friendship...how sweet it is

two days before scout and i crossed the atlantic for our spring break vacation,
i received a message from andrea, the  mother's of scout's bestie. she attached
this poem that spencer had shared with her and she couldn't resist sharing with me.
it warmed my heart and made me smile.  i'm not sure if i will see the final version,
but i wanted to save this draft here as a reminder to all of us that friendships are
blessings at any age, and that scout sure has found a great one in spencer.

best buddies: scout and spencer

my best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.
~ henry ford

i am sure i have mentioned the special friendship between these
two boys before in one of my previous posts.

scout and spencer met in first grade and have been inseparable ever since.

they were fortunate to have been in the same 2nd and 3rd grade class as his class 'looped'
{the teacher and class matriculated together}.
i can't begin to describe how grateful i am that this sweet boy came into scout's life.
all i can say is that they are kindred spirits these two.  they share so many things in
common: each has an older brother, are small, play the piano, are the top in their grade,
voracious readers, love math,  are mature for their age and are passionate about soccer.

more than any of these shared interests, what's most special about their friendship
is that they are truly good for each other. they encourage each other 
to make good choices and they genuinely care about each other.

in the last conference we had with scout's teacher, she told c and I {as well as spencer's parents}
that she truly believes their friendship will last through adulthood. what an usual and
beautiful thing to say about two 8 year old boys. time will tell, and my hope is she is right.
that this special friendship will endure.

i'm posting about this friendship today because a BIG event will be taking place next
month that is causing these two boys to be apart for one year.  spencer's family will be
moving to spain, barcelona specifically.  living abroad with her family is something
spencer's mother has been dreaming of doing, so she figured a way to make it happen!
i should note, she's doing it with a family of five too {her husband and 3 children}.
they are renting out their home, the mother is taking a year off from teaching, and her husband
will continue to run his business from abroad.  

though scout and our family has known about this move for no less than 6 months,
it's difficult for scout to talk about even now.  he gets tears in his eyes and tell me
how much he will miss his friend anytime the subject comes up.  my heart breaks for
him.  i acknowledge his sadness and pain, and also remind him that the two can email
each other every day, skype often, send paper letters and possibly even visit.
the sweet morton family extended an invitation to visit next spring.


they'd like for scout to stay an additional week and fly back with spencer's dad as he needs
to come back to the states to check in with his office. i would LOVE to make this happen
and let scout know that if mom can manage to save enough money for even the two of us,
we will go and have a huge adventure in Europe.
{this trip is definitely one way to motivate me to spend less and save}




i will be reporting back through the next several months.

you have been my friends

i am taking a minute today to share this quote that i found when i was

looking for the right words to share to some special ladies in my life.

because i married young and moved far from my childhood home,

c and i ended end up choosing friends who became our second family.  

a few we met in tucson during our early 20s and we moved to san diego

within a year of each other.  others we met shortly after we moved here.

we shared so much with this group.

like most 20 year olds, we loved to have fun. we spent holidays together,

camped, travelled, threw lavish new years parties, snowboarded, surfed,

learned to swing dance together, had regular game nights, ran in races,
went to concerts, etc.  for a decade of our lives, the majority of our free time
was spent with these friends.


when c and i decided to start a family of our own, things changed.
our lives slowed down. our weekends were spent at home or the beach with
our new family.  our disposable income went to daycare and later to piano and
to sports. am i complaining? not at all. this is the life we were ready for and we chose.
it was very much on purpose.
though i miss these friends, i am savoring the stage of life i'm in right now...
content seeing this 'family of friends' whenever i can.  these days, it is usually
for special occasions like birthdays and the annual 'holiday head' party.

i got together with several of these ladies recently and they presented me with a token

of our friendship. the gift was not just unexpected, but it was beautiful and meaningful,

and yes, it brought tears (to all of us).  this simple quote above from author, e.b. white

captures the essence of friendship so perfectly.   

my life is better and brighter because of dear friends.

and this is truly a tremendous thing.

the danish girl

i love you, because you are the only person who made sense of me, who made me possible.
- einar wegener
























i had the privilege of watching the danish girl a few weeks ago with my dear friend melissa.

we both love movies....independent and foreign films are melissa's favorites and dramas are mine.
this movie caught our eye, and i'm so glad we chose it because we couldn't have been more pleased.

the performance by eddie redmayne is nothing less than brilliant.

you may remember eddie in his role as marius in the movie musical, les miserables
{yes, he can sing too}. last year he portrayed stephen hawking in the theory of everything
and took home an oscar for his performance.

his role as einar / lily in this film took my breath away.
one might watch the trailer and believe it's a transgender movie,
but that's just a part of it.  at it's core, it's a love story.
that's all i'll say.  friends, see it, and don't forget tissue.  

this movie will stay with me for a very long time.

forever probably.

~ and the young swedish actress who plays his wife gerda, was cast perfectly.

my friend

each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.
~ anais nin

my girlfriend aleyda and her sweet son daniel came over this afternoon for a playdate/dinner. it had been far too long since we had gotten together and i vowed to pick a standing date once a month so that nothing gets in the way of getting together. it's important to me to see her more, and since the boys play so beautifully together, it's just something that we need to make happen! (i am putting in writing as a backup reminder)

aleyda is a friend i've known since shortly moving to san diego. we met through mutual 'pb pals' long before we were even thinking about kids. we spent years partying together, bringing in new years, taking trips to mexico, and even taking swing dance lessons. she had an amazing career then that took her all over the world and i loved hearing about her adventures. eventually she met a great guy, settled down and became a full-time mother - and a very good one!

i remember her coming over to the house shortly after scoutie was born to visit. i was on maternity leave and my mom was visiting and we all chatted in the living room for a while. when she left, my mother just couldn't say enough good things about her. mom is pretty selective when it comes to her children's friends (even though we are grown adults). she fell in love with her sincerity and her ability to talk so comfortably. i wonder now if she was thinking she might be a 'good catch' for todd too - at least until she found out she was married. *smile*

i agreed with mom then and couldn't agree more now. she's is an *amazing* woman - funny, smart, kind, honest, genuine, a great mother and friend. i think about our friendship - how it has morphed and changed throughout the years. it's been interesting and wonderful and i hope it lasts a lifetime.

~ today's pix reminded me of aleyda because she's been to paris several times. this and we both enjoy a glass of wine whenever we get together in the evenings.