georgiaskydiver had to come to Dallas for a less-than-pleasant purpose (a funeral), but we had to make sure that any spare time she had was more-than-pleasant. And I planned on being there for as much of it as possible!



Thursday afternoon, we planned on getting all of the LJ moms GS talks to together. I found a Chuck E. Cheese's centrally located for most of us and I took my boys to meet GS with the Little Guy, her mom, misskerri, allykatt and suewin with their kids. It was such a wonderful feeling to see GS come through the door, drop everything, and we hugged. The kids ran around FOR HOURS. GS, as thoughtful as she always is, brought BEAUTIFUL long-stem red roses for each of us, and a white one for her mom (see below). It was so much fun to get to know everyone. Ally, GS and I had a Chuck E. Cheese photo drawn by a computer, which I'm sure GS will post at some point. Some of the moms had to leave, so GS, her mom, LG, Ally, her boy Jubal, me and my kids went to Momo's Pasta for dinner. We shared a bottle of wine, good food, and lots of great conversation. My kids were exhausted and fell asleep during the ride home. We made plans to play things by ear on Saturday, our next chance to get together.



Let me tell you a little bit about georgiaskydiver. She lights up a room, is incredibly funny, cares deeply for her son, is so thoughtful with her friends, and is not afraid to get goofy and have fun. She is so much a person that melts your heart and makes you pee yourself laughing - sometimes at the same time.

Here are my pictures from that night:

GS:


GS and the Little Guy:


GS on the Hang glider:


My Michael on the Hang glider:


My Matthew looking like a deer caught in the headlights, like we caught him eating something he wasn't supposed to:


Finally, our dinner group on Thursday:


My Saturday took a LOT longer than I thought it would (as you could probably tell from my previous post), so I didn't get to call GS until later in the afternoon. Her and her mom were out shopping with the LG and singlehandedly caused the stock in St. John's to go up by 15%. We made plans to meet at 7 in a restaurant in North Park Mall, where they had been all day. I was excited, not only because it would give me a chance to give her the goody bag I had gotten together for her, but also because I decided to leave the kids home and stay the night with GS and family. The wait for a table was an hour, and Ally and Jubal weren't there yet, so we sat at the bar and drank a bottle of wine. When we got to the table, we got another. And another. Somewhere in there, I think there were appetizers and entrees. *laugh* We goofed around quite a bit, and I'm sure we could be heard throughout the place. Who cares! GS's mom knocked the wine bucket over and the ice spread out into the aisle. The waiter felt so bad that we had lost part of our bottle of wine that he brought us extra glasses. At least, they TELL me that they did! Then the wine bucket got kicked over AGAIN (I think it was LG in his grandma's lap). What a wonderful waitstaff that they didn't blink, cleaned right up, and always brought more.

At the end of the meal, I walked with Ally and Jubal to where we had both parked. I learned that Ally and I have several things in common, and did promise her to post this picture:

Michael and Matthew in their Legendary Pink Dots t-shirts:


I brought the car around, after saying goodbye, and followed GS and fam back to the hotel. Goodness, it was only 10 pm. We couldn't stop drinking and having a good time that early! Anyway, where did we have to go? While grandma got LG ready for bed, GS and I went down to get TWO more bottles of wine and some scotch for grandma. Yep, if you're counting, that's FIVE BOTTLES OF WINE. And Ally is pregnant and wasn't drinking! Nope - didn't give any to the kids either. :) I felt like I was with friends I had known my whole life. We laughed, caught each other up on what our lives were like, found out interesting things about each other, took lots of pictures, and went to bed sometime after 2 am.

Ally and Jubal at dinner:



Around the dinner table:


trshtwns01, allykatt and georgiaskydiver:




LG even fell asleep while we were out at dinner. Must be time to head back to the hotel.


Grandma had to get LG into bed:


Then the ladies got wild!

The aftermath, in the hotel:




GS even tried on a bathing suit!


(You didn't think I was actually going to SHOW that pic, did you? What kind of a friend do you think I am???)

But I think these sum it up nicely:




We crawled into bed at SOME point. Mom had to get up WAY too early for her flight, but the rest of us slept in. Eventually, we had to motivate ourselves to finish packing and get out of the hotel. A small breakfast gave some level of motivation, or at least sticky toddler fingers and crispy bacon bits all over the hotel room floor. While GS showered, I got the LG ready to go. Isn't he just the cutest????





I took them to the airport, and although it broke my heart, we said goodbye.





I had an absolutely wonderful time, and couldn't ask for a better friend. I can't wait until the next time we can get together!!!!

Hey, GS - Love you. Mean it.

Now, more Ultram. Bed. Heating pad. Recovery. Ugh. :)