If you read this blog you know I have a set of friends I go out with on a regular basis. And you have probably read about them in the past.
Tonight I met with them again. We did our monthly dinner out. Except it has been many months since we have been able to do it. So it was long overdue.
I have known these women for over 3 years. Our kids went to preschool together for 2 years and we have remained friends despite the fact that our kids now go to different elementary schools.
On my way home from the restaurant I felt different then I have in the past. Yes, I still had that feeling of being recharged after a lot of good laughs. I enjoyed our conversations. But tonight I felt more. I realized how special these women really are. I realized how much I depend on them, how much I admire them and how much I love them all.
I have many other friends in my life that I love. I have a best friend of 30 years. I have 4 fabulous college friends that live in four different states and for which I would do anything.
Why is this group so special to me? It is hard to explain but I will try.
There is no judgement.
There is total comfort around them.
They are sincere.
They are real.
They are funny.
They are extemely complimentary.
They love to make fun of each other's quirks.
They love to laugh.
They have great kids.
They have great husbands.
They are accepting.
They are all very different from each other.
They are extremely supportive at times of need.
They give great advice and true opinions when you really want one.
They know what is right for you more than you do.
They know how to make you feel good.
Life has been stressful and tough lately. And these women have been my rocks. They have held me up and pushed me forward. All in their own ways. They have given me hope and guidance. They have spoken words that have changed the way I think. Being a strong-willed person who is usually the rock for someone else this is sometimes hard to accept and admit. But they have been there without judgement. And have been there faithfully.
Prior to dinner, the most important thing I wanted to know is if one of my friends went to her class reunion. The day before the event she sent an email that she might not go because she wasn't feeling so good about how she looked. Well, tonight she expressed such gratitude for all the emails that we all sent back to her encouraging her to go and telling her how beautiful she really is. She was so amazed by our support she shared the emails with her husband and it actually made it him tear up.
Another friend gives me things because that is just her. Not out of welfare, but because that is what she loves to do. Share. And what it does for me and my self-esteem is more than she knows. Having that little something new or pretty makes a girl stand a little taller and smile more.
Recently, that same friend let me borrow a necklace for my job interview. She sent me home with 3. I privately loved 2 of them. I returned them to her tonight at dinner. She opened the little jewelry bag and pulled out the two I love and said, "Wait, you were supposed to keep these." I was taken aback. "No, I can't" I said. She said, "Yes, I have only worn that one once and I have something very similar to this one already." I immediately took off the necklace i was wearing and put on the white one and wore it with pride! It is not the material want or need of her gesture. It is the generosity. That she knows what I love and that she loves to give. To her giving and making you happy makes her happy.
I could go on about the others. They are all very special to me in their own way. I have a special relationship with each of them in my own way. They all provide something to me that the others may not. They are all unique.
But what they all have in common is that they are all beautiful. Inside and Out.
-end-
Showing posts with label preschool friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preschool friends. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Thursday, November 13, 2008
WILD
"Wild" has many definitions:
1 - living in a state of nature and not ordinarily tame or domesticated
2 - not subject to restraint or regulation
3 - indicative of strong passion, desire, or emotion
4 - going beyond normal or conventional bounds
5 - marked by turbulent agitation
Today my friends K, L and myself accompanied our kids on the zoo field trip. As I stood in my closet deciding what to wear I thought to myself that L will wear some cute outfit/shirt with an animal or something from nature on it that will be reflective of the field trip we were about to embark on. K will wear some cute slip on dress with flip flops and I, well, I will resort to my solid color v-neck tee with sporty capri pants and tennis shoes. I sighed and got dressed in said outfit.
Upon meeting at the car, my unconventional friend L, sure enough had on her Alexa Pulitzer alligator t-shirt from DirtyCoast.com which I am crazy about! (By the way Dirtycoast.com has so many Nola related designs I couldn't pick one if I had to! But the one L had one would by far be in my top 3 as we both share a love of Alexa's stuff.) I complimented L on her cute shirt and told her I knew she would wear something like that when I don't even know if I have a shirt with a print of any kind on it. She laughed and joked about how it took her a good 20 minutes of thought the night before to get the right shirt for the day!
