which we headed straight out to Melly’s house. Her two boys and two girls are all delightful, generous, capable, nice, talented, versatile and intelligent people. Even though my kids have only had intermittent contact with them through the years, they seem to really hit it off well, which makes me happier than a clam in clam sauce. Oh wait! I don’t think that a clam in clam sauce would be all that happy…if they actually realized what they were in. That's like saying happier than a human in human sauce, which is about the most depraved, disgusting thing I've thought of all day. But it's recently come to my attention that my prefrontal cortex is probably not as developed as most of yours, so that would explain why I so often say things that make you go "huh?" I beg your forgiveness. I'm trying.

As I was saying, it just makes me really happy. And the reason is that when I was growing up, I never really enjoyed visiting my parent’s friends homes. I felt out of place and uncomfortable, and never clicked with any of the kids that happened to be around. I realize I was something of an odd kid, but it seemed like the kids of my parents friends were odd to the Nth degree. But those are other stories for other days. Right now, I am merely trying to express that the fact that my cuteheads seem to genuinely enjoy the kids of my dear friends makes me very happy. Like a clam. Even though I don't like seafood.

And what’s not to enjoy? Here are some pictures of the primary activity de jour. They had a blast cruising round on these bad boys. Melly’s kids are super happy to have friends to play with on them, and couldn’t have found more willing subjects. Heck even I wished I could take a spin!

There’s nothing like catching up with an old friend and sharing an afternoon together. Melly, for the 20 years of friendship, good example, generosity, support and love, thank you! For having wonderful, great-hearted children that are loveable...thank you. For being an awesome mom and homemaker...again, thanks. And for going on a walk with me and the commiserations about our mounting cabooses, thanks. I needed that tonight! And let’s just not focus on how old we’ll be when another 20 years have passed…deal?