I had an event in Houston this past Tuesday evening (amazing group of parents from River Oaks Baptist School, btw!) and since it’s a little less than a three hour drive by car, I opted to drive rather than fly. Which made it possible the following morning to drop by and see in on an old friend on my return drive back to Austin. Okay, well I didn’t exactly drop by, as in show-up-at-the-door-unannounced, like the neighborhood UPS guy or something. She knew I was stopping by and within minutes of entering into the office foyer, her assistant, Michelle, handed me a Starbucks Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte, which basically earned her a spot on my list of all-time favorite people. Never mind that we had never met. At that very moment, she ranked higher than Beth on the ATFP list for simply speaking my love language. Nothing says “new best friend” like a gift of caffeine-disguised-in-a-cup-of-sugary-130-calorie-goodness.

And speaking of Beth, she could hardly be classified as an “old” anything, friend, or otherwise. For heaven’s sake, just look at her. In fact, if she doesn’t start aging soon, the friendship is officially over. I seriously thought about photo-shopping some wrinkles on her forehead in the picture above. Instead, I settled for a compromise and airbrushed the newly-acquired-center-of-the-forehead blemish off my own face that decided to drop by that very morning. Unannounced and as always, UNINVITED. Seriously, can someone please tell me when puberty ends? (Wait a minute, who wrote that So Long Insecurity book? Hmmm….someone might need to pick that up.)

After Beth and I hugged necks, she gave me a tour of the new office digs. I loved hearing the story of how God provided just the right space, at just the right time, from just the right people to accommodate the growth of the ministry. It is homey and warm-feeling, which makes total sense, since it was originally built as someone’s home. Along the tour, she introduced me to the Living Proof staff. They are an amazing group of ladies and it’s clear they absolutely love what they do. I jokingly asked if I could move my stuff into an empty office I had spotted on the tour. Or a coat closet would even be fine. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t joking. The three hour commute each way might be a tad difficult, but it would be worth it to hang out with these ladies on a regular basis.

Just when I thought the visit couldn’t get any better, Beth’s daughter, Amanda, showed up…and she had little Annabeth with her! (I also got to see Melissa briefly on my way out and as always, she looked as if she had stepped off the pages of an Anthropologie catalog.) I adore Beth’s girls. Both girls have a genuine and mature faith that runs deep, especially for their young years. And if that’s not enough, they both got Beth’s amazing complexion AND hair genes to boot!

Little Miss Annabeth is so stinkin’ cute, it left me a bit anxious to fast forward to the grandparent chapter of my life. So anxious, in fact, I called my oldest son (age 21) on the drive home and badgered him for at least ten minutes about his current single status. As an added bonus, I tossed out a few names of potential “girlfriend” candidates JUST IN CASE he hadn’t seemed to notice these darling, young ladies that had crossed my mom radar. For the record, he admitted he had noticed them, but gave me some crazy answer about waiting on God’s direction and timing. Ugh. Busted. (I’m fairly certain I cautioned mothers in my Your Boy book not to play match-maker when it comes to their sons’ dating lives. Thank goodness my son has not read my books and thus, didn’t have it in his arsenal to use against me.)

Shortly after my son and I hung up (okay, he hung up on me), I spotted this interesting sign along the roadside while stopped at a light in a small town.

Needless to say, it begs many questions. Crab filled eclairs, anyone? I wonder if they have a “glazed salmon” breakfast special? I think I know why there is only one car in the parking lot. Seriously, I may never eat again. Talk about a dieting incentive — just drive by this place every time you’re hungry and that should do the trick!

That about wraps up my Houston adventure. I’m headed to my happy place (aka: the lake house) to knock out some writing this weekend. Next week, I gear up for the Dallas/You & Your Girl event on April 17th! I can hardly wait to meet the moms and girls! If you have a daughter (ages 8-18) and live nearby, it’s not too late to register! Drop by and see me — no Starbucks waiting, but I’d love to hug your neck!