Friday, March 30, 2007

Happy Birthday!

Today is the birthday of one of my best friends ever. Pretty Lady and I met when we were sophomores in high school, in Mrs. Kuehne's geometry class. Good times, good times.

Pretty Lady and I have had a rough time of it recently. We're in very different stages of life right now, and it's hard to find common ground. While I wouldn't trade my life for anything, sometimes I'm jealous that she's still single -- she gets to go wherever, whenever. She can have cereal for dinner without worrying that she isn't cooking for her family. She works in what I would call a glamorous job, and gets to make things pretty, while I teach and grade papers and clean up poopy diapers. She's really creative and artsy, and I'm a nerd.

We had a heart-to-heart when she was here last October, and she admitted that sometimes she's jealous of my life, too. She expected to be married and settling down, maybe having kids by now, and she's not.

I've been thinking a lot about our friendship lately. I miss her because we don't talk as much, but what do we really have to talk about? Sure, I'm interested in what's going on in her life, but I have a hard time relating. I miss what used to be, but that same closeness really can't happen right now. We're just in a phase where we can't meet each other's needs because we don't have the same experiences on a day-to-day basis.

I still love her, and I still believe in her, and I still pray for her. I wish I could be there for her, but I don't know the best way to support her because I've not experienced what she's going through.

I do know that I'm not ready to give up on 15 years of friendship. I've come to terms with the fact that we're distant right now. While I'm mourning that we don't have that same closeness, I'm hoping that someday we'll reconvene, so to speak, and be better able to share each other's lives. Then we'll remember this phase when our lives were so different and reminisce together about all the crazy things that have gone on.

So, Pretty Lady, I wish you the very bestest Happy Birthday. I love you.

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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Out of the mouth of the babe

While adjusting his blanket this evening: "I need some help, here!"

To get me to stop holding something: "Let go for it."

The first thing he tells me when I ask him what he did at school that day: "I held hands with Eva." (His teacher tells me he also kisses her on the cheek.)

Edited to add:
When holding the door open for me as we leave his school everyday: "I'm being a gemblemen."

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Monday, March 26, 2007

Naps

What a weekend! I had a great time at the women's retreat with ladies from our church.

There was a tad bit of disappointment, though. You see, I pink puffy heart naps. I'm a serious napper. I get back into my jammies, take out my contacts, and zonk out. If I have to shower all over again after the nap, I'm okay with that.

So, when we got to the retreat Friday night and they gave us the schedule, I was elated to see that they had given us a three-hour block of free time on Saturday afternoon. They had provided suggestions of what we could do with our free time. The first one on the list? Yep - NAP. Yipee! My body already began to feel what it would be like to stretch out between the sheets, without having to worry that Knight would need me to help with Jet because he had to be somewhere at a certain time. I could just sleep. That's what I call "retreating".

We did Beth Moore's Loving Well study, and it was great. The first video session was Friday night, followed by small group time, and then free time. I stayed up until after midnight talking with the girls in my room. It was a great time!

Saturday morning, just before our first video session, it was announced that we needed to check out of our rooms by noon. What?!?!? No bed in which to nap?

This would not have been such a huge disappointment had they not put "nap" on the suggestion list. I guess I assummed that the rooms would still be available since that was a suggestion. I was cranky about this for awhile, having turned into a pumpkin the night before because I was planning on de-pumpkining with a nap the next day.

However, one of the ladies taught a bunch of us how to play Nertz, which totally appealed to my competitive self, so all was well. Also, I did not know until just now that it is a wildly popular game. I'd never heard of it, but when I googled it, I received 48,000 results. Totally surprised me!

P.S. I got my nap Sunday afternoon. Yay for my Knight in Shining Armor, who had the house clean, laundry done, and STILL let me take a nap on Sunday! *swoon* Thank you, honey!

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