Best Friends

Kathy Zawada-Tucek is one of my best friends in the whole world. She really is. I finally overcame my fear (well kind of) of driving through downtown Chicago to go visit her this past week. She has lived in what seemed like the Upper Penninsula (Actually just northern Illinois) for the past 5 or so years and I have never been to her house.

It was a crazy, fun, exhausting and special trip for me. I loved seeing Jeff, Kristen, their babies, Kathy and her whole clan (her husband Jason, son Joseph, and adorable daughter Madelyn).

While there the Tucek family treated us to a night at Chuck E Cheese's. The boys LOVED it! Sawyer just wanted to run through the whole place while laughing.

Charlie wanted to get on every ride and not sit still for any more than 2.5 seconds. He loved playing basketball with Jason and Joseph the most. The boys also ate an unbelievable amount of pizza. I think Sawyer had 2 full pieces and Charlie ate 3.

Sawyer was so exhausted by the end of the night. I can't even count how many times he fell down. By the time the night was over he had a small bloody nose, a cut on his lip and a gash on his thigh. He truly is a "Junk Yard Dog". This picture here is of him eating a Chicken leg. Kathy thought it helped explain our little nickname for him.

That night the plan was that Joseph and Charlie would have a sleepover in Joseph's room and Sawyer would sleep like an angel in Kathy's walk in closet. Kathy and I had visions of staying up late, talking about girly things and whispering late into the night. Hah! What were we thinking! In the end, Charlie came out of Joseph's room about 11pm and wanted to sleep with me. Charlie has never slept with us before. Not that we are against it, he just never calms down to the point that he can actually sleep. So after about 45 minutes of Charlie alternating between rubbing my arms and kissing me saying "wet one" and then doing a fake cry so that Sawyer would wake up and him saying, "Bubby's awake. I'm awake! Were done sleeping!" we finally fell asleep with Kathy, Charlie and I all in her bed.

The next morning Kathy and I started making plans for us to have a "girls weekend" away from the kids and husbands. I suggested a day at a spa. She suggested Jamaica. I like her idea better! I think we both felt bad that we didn't get much "face" time but that is just the way it goes with 4 kids under the age of two and a half.

Despite all the craziness my time with Kathy reminded me of why we are such good friends. We have been close since our Junior year of high school- 11 years ago. Wow! We are getting old! We have gone through the dating scene together, marriages and babies. We are sisters in Christ most importantly and that has held us together through a lot. One of the things I love most about my relationship with Kathy is that we love each other so much that we are honest with each other. Although we have not lived close in distance since our high school days, we remain close in spirit. I love you Kath!

Pardon the terrible picture of me! I was sweaty and exhausted after chasing the boys for an hour or so in Chuck E Cheese's. Notice that Kathy still looks fabulous! How does she do it????

peace out, a