Remember that one time when I wrote about pie?

This one time I wrote a blog post about pie. For real. Well, here it is, if you want to read it. The heroine in this story is pictured above next to me. Yes, I realize we're not really in the same picture. That's because while spending the equivalent of two days together, we didn't remember to take one single photo. They say you should live in the moment, your real life, rather than constantly taking pictures to represent your life on social media.

I guess that's what we did. We were so busy living our real life, in the moment, that we forgot to take pictures. And it was so, so much fun. Jacqueline and I go back a long way. She married my brother about a year after Gerald and I got married, and our two oldest kids, Luke and Leslie, were born three months apart. I had Shulamith just a year after that, and then her Carley was born a couple years later.

Then she and Tom divorced, and I (obviously) went on to have three more kids. So my two oldest have the fondest memories of "Auntie Jacque" (best aunt ever!), but my middle boys don't really remember her, and I think we settled on the fact that until this past week, she and Seth had never even met! That's because when I go home to Portland a couple times a year, my kids don't usually go with me.

So what a treat that Jacqueline decided to stop here and visit on her way home from a month-long stay in Arizona, where she and her husband own a tiny "casita." We pretty much talked nonstop. Catching up is like that; there's always more to say. So many memories of those early days of young adulthood and first-time parenting came flooding back. We talked about the year my family lived in California, which was also the first time we were able to send messages electronically. It was so exciting to be able to keep in touch that way!

We talked about each of our kids, in depth, one by one, including her two "bonus" sons, her husband Mike's boys. Turns out the younger one plays an online computer game, similar to Isaiah's DotA. When Jacqueline watched Isaiah play, she said, "That looks just like what Cameron does, screaming into a headset. I wonder if it's the same game." When she texted Cameron to ask, we discovered it's a competitor to DotA, and immediately the bantering between Isaiah and Cameron began, with Jacqueline as the middleman.

Monday morning we went out for coffee (her), hot chocolate (me), and bagels. Later, we met Shulamith for lunch. That night she came with Shulamith and me to our classes at SLCC, not the most exciting evening for her, but she didn't seem to mind. Then we came home to eat yummy turkey burgers that Amanda and Eli prepared.

Way too soon, early Tuesday morning, she was back on the road headed home. The visit was too short. It made me wistfully nostalgic and, as always, wishing I could live in Portland. The problem is, I only want to live there if I can take my entire family with me, which would be complicated. Maybe one day?

Meanwhile, I'll have to settle for frequent visits, one coming up the end of this month, Two days after sending Seth off to South America, I'll hop a plane and go party with my family for five days. It was easier to say goodbye to Jacqueline knowing I'd see her again soon.

Thank you so much for visiting us! See you in 27 days.