To my good friend, Tara

I know, it's been a while since I checked in. Truth is, life has been extremely hectic lately, for both Linds and I: Linds rarely gets home before 7 p.m. As for me, I've had one quiet week since mid-February.

Some of the wounds were self-inflicted, mind you, like this news-side story I volunteered to do. After talking to the financial analysts I mention in the third section, I realized how completely over my head it all was. And next week, I've got a Nats game (hey, it's the regular season!) and back-to-back trips to Richmond for Cup testing.

But that's next week. For now, I'm focusing on the comforts of the weekend, and that often means visits from friends. Often as in tonight.

As always, we were honored to have several good friends drop by tonight: Andrew and Rebecca, Dave and Tara. Linds, Rebecca and Tara have been friends for years, predating me by a good margin. Luckily, Andrew, Dave and I all get along, a situation for which I'm very thankful and appreciative.

Anyway, Tara lets it slip that she manages to check in here from time to time. But all the talk of aviation and such is of no interest to her. Apparently, to get a comment out of her, I've got a write a blog about her.

So that's what I intend to do.

If you're looking for anything juicy, though, forget it. I can only report good things about Tara.
I can't remember the first time we met; perhaps she can (if she leaves a comment). But since then, I've gotten nothing but an open-arm welcome from her whenever I saw her.

And that's not always an easy deal. Some guy comes along and threatens to take away one of your best friends...maybe not take away, but at least steal substantial time from.

Sure, she could have been pissed about this I suppose, but she wasn't. Every time I got to hang with her, it started the same way, with that giant smile of hers.

I wish I could give you more specific examples, but the alcohol of the night is ma
king that tremendously difficult. Suffice it to say that I could not be prouder to count her among my friends. She's a great friend, and only a blind man would miss that.

It might sound random of me to come here and sing someone's praises so loudly. Perhaps it almost sounds like I was being paid off.

Truth be told, Tara was, in fact, paying me. All those hands of Texas Hold 'Em added up the same effect: My chip stack was huge, and I didn't hold back. "Come to papa" was a common refrain.

It almost felt like she couldn't stop giving me money, you know?

I say this in jest, of course. The real story of Tara comes about five grafs ago: good time, good company and good fun.

That's what I've come to expect from her and love about her. A quick-wit with a great sense of humor.

Tara, please feel free to tell me if I'm misrepresenting you. I have a feeling that I'm not, however.