Thank You for Being a Friend, Part 1: The Hospital

Thank you for being a friend

Traveled down the road and back again

Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant

--Andrew Gold, "Thank You for Being a Friend" 

Well, I can certainly say the past few months have brought with them their share of challenges - but also much joy.  I meant to write this sooner while events were fresher in my mind....but given that I was recovering from surgery and still shrugging off the haze of anesthesia and pain medication, I can't really say they were all that fresh anyway!

I wanted to share this with you, though, because what I went through around the time of my surgery really drove home for me how blessed we are to have such amazing friends in our lives.  People who, when it comes down to it, are more like family than friends.

Recharge Your Batteries

"Me time."  We all talk about it. We all crave it. And I'm willing to bet almost all of us don't get enough.

When you're a parent, it becomes especially difficult to set aside some time to recharge your batteries....but it's also especially important.  The many challenges that come with parenting necessitate a strong and willing spirit - and you can't be at your best if you're overtired, stressed, and never take a break or spend time with friends.

That's pretty much been my life until recently. I've had some rough things to deal with this year so far, and so I've been feeling a bit more run down and emotional than usual. (Insert joke here.)  So I was fortunate that I got to spend last weekend visiting my best friend, known by Anna and on MLWP as "Uncle Keith." During my visit, Uncle Keith and I got to spend an afternoon hanging out in New York City, browsing in shops, eating, drinking, all that good stuff.

It was wonderful.

NYC baby!

Thank You For Being a Friend

Today's post is a tribute to the best friend I have ever had, my unofficial brother, Ken.  Those of you who know me know how devastated I was almost two years ago when he passed away far too young after a difficult battle with cancer. On this date he would have turned 41.

Ours was a long and beautiful friendship filled with laughter and love and yes, occasional drama. Thankfully, though, that drama was never with each other! For ten years, we supported each other through relationship problems, breakups, family drama, financial difficulties, relocation... the disappointments and challenges of life. But we also celebrated life's triumphs and joys: the beginnings of new relationships, professional successes, career changes, and happy events like falling in love with a beautiful little baby girl.

Taking on NYC, Aug. 2004

Merry Christmas to All!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of our readers who are celebrating Christmas the merriest and happiest of days! Despite some serious sniffles and fever, Anna managed to have a nice time - I think unwrapping presents was her favorite part! We also spent a nice day with our family and consider ourselves very blessed.

The package was almost as tall as Anna!

To all my friends and family and other loved ones with whom I couldn't celebrate today, I'm thinking of you and hoping you had a wonderful day as well. Merry Christmas!

Playground Life Lessons

They spend a ton of time together.  They have a great time. They like to do many of the same things.  But sometimes, they squabble over the way those things should be done. Sometimes, they just don’t want to share. Sometimes, they want to be alone.  Always, they eventually make up and start getting along again.

Are they an old married couple, you may ask?  Actually, they are toddler buddies.  But we old married couples could learn a lot from them.

Mayhem at the park, Nov. 2011

Even Supermoms Have Limits

So, out of concern that perhaps you won’t “listen” to me anymore if I keep talking about listening, I will make this my last post in this vein (for now, anyway).  And I’ll work on the bad jokes too.

Writing about listening to our limits yesterday, and realizing how little I listen to mine, made me realize that acknowledging our limits doesn’t always mean saying “no.”

Sometimes, it means saying YES.

From elleelleeye.blogspot.com

Friday Fun: BFFs!

There's nothing like seeing your child develop his or her first close friendships. I love watching Anna interact with her little friends - unless she's not sharing, of course, and then it's not so fun!  

Thankfully those times aren't as plentiful as the ones where she and a friend are engaged in their own little world, cooking things in their kitchen, feeding their baby dolls, etc. There's no complexity, no drama (unless it's over a toy), no adult hang-ups. It's just pure joy.