Happy Birthday!

I have to take a moment to scream, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!" to one of my dearest girl friends in the world, Rochelle Spears.


*Confessions*

1. I don't have a bunch of friends. Let me explain. There are people who come into your life, stick around for a while, make an impression and leave. These people are amazing and I don't discount them at all. They are my friends. Knowing each of them has added a small sliver to the pie of me. But ... they haven't been there through EVERYTHING. Those are the girls I'm talking about.

2. Girl friends frighten me. It's a Post Traumatic High School Disorder, but girls ... they kind of freak me out. I have four brothers, three sons, and six nephews. I may physically emit a hormone that repels other estrogen driven life forms away from me. I am an estrogen island surrounded by an ocean of testosterone.

3. Giggles and Drama. I can write a mean giggle attached to a sassy, spunky, dramatic YA heroine! In my non-fiction life, I don't do drama and when I giggle, it's often turns into snorts and that's just not pretty.

Given all of the above, you can see how SHOCKING it is that Rochelle has been in my life for fifteen years! We've been through dating, engagements, weddings, divorces, babies, cancer, more babies, mid-life crises (I had mine at 28), moves and movies. She is the closest thing to a sister I have AND she is my cheerleader. When writer's self doubt starts surfacing, Rochelle is one of the people I can count on to smack me between the eyes with reality, usually with her published scrapbooking book.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the fiercest friend/sister/scrapper I know!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROCHELLE!!!!