… is her friend (s). I know the song says “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” and let’s be honest, the sparklies are way up there on the list, but really, when it comes down to it, we LOVE, NEED, and TREASURE our buddies.

Loose Diamonds

Sometimes, I don’t realize how much I need my girls around me. You know how it is— life is busy, family takes precedence, commitments claw us to bits, and hanging out with your friends is demoted to the bottom of the barrel. This week, my girls came up trumps for me, and it was a beautiful reminder of the vital importance of friendship. Let me give you a brief overview:

As you know (unless you have been ignoring me/ living in a hole this past year), my daughter is getting married on May 10. Yes, I realize that’s only 11 days away.  The wedding is in Montreal, and I’ll be on a plane this time next week, so there have been bits and bobs to confirm, buy, and organize. There have also been a few other items on my agenda this past week, including:

  1. Recording a voice over for one of my ebooks- actually SIX voices, all different and sea creature-ish, causing much confusion to parts of my brain I didn’t know existed.
  2. Editing (much editing!) of promo material and fine-tuning of stories in readiness for the Sea Tales DVD coming out soon.
  3. Personal shopper duties for my bestie (okay, that one was a lot of fun)
  4. Two full, exhausting, exciting days selling my teen novels and schmoozing at the BC CHEC convention.
  5. Leading worship at my awesome church.
  6. Getting my fingerprints taken at the local police station AGAIN so that I can be sworn in as a Canadian citizen. Yes, I already did this criminal thing last year— you might recall my experience on my blog HERE.  Let’s just say it’s not my favourite hangout, and I am not a fan of the other Laura Thomas with similar biographical information to mine!

 

I share these highlights not merely to moan or whine (maybe just a little), but to give you the backdrop to the best surprise I have ever had. In the midst of my manic week when I wasn’t sure what my name actually was, my amazing friends pulled off a surprise “mother of the bride” party! Who knew there was such a thing? Yeah, I don’t think there is either, but who cares? I was completely blindsided by my angels who organized an evening of girly food, delicious wine, wedding-y flowers and scattered faux diamonds, and a chance for me to catch my breath and simply enjoy their amazing company.

2

We chatted and laughed and talked about the wedding, and they gave me a sweet card filled with their good wishes, along with a SPA GIFT CERTIFICATE! Ever want to know what to buy a mother of the bride? That would be it! They even wrote special notes to the bride and groom, which we’ll keep tucked away in the box until their 10th wedding anniversary.  How adorable is that?

 

It doesn’t matter if you’re in high school or the seniors home, we all need our “people” around us to laugh, cry, support, and do life with. It’s not being needy, it’s being human.  You don’t need to throw a party (although I do recommend that once in a while…), just be available. And I’m preaching to myself here more than anyone.

3

Friends are gifts. I’ll be thinking about my wonderful group of girls when my feet are being pampered this weekend— before the wedding fun really begins! And I’ll be boring them to death with every detail of the big day for months and months and months to come… because that’s what friends do!

My friends are awesome. You know who you are! 🙂

Ever grateful,

signature