My blonde buddy

Considering the fact that, in less than two weeks, Lara is gallivanting away to the beach for the year, I thought it would be the perfect time to brag about what a great friend she is.

Time to laugh
We have seriously have had too much fun together. Most of the laughter comes from our common bond of blondeness. It keeps us both rather humble. Who could help but laugh when your friend tells you that she got Kleenex out of her purse to clean off her wet windshield?! Or what about the time that I led the way into the men's dressing room after an orchestra performance? Oh yes, and we have finally learned the difference between a telescope and a microscope!

Time to have fun
One thing I love about Lara is that she can be totally mature and yet still completely fun to be around. Some people are fun to be around but, frankly, they need to consider acting their age. Other people are so super serious that you give extra thought to your manners around them and make sure that you say "well" instead of "good" and enter your chair from the proper side. *roll of eyes* I'll always remember all those basketball practices and games where Lara showed off her hidden talent. Oh, and the trip to the San Juans that are families did together. Between washing our hair in bucket thingys, sniffing air mattresses, playing with yo-yos, poisoning pancakes and playing volley-ball we had way too much fun.

Time to talk
Well, you know that Lara and I have a true friendship because our relationship isn't full of only good times and laughter. If that was all that friendship was then it would be extremely shallow and only worthy of stress relief. Ah, I can think of three times off hand where Lara and I have had our struggles between us. We've disagreed, I've offended her, we've asked each other for forgiveness and talked things through. All of these situations showed me that relationships aren't cheap or disposable. You can't run from the situation that you hate and causes you pain to think about. So yeah, Lara and I have learned to agree to disagree and she's been so patient and forgiving of all of my faults.

Time to vent
You guys have no idea how many times I've said to Lara, "Ok, can I just vent?!" She patiently replies, "Vent away." An hour later....poor girl! She's one of the few people that I sense really understands how I feel about certain things. I'm comfortable opening up to her because she's real and she loves her friends unselfishly.

How strange is it that the domesticating, 19 year old Lara could be friends with someone like me?! And you guys have got to know that she's changed me. If someone had told me 3 years ago that someday I would enjoy decorating cakes, I would have laughed hysterically!

A few days ago, Mel was talking about how you don't fully appreciate someone until their gone. I thought that I would try to defy that common truth! So there you have it. My hat is tipped to my blonde buddy.