They Left, on a Jetplane

Oh, what a whirlwind, you guys. My dearest friend in all the world (known here as East Coast Anne) was here visiting and now she's not and it went way too fast and it was kind of a stressful visit in terms of caring for our combined FIVE children and we didn't get to talk enough just the two of us and I can't believe the effort she went to, to get here (and then HOME AGAIN) alone, on a plane with a 4 year old and a 1 year old and I'm so sad she's gone.

And to top it off, I forgot to ask her permission to post photos of her kids here, which is really too bad because you guys? They are GORGEOUS.

So they left this morning and we leave to go camping tomorrow for 4 days and we haven't packed or figured out food/meals and I probably need to do laundry before we go and my house is showing the effects of having FIVE feral children little sweeties underfoot for 5 days.

Also? I miss EC Anne already, and she's probably not even back to her own house yet. And I feel sad that there wasn't more blissful fun moments but proud that we team-worked parenting our kids. It sucks that I won't see her again for probably at least a year, and who knows if next time we'll get all of our kids together or if we'll just say fuck it and meet somewhere, just the two of us. Which would be awesome, but then I won't see her kids (nor she, mine) for MORE THAN a year, which just seems wrong and BLERG.

I'm just a little bit pissed (read: MAJORLY PISSED) that life put us a couple thousand miles apart.

HOWEVER.

This time tomorrow night I'm going to be sitting by a campfire, with all the planning and packing behind us. And I'll take some photos of the sunset, and hug some friends that I don't see often enough, and watch my kids run in wild little packs, like hyenas, complete with maniacal laughing and mangier-by-the-moment fur.

And by Sunday, I'll be a whole new person. I'll still be missing my friend, but with more perspective and clarity, and less raw emotion.

I hope.