Sittin' Here Missing My Best Friend

I'm sitting around tonight feeling sorry for myself because I'm missing my best friend from Louisiana so terribly, my heart feels like it's going to fall out of my body. Just thought I'd repost this story to show everybody how wonderful of a person she is. I just read on Facebook that she's looking for a person in the New Orleans area that would allow a young child to ride, brush, pet a horse. She says her niece is inexperienced, but desperately in love with horses. She thought it would be a great Christmas present. Isn't she the best!


THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2009

Attachment: I Hope You Dance

I have a bijillion things to do right now and the kids are both napping (so you know how precious this time is), but I'm dropping it all right now to tell this story!
Just a few minutes ago I got a call from my long-time friend (one of the best!!!), Jennifer. She had called the other day to tell me that something was in the mail for me. Now mind you, her birthday was this past Monday. So I'm kind of like, wow, you buy me things for your birthday? I've got a good gig going here. haha.
Well, anyways, back to today's phone call.

Me: Hello
Jenn: Are you near a computer? (she rarely ever says hello back.... and I love that about her. She gets right to it)
Me: I can be
Jenn: I'm sending you an email with an attachment.
ME: Ok.... I'm here, I'll just open my email.... (here's where we had a short, funny little conversation about how impatient we are b/c the email wasn't absolutely instant, and when I say absolutely, I mean it only took about 45 seconds to reach me from Louisiana. But I was still impatient enough to comment about "Ugh, it's not here yet"
Me: Oh, here it is. (I read the title "I Hope You Dance")
Me: Oh, I love that song
Jenn: I know!
Then I proceed to open the attachment and see this:


Me: Oh, I love this artist! What a pretty..... OH!!!!!!!
Tears instantly come rushing out of my eyes like they never have before
Me: I..... Oh my gosh...... ah..... *sniff* ..... I..... don't..... Oh my gosh! *sob sob sob sob*
Jenn: (laughing) It's for you.

Jennifer had read my previous post about my new favorite artist, Peggy Thibodeau, and had contacted her and told her my story about my parents and me. After a few conversations and Peggy Thibodeau checking out my blog (OMG!!!), and flipping through different pieces of artwork, they came up with this piece for me. SHE PAINTED IT JUST FOR ME!!!

I am still crying! It is the most special thing!!!!!
I'm still speechless, Jennifer. You are too precious of a friend, and you'll never know how much you mean to me!!!!!!!!!!!!! And yes, this is definitely going in the book!!!!
Thank you,

And here's what people who read my blog had to say about it:

Lauren Cole said...

That is the sweetest thing, Mary Beth! True friends are absolutely rare :)

JULY 30, 2009 3:12 PM

Anneke said...

Wow, that is truely amazing. You know what MB - people love you because you are so wonderful to love. This painting is so so beautiful, and so full of you. Lots of love, anneke xoxox

JULY 30, 2009 4:14 PM

Melissa Lester said...

What a wonderful, heartfelt gifts you have in that painting and in your friend!

JULY 30, 2009 11:28 PM

Robin said...

Wow....what a great friend! That was so very thoughtful. So......what did you get her for her birthday? :-D

AUGUST 10, 2009 10:21 AM

Michelle said...

WOWWOWOOWOWOWOWOW! How amazing!!!!!

AUGUST 10, 2009 10:32 AM

samsstuff said...

What a wonderful friend you have & what a very special gift! You are very lucky!
I saw your blog featured on the SITS site & I had to stop by to comment on your lovely blog.
Take care,
Shelley

AUGUST 10, 2009 12:39 PM

San said...

What a great friend you have!!! :) Such a thoughtful gift!

AUGUST 10, 2009 10:15 AM

shelley said...

Wow, i'm so stuned every once in a while when i see a post that "hits" me... you need to go to my blog this link... http://iamstillstandingafterallthistime.blogspot.com/2009/08/and-when-you-get-choice-to-sit-it-out.html
i think you will enjoy! welcome to my world! sending smiles on your wonderful sits day!
shelley
http://iamstillstandingafterallthistime.blogspot.com
http://theplaygroundprincess.blogspot.com

AUGUST 10, 2009 12:15 PM

Queenie Jeannie said...

Kinda teary here too. What a great friend you have!!!

And as a Mom, I hope you dance too.

AUGUST 10, 2009 6:27 AM

Amandasaurus said...

Wow, what a unique and special birthday gift! You really have a forever friend in Jennifer. Lucky you

AUGUST 10, 2009 6:21 AM

BunnoGal said...

Wow. You must have felt so loved when you realised it was made for you.

