guess who's back, back in town...

Freya's back... (i don't know the rest of the words)

Lilah and Freya = Long Lost Sisters

wee Isla is the coolest baby ever.

***

Ok, so, you want to know a story?  It's a good one.  And I'll tell it fast.  Trust me, you want to hear this.

Back in Glasgow, people in the school where I worked were always asking me if I had met the other Californian who had a daughter in Kindergarten as well.  I hadn't.  And we kept missing each other, to the point of it being a cliche.  "Oh!  The other Californian just walked out the door!"  I heard that a lot.

And then one day, almost a year later, I was in the office making photocopies of music for the kids (legally), and I hear a very familiar accent, but very out of place.  And all at once, I am introduced to Tania, the other Californian.

As you do when you are abroad, you inquire as to where in California the person you have just met is from... and it turned out that not only was Tania a Bay Area girl, but her family had relocated to Sacramento, and the more we talked, the more we realised that it was very strange that we hadn't met already.

Unbeknownst to us, our daughters had been forming a relationship on the playground, and were fairly tight by the time Tania and I finally met each other properly.

Over time, we learned that we were both Tauruses, both our husbands thought Astrology was a load of shite, both husbands were also fans of the same kind of music and popular culture, and, oh yes, both our daughters were born on the same day (two years apart).

How's that for freaky?

Better still, when Tania and Michael got the news that they were moving back to California in the summer, they were being relocated to Sacramento, and were going to be living very close to my Mom.

Want some more freaky?

Tania kept saying, "You need to come back to California with us!!!" as though it was a possibility.  She was convinced it would happen.

But with no job, it wasn't on the cards.

And then, out of nowhere, all of a sudden, a job appeared, and even though I applied from 5000 miles away, I still got an interview.  And after a few interviews and a LOT of references, I was offered the position.

And then, just to be silly, Lilah and I relocated to California three weeks before Tania and her crew did.

I'm so grateful to Tania, and for Freya and Lilah for their own special magical bond.

p.s. for Isla

(I was there when your Mama went into labor! And when one contraction came so hard that you broke the chair your sweet Mama was sitting in!  You silly girl.  I love you.)