K of course, as predicted, had on her dress and flipflops. K who is typically constained and sometimes even quiet and shy certainly knows how to shake things up with a wild and crazy story about herself that has us laughing hysterically in the car crossing the boring causeway bridge. In retrospect I am thinking she should look to herself when she is worried about why her very shy/quiet son is suddenly acting out a bit in school. Hmmm. Sound familiar my dear?
Then there is me. I was talking to L today about haircuts and she was saying she always gets the same cut. K, well, she typically wears her hair the same all the time too. Me, well, that's where I differ. Not only do I not dress as cute & stylish as they do, but my hair differs daily. It can be curly, straight, sorta curly, sorta straight, pulled back messily in pony, pulled back neatly in pony, only bangs back in clip, etc. I am not quite as organized and put together. I guess I can be defined by definition #5 above. And that explains everything! We all got a little "wild" in us :-)
1 - living in a state of nature and not ordinarily tame or domesticated
2 - not subject to restraint or regulation
3 - indicative of strong passion, desire, or emotion
4 - going beyond normal or conventional bounds
5 - marked by turbulent agitation
Today my friends K, L and myself accompanied our kids on the zoo field trip. As I stood in my closet deciding what to wear I thought to myself that L will wear some cute outfit/shirt with an animal or something from nature on it that will be reflective of the field trip we were about to embark on. K will wear some cute slip on dress with flip flops and I, well, I will resort to my solid color v-neck tee with sporty capri pants and tennis shoes. I sighed and got dressed in said outfit.
Upon meeting at the car, my unconventional friend L, sure enough had on her Alexa Pulitzer alligator t-shirt from DirtyCoast.com which I am crazy about! (By the way Dirtycoast.com has so many Nola related designs I couldn't pick one if I had to! But the one L had one would by far be in my top 3 as we both share a love of Alexa's stuff.) I complimented L on her cute shirt and told her I knew she would wear something like that when I don't even know if I have a shirt with a print of any kind on it. She laughed and joked about how it took her a good 20 minutes of thought the night before to get the right shirt for the day!
K of course, as predicted, had on her dress and flipflops. K who is typically constained and sometimes even quiet and shy certainly knows how to shake things up with a wild and crazy story about herself that has us laughing hysterically in the car crossing the boring causeway bridge. In retrospect I am thinking she should look to herself when she is worried about why her very shy/quiet son is suddenly acting out a bit in school. Hmmm. Sound familiar my dear?
Then there is me. I was talking to L today about haircuts and she was saying she always gets the same cut. K, well, she typically wears her hair the same all the time too. Me, well, that's where I differ. Not only do I not dress as cute & stylish as they do, but my hair differs daily. It can be curly, straight, sorta curly, sorta straight, pulled back messily in pony, pulled back neatly in pony, only bangs back in clip, etc. I am not quite as organized and put together. I guess I can be defined by definition #5 above. And that explains everything! We all got a little "wild" in us :-)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Cultivating Friends
Thursday night was Mom's Night Out again. This time we spent our valuable time at Lucy's Retired Surfer's Bar & Restaurant on Girod in Mandeville. Again, our time together was great as usual!
However, as I reflected on the my evening the next day with my hubby I said that I just realized that I was the only blonde at that table and actually, I was the only one not "from here". Meaning I was the only one sitting at that table who is not from the Greater New Orleans area (as far as I know - hence the dark hair of all my fellow diners!) I am pretty sure all the ladies grew up here. I know most are relocated from the southshore. We even talked about private schools they attended on Thursday night.
So I tell my husband that I find that insteresting how I have found a great group of friends who are all from here. Previously, my group of friends were all transplants who have all since moved away (for one reason or another) and here I remain.
As I said before, I, unofficially, am the coordinator of our small group of women. My hubby said something that I think is very true. He said that because I am not from here and don't have family here to fall back on I cultivate my own friends. And when I find people I enjoy having in my life and find positive I hold on to them. Therefore, I cultivate my own friends.
Ladies, I say this all the time. I love hanging out with you. I am glad we are becoming more and more of a support group for each other. I just hope we can remain this close when the kids go to Kindergarten!
Cheers to great lady friends!
P.S. Squirrel #3 has been captured. Squirrel boy says that we should no longer have any more problems Let's hope not! I need my phone line repaired now!
