oh, it's good to be back here. we didn't spend much time in berkeley, b/c we were in a hurry to head up north to hang out with friends. the little time we did spend made Thing Two start whining "why did we have to mooo-oooove? why did you have to go to lawwwwwww schoooooool? I want to come baaaaaaacckkk!!!" i told her she had to stop whining, or else i can't bring her here on vacation anymore. she stopped.

my friends live up in wine country, and it's so beautiful. it was also great to be with them. A sat me on her couch and fed me tea and other healing items all day. the kids ran around and played. i enjoyed her middle child's maturity since i last saw him, and spent much of my time chatting with him. The older 2 (Thing One and her friend) were really non-existent all day, except for a couple times when jet lag hit Thing One, and she came to rest on me (and through me, the couch) for a little bit.

F and Thing One are what can be no better described than bosum buddies. They met when they were both 3, and we moved into family student housing. Ex-Schlurg and I were moving our belongings into our apartment, and F was following us around. He was clearly wildly intelligent, with an amazing vocabulary for a 3 year old. I thought "wow, Thing One will get along with this kid."

That was an understatement. Neither Thing One nor F have ever been the smoothest in the social department, and they had always been able to rely on each other during rough spots in preschool.

Eventually, however, F's father (A's husband, and one of the most impressive people I've ever met in his gentleness and involvedness with his family, and his intelligence and talent, etc.) graduated from school, and they moved. They stayed relatively close to Berkeley, in different places, and we stayed in touch, although more sporadically than the days where we lived right above them. Thing One and F always kept their connection - even if we hadn't seen each other for months, they would instantly fall back into that easy friendship. and continued to be that refuge from other stresses and hardships.

Then we moved across the country. and we hadn't seen them in 18 months. the longest ever. thing one was nervous. she asked me a few times "do you think F and I will still get along?" i told her yes, i do, that i think that they have that kind of friendship where it feels like you saw each other just last week. she said "mom, it's your JOB to tell me that, i don't believe that you mean it. Just like the way moms always tell their kids that they love their drawings - it doesn't mean it's true, it's just the mom's JOB." I told her that the two are NOT related, and that I really meant it, and that there were other people that we left behind that I *hope* she doesn't get along with anymore, b/c i didn't think they were good friends. she still didn't believe me.

but i was right. F was a little nervous when we first arrived, as was Thing One, but within 10 minutes, they were back at it. we were there for 9 hours today, and they were still loathe to say goodbye. we are spending the day together again tomorrow (or at least a good chunk of it).
And since we left, F has a new sibling. Little Z was born in October, and I met her for the first time today. She is gorgeous. b/c of my nasty cold which is not improving as of yet, i was unable to hold her today. which was sad. because she is the prettiest, happiest, nicest little baby!! i can't wait until we're back here next week when i'm [hopefully] better, and i can eat her up.

Right now, the Things are fighting over who is taking up more than 1/2 the bed. they're actually pissing me off. so i'm going to turn on the light, mediate the argument over the middle of the bed, and then take my Nyquil, so i can rest. i don't see anything on the label about fighting kids as one of the symptoms is treats .... but one can hope.

posted by Zuska @ 12:07 AM

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