The Excitement is Building

I can hardly stand it!!! In less than 48 hours, I will be landing in Denver to see Courtney, Chris and Jack! I know that people who reside in areas that are still receiving snow are pretty much sick and tired of the cold, but I'm excited about having some cool weather. It's been nice the past few days here on the Gulf Coast, but just days ago it reached 95. In April.
In case you didn't hear me, I said 95! Degrees!


So, the prospect of being in Denver for 4 days where the estimated average high is about 60 makes me do a little happy dance. I need to pull out the 2 sweaters that I own and perhaps I'll get to wear my wool pea coat for 8th time in 2 years. Sweet.


Of course, the main reason I'm excited is because I get to see Courtney (or Coco, as she is affectionately known to family). She is my double-first cousin, and a year younger than me. When I was a little girl, I spent a lot of time with her because we lived in Louisiana, but then we moved to Texas when I was four. Strangely enough, we did not grow apart as you would have expected. I only saw her during holidays and the visits we made home during the summer but no matter how long we had been apart, we just picked up where we had left off.

We were the oldest granddaughters and we stuck together. My poor brother only had girl cousins and his sisters to play with growing up, but I had Courtney. When we left home and went to college, we would visit each other and go out together. She came to see me at Texas A&M and I went to see her at LSU and then Southeastern.


During the time that I was sick with cancer, Courtney was living with my parents in Texas and was with me as I struggled through chemo and therapy school. She would sneak into my notebooks and write things like "Xandra is a three-toed tree sloth" and "Xandra smells like gorilla toe cheese" on random pages that I would find as I was taking notes. I got more than one strange look when I laughed out loud for no apparent reason in the middle of a lecture!


She was there when the boyfriend I thought I was going to marry broke my heart. She was my maid of honor when I married Trevor, and I was her matron of honor when she married Chris. She flew down when Nathan was born and always remembers my birthday. She has always been there for me, and I have always been there for her. She is trustworthy, and I know that I can tell her anything and it will go in the vault. We are so alike but so completely different. When we get tickled about something, you can't tell our laughs apart. It sound like one person is laughing really loud!


She is more like a sister than a cousin, and I wouldn't have it any other way. She's my best friend. So, I am understandably excited about seeing her and her beautiful little family. She's married to the love of her life, and they have an adorable son that I consider to be my nephew. I may or may not get around to posting while I'm gone for this long weekend, but rest assured that I will be having a great time.

An added bonus to this particular trip is that I finally get to meet a blogging friend in person. Karen from Over the Backyard Fence is meeting Courtney and me for lunch on Friday! We are going to a place called The Atlanta Bread Company, and I can barely stand the anticipation of meeting her! I'm sure there will be hugging and laughing and picture taking.

So, in a nutshell, I AM EXCITED! Which is why I'm yelling. And why my face hurts from all the smiling. I suppose I should go pack something......