However, as I reflected on the my evening the next day with my hubby I said that I just realized that I was the only blonde at that table and actually, I was the only one not "from here". Meaning I was the only one sitting at that table who is not from the Greater New Orleans area (as far as I know - hence the dark hair of all my fellow diners!) I am pretty sure all the ladies grew up here. I know most are relocated from the southshore. We even talked about private schools they attended on Thursday night.
So I tell my husband that I find that insteresting how I have found a great group of friends who are all from here. Previously, my group of friends were all transplants who have all since moved away (for one reason or another) and here I remain.
As I said before, I, unofficially, am the coordinator of our small group of women. My hubby said something that I think is very true. He said that because I am not from here and don't have family here to fall back on I cultivate my own friends. And when I find people I enjoy having in my life and find positive I hold on to them. Therefore, I cultivate my own friends.
Ladies, I say this all the time. I love hanging out with you. I am glad we are becoming more and more of a support group for each other. I just hope we can remain this close when the kids go to Kindergarten!
Cheers to great lady friends!
P.S. Squirrel #3 has been captured. Squirrel boy says that we should no longer have any more problems Let's hope not! I need my phone line repaired now!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Mom's Night Out
I am the unofficial home room mom of the moms from my daughter's preschool class. That means I am responsible for getting the mom's from my daughter's class together once in awhile to socialize, have coffee, etc. Kelly says I am their rock. I laugh at that. Laura gave me the title "home room mom of the moms". I laugh at that too. Here is what I do. I talk to some moms. Say, "Hey we should get together for a mom's night out or something." They all go, "Yeah! Good Idea. Sounds Great!"
So I schedule it. Big whoop.
But, apparently there is a lot of appreciation for such scheduling by the other moms. In the last two years we have become a tight knit group of moms. Very supportive. We get along quite well. No bad apples in the group. We will be sad when our kids hit kindergarten because we will all go to different elementary schools. Hopefully, we can continue to hang out together and have coffee once in awhile. We already have a date to have morning margaritas on the first day of kindergarten because it will be the first time for some of us, the last child off to school for others and well, the other moms they just will be there to support our morning drinking!
Tonight was a Mom's Night Out night. We went for mexican - er - should I say margaritas? There were only 4 of us tonight. And that was fine. We chatted, laughed, almost spit margaritas across the table and had some downright great conversations! These moms are awesome. We shared post-partum depression stories, hubby stories, 5 year old kid stories, MIL stories - whatever! The conversation didn't stop - only to read the menu to order. Which was tuff and the waiter had to keep coming back!
No matter how often we get together we always seem to learn more and more about each other. I have said this in posts previously. I am so curious about people and love to get to know them. I ask a lot of questions sometimes.
The great thing is everytime I walk away from these people I have a good feeling. I enjoy my time with them. I feel welcomed. I feel refreshed and happy.
It is good to know nice people. It is also good for this momma to get out and enjoy herself for 3.5 hours once in awhile. Thanks hubby for handling the kids while I enjoyed myself. And thanks ladies for joining me!
So I schedule it. Big whoop.
But, apparently there is a lot of appreciation for such scheduling by the other moms. In the last two years we have become a tight knit group of moms. Very supportive. We get along quite well. No bad apples in the group. We will be sad when our kids hit kindergarten because we will all go to different elementary schools. Hopefully, we can continue to hang out together and have coffee once in awhile. We already have a date to have morning margaritas on the first day of kindergarten because it will be the first time for some of us, the last child off to school for others and well, the other moms they just will be there to support our morning drinking!
Tonight was a Mom's Night Out night. We went for mexican - er - should I say margaritas? There were only 4 of us tonight. And that was fine. We chatted, laughed, almost spit margaritas across the table and had some downright great conversations! These moms are awesome. We shared post-partum depression stories, hubby stories, 5 year old kid stories, MIL stories - whatever! The conversation didn't stop - only to read the menu to order. Which was tuff and the waiter had to keep coming back!
No matter how often we get together we always seem to learn more and more about each other. I have said this in posts previously. I am so curious about people and love to get to know them. I ask a lot of questions sometimes.
The great thing is everytime I walk away from these people I have a good feeling. I enjoy my time with them. I feel welcomed. I feel refreshed and happy.
It is good to know nice people. It is also good for this momma to get out and enjoy herself for 3.5 hours once in awhile. Thanks hubby for handling the kids while I enjoyed myself. And thanks ladies for joining me!
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