is it Christmas?

I am still laughing to myself as I type this. This week has just been the greatest. It started actually on the weekend when Karen and Joe borrowed our kids for the weekend. :) What a nice break for us and what a fun time for Jessie and Anna. They were treated to hours in the pool with Uncle Joe, a trip to the movies with Aunt Sue and basically anything two little munchkins could possibly want and/or need - including Grammy Jayne time. Wow!

So, over the "free" weekend Chris went to visit his Dad on the Cape complete with a tour on Nantucket by his Dad. (If you ever do a bus tour of Nantucket, ask for "Chuck" and you're in for a real treat). I brought the girls to Karen on Saturday and treated myself to Christmas Tree Shops afterwards. Once Chris arrived home we basically cleaned the house from top to bottom, including Jessie's room (a project in and of itself). We stayed up late and slept in and had a nice time together.

Sunday night we picked up the girls and Monday was a very quiet low-key kind of day. The girls were so tired from their adventures so I took advantage and put a nice dent in my typing. Tuesday morning I totally slacked off - when I heard someone banging on my front door I was still staggering around in my PJs with my coffee. Imagine my total SHOCK when I realized who it was - my friend Dana and his family. Did I happen to mention that they live in Virginia? I think all I could say for the first few minutes was, "Oh, my GOD!" Repeat about 15 times and that was pretty much my end of the conversation.

And I am SO kicking myself for not thinking to take any pictures!

So, Dana. Dana is one of my oldest friends. Dana and my high school steady sweetie were best friends, so it's fair to say we'd hung out together a lot. Dana and Mark could not have appeared to be any more different than each other: Dana was always very outgoing (read: loud) and Mark always appeared to be pretty reserved (note that I said appeared to be). Together, they always seemed to bring out the best in each other. I have a lot of fun memories of the two of them - their humor, antics, ability to debate anything, thoughtfulness and just plain smarts.

Dana and I have maintained pretty good contact over the years and I am so proud to know his beautiful wife, Amy, and his kids Molly and Max. Amy is amazing - she's the type of person that within 2 minutes you feel like you've known her forever. She really is *that* neat.

So, once I got over the fact that the house was a disaster (allready) and we were down to our last roll of TP, we had a great visit. I managed to say a little bit more other than "OMG!!!" and before I knew it they were gone. Still a little shocky, I decided to give Mark a call and tell him about the suprise visit. What the hell, right? Dana and Amy just saw me in my PJs, I might as well call Mark and share the shock a little. :) And again - just like it was so good to see Dana and Amy - it was so cool to talk to Mark. Usually we'll email, but nothing can replace hearing a person's voice. We chitchatted about our families (their expecting #2 in November! Yay!) and stuff and although poor Mark is probably wishing I'd lose his number, it was still fun to touch base and actually converse. Somewhat. Because I seriously talk way to much.

From there, Tuesday just got better...little things, like my hairdresser having enough time that afternoon to cut not only my hair but Jessie's and Anna's as well. Then I did a quick clean up of the house (nevermind the panic clean, this was I-am-so-embarrassed-clean), did dinner and before I knew it, Chris was home. We had a fun evening with the kids and then they were off to bed.

Wednesday the weather here was beautiful - once I did some more typing in the morning the girls and I did a run to the office to pick up and drop off more reports. After that we headed over to the park to play (which went well until Jessie had to pee) and then we headed home. More typing, Spongebob, puzzles with Anna, Barbies and crafts with Jessica, dinner, bed. Phew.

Today, the good juju just keeps on coming. My boss calls me today and basically asks me if I'd like tomorrow off. Hello? Of COURSE! Thank YOU! So, now I can still bring the girls to Kelly's tomorrow and finish every.single.freakin.report. here on my desk. Honestly, what did I do to deserve this week?

Okay, so I have a small Army of children here at the moment and now they're clamoring for juice. :) Of to go do the Mommy/Mrs. B. thing.