Dear Friends

I admit it, I have wonderful friends. My friends are dear to me and I could not even begin to count them all. Some came into my life early and some friends I met while raising my children. Others are new to my life. Some share common interests, a common Faith, perhaps we share a common interest. My first two friends were the Meyer sisters, Lynda & Maralee. Our families moved to a quiet, "Father Knows Best" kind of neighborhood in Los Angeles when Lynda was about 3 1/2, I was 3 and Maralee was about 2. Our parents were life-long friends.....Here is a photo of Maralee and I on our recent Mexican Cruise.

Right after the cruise I had a chance to have dinner with some other friends...We'd been friends since kindergarten! We attended Cimmarron Avenue Elementary School in Inglewood, CA. We were also in Camp Fire Girl's beginning as Blue Birds all the way up through Jr. High Camp Fire Girls. So the night after the cruise Liz joined us at the Tangerine Grill in Anaheim, CA.

Here we are: Liz and I in front; Terri, Gail and Vicki in the back. We hugged and chattered and laughed and shared for hours. Missing were Toni, Olga & Lorna and I am hoping we can all get together in 2012. It would be so much fun! Just because I hadn't seen them in 46 years didn't mean we couldn't just pick right up. We shared about our children, our parents and brothers & sisters. We chattered about jobs and world events and so much more. I am sure if we lived close by each other we'd still be besties.

There was a time I said I wouldn't be my children's' friend. I would be their MOM. They didn't need a friend, but they needed a mom. Interesting because since Liz & Beka are now in their 30's we are friends. Oh, I'm still their Mom...but now we can share as friends do too.

I have young friends, old friends, men friends & girl friends. I have school friends, swimming friends, quilting friends, FaceBook friends, church friends and more. They are all dear to me. I hope you have friends in your life too.

Friends

Friends are special people who come into your life. Sometimes you aren't even sure why "people" become friends. It may be that you have common interests, family relations, or it could just be that "something" clicks. They say, "You can't choose your family but your CAN choose your friends." I think that sometime you don't even choose your friends. Some of them become friends through osmosis!

In my lifetime I've had great friends. Some long-term, some for just a short period of time. Church friends, school friends, neighborhood friends, Internet friends. Club friends, quilting friends, work friends, store friends, stab-you-in-the-back-friends, kindred spirit friends and more. Sometime friends move away and you don't see them for long periods of time but when you get together it's as if no time has passed at all. It's great when your friends have kids who become life-long friends and then THEIR kids become friends!
L-R: Gavin & Crizzy, Emma and Sydney. Their parents are our friends, their moms are friends (and were members of my Camp Fire group when they were young) and now THEY are friends. Isn't life grand?
Speaking of Camp Fire and friends......I grew up in Los Angeles and went to Cimmarron Ave. Elementary school. In kindergarten I met the ladies above: Toni Fisher & Vicki Riggs. We were Blue Birds together (Toni's mom was our leader) and then Camp Fire Girls (Vicki's mom was our leader and my mom ass't leader for a couple of years). We have great history. When we were all 13, I moved to the San Bernardino Valley and Toni & twin sister Terri moved to Simi Valley. I kept in touch with Terri & Toni all these years (although not as much in the last few years as I would have liked--my fault) but lost touch with Vicki. She found me a couple of years ago and we emailed a bit.

Exciting news! We're all getting together this summer! Terri, Toni, Vicki & I and maybe a few more of the old group. We're still looking for Olga Evergates, Jill MacDonald and Gail Plakos. Maiden names. Gail, I think lives in the San Fernando Valley. We're all 56 or 57 now. I'd love to find them too. Friends then, friends now. I can hardly wait till July.

Santa visited me!

Last night, or rather very early Christmas morning, Mr. Scottie Dog and I arrived home after a long, very long travel day from Minnesota. Sounds simple, doesn't it. Get on a plane in Minneapolis, fly to Denver. 1 hour later get on a plane, fly to San Francisco. 1 hour later get on a plane, fly to Eureka. Simple, straightforward.
We had a lovely visit with daughter Beka & Jason and the grandbabies. We celebrated Christmas on the 23rd. Christmas Eve morning we went to a neat place in Edina, MN, The Original Pancake House. We'd been there several years ago. Beka thought we'd like to go since they originated in Portland, OR where my brother Pat lives. The OPH has the best breakfasts. Bill, Beka & I had Apple Pecan Crepes, Jason had Eggs Benedict and Jakob and Mercedes shared a stack of Buckwheat Pancakes. Not a drop or bit was left. We went from there to the airport. Our first case of hurry up and wait. Our plane left 1 1/2 hours late. And in Denver we boarded our plane 1 1/2 hours after schedule....and sat in the plane for an additional hour before it took off. We waited in SF to see if we could get on the last plane out to Eureka. We were listed standby way down the list. We waited 3 1/2 hours....Bill even checked rental cars. Not a one available even if we wanted to drive the 6 1/2 hours home. They listed us on a 6:30 pm flight Christmas Evening. Well, we made it finally on the last plane out. Hurray! We did get home. I know that lots of people did NOT get to their destinations on Christmas Eve. Including at least 40 on our Denver plane who were bound for Hawaii. I hope they got there today.
When we got home early Christmas morning there was a box on the doorstep. We must have missed Santa's sleigh by a moment or two. "Merry Christmas" it said on the outside. Inside were 4 holiday DVD's---White Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. A note from Santa read, "Enjoy & Relax Love, Santa"
Santa has been making these deliveries on Christmas Eve for about 6 years now. I've been given some cute flannel PJ's, a holiday purse, a set of Christmas Dishes, floral arrangements and now some of my favorite movies. I've had fun trying to guess who Santa is...but not a clue.
Thanks Santa....you've made me feel special and loved. And you've inspired me to do some anonymous giving of my own.
There was a message on the answer machine inviting to friends for Christmas Dinner. Thanks to the Paseman/Harvey family. Good friends, good times.
Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hot Dog!

I don't go to work until about 4 pm on Mondays because I do computer work at home and then teach a class until about 9:30 pm. Mondays I do various errands. "Want to go to CostCo with me?" I asked my daughter Liz. So we made plans. A trip to CostCo is usually made with lunch in mind. Where else can you get a meal for $1.50? A Hebrew National Polish Dog with all the trimmings AND a large soda! Um, um good! Once a month or so, I go off my South Beach Diet and have a hot dog and BUN. A white flour bun! I tell myself it's just once a month. Of course, I added sauerkraut to mine. Sydney is a purist...just ketchup, Grandma! Liz likes mustard, ketchup and relish. The dogs are so big we have to cut them lengthwise for her....choking hazard, you know. In California you learn pretty quickly at preschool what a toddler can and cannot eat....even baby carrots must be sliced twice lengthwise (even the tiny, tiny ones) or the preschool teacher must take them away. No popcorn, no baby cherry tomatoes (unless sliced) and so on.

At Costco we sat next to a lady who asked about quilting. She hand quilted something many years ago and was amazed not only is it alright to use a machine now-a-days, but you can pay someone else to machine quilt it without any guilt! I think we'll see her again at the shop soon. Then I saw my friend Laura (remember Laura with the beautiful blue sewing machine?) and hubby. They are back from India for a spell. I turn and see Gary, a friend from Church. His boys went to school with my girls. Just before we finished lunch, Darlene came over and sat with us. I like Darlene. We never get to chat enough. We talked about quilting, about friends (in a nice way, to be sure----no gossip here!), health, yard work and of course about Sydney. Liz saw Mindy, a friend from elementary school with her new baby girl.

Hot Dog! CostCo is the place to meet your friends....the entire county shows up at one time or another.