F. A. R. T.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for joining us on this fine Wednesday. Cheryl here. I have two big acts to follow this week. First Heather brought us to tears about savoring the moments of our life. And then Claudia had a fun day with our Fancy Flours Cookie Cutter Challenge. The mermaid was the winner. Yay! I can't wait to see how she's decorated. But today I'm here to announce that next Monday, June 8th is National Friendship Day. Be in this moment with me.

I could tell you about all the friendships that I have savored through the years with my best friends but that would take forever. If you're as fortunate as I have been then you have several best friends through the years. There was my very first friend, Cassie, that I wanted to be twins with. We dressed alike in our Tina Tomato and Lucy Lemon shirts. Or I could tell you about my Kristi that I watched scary movies with. There's her sister Johnanna. We were the wildest of friends. (I say "were" because I'm not wild anymore.) And there's DeDe and Darci and Angie and, and, and! I different friend for a different time in my life and I cherish them all.

I love my old and new friends and what better way to celebrate those friendships than by picking out something small to send them to let them know that you appreciate and love them. It's totally out of the blue and unexpected. But what? What are you going to send these people that stand by you no matter what? These people that have seen you cry the "ugly cry" and laughed until you had tears coming down your face and held your hair while you puked!

I'm all about making my friends laugh so what better way than to provide some fun napkins like the ones below. These say r.i.c.h. - Relax, it's cocktail hour, s.l.u.t.s. - Southern ladies up to something, and p.o.o.l. - Perfect outlook on life. Hop on over to Homewetbar.com to order some for your friends or shoot, give some to yourself. You can share them with your friends at your next party.

Or, another fun idea are these party cups. There are many to choose from over at Connexxions but these three are my favorites. Everyone fills in there fun saying for the chosen cup. These say:

• It's not a party 'til _______
• I'm gettin' my ________ on!
• _______ by day _________ by night

Tell me those aren't fun. Do you want to take a shot at filling in the blanks? It could be fun.

Okay, but I understand you may not have time to place an order and get it sent off to your friend in time so what about this. You may or may not remember that Claudia collects things that are big. My aunt was having a birthday in February and I was thinking about what I could send her. Something inexpensive but something that would make an impression that said, "Hey, I think you're special." I was pondering Claudia's collection of all things big and thought of a Big Postcard.

I took a piece of poster board and cut it so that it was about 14 inches tall and 22 inches wide (the 22 inches is the short side of a regular sheet of poster board.) I pulled out the finger paints and let my creative boys go to town. JB started painting a picture of a girl that sort of resembled my aunt. She had blond hair. Drew drew a heart that said "Happy B-Day" in it. I started adding flowers all over. We called it Picasso's Birthday Girl. On the opposite side I wrote a big note that said Happy Birthday and put her address.

The workers at the post office laughed at me. The people in line laughed at me. Heck, I laughed at me standing in line with an over sized postcard painted with a funny looking girl on it. It cost about $1.5o to mail and it was worth every penny. My aunt called us and you could just tell by the laughter in her voice how much she loved it, which in turn made me very happy. You don't have to be an artist to do it. I promise! Just put some bright color paint on there and go for it- find your inner-childlike-artist. Surely you can remember that person.

I wish I could tell you I was more organized and that I had my over sized friendship postcards painted up and ready to go so you could see pictures but I don't have it done yet.

• Poster board- check.
• Paint- check.
• Time- I won't let you slip away!

I still have some time since the actual day is on Monday, June 8th! And so do you!

Oh, are you wondering what my title, F.A.R.T. has to do with today's post? Just a fun game. Tell me what you think it stands for. It's about friends. Or make up your own fun acronym about friends and share it with us.

Will you do one more thing for me? Please. Will you email us a picture of you with a friend and tell us a quick story about that friend? It can be a friend from your childhood, a new friend, a friend that makes you laugh or just whatever you're in the mood for. Personally, I'd like to see you and your friend as kids but it's up to you. Just email it over to highlowaha218@gmail.com.

Before I go I just want to thank my newest friend Margaret for always sharing such fun times and ideas with me. She found the links to the fun napkins and cups. Thanks Margaret!

Signing off until tomorrow...