And friends are friends forever...

Ring a bell? I used to stand in my room and belt out the words to this song in middle school. That's right, and it was not pretty. But it struck a chord in my melodramatic little soul, and even if I think the song is a little goofy now, the theme of it still persists.

I was just reading Kelle Hampton's blog "Enjoying the Small Things," and she posted about the ways women maintain friendships despite the busy and varied lives we lead.  It resonated with me. Her point was that it's important to keep our friendships healthy and strong even if it requires the one thing we never seem to have enough of--TIME.

I'm willing to devote all kinds of time to grocery shopping, laundry, diapering, (not dusting, not vacuuming, and not pile sorting), bathing, cooking, and feeding.  I do it without thought. But when it comes to making sure I keep up with the important people in my life, I sometimes put it off.

So here's a shout out to all the women in my life who have walked through the hard stuff, the funny pee in your pants stuff, and the joyful moments that I just couldn't do without them.  My mom, my sisters, my college friends, my married with kids friends, you all keep me afloat.

These are the ways we hold each other up: Bible study, phone calls at any time of day or night, girls' nights out, play dates with kids, random texts and quick chats throughout the day..."You're not gonna believe what just happened...," they're all important. 

A dinner swap on E's birthday.

One of my current favorite friend dates is dinner swap.  A college friend and I who moved from MI to MA together get together one or two nights a week when our husbands work the same nights. One of us makes dinner, the kids play, and we enjoy a messy, loud meal together.  It sure beats a lonely solo at home. Tonight we enjoyed amazing potato soup, salad, bread, and apple crisp, all prepared by my friend Mandy.  And we got to catch up--even if we had to do it while mopping up spilled soup, teary eyes, and poopy bums.

K and Jodi on our weekend getaway in Syracuse

My other favorite friend date is the "meet half way." I have two friends who I do this with. About once a year two of my long distance friends and I meet half way between each other's homes for an overnight at a b&b. Quite often the meeting point has nothing else going for it, other than the friend that meets me at the door of some obscure and dumpy place on the map. Most recently I got to have dinner in Syracuse with two of my favorite people. It was a little slice of heaven in a city I never plan to visit again unless Jodi and Lisa happen to be there.

I grow more and more convinced that while our kids, our husbands, our families hold the center place in our hearts, it's the circle of friends that surround that center that keep us afloat when we lose our way, or when the days drag long, or when we just need a different perspective to keep us grounded.

Time with friends, no matter what form the event shaping that time takes, is one of my great joys in life.