SWEET FRIENDSHIP!

Our dear friends, Mark & Barbara, are coming for a visit and spending the night in Vienna. We are so excited to have them with us! Our friendship goes WAY BACK! Mark, Bobby, & I worked together at a bank when Mark was in college and then after his graduation, I was a single Mom and then went back to college, and Bobby was our boss. When I started back to college, I went to night classes and worked full time. Barbara picked up Scott for me and took care of him until I got home. Bobby & I courted in their living room. They were our witnesses when we "eloped" after the bank stockholder's meeting. We have raised our children together and lived life together. We started going on vacation together when Gabe was 18 months old. He is now 31 and this summer will be our 29th vacation. We know all about each other and yet they still love us! We celebrated Thanksgiving together until this past year. We have LOTS OF HISTORY! They live in south Louisiana, so we do not get to see each other daily. When we finally manage to get together, we pick up where we left off and love every second. In these days of kids being scattered all over the country, grandchildren to visit, and aging parents, it is more and more difficult to get together, but well worth the effort!

The neatest thing about our friendship is how we have grown "In the Lord" together. When I think back to where we were in our faith in the beginning and where we are now it is unbelievable. You have to know that God had this in His plan and pulled us together for this very purpose. We have spent many a late night discussing theology and stretching each other to think. Truly we are blessed to call them Friend!

BC is most anxious to see the replies to his blog from last night. I told him that for some strange reason, most people do not comment, even knowing it can be annoymous. Bobby is the best writer of the family. Of course, that minor in English, probably didn't hurt his abilities. I am looking out at the woods from all of my den windows and thinking about that very night and how the woods were filled with cars, trucks, and teens. MOST MEMORABLE!

We ran our first double digit run this AM since the marathon. After running that 10, REALLY SLOW, in the cold (Ice on the puddles), it is really hard to believe that 3 weeks ago I ran 26 miles. I am having lots of problems with my hip again. I went to the massage terrorist yesterday and almost cried it hurt so bad. He FOUND the spot-right in the hip socket. He told me if I did not get some better by Sunday, it probably was arthritis. My old friend "Arthur" has me in a major wad! How strange that it did not hurt while in the later stages of training for Houston, but once I came home and quit taking the medicine (HMMMMM) it is once again killing me!