as we go through life i think it's funny to think about the people who have remained in our lives for the long haul, as i like to put it. the people who you have stayed in touch with you through the various stages of your life and as you've moved on to different places. what is also funny to think about is that sometimes the easiest relationships to hold onto are the ones in which it is okay to have long lapses of contact but the second you do reconnect it is like no time has passed and also there is no love lost, or hard feelings. i'm notoriously horrible at getting back to people in a timely manner, and then at a certain point i start to feel so guilty at my flakiness that i then avoid the call back or reply message simply because i'm embarrassed. this only perpetuates the cycle and by the time i do finally talk to the person there is that awkward..."so, yea, sorry about not getting back to you sooner..."

still some of my favorite people, and the ones who i feel like i've been through so much with, whether it is hilarious inside jokes, shared war stories, and the people i can vent to without being afraid of sounding like a whiner or complainer are the same people who i have played infinite rounds of phone tag with (in essence we may both be a bit flaky!). still it is refreshing when we finally do connect because we are inevitably always picking up again without missing a beat, are still able to relate the same way we did years ago, and without having to always say it we know the other person cares a great deal about us.

what's also interesting is that the friendships that do end up lasting throughout our lives can be from surprising places. it may not be your best friend since grammar school (or it could be!) but instead a coworker who at the time you were friendly with but didn't envision growing that close too. and yet when things do get tough and we find ourselves in need of a person to help us through it, it is these people who step up. it then becomes clear who your real friends are and for that we need to be thankful and remember that when the time comes that they in turn may need a little help that they can rely on you.

i bring this up because recently i've been seeing the people that have continually been there for me and even if we haven't spoken for some time (or even remained in constant communication) it's nice to know they are there. and it's even better when we can just laugh at times past; there may be no greater thing than reminiscing about the most inane topics and of course when we ourselves were the ones making a fool of ourselves! it's laughter that really has helped me through really any hardship i've faced; i figure i'd rather laugh at myself than let the full wave of depression set in when things look bleak. and today i was blessed with perhaps one of the best surprises i've had in a while.

i don't know about you but i'm a total sucker for getting anything in the mail that isn't bills; cards, postcards, even a couple one liners...but the end all is of course the actual package! the feeling is sometimes something akin to christmas morning in ripping off that brown paper wrapping and digging through packing peanuts! :) and i got a package that really made me laugh; i mean i real good one. it was in fact from one of my best friends' moms (who is also someone i'd count as a close and dear friend...in fact i luv their whole flipping family! haha) and she was documenting to me the crazy and ridiculous things she sees and faces each and every day living with a family of not only guys, but runner guys, and also runner guys who are obsessed with junk food and video games. so she made me a little scrap book (pix included people!) of the most ridiculous things she deals with on a daily basis. what she probably would just laugh off or discredit herself with as not being that big of a deal was in fact that this was a HUGE deal to me; she took so much time, thought, and care in making this...and the best thing was it was freaking hilarious.

okay, so in all of this rambling there is another point i'm getting to here...the theme of the scrapbook is "10 signs a mom knows guys have taken over the house" and for each of her tenets i'm going to depict a fun little cartoon. we will make it a series; now i have the first couple inked out but have yet to color them in...but being that i want to kick this off with something i've posted the sketch for now and the finished version will be coming soon. so we can think of this as a preview of this little series. Today is: "The Toilet Seat is Always Left Up!" i hope you have a little laugh and more importantly i hope you acknowledge the people in your life that have proven to always be there for you...and i hope they are also the ones to make you laugh when you feel like you may be on the brink of letting that dark wave crash over and envelope you! haha