Dear Ilene

I’ve been meaning to write you a thank you note for a couple days now, and then I got your comment on my blog yesterday and so now this has evolved into a thank you / apology.

I am sorry I didn’t call you when I got home to let you know I arrived OK. To be honest, when you said that to me as I was leaving, I thought you were kidding (given the first paragraph in my most recent Grandma Durham post). I did think to call you when I got home but it was kind of late and I figured I’d talk to you soon enough. Oh, and I never got your text asking if I was dead. Did you get my text last night telling you I was, in fact, alive?

By the way, did you see me turn the wrong direction as I pulled out of your driveway? I hope so because I thought it was hilarious seeing how you asked me if I knew how to get back to the freeway and I said yes. Maybe that’s why you were worried about me getting home OK.

And I was thinking as I drove off that I should have offered to hang out longer and watch your kids while you picked up Dan and Jackson at church so you didn’t have to load them in the car again. And then I could have said goodbye to everyone. I’m a bad friend sometimes. It was fun going to church with you again, just like we did in college. With you sitting next to your husband this time and me entertaining Tommy, I did feel somewhat of a sister wife, but somehow it was still like old times.

On to the thank you: I had the best time with you this weekend! Thanks for being such a hospitable hostess (making me meals, buying me lunch). You’re so grown up to have a “guest” room where I can stay. And it was amazing to arrive only to see you making chicken noodle soup from scratch.

Your boys are adorable and Jackson was such a good boy to set the table. I miss playing hot and cold with him and I miss holding out my thumbs to Tommy’s fists so he could attempt to climb up on me all the while calling me “mama”. I’m also going to miss overhearing you answer Dan’s questions only to have you realize he was talking to the voice in his blue tooth – not you.

I miss holding baby Laura. She is so sweet and I love that she has dark hair. She is going to be a knockout in the red dresses we picked out for her! She looks good in red, brown, and yellow. I can’t wait for pictures. There isn’t anyone I would rather share my name with.

Visiting you this weekend has inspired me to do the following:

Buy a Le Creuset pot
Slice bell peppers in my Cuisinart (I found my slicer/grater blade)
Take pictures of the pretty food I make
Sew valences for my windows
Buy pillows from Cynthia (did that yesterday)
Seek out my celebrity double so I can shadow her fashion choices
…and burn half the pictures of me in college (I think you were right, how we escaped college unmarried is clear)

And you can tell Dan I’ll think about cable some more. I loved how he had to pause the DVR so we could talk about it.

You are a wonderful friend. You have a god-given ability to love and accept me for who I am and at the same time inspire me to be a better person. You remind me of all the good things I want in life. It’s no wonder I’m willing to drive half a day to spend two days with you. Some day when I have a family I’m going to make sure we have enough rooms so you can all stay with us.

xoxo,

Laura

P.S. You can also expect a card in the mail.