Friends

Sigh! Did you hear it... listen... S I G H ! That was a heartfelt, happy sigh of thankfullness. How do women survive without other women friends? I just don't know. My friends bless me every day - I couldn't make it through life without them. Why do I love my friends so much? You're wondering aren't you? For one thing my husband is away for work every so often and it's nice to know there's someone who will help me out of a pinch at any time of day and night. Plus I do like to talk. Being connected to other people as a homeschool mom is necesary to my sanity. Believe it or not, my friends like to talk too! And usually longer than my husband. Though I do have to give him credit. He's my best friend and a pretty good listener. Unfortunately his testosterone and my estrogen don't always have us on the same wave length. He can't always relate to what I'm feeling or thinking (and vice versa). And for some reason homeschool curriculum choices, chore charts, and planning play dates just aren't his thing.

Back to my friends.

Having good friends also means I can forget my age and responsibilites once in a while and just be silly. Or watch a chick flick and have a good laugh or cry together. I have to admit I love going to the movies. The best one I've seen lately is Mamma Mia. Musicals are my favorite... but it's really hard not to just sing out the songs with all the enthusiasm inside me when I feel inspired to join in. I haven't actually done that - but if I did my friends (at least some of them) would join in with me, or just sit there and grin. That's the kind of friends I have. :)

A major bonus is that we all have children and most of the time they play really well together. They stay so occupied that us Mom's get large chunks of undisturbed time (atleast a half hour - sometimes more). That's worth it's weight in gold. I KNOW you KNOW what I mean. I think they stay out of our way on purpose. It's like they think "If we don't bother her she'll forget we are here and we won't have to leave as soon."

Today was a BIG TREAT! My children were with 2 of my friends and their children for three and a half hours. Without me! I had peace. The kind of peace where there are no other sounds except the ones you make yourself. And it was daylight so there were many options as to what to do during this FREE TIME. I had all kinds of ideas... go for a bike ride (it was around freezing temperatures but no snow), run errands in town (get some ideas for Christmas gifts), clean my house, nap, blog, play piano, sew the rip in MacGyvers pants, or do the many little projects that got left undone at some point in the last 6 months.

Wanna know what I did? Well I planned to go for a bike ride. I dropped off the children and came home with all intentions of gearing up for a bike ride. But then something happened... I sat down in my very quiet and peaceful house and simply sighed. IT IS SO NICE TO BE ALONE IN THE HOUSE! I felt a giddy sense of freedom. I couldn't bring myself to leave. So I did a couple little chores and then gave myself permission to get lost in my piano. For you music lovers out there you can understand what a gift that uninterupted time is. I probably had an hour of just playing whatever I wanted with no little hands 'helping me make the song prettier.' No one called "Mommy!' or said, "I'm hungry!" It was just me and the piano. SIGH!

Later though, I did go to the "not so quiet" house were the moms and ALL the children were. But by then I was ready. I actually missed them a little bit. I think it was a whole four and a half minutes before one of my children noticed me and said, "Mommy, I'm hungry." Music to my ears. It was a wonderful day. I might have to do it again soon. :)