Day 20: The Back of my Hand

I must admit, I love busy days--love the constant activity, getting things accomplished, talking with people, doing my job. And then I love coming home--a whole evening stretched before me--or maybe just an hour as is the case today. But nonetheless--when the day is done, Jace is in bed, the house is relatively picked up and I can just hang out and read, blog, check out the news, watch something on Netflix--or whatever I choose to do...that's perfection: one of my top two favorite times of day. (The other favorite part of my day? Early mornings, chai tea, just me.)

So today has been one of those days that started at 8:30 and ended...well, pretty much just now. And it was filled with so many great moments. One of them happened this evening at the study group I attend on Thursday evenings. We were talking about the negative 'mental chatter' that often happens with us women. Maybe it happens with men too--I'm not trying to make a judgment call here--but I do know that we girls seem to struggle with it a lot. And in that moment, I realized that that doesn't happen with me quite so much anymore. I've become nicer to myself  in the past few months. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen--sometimes I get really fed up with me and some of my hangups that create problems at times. But in general, I'm more at peace in the core of my being. I don't fly off the handle quite so much anymore--and that reality made me really happy on the inside.

Gosh I like the 40's. And I hear the 50's are even better.

Another great moment today is that I was able to enjoy some 'girl time' with Beth A. (Kind of weird. I've always liked the name Beth--when I was little, I thought I would name my daughter 'Beth' and now I have two friends named Beth and both work on campus.) But anyway, the gymnastics team went out to eat at Papa's & Beer, and since Rick (her husband) drove the bus for the team, she and I rode over together. Beth is one of those people who is always looking for ways to make life more...refreshing, peaceful, joyful...in the midst of stress and doubt and busy-ness. So we talked a lot about books and things we've read and what we really think about different aspects of life. It was fun and it made me really glad that we're friends.

I like Beth. A lot.

And then at our study group this evening Bonny was talking about how she misses those types of friends that you simply don't have to impress--you can have them over for Sabbath lunch even if you're simply opening a can of hot dogs. And that reminded me of the Fergusons, our friends from Missouri. They used to come over almost every Friday evening--and often on Sabbaths for lunch--and, between our two families, we'd throw a feast on the table. In the winter we often made chili and cornbread. In the summer, we often BBQ'ed. And sometimes we'd just throw whatever we had on the table and enjoy the conversation. Saturday nights we often played card games--and when their boys were home, things got hysterical. I loved those times together. They're still there in Missouri but life is busy--and often complicated--so we never talk to them anymore. But lots of times--especially on Fridays, I think about them and wish that I could pick up the phone and say, "Hey! How about coming over this evening for dinner? You bring the cornbread and I'll make the chili."

So tonight? I'm thankful for friends--the kind that I know like the back of my hand; the kind that finish my thoughts; the kind that, even though we may be hundreds of miles apart and never speak, when we get together it's like no time has passed; the kind that accept me for me--no expectation, no conditions.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art; it has no survival value. Rather, it is one of those things that give value to survival.
-C. S. Lewis