Andrea's birthday post

Today is Andrea's 40th birthday! I traveled out to California last weekend to celebrate with her, and was asked to contribute to a memory book in her honor. As she is a fan of the blog, I thought that honoring her with her very own ITEM! list would be cool. It spotlights some of my favorite moments with Andy. And it turned out pretty great. It follows.

ITEM!: Today was a great day! I started school at Pinecrest in Thousand Oaks! I was so nervous, and so scared. Mrs. White introduced me to this girl, Andrea, who’d only been at school a couple months over summer camp, so she was kinda new, like me. She showed me around, introduced me to a bunch of other people, and was super nice. She talks a lot.
ITEM!: Today was awesome! Andrea and I are in the drama club, and we were chosen to be Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum together! This is so much better than the Charlie Brown play where I was stuck being the girl with the curly hair. We have to learn this poem, The Walrus and the Carpenter, and it’s super long, but we’ll have fun. And it’ll be awesome when we’re done.
ITEM!: Today was so funny! As Andrea and I walked around the track at PE, she told me this joke from Bill Cosby, about Noah, and his conversation with God, about building the Ark. The way Andy told it, I was cracking up! I swear, I may make her tell it to me every day for MONTHS, because she does it so good.
ITEM!: Today, I’m super sad. It was our eighth grade graduation, and I’m scared I’ll never see any of these people again. I can’t imagine my life without all my girlfriends, and I’m having to face it without them. That’s sad. I cried a lot tonight.
ITEM!: TODAY WAS A GREAT DAY!! Andrea is Lisa’s wedding coordinator, and I finally got to see her after a really long time apart! It was so great to hug and catch up!! I think we may end up going out soon with Jeannine. Wouldn’t it be cool if we became super good friends again?!?!
ITEM!: I’m so wasted, but I had to tell you that Andrea ripped the rose off my bridesmaid dress tonight. It was fantastic.
ITEM!: I’m so wasted, but I had to tell you that I am having so much fun hanging out with JJ, Jeannine and Andrea! We went to the Yucatan, and had so much fun dancing with random guys, and drinking, and dancing with random guys and drinking! Honestly, this is the best time ever in my life. And I’m not saying that because I’m wasted.
ITEM!: Yay Andrea’s asked me to be one of her bridesmaids!! I’m so happy to stand up with her when she marries Ryan!!
ITEM!: YAY Andrea’s agreed to be one of my bridesmaids! I’m so happy that she’ll be standing up there with me when I marry Brian!!
DEAR ANDREA!: I can’t imagine me being me, without you being you. You are one of the best friends I could and will ever have, and it is my privilege to call you friend! I can’t believe that we can say we’ve been friends for more than 30 years, but there it is, and I’m proud of that fact. There’s too much that I’d like to reminisce about, and so many events I’d like to giggle about, but really, I’m looking forward to all the events, moments and laughs in our future. I look forward to us turning 50, 60 and 70 together! Thirty years of friendship down, 30 more to go (and more than that, too!). HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my dearest friend!