Eleven Again

Have I ever confessed here to being a scrapper, a long time scrapbooker. My buddy Stacey and I have been making scrapbooks since long before scrapbooking was a gazillion dollar industry. Stacey was my college roommate and is a "lifer". That is, she's a friend for life. Even if we wanted to dump each other, it just wouldn't happen; she's family. I met her through my younger brother when she was still in high school and I just starting college. We were fast friends. She went on the become a fantastic teacher and mother. She married her college sweetheart and had four kids. Her first child had a birthday yesterday. Andrea turned eleven and celebrated last night with a slumber party.

Stacey and I see each other at least once a month at our scrapping nights. We started these get togethers years ago. Our schedules are conflicting, to say the least, and scrapping nights were a great way to catch up, share pictures and chat late into the night. More recently, we've been getting together at monthly stamping nights. It's something my single friends tend to make fun of but, if you're a crafter, you understand.

Well, at our last friday stamping night, Stacey asked if I'd come over to help keep her awake for Andrea's party. She didn't want the girls to keep each other up all night. She figured we could get some scrapping in and chaperone.

Yesterday was a packed day for me but slumber party chaperone duty sounded like fun. After my nephew's kick-ass Little League game (he pitched two innings and got a double!) the grandmas and I took the kids to dinner. I then went to Stacey's.

When I arrived, Andrea introduced me to all of her friends. I was happy to learn that they were very nice girls. Stacey was playing Apples to Apples with them. They later had cupcakes, home made carmel corn (to die for) and watched How to Eat Fried Worms. It was getting late but the girls were quieting down. Stacey and I were fading. I asked her why exactly she wanted to stay awake and she said "You know how girls can call out another and pick on her all night? I used to hate that when I was a kid and I don't want it happening here. I was never necessarily picked on but I didn't like to see it even as a kid." I knew exactly what she meant. I don't recall ever being picked on either but I do remember girls getting picked on and it always bothered me. I thought it was nice that she was being so thoughtful. That's the kind of person she is and I love her for it.

After the movie, Stacey turned out the lights and told them they could chat for a while but they had to think about getting some sleep. The girls sat up and really started giggling. I told Stacey she should turn on Disney Channel or Nick at Night or whatever to settle them down. She did and it worked like a charm. We heard some giggles but it got quiet pretty quickly.

It was about 12:30 and Stacey and I were wondering how to stay awake.

Lucy: Wanna make bookmarks for the girls?
Stacey: Yes! RALLY!

Rally we did.

Andrea is a notorious reader so we thought bookmarks might actually work. The girls really liked the one hour fleece blankets Stacey made with them earlier in the evening so she thought they might like personalized bookmarks. (Have you seen these blankets? They are apparently a big trend in high schools these days. Here's what they look like.)

We stayed up 'til 2:15 and had a lot of fun. I guess in the end we're all eleven- year-olds at heart.