Happy birthday, Lori!

Sweet, sweet Lori Craig is celebrating a milestone birthday today and I so wish I could be with her today for one of these . . .

A cup of morning coffee. And a whole lot more, I’m sure, but the coffee – that’s a little tradition we have that’s so much better shared in person!

I know that there are tons of birthday wishes and beautiful cards posted for Lori today, and it’s so very ironic that there’s not one to be seen here from me, especially considering how the two of us know one another. I know that Lori will *get it*, though, especially since she, Beate, and I made a little pact that we were just not going to worry about birthday cards and gifts any more. 🙂

Lori and I (like so many of the people showering her with birthday wishes in blog land today) met through this little papercrafting hobby of ours. We were part of the original Control Freaks swap group and knew each other from there, but then then one day, she sent me a private message on Splitcoast. I don’t recall the reason she messaged me, but I do remember asking if she’d like to be part of the moderator team, remember picking her up at the airport in Houston when we were there for an event for SU! and how much fun we had at Ninfa’s restaurant and how effortless our friendship seemed. Fast forward a little, and Lori was telling me that she was going to interview for a job at the local radio station. I think I asked what kind of qualifications she had and not a couple of seconds later, I was talking to Daven and then boom! Lori was officially Splitcoast family at the end of the day. That morning’s conversation changed so much for both of us.

Working together on projects, traveling together – it was all. good. 🙂

And somewhere along the line, morning talks became One of Those Things.

You know, one of those things that you miss when it doesn’t happen and you kind of feel like your day isn’t quite right. And you wonder, did I brush my teeth? Did I forget to unplug the iron? Did I pay the internet bill? And then you realize that no, it wasn’t any of those things that of course you did – it was that you hadn’t checked in and chitchatted yet. Those are good things, aren’t they?

We’ve been able to do it in person quite a few times, but most often, it happens over an open google voice chat window. Sometimes, if we’re feeling particularly spunky and cute, it’ll happen over video chat.  Sometimes, talks over video chat turn into ugly cry sessions, just like if we were really in the same room. It’s been a great way to stay connected and keep in touch and involved in each other’s lives. The past couple of years have been interesting in so many ways for the two of us, and when I count my blessings, I count Lori (and our morning coffee and sometimes evening tea!) among them.

I wouldn’t miss those chats or trade our friendship for the world.

Happy birthday, my friend. See you very soon. We have a coffee date this morning, don’t we?