TEE HEE HEE HA HA SNICKER CACKLE

My friend Wendy and I go waaaaay back. We napped together on mats in kindergarten – I still remember feeling the THUMP, THUMP, THUMP of the floor as our ample teacher crossed the room! We chased boys at recess, and let them chase us. We tromped around barefoot in foot-deep slush, just for fun. We giggled our way through junior high…ok, through a lot of high school, too…ok, ok, we’re still giggling.


We had a great time when Wendy and her husband, Rick, visited last weekend. What a treat! We yakked our way through salmon and beets and English peas at a local restaurant, and after church the next morning, we continued our yakking through a Chinese buffet. Then we enjoyed a ferry ride and walk along the riverfront, where we stopped for a cup of coffee and were entertained by Rick’s version of a FUNNY STORY, which began with someone in the hospital, and ended with a murdered cat (well, accidental death, I guess, but a dead cat is a dead cat)!

We took the doggies with us – Pippin and Buddy managed to ignore each other the entire time! Buddy found a look-a-like (except it was a girl, based on the barrettes).



That evening, Rick shared his story with our church family. His life AND his family’s lives changed drastically eleven years ago when a cargo door fell on him, rendering him a paraplegic. His testimony of God’s hand in his life is awesome – for more about Rick, click here.


Everyone enjoyed visiting with Wendy and Rick afterwards, and then a bunch of us went out and yakked our way through some yummy Mexican food. As if we hadn’t eaten enough this weekend, we met again for an early breakfast before they headed back to South Carolina. I think I gained 5 pounds in two days!



Wendy’s been a terrific friend over the years, and a whole lot of fun. I won’t embarrass her with any stories right now – sadly, she has no stories to tell on me. Well, ok, I’ll tell one small story. We were probably in our early teens, and walking down the road one dark wintry evening (times sure have changed). We stopped and stood in the shadow of a large building (cast by a streetlight nearby) as we discussed plans for the evening (like whether to buy candy or eat popcorn in front of the TV, most likely).

Suddenly, a large sedan came toward us and stopped right in front of us, and a bright spotlight was trained on us. Wendy, wrapped to the eyes in a fluffy striped scarf, froze like a deer in headlights, leaving me to do all the talking to the police officer who suspected us of some kind of mischief. I so clearly remember that look on Wendy’s face (which probably made the officer really wonder what on earth we were up to!) and I remember the wheels turning in my head as I looked back and forth from him to her and realized it was up to shy-little-me to speak! I chattered my way out of it, the officer drove off, and Wendy came back to life. We giggled our way to her house (at a much faster pace) and got back to the business of junior high living, most of which included snacking, yakking and, of course, more giggling.