With friends like that...

We all know the ending to the famous saying: "With friends like that . . . who needs enemies?!" Well, today—because of the generous act of a very dear friend—I'm officially changing it. The saying in our house is now "With friends like that . . . you just have to thank God for bringing them into your life!"

Last Wednesday night at church, a good friend asked, "How are you?" Typical question. And my typical response would be, "I'm good. How are you?" But last Wednesday I wasn't good. I was overwhelmed from getting things together for insurance adjusters, frustrated from planning hurricane repairs, and burnt out from raising two children on my own in the midst of football season. So I poured my heart out to my friend. Her quick solution was for me to bring the kids over to her house so she could take care of them while I had some time alone.

Now, that might not sound like such a big deal. After all, moms take care of each other's kids all the time, right? But you have to understand that this friend already has her own children, and she homeschools, and she just got back from China two weeks ago with her third child. Yeah. And she's offering to help me out? WOW! So today Carrie-Who-Homeschools-and-Just-Got-Back-from-China-with-her-Third-Baby took care of my kids for four hours while I went home and enjoyed the quiet.

I have to confess, my desire was to come home and drink a cup of coffee while watching Dr. Phil and Oprah, then to spend the rest of my time searching for the end of the internet, which I still have not found, despite my best efforts. But I had things that really needed to be done. I made a trip to the library to apologize for (1) the tantrum a my 2-year-old threw while we were there last week, and (2) the tantrum her mother threw when confronted by the librarian. (Oops!)

Then I came back to the house. Oh, the house. The messy, neglected, desperately-in-need-of-attention house. I told Carrie I'd post these pictures so she could see what a service she did by keeping my kids, and I told my friend Yvette that I'd post these pictures so she could see that—oh, yes—my house most definitely does get messy. Really messy.

Here are before and after shots of the living room from two different angles:





And here's the kitchen:



This is the bathroom we have been using until our master bath is repaired:




And, finally, the desk:



(Yeah, that one will have to wait until another day.)

So there you have it. I don't keep a perfectly clean house all the time; I just know how to scramble at the last minute when someone calls and says they're on their way over. :o)

Carrie, thank you for keeping the kids for me! And thank you for cooking dinner for us so I could use my time however I chose! There are lots of reasons why I think you're an amazing friend, but right now today is pretty high up on my list!