Missing my pal

Mike and I love living in Oxford, but one of the things that drives me nuts about this place is that it's a whole ocean and half a continent away (that's SEVEN time zones - count 'em!) from one of my most favorite people in the world: Mel! And because spring is here and dog-walking season has begun, I've been missing her way too much lately, so today's post is in honor of her.

Reasons why I love Mel:

10. Her blog posts always have me laughing out loud - she is absolutely the wittiest person I know!

9. She has the cutest boxer I've ever seen! Yes Dixie, I miss you too... just not as much as I miss Mel! Try not to take it personally...

8. Mel is always straight up with you - she never sugarcoats things and she's hilariously blunt about everything! This is a great quality to have in a friend, especially if she happens to be your favorite shopping buddy. I can ask Mike if a pair of jeans makes me look fat, and being the wise man that he is, he'll just smile and say "you look gorgeous in everything, honey." Not Mel - I like to think she cares about me way too much to let me actually purchase a pair of jeans that makes my bum look like it should have its own ZIP code.

7. Mel always looks perfect. I honestly don't know how she does it: she has to look after a two-month-old baby, a rabunctious dog, and a husband, and yet she still looks like a movie star! Every time my guy friends walked into my dorm room in college, they'd see pictures of Mel and ask me to introduce them to her - they'd always be so disappointed when I explained that she's off the market! Look at her: have you ever seen a cuter mom???

6. Mel is the most patient listener ever. Back in college I'd call her just about every single week, usually to complain about a guy or a class or a problem with the soccer team. Even though it'd always be the same problems week after week after week, and even though I was often too stubborn to take her good advice, she just kept right on listening. And she still does, even after 17 years of my whining!

5. We've done some really silly things together. One time, when we were about 12, we decided to make chocolate milkshakes in the blender. Mel thought the ice cream and chocolate syrup weren't mixing well enough, so she stuck a wooden spoon into the blender while it was still going! The spoon splitered into about a thousand pieces, but did she let that stop her? No - instead, she meticulously picked out as many little wood chips as she could find, and then served me up her masterpiece. It was the worst milkshake we ever drank, but we had a roaring good laugh about it as we picked the splinters out of our teeth...

4. Mel is the only person I've ever known who loves dogs as much as I do. Way back in the day, when we still lived in the same city, we used to take our dogs to Tanner Park together. We did this pretty much every single day; we never got tired of walking, talking, and playing with our cute pups. I think I miss our walks in Tanner more than anything...

3. Mel is such an openminded, free-thinking person. She's just not the type to go with the flow or do what everyone else is doing just because everyone else is doing it - she thinks for herself, makes up her own mind, and is one of the strongest, most independent women I know. Quite simply, she rocks!

2. Never, in all of the 17 years that we've been friends, has Mel ever been judgmental about any of the crazy situations I've found myself in. I can tell her anything and I know she'll just be there.

And the Number 1 reason why I love Mel: because no matter how far away we've been from each other over the last 7 years - whether I'm in Boston or she's in Logan or I'm in Cape Town and she's in Provo or I'm in Oxford and she's in Colorado Springs, I know we'll always be friends, no matter what. She's the kind of friend whom I can go months without seeing, and the next time we're together it's just like it always was.