with friends like this.

last week lucas was in China on a grand adventure of the Lehigh MBA variety.

i was 50% excited for him, 30% jealous, and 20% dreading the "take care of both kids by yourself for nine days" part that went along with it.  thankfully, i have reallyREALLY good friends, otherwise that would have been more like 5% excited, 95% dreading. my best friend from California, Candice, saved the day ((week)).  she flew out and stayed with me to help with the kids and just generally be awesome.

Candice is the kind of friend that makes you dinner AND washes all the dishes. she'll hold your teething cranky baby, play with your defiant toddler, and act like it's no big deal. she will see you looking at a bruise on your arm and say "you don't have cancer", because she knows that's exactly what you were thinking. she will make you snort with laughter,  spill your guts, and thank God for crossing your paths. she's such a great friend, she will even fly across the country because she knows you're going to need help. i would post a picture of us from her visit, but since all of those include us in childcare mode ((not exactly at our most photogenic)), i will post a picture of us in our prime instead:

buddies, circa 2007

i'm excited for this upcoming move for many reasons, but having my friend back in the same time zone is one of the big ones. actually, i should take that whole "in our prime" comment back. that was our first prime. here's to the second.