What? You too?

Friends. We all have em. We all need em. Some of us want more of em. Some of us don't. Mac Daddy and I have moved around a lot, so the whole concept of being friends with the same people from kindergarten into adulthood is foreign to us. Friends tend to fall into different categories. There are those you call for a good party when just one dirty martini won't do. For an earnest shoulder to cry on. For help moving a piano up a flight of stairs. For emergency babysitting. For coffee during school hours. For playdates. For family time. For handyman help. For knee slapping, gut wrenching laughs. For deep philosophical conversations that will save the world. For fantasy football.

Mac Daddy and I have been fortunate enough to meet some pretty special people along the way who have helped shape us, pick us up when we were puddles, take us out when we were pills, and laugh heartily when we were partyers. A shout to some of those faraway folks, in no particular order:

Shan and Chris: We love them dearly and want nothing more than for them to move into the house across the street. Our 4 boys adore each other. Bird and Deal talk about those guys almost everyday. What could be more Mayberry than to raise our children together in a climate much, much warmer than where they currently live?! Shan and Chris were the only people at our wedding. We love them and miss them. And I have Shan to thank for the awesome Dirt & Noise logo she created for me lickety-split. She's the one friend I have with whom I can gossip til the cows come home and never fear that she's gossiping about me when I leave. Shan and Mac Daddy share a birthday, as do Chris and Deal. Kismet, no?

Tommy and Sophia: Their kitchen and our bedroom windows faced each other across the alley from our condo buildings. We used to feel quite neighborly just hanging out (literally) chatting across the way. They became like family to us in a short time. Sophia is a mean cook, and no one grills chicken wings like Tommy. I still have the recipe for Tommy's gooey butter cake, and if the opportunity arises, I just might lick the batter off his body. Take that as a testament to the cake.

My prenatal yoga gal pals: It is rare that I bond easily with women. Not so with my yoga buddies who were in the same class with me both times we all were pregnant. Quelle coincidence! Our husbands actually get along and often go off playing poker or inhaling second hand smoke at a smarmy sports bar together. Our kids get along and even go to school together (also a coincidence). Our families have vacationed together. We girls have vacationed together. These women make me laugh, tell me when an outfit makes me look fat, or when it's time get my brows waxed. They keep it real for me, enabling me to show my warts and all. A first for me in my relationships with women. The best part...we can spend countless hours together and talk about anything under the sun but our children.

Will and Molly: Suffice it to say that both Bird and Deal have peed on their floor. My boys adore their kids. In fact, two share a birthday. I take that as a sign that they will never, ever divorce us. We might as well adopt each other into our families. Will and Molly are our friends, fellow business partners, and professional colleagues. Plus, they know the coolest people in town and allow us to tag along. Will is like a big brother to me, only more sardonic than the one I already have.

Tony and Cathy: No, they're not married. At least not to each other. You could say they were our bosom buddies when we lived in the tundra. The four of us were inseparable, lifting up each other from difficult periods in our lives and occasionally from the dance floor at Lyons Pub. We worked together, played together, and at times lived together. I still keep a framed photo of us in my office that marks days that were footlooser, fancier, and freer. And more importantly, the photo documents the time before my thighs touched. I can't hear Andy Kim or Jimmy Buffett without thinking of them. Damn, some of the most fun I ever had was with those two crazy kids.

A whole host of colleagues whom I now count among my friends: Dom is totally bailing me out of a crunch situation that left me in the lurch. I owe him big. He is witty and funny and manages to be a normal guy even though he's one of those creative types that tend to be divas. We normally jab at each other so writing anything nice about him in a public forum actually causes physical pain. Of course I think he rocks, it's another thing to tell him out loud.

C.S. Lewis said, "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You, too? Thought I was the only one." Cheers to all my You, too? encounters!