With Friends Like These, Who Needs Professionals?

The past two days have been a testament to why a woman needs her girlfriends. Here's the rundown:

Thursday
10:00 am Drop Griffin off at my girlfriend's house for preschool. Four of us take turns teaching. Griffin LOVES it. It's FREE and I get 12 glorious hours to myself a month.

12:07 pm Go to Melissa's house to learn how to make THE MOST DELICIOUS whole-wheat bread from scratch.

12:28 pm She also gives us great recipes for whole-wheat pancakes that are blended in the blender. She says they are super delicious and so easy. I can't wait to try them.

12:42 pm Learn about Shar's, Mesa's best kitchen store where Bosh's, gluten, and the very best yeast are available. Who knew? Melissa, apparently. She also knows a whole lot more. Check her out here.

1:03 pm Another girlfriend in attendance gives me the address of THE BEST AND CHEAPEST fabric store in the valley. It's called Sass, and I must go there ASAP. She got enough chocolate velvet material to make 8 9ft. curtain panels for $60.00!!! Are you kidding me? Why did I not know about this store before?!

3:12 pm Pick up TWO warm, freshly baked loaves of bread from Melissa's house.

5:00 pm Make dinner for the dinner swap my girlfriend and I have been doing for over a year now. Included is one delicious homemade loaf of bread for her. It's the least I could do in return for the two delicious meals she gave me this week.

7:30pm Attend a lively and thought provoking bookclub with 11 fantastic friends. I also get to eat a lot of glorious and delicious food prepared by someone else. She even offered to teach us how to make her delicious homemade rolls that literally melted in my mouth. We're setting that up for next month.

Friday
10:00 am Project Friday Begins. This is a new idea that three of us had to take turns help one another accomplish a project on our list of to-do's. Today we purchased plywood for me to make a 4' chalkboard and 4' flannel board for my playroom, found Angie a comforter and sheet set for her son's room, looked for a spice rack for Shilo's pantry, and went to lunch together.

Whew! That is a couple of fantastically busy days! So it is no wonder that, in the quiet moments between activities, I have been pondering all the ways my life is and has been blessed by the presence of amazing and inspiring women. In addition to being amazing friends, they are the very best teachers, supporters, and cheerleaders. From them I've learned parenting tricks, organizing strategies, and great recipes. They've helped me sew curtains, refinish tables, and make the best chocolate chip cookies in the world (I finally got them right, Meg.) They've given me the most useful advice about books, marriage, discipline, and gardening, just to name some of the highlights.

I thank, with my whole heart, the many women who have not only made me, undoubtedly, a better human being, but who have also saved me thousands of dollars in class tuitions, professional decorator and organizer retainers, and therapist fees. And that is why every girl needs a girlfriend.