More of What We've Been Up To

One of the things I love most in this world is the type of friendship where you can see a person after being separated by great degrees of time and distance and pick up just like you never left off... Last week I was lucky enough to have TWO such friends visit. Nan and Jen are friends from college - who I mostly got to know through campus ministry retreats and theatrical campus ministry productions.

"There were theatrical campus ministry productions?" you ask. Yes. Yes there were, and they were glorious!

Things were a little different from our college days, of course, mostly because of the presence of four children ages 7 under.

Michael loves babies so much you guys, it's kind of heartbreaking. But he also doesn't really know how to interact with them appropriately - we're working on it.

They look so sweet together - you'd never know they were tying each other up with jump ropes and attempting to eat the sunscreen stick... Kids!

The visit was last Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday, I got to go to a new independent used book store near here and catch my friend Jen doing a reading from her book!

The bookstore was full of Jen's local friends and there was a ton of good spirit in that room - it was like a reading and a reunion combined. There was also an adorable one-year-old who loved grapes and continued to demand them throughout the reading. AND a mama cat and her kitten (with six toes!) that was just as adorable as you'd imagine.

Some of us were hanging out after the reading and I noticed the mama cat was relaxing beneath a table, looking exceptionally chill. Just as I was thinking I'd never seen a non-sleeping animal look that relaxed I realized the kitten was nursing! I realize this sort of thing happens, in nature, all the time, but it was so unusual to see a nursing pet (well probably not for people who's pets have babies), I was awed. I wanted to take a photo but that seemed sort of disrespectful to the cat. What really struck me was how much the cat and kitten looked like I felt when I nursed, especially when Harper was a baby and she would nurse quietly in our bed in the morning, both of us drifting in and out of sleep.

When Jen finished signing books we went down the street to a little bar where a group of us sat outside on a gorgeous night, shared some drinks, and had a genuinely lovely night out. Ten years ago this kind of night out may have continued until 2 a.m. and last week we were all ready to head home by eleven. We've grown old!

The other big news is that Matt's sister - also known as Aunt Meaghan - moved back to Ohio! Woot! We are so excited to have her living nearby. Harper demonstrated her enthusiasm by having Meaghan  complete timed "obstacle courses" on the swing set and sharing home- manicures.

Welcome home Meg!

And what have YOU been up to?