I'd Rather Cry With You Than Laugh With Anyone Else

I still haven't come to any firm conclusions about capitalization in titles, but seeing as how the internet has nearly obliterated any sort of absolute standard in grammatical propriety, I'm going to follow my heart.  Perhaps I'll write on that later - the contribution world wide connectivity has made to ultimate relativism.  Perhaps I'll lose the motivation and not.  

This past weekend four of my sweet girlfriends came up to visit me.  The Assyrians came up about a year ago & my parents came up to rescue me in November, and those have been the only visits I've had here in the 'Ding.  Until this weekend, that is.  Witness below the joy of camaraderie.  

Jill, my sister-in-law; Joy, a dear friend for years; Sarah, likewise a loyal friend; and Emily, the backbone of my emotional stability.

I was tickled pink in anticipation of their arrival, but I could not have anticipated the sense of calm euphoria that their presence provided.  I realized that I am perfectly happy where I am, however something is continually missing - and that is my friends.  I know we all have grossly busy lives and that if we were to live in the same place we'd be apart more than we'd be together - it's just the simple fact of inaccessibility that drives me nuts.  That I can't call any of them and ask if I might swing by on my way home from work, that I can't invite them to a dinner party at regular intervals, that I can't just be there when something hurts or goes wrong, that I can't just be there when something is wonderfully right - these are the things that are missing.  It's terribly unfair to all the people I meet nowadays that they pale in comparison to these friends of mine.  How lucky am I to have even one person to call my friend, much less these ladies who delight my heart!

PS - MANY MANY thanks to Tawny & Cathy who put up with us all weekend & double helpings to Tawny for serving as the photographer when I didn't even think of it :)