Friends… God’s Way Of Making Up For Your Family

And if you knew my family… Let’s just say the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree. And there are a lot of nuts in that tree.

But let’s not get into that. Today we are talking about friends. I admit I am not a good friend. I forget birthdays or holidays. I don’t call and I don’t email. I suck. It’s probably why I haven’t had a lot of friends over the years. But now I seem to have some. And I really like it. I certainly have a diverse bunch of friends too.

There has always been Trisha. Since forever ago when we were just a couple of bored housewives with small children… I just don’t know what I would do without her. No matter what happens she is always there ready to help me hide the body or just listen while I whine. It doesn’t matter where I live; she is always a phone call, email, or text message away. She came all the way out here last year to visit. She and the whole family drove down to see me when I was in Georgia. Next year they are moving out here and I could be any happier about it. (I am sure her family in Ohio is disappointed, but tough.) She is like a sister to me. As far as I am concerned, her family is my family.

Lately I have been adding some new and old friends to my life. It makes me a lot happier. I didn’t realize how much.

Jackie and I were friends from elementary school. We talked off and on here and there after high school, but nothing major. Since moving up here though, we have reconnected through Facebook (seriously Facebook, I love you.) and it has been wonderful. We have gotten together a bunch of times. I have been out to her house in Barstow. We went to a concert in the park over the summer. We have game nights that are so fun. Her husband, Alan is also the nicest guy. I didn’t even know him and he offered to fix David’s truck over the summer. And now that my car is having trouble he is willing to help me with that. His sister is a hoot. I met her at their house. Their nieces are adorable. They have been here to our house and we saw them at Jackie’s too. It has been a blessing to find Jackie again. Just two days ago, I wrote about my Bah-Humbug spirit, and I come out of work to two very encouraging texts from her. I can only wish I were as good of a friend as she is.

And where I found Jackie, I also found Tabi. Tabi and I met when I was a junior in high school. I didn’t see or hear from her again after I graduated. However, Jackie and Tabi were Facebook friends and of course knew each other from school and that enabled Tabi and I to reconnect. Tabi is such a caring person. She is fun to be around. She has two adorable little boys. And of course with Tabi, you get her partner Kathy. She is just as nice. She is a great mom and a kind and compassionate person. They make a great pair. I am very lucky to have them both in my life. They also come to game nights. We have been to their house for game night too. They joined us for the concert in the park. It has been wonderful. They are always talking about moving to the East coast. I certainly would miss them.

I managed to reconnect with a couple of other old friends via Facebook. Sarah, who I was friends with from junior high, I got a chance to hang out with her at the home of another old friend, Jamie. We played Bunco, which was fun, and it was so nice seeing them again. Sarah is still so sweet and wonderful. Almost too sweet…. No, just kidding. I am so glad I got to see her. Jamie I think I met in junior high. Whatever it may have been, I am glad I did. She has a lovely home and a very nice husband. I am so glad that whatever a jerk I was in high school, and I am sure I was a jerk, isn’t keeping them from being my friends now.

Most recently, Paula managed find me via Facebook. We were the best of friends in high school. We went to a homecoming dance together. I am pretty sure my mom liked her better than she liked me. We were still in contact after high school for a long time. She came to my baby shower. I sent a gift for her wedding since I couldn’t make it. I went to see her right after she had her first daughter. I sent her packages when she took on her sister’s child as a foster child. But a few years ago, she lost her job and moved, then I moved and we lost touch. Luckily, the internet has come to the rescue again. (If I could, I would totally marry Facebook.)

Of course not all of my new friends are old friends found. Mary and Tonya are two of the nicest people I know. I met them at Chris and Sheri’s house at Taylor’s birthday. I have the privilege of being Facebook friends with Mary (because it won’t let me friend Tonya). They have great kids. They are easy to be around. We spent Thanksgiving with them and even though David and I were too sick to really enjoy all the yummy food, we really loved spending the holiday with them. I am so glad we met.

Just so you don’t think I don’t like all my other Facebook friends and other casual acquaintances… I do appreciate all of you too. I know a lot of people from work too who are great. I didn’t realize how few people I knew before, until I knew so many like now.

**************

Anyways, all this talk about friends has put me in a much better mood. I am not quite a jolly old St. Nick yet, but I am much less Mrs. Scrooge. I am watching a Christmas movie with Carolynn. We are making burritos. Later we are going to Catherine’s school for Holiday Fun Night. Then we will bake cookies and watch more Christmas movies. I will get into the holiday spirit if it kills me.

I also discovered I had one more maintenance on my car, so I will be taking my car in on Tuesday so I can be sure what is wrong with it and get the oil changed. That should give me a little help in stress relief.

Also, I worked a couple of overtimes this week so that will help with some upcoming stuff. Plus I had a few overtimes that I hadn’t gotten paid for that I will soon. Then that will help too. I am reducing the stress, which in turn is boosting the Christmas spirit.

Happy Holidays!