The "other sister"

I know what you're thinking. You're wrong. Allow me to introduce her...Presenting Judy...the official "other sister." She is my best friend and an official member of our family. In the tradition of our family, every birthday brings a sap, sap, sappy blog post...so even though I am a complete LOSER (hence the post 10 days after ACTUAL BIRTHDAY) she has earned her blog post....

So, I'm not even sure when we became friends, but I know before we were friends, I didn't have anyone I talked to, oh, say 5 times a day. And when you are a mother of small children, everyone needs that someone. There wasn't anybody who I would just "drop in on" any time at all. Judy is one of the strongest people I know. She is a rock when the world is tumbling all around her. I watch as curve balls are thrown at her and find myself amazed at how she ends up on top. She has taken care of my kids more times than I can count. And that includes CARTER when he was a walking disaster/hurricane. She even watched Bella for me when she was only like three months old. Bella wouldn't take a bottle and I was going to be gone for a long time (Kristin was taking out her endowments). And she still did it. I can't remember how it actually turned out, but I remember thinking nobody else would've done that for me. She's stuck with me through all of my kids' crazy phases...one of my first memories of "us" is when I had to stay in nursery because Jake was in his biting phase. He totally bit James and although Judy was concerned about the BITE marks on his arm, she still spoke to me afterwards and even let James play with Jake after that. We made it through Jake and James' fighting phase only to watch Bella and Emily jump in and start fighting all the time too. And through all of this, she has spoiled me with fabulous pictures of the kids that I will treasure forever. I could never afford to have such beautiful pictures done of my kids. I feel very lucky.

One of the hardest things for me about moving to Fresno was leaving Judy behind. It was possibly one of the hardest things to do. It was so nice to have that kind of friend right up the street. I knew I could call her for anything, any time (and I did, I assure you). And, I knew I'd miss the fun. She makes me laugh all the time. I love it that she can hang out with my siblings and my parents and she GETS US! She thinks we're totally funny. She knows we're not normal and she's okay with that. We dont' even have to pretend to be normal around her. It cracks me up the Emily and James refer to dad as "Papa" just like our kids do. I miss Papa taking all of our kids on Sunday walks. She can totally take our crazy games of "Sorry" and understand why Matty is going around for the 15the time without going "home" because it's all about "the kill." She knows when Mark calls her (and everyone else) "Varment" that it is a term of endearment. During one of the early seasons of "The Apprentice" we used to watch it together late at night. Now that is someone who has her priorities straight. One season, the finale was on at a time when we were getting carpeting installed at our Decoro house. Everything was moved outside for the day. She totally understood why I had to move that archaic, huge, heavy, gargantuine, t.v. inside before Rick got home. I mean, hello....we were going to miss some of "the Apprentice." ****Disclaimer, I may or may not have damaged the brand new, recently finished fireplace when I moved that beast of a t.v. in, but Judy said it was totally worth it. We've had various late night get togethers with other friends watching some t.v. show, but mainly it was just to be able to hang out. When we moved into our house on Decoro, we had to scrape the ceilings. It was a disgusting job. Then, after that, there was the mudding all the dumb little nail holes and sanding them. It is a crappy job and Judy came and did it with me. The night before we moved out, the stress level was getting to me...Judy showed up and cleaned for me. I was so grateful for the help.

Judy (and her sister Ginger) threw me a baby shower for Bella. Perhaps that seems not so out of the ordinary...it's what friends do for friends, right? Definitely. Only so far, I had successfully avoided all baby showers completely. I don't do parties for me...I just don't like being the center of attention. But, somehow, Judy talked me into it...maybe it was by saying something along the lines of, "I'm giving you a shower and if you don't show up, you're going to look really bad." Something like that. I had a great time. And I got some fabulous stuff. Where was she when Jake was a baby???

I miss having Judy up the street from me. You just don't find people like that very often. I remember one time going out for Judy's birthday to Elephant Bar. There were SO MANY PEOPLE there! I couldn't believe it. I remember thinking...everybody loves Judy! She has so many friends! And it's true...because she's the kind of friend everyone wants to have. She's loyal to the death and she's so much fun to be around. There is a goodness about her that makes me want to be better. She accepts my quirks and either pretends not to notice, or just doesn't care. So, here's to you Judy. Thank you for being my friend. I can't wait til Carter marries Emily so we can be related. Happy Belated Birthday...Now stop wasting time and buy dead lady's house so you can live next door to me...