AUGUST 10, 2009 4:00 AM

Kekibird said...

Wow, that's fabulous, touching and so cool! To have an artist check out your blog and then to have that picture done for you. So wonderful.

Happy FB on SITS Day!

AUGUST 10, 2009 2:14 PM

Kirsten said...

MaryBeth: I don't even know the real significance behind the painting, but just reading the excerpt between you and Jennifer brought streams of tears to my eyes. Friends like that are so hard to find - hang tight to each other!!

AUGUST 10, 2009 2:40 PM

Mary Beth said...

Yes, she is a WONDERFUL friend. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have her in my life. I wish y'all knew her too. On top of having a heart the size of Texas, she is hilarious, leveling, and scary brilliant (I bet she'd qualify for Mensa if she were to test for it).

Queenie Jeannie - I lost my mother recently, so this was an incredibly special gift. You saying that you hope the same for me (as a mother yourself) means so much. It's so sweet of you to say so. Thank you

Shelley - I sure will stop by

Kirsten - when my mother was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2003, she told me that she wanted me "to dance" just like the song had said. I made her a scrapbook that went along with the lyrics. It had pictures that went with each line of the song to show her that I am "dancing" so that she would feel more at peace with where I am in life and leaving me. Once she passed away, I found the scrapbook in the drawer of her bedside table. We were very close, and I'm glad that we shared those particular moments and didn't let it pass by. I know that she knows that I'm ok.

AUGUST 10, 2009 3:00 PM

Meg said...

Beautiful story & painting!

AUGUST 10, 2009 3:47 PM

ldsmommyof12 said...

A wonderful story of friendship. Thanks.

AUGUST 10, 2009 4:16 PM

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

Hahaha... yeah right. Now that's a stretch!!!!!

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Geneology - Family tree template

and here's another one.... hahaha. This is fun!

Renaissance Festival

Last weekend we had some gorgeous weather, so we took advantage of it and went to the Renaissance Festival. I had no idea that it was going to be so much to do there. There literally is no way that you can see it all in one day, but here are some of the things that we saw the day that we went.

Some scenes from the Renaissance Festival. They really do a great job of making you feel like you are taking a stroll around during the Renaissance era.

Yet another time when our wagon has come to save the day. The kids loved being pulled by Daddy and seeing all of the sites from their wagon.

Drew and I decided to go pet a goose. She was dressed up just for the occasion, but I think she was getting a bit hungry by the time we saw her.

Drew and Daddy are my knights in shining armor! Drew, you did a great job slaying that dragon!

Notice the guy in the background. All of the rides were man-powered. For this one, there were four guys making the whole ride spin. How very "Renaissance" of them.

Of course Drew and Daddy got the "flying machine" with the sign.

Drew and Daddy in Leonardo's Flying Machine

I love this picture. Drew looks up to his Daddy so much. I know he loves doing stuff with his Daddy.

Daddy is trying to make it up Jacob's Ladder to ring the bell without putting a foot down.

Window shopping Renaissance style.

Interesting to see people with things like this just walking around.

These singing nuns were hilarious. They gave us the perfect reason to stop and relax while we grabbed a bite to eat.

Hey, anybody up for throwing tomatoes at a heckler?

This guy was relentless! He would even keep heckling you while catching the tomato that you threw at him.

Daddy and Drew really enjoyed the show.

That's a lot of tomatoes. He must have made a lot of people really mad!

After walking a bit further, we saw this guy sitting. We stopped so that Drew could see some magic tricks.

He does a neat card trick for Daddy. He was really good! We couldn't figure it out at all (and usually we can).

Colin walked away saying, "my work here is done." Did you notice all of the people that gathered

Emma and I stopped to take a picture for Daddy.

These guys were juggling fire. But it doesn't stop there! They were actually passing the juggled fire back and forth to each other without missing a beat!

This drunkard was just laying there, with his ale, begging for money. If you think about it, this was his business plan. He went to the Renaissance Festival people and said, "I'll be the begging drunkard." and they said yes! This is what he had to offer and it really is what he does to make money. Crazy!

The next event was "jousting to the death!" Here are the king and queen greeting the crowd.

These were "the bad guys.

Before the jousting begins.

The jousting is on!

After jousting, we walked around some more. There was still so much more to see. How classic is this!?!

After coming across some Greyhounds, Drew decided that he just had to go pet them. Colin was up for it, especially considering how many of them his family has had.


It was a great day, but now I must bid thee farewell.

Well, out of the literally hundreds of pictures that I took, this is what I decided to narrow it down to. I know, crazy. We'll definitely be going back again next year.
Huzzah!