Tortilla chips and salsa

Food is a blissful thing.

Sharing spectacular food with great friends is beyond measure. This past weekend the kids and I left our house/car/school/phone hunting responsibilities 3 hours behind and traipsed off to Keller Tx to visit some friends. We drove straight through Calvert Tx, a tiny little town we all oogled at for it's oldtimeyness and it's reminiscent downtown storefronts, promising ourselves that next time we drive to Keller, mum will NOT forget the camera, we can take a photo of the the beautiful shopfront bearing the name Oscar Building.

Seeing the building stirred up a whole flurry of conversations about the brothers and the boy himself who bears the buildings name, happy-happy conversations! Only 18 wks until we see them again!

So Keller. The kids have grown and matured. Goes without saying, but it is still astonishing when you are looking face to face with a boy you have known since the Wiggles were cool in your house. And yes - time to face the music chinstickergirl, he is taller than you! With a graciousness that Mississippi breeds her husband encourages, humors, and baffles (it was the dancing no one thought I witnessed) and all without being over the top, pleasant to be welcomed in their home. Lots of swimming, feeding of the masses, dogwalks, late night talks and hugs later, and all is just a little bit sunnier in life.

It had been a bit over 14 months since I'd last visited. We have lived a decade in that time. We are somewhat hardened and softened all at the same time by what we have endured. Our year has been rough, but we have learned more than we will ever be able to put into words I am sure. But (yes, J there is always a but, lucky I am cute eh?) the kids walk in and it is as if we left last weekend. They are all bigger and with much longer hair, but the friendship that has spanned an ocean picks up right where it left off 14 months ago. That's just so pleasantly comforting.

And.


You can never consume too many tortilla chips.