Sleep deprived from Seattle

Ange's hubby just emailed me this fantastic pic!
Bree, Julie, Heidi, Moi, Becky, Loren, Linda & Angela
Baby Hudson and the gorgeous Miss Sarah in front

My trip to Seattle is but a memory, but what a great memory! My trip home ended up being a bit of a nightmare with long delays due to winds in Chicago (imagine that??) but I did make it home albeit at 3:00 A.M. So I feel like I've been beaten up today but it was worth it! I spent the weekend with a group of the most amazing women....my internet friends. No, really! Not everyone you meet on the 'web is a creepy stalker type! I know Tim, and some of the other husbands, think we are completely insane traveling to meet up when we can arrange it but like we care what they think!!!! These are my "Mommy friends" as I call them when describing them to my I(n) R(eal) L(ife) friends/family. Funny thing is that now that I've actually met them (some I've met more than once) they are now IRL friends too. How cool is that? We met through an online message board for expectant Moms due in September 2002 (and many have had more kiddos since!) and a core group of us (36) stuck together and now have our own private message board where we interact on a regular, if not daily, basis. They mean so much to me and these women and the board we post on have been a support system, a shoulder to cry on, a place to vent, a place to hysterically laugh, an source of information, and so much more. It is a place where we share our lives as Moms and women working our way through life and all it's inherent stress! We are different ages, races, religions, political leanings, etc. etc. but it just doesn't seem to matter because we blend together in the most wonderful way. We have been through incredible highs and devastating lows and how wonderful it has been to have them there no matter what was going on in our lives. Meeting these women IRL just feels perfectly comfortable and normal, it's as if we have known each other our whole lives. And for that I am so grateful, they have been a consistent presence in my life for the past 6 years and I adore each and every one of them. This weekend there were eight of us (plus one gorgeous baby!) meeting up in Seattle, three of the girls are from WA, one came in from OR, one from CA, one from NH and two crazy Canucks as well, one from B.C. and yours truly! Can you believe we have TWENTY kids between us? We stayed in a condo near Microsoft in Redmond WA and had a weekend of friendship and laughter, something we all desperately needed! Even though we don't "see" each other regularly, these women are truly kindred spirits and I'm so glad I was able to spend some time with them. Thanks for the laughs ladies, I swear my stomach muscles must have had one hell of a workout this weekend! Let's do this again sooner rather than later. So far I've met 17 of these ladies and I'm hoping to meet the rest some day!

Love you all bunches, miss you already. Until next time,
Laura XOXO

Ladies who lunch!
Heidi, me, Linda, Julie, Angela, Bree(with baby Hudson), Loren & Becky
Are we babes or what????

We split up on Saturday to do different activities,
this would be the "lush" group...mwah ha ha
Angela, Heidi, Julie & me