Sixteen Hours

I read at a rate of approx 50 pages per hour.
So 16 non-consecutive hours of my life were invested in this book, which is the 7th volume in a series that started 15 years ago.
I have a mad crush on Jamie. But then, who doesn't?
For awhile there, when I thought I was (re)marriage material, I was keeping my eyes open for a 6'4" red-headed, kilt-wearing, Scotsman with twinkly eyes.
Hawt.
Sizzle.
Turns out there aren't that many 18th Century Scottish warriors in Canada.
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As much as I love Diana (the author) (and I truly do - I've seen her in person three times) and as crazy as I am about the storylines in her books, I gotta say, this book was about 200 pages too long. The middle 200 pages.
And the last 100 pages? Pure awesomeness. And So Many Twisty Loose Endings, that when I put the book down at 2 am, I was dizzy from all the whiplash and had a squashed faced because I slammed into the windshield of her abrupt ending. Snap. Just like that it was over. It's like she lifted her fingers off her keyboard and simply stopped typing, regardless of where she was in the storyline(s).
Oh my goodness - So. Many. Storylines.
And most of them riveting.
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So that's what I've been up to this past week in case anyone was wondering.
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Oh, and I also went out for coffee the other night.
I was a little worried on the drive over... what would we talk about? Heather and I only knew each other for a short period of time back in the '90's at Fraser Heights Church. I'm trying to recall, but I don't think we ever had a conversation during our years together at the-first-church-that-closed-down-on-me.

So imagine my surprise when, out of the blue, I got a facebook message from her last year saying she saw my name on the sign-in-sheet at the care home my dad was at in the spring of '08. She was a regular visitor there as well, and wondered if we could meet up for a coffee.

The timing was off for me, (it was my dad's last day there) so I explained I wouldn't be heading back again for the foreseeable future. I kinda thought that would be that.

But then we became facebook friends. And no. Not all facebook friendships are shallow.

And then after reading my blog, and getting inside my brain, she mentioned again about the coffee thing.

So we met, and I thought we'd chat for about an hour or so.

However, at midnight, as they were locking up, we were still wiping tears from our eyes.

Heather, thanks.
Thanks for suggesting we meet. Thank you for sharing your heart. Thank you for the advice. (Even if I forgot to act on it.... grrr. It wasn't til I got home I remembered what you said about getting blood test results forwarded to the patient. Next time.)

Can I say something here?
Are there any girls reading this?
May I challenge you?

Fill your life with friendships.
Don't look for that one perfect BFF who is just like you.
Open your heart to whomever God brings into your life.
(Boyfriends are lovely. Truly they are. But they can't be your 'everything'. God didn't make them that way...)

Would I have listened to this advice in grade 10? 11? 12? When I was 22? 30?
Am I the world's slowest learner?
Jeesh. Whatever.

Just do me a favor. Say to God, "Hey, know what? I'd be open to having another friend. God? Is there someone out there that I should meet? Connect with? Send her my way..." And then just watch what God does. It's very cool.

Three things I'm thankful for:
1. Finished reading that book. Now I have time to do fun things like play 15 games of Scrabble simutaneously on Facebook while blogging.
2. Jim and Pam are getting married on Thursday night. Pam is very excited. Here are the deets on her dress. Their wedding website is here. This article has a fun video in it. And Pam's blog (YES, she is a blogger, just like me) directs her readers to this video.
I am so not obsessive.
3. Yellow.