Whose Got Your Back?

Do you have someone you can call when you're in a pickle? How about two people you can call, you know, when you really you need help with something? How about 3 people? Can you name three people that you can call and say "hey I'm doing this thing, and well, If I do it alone it will take all night, could you come right now and help out for an hour or so? Okay name four people? Can you do it. Remember this isn't anything life threatening, it just you calling on friends for last minute help? Well, if you can you are sooo lucky! I feel like the luckiest person right now. Earlier tonight, right at supper time to be exact, I found myself in a bit if a pickle. I needed to get 350ish letters, return envelopes, newsletters, membership forms, all organized and into the mail for tomorrow. My appointed help was unable to make it so.......... I made some phone calls and guess what? Everybody I called, except one ( she was running an errand in another town...she's excused), came right away. WOW! and I am realizing there were more people I could have called but too many people would have been difficult to manage. I am so thankful, and might I add...at the ready for when I am called upon... Thanks guys--You're the BEST next time I got your back!!!

Friends are a BLESSING!

Last night was date night for Ben and I. We hired a sitter and went to the local restaurant and to an Art Show. After a great dinner and a few drinks we headed to the Art Show. On our way out of the restaurant we bumped into some friends. We chatted and decided...... maybe we will come back and hang out at the bar with them for a bit. Well... we spent 10 whole minutes at the Art show and were back to the bar in no time. We enjoyed an evening of good conversation, interesting drink concoctions and ...well... a lot of plain old fun. Later in the evening a bunch more of our friends showed up and we decided to stay even longer. The plan was to home around 9:00pm. Well.... we left at midnight. Plus we stayed up past 2:00am talking with more friends back at our home. It was wonderful!

How great is it to have friends? It's the greatest!!! Today we (the boys, Ben and I) went to three birthday parties and bowling! Kinda of a crazy day but again every where I went I ran into more friends, had some great conversations. And, continued to feel so blessed. You see for me friends are like family. I really get a sense of myself when I am with friends. I can truly relax and be me and know I am not being judged or in danger of being criticized. My friends, like my family, accept me for who I am . Flaws and all. And I them. I embrace their diversity and learn a lot from their experiences and stories. Friends are a true BLESSING, and I love each and every one of them!

Acquaintances..not forgotten

While I was out yesterday I ran into someone I had not seen for 8 years! I knew this person when I was engaged to her brother-in-law. It's kind of a long story....so I will write a condensed version. You see after I moved to NH the person I moved here with turned out to be ...well...not the same person he was in NY. So we parted ways. I rented a cute little chalet in a small New England town. It was just Britt and me, good thing, did I mention it was a very small chalet. Anyway, the man I rented the chalet from had 3 boys , 2 of them married and the third, also the oldest, 36 at the time(I think ?) still lived at home. Their house happened to be on the same driveway as the chalet. I'm pretty sure the moment the Dad (call him Gordon) laid eyes on me he began planning his son Mark's future. Long story short Mark and I met, I cleaned his office. Soon after we went out on a date and with in 6 months we were on top of Mount Ascutney with a bottle of wine and a diamond rind (a WOW ring). Somewhere in that six months I met Jen....super sweet, lots of fun... a sister type person. We hit it off great. She would take Britt and go shopping. She was, like the rest of the family, very supportive of Mark and I. Well, I took Mark to NY to meet my family. Upon our return to NH Mark announced that he felt that my family maybe wasn't for him and he didn't see himself ever visiting NY again. HMMMMM....at this point I'm thinking I really should re-examine why I am getting married. With very little thought I decided NOT to get married I returned the ring (VERY difficult) and moved out of the chalet...pretty much all in the same day. I have not seen or spoken to Mark since. I saw Gordon in Wal Mart and made a point to speak to him. We actually had a very nice conversation. However through all of this the person I missed the most and wondered about the most was Jennifer. And yesterday I saw her, today she came to playgroup...she only lives a few miles away. I am so happy!!!!! It also turns out that Jen's sister is married to our good friends Father. So there are all kinds of neat connections.

I have always felt that acquaintances are NOT disposable. I do try to stay in touch with people I meet. Even if It has been years..I still say hello when I see old acquaintances. Sometimes I need a reminder of their name and they mine. Yet I always say hello.