A few weeks ago, I had lunch with my friend Ms. Educat, and while we did not make margarita slushies, we did go makeup shopping, which is nearly as good. I bought a lovely Nars eyeshadow (in Cairo–isn’t that a GREAT name for a color?), and the nice woman at the MakeUp Bar threw in a sample of this eye cream, which I have been using every since. I like to try new eye creams, because they NEVER WORK and I am able to unleash my hidden cynic on them; the famous Arbonne eye cream, the one everyone RAVES about, made me break out. Yes, really! So I started patting on the sample cream, just so I could say, “Feh! Doesn’t work” when someone asked.

And you know what? IT TOTALLY WORKS! And I totally love it. But it totally costs $52.00 for HALF AN OUNCE. And yes, I realize that a little eye cream goes a long way, but still! Dammit.

So this morning, at my regular Friday playdate, I was asking my girlfriends what they thought about this dilemma (you know, like should I just spend the $52.00 and BUY the eye cream, or should I opt for a lipgloss, which I also need and which would be more like $20.00, and then mooch some more samples of the eye cream and see how long I can make them last?) while our kids played nicely together and we drank our coffee. And it was the most normal mommy moment you can imagine, the complete antithesis of the rest of my week.

I still don’t know what to do about the eye cream, but I do know this: I have remarkable friends. They are funny and smart and so very kind, and this past couple of weeks, they have kept me going. During the week, when Wade is at work and I am essentially on my own to care for the kids and deal with the minute-to-minute (and with my kids things often literally ARE minute to minute) my girlfriends–the ones here in OKC who meet me for coffee and share their babysitters and make me laugh until my sides hurt, and the ones far away who e-mail and IM and call my cell phone to say, “I just thought you might want to talk” which also ends in me laughing until my sides hurt–these women are my most consistent source of support and sanity. And recently, they have listened to me whine and helped me plan and bailed me out. They have asked intelligent and non-judgemental questions about Henry and what comes next and how we’re doing and what they can do to help, and they have talked to me about random things like eye cream and soccer practice and what our kids ate for dinner, which has made me feel less isolated and more–well, normal. Because it’s normal to obssess about the little wrinkles around your eyes, yes? Don’t you?

On our schedule for the weekend are two soccer games and a big family dinner, which pretty much guarantees that I will wind up with something actually FUNNY to tell you about my weekend. And thank you all for picking up the slack here and making me laugh these last few days–I really needed it.

Now tell me what to do about the eye cream.