If drinks aren't involved, neither am I.

That's the card I got from my dear friend Tami. Oh how I love that girl. She works for the American Cancer Society and I went down to Bonaventure with her a few weeks ago to keep her company during the Bonas Relay for Life. We laughed, we cried, she convinced me to buy the Vera Bradley large duffel in the pink elephant pattern and we ate the most delicious maple syrup on the face of the planet the next morning at Sprague's. So she sent me a thank you card, complete with thank you gift, for keeping her sane, and tells me that I'm a good friend. Doesn't that just make you smile? Thanks Tam, I love ya.

Speaking of friends that I love, things are looking up in regard to a certain vacation coming up in June. I'm actually really excited to go to Vegas now. I'm fairly certain that it's going to be four days of absolute ridiculousness, as it should be. Now we just need to pick a hotel.

For awhile there, I was worried that this summer wouldn't be the same. People are moving, situations are different, tensions were rising. I was right, it won't be the same, but it'll still be great. Change isn't a bad thing if you let things go and just let it happen.

Pahk ya cah in Havahd Yahd.

Boston is wicked cool. Mel and I spent last weekend shopping, eating, drinking, sightseeing and generally just running around like crazy. We hit up Faneuil Hall, Fenway, Boston Common, Boylston Street, the Prudential Center, the Central Wharf, Cheers, the Holocaust Memorial and several fine drinking establishments in less than 48 hours. It was great.

I highly recommend the Hilton in the Financial District. The room was awesome, the beds were super comfy and the staff was really friendly. It was a block away from Faneuil Hall and reasonably close to the T.

With all that's been going on lately, I had it in the back of my mind that I should figure out if Boston might be a cool city to live in while I was there. Short answer: yes! It has the appeal of being a "big city," but it's manageable in size and getting around is really easy. I didn't get lost once. There's lobster EVERYWHERE. Things are reasonably priced. And the people (at least the people I came in contact with) are really, really nice.

We kept making Buffalo connections everywhere we went, so maybe that had something to do with it. For example, the bouncers at the bar across from our hotel. One was dating a girl from Buffalo and had been to Jim's Steak Out. The other played hockey with a guy from Orchahd Pahk. Oh yea, I love the Boston accent. For real.

Since the Sabres were playing in Boston that night, people were sporting Sabres gear everywhere we looked. We made friends with some dudes from Amherst, who we pretty much hung out with all night and figured out that we knew a bunch of the same people. It was kind of crazy.

It was also nice to spend some quality time with Mel. That very, very rarely happens these days. Even though we live a block away from each other, I probably see her once a month, if that. Apparently, when you work third shift, making plans with people is rather difficult because you're always sleeping when they're awake.

She and I have some MAJOR differences, but we know each other so well that we've just come to accept those things about each other and deal. Not to say that we don't drive each other nuts sometimes, but I think that's normal. I think we had more in common when we were 15 and first became friends, but we've been through so much together and our friendship is so strong that we've been able to grow separately without growing apart. The one thing we will always have in common is our sense of humor and that's what our friendship thrives on. There are other things, but mostly it's our history and our humor.

Melanie is one of the few people on this Earth that I can absolutely, 100 percent be myself with. I love that girl. She brings out the goofy side of me and we always get into ridiculous conversations that nobody else could possibly understand, but we end up laughing so hard we cry. And then we do it again. I wish that I could be that effortlessly candid with more people in my life, but she and I just click in a unique way. I guess that comes with being friends with someone for 10 years.

We've certainly paid our dues over those 10 years. Maybe I appreciate the good times with her so much because I've experienced some downright abysmal times with her as well. When you've done the roller coaster ride with someone that you truly care about and you both come out on top, it makes you love them that much more. I worry about her sometimes, but everything will work out. We'll all find happiness and balance in our lives. We just have to keep searching. That's all there is to it. If not, I'll just move to Boston and start over.

Stay Away from the Lemons

It's 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday. I'm sitting at my desk, sipping on my second cup of coffee. Rainforest Nut, it's my favorite. I can barely keep my eyes open, despite turning in early last night. Getting up this morning was rough, one of those days that I curl up on the floor and take a five minute nap in between blow-drying my hair and ironing my pants.

I just realized it's not even Wednesday, it's Thursday! Oh I am so discombobulated. This weekend (which spilled into Tuesday) was a busy one, a nice change from the past few months of winter hibernation. All it took was a few St. Patty's Day shenanigans to knock the winter blues right out of me. Today is the first day of spring and I can feel signs of life stirring all over the place.

I spent some quality time with Nikki this weekend. I forget how much I enjoy her company sometimes, mostly because I hardly ever see her these days. Hanging out with just her is a rare occurrence, as her fiance Jesse is usually attached to her hip. As much as I despise couples like that, NJ (my secret nickname for them) doesn't bother me one bit. They're not the all-over-each-other-in-your-face kind of couple. Still, it's nice to get just Nikki every once in awhile.

We got to talk a lot in our 5 hours of driving to Corning and back. Nikki is one of those people that I can talk to for a long time and not run out of things to say. She told me all about work and I can tell that she's passionate about what she does and really enjoys it. I hope she gets a full-time job soon, she deserves it. We talked a lot about her wedding too, which would annoy me with most other people, but I'm genuinely happy for her and Jesse and excited to be a part of their special day, so I didn't mind.

There's a lot of busy weekends coming up, and I'm grateful for that. Easter is this Sunday, the Boston trip is in two weeks, with any luck there will be Sabres playoff hockey throughout April (I hope). Spring is here. Summer follows. Good things.