Just an ordinary evening...

Val came over and I made one of my Dream Dinners.
Rosemary chicken with penne pasta. Totally fabulous - and the kids even ate all of it! Bonus!
We hung out, made brownies, and decided on the spur of the moment to go over to Kohl's so Val could get a couple tank tops she wanted.
We chatted and laughed about our silly husbands, joked at the kids' antics, and came home.
We ate brownies that we cooked a little too long, but still tasted fine.
Violet put on a show for us, complete with costume changes and a little brother dressed as a dinosaur.
Lots of singing and jumping and even lighting effects thrown in with the little $1 disco light ball I got at Target the other day.
The kids gave Val kisses and bug hugs and went to bed and Val and I went upstairs to talk of scrapping and crafting and different thoughts on how to decorate Violet's bedroom.
We dreamed of her room painted lavender and white with this totally cute bedroom set I found at Target the other day.
We talked of reupholstering my chairs that the dog Barabbas has ruined in a fabulous patterned fabric that Rick hates.
Val helped me think through a scrapping project I have been avoiding cause I wasn't motivated.
And next thing we knew, it was midnight.
Jim was coming to get Val.
We kept chatting, avoiding the inevitable.
And then it was time.
Too soon.
We hugged goodbye, and I fought back the tears.
It seemed like just an ordinary evening.
No drama, no crying, no craziness...
but it was time to say goodbye.
And I thought I was ready, but I wasn't.
How do I say goodbye to my friend?
I am thrilled for her. I am thrilled for Jim.
They are moving back to a city they love... to a job that's perfect for them.
Everything orchestrated by God in His perfect timing.
But not mine.
All of a sudden I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to say goodbye.
I didn't want to let go, but Jim said something to make us laugh.
He was playing ball with Barabbas... Barabbas loves him so much.
Riley loves him, too.
Riley's gonna miss Jim.
We are all gonna miss them.
Valerie was my doula when Riley was born.
She's been one of my closest and dearest friends for over 4 years.
She's like my big sister. I never had a big sister before.
Her phone message always said "leave us a message but we won't call you back"
and she would always call me back anyway.
We've spent days scrapping, days at the spa, days just hanging out with each other.
We've traveled together and didn't end up hating each other.
She always has the words I need to hear when I need to hear them.
She's been such an important part of my life for the last few years.
I love her so much.
And even though we tried so hard to make tonight an ordinary evening, we both knew it wasn't.
And when it came time to say goodbye, I didn't hug her nearly long enough.
I don't know when I will see her again.
I miss her already.