Monday, March 8, 2010

Puppy Love

A close friend of mine threw together a last-minute fajita party and invited us, the night before, to come up and join them. A mutual friend of ours was in town for the weekend and mentioned that she wanted to see the "old gang" before she left. So calls were made, emails sent, and lucky for us, Andrew didn't have to work that day.

We had a great time! It had been awhile since we saw the old gang and we used to always have fajita parties at least once a month, or at least it felt like once a month. One couple would make salsa from scratch, another would bring the chips and dips, the hostess would grill up chicken and steak. We'd have such fun. Most of us didn't have kids yet, or there were only a couple of little ones about. Then some of us moved, got different jobs, got married, had kids, had more kids, and we all just got busy. We vow to get together more often, but it doesn't happen as often as I'd like. I'm hoping 2010 will be the year we all try and see each other, if not every month, then at least every other month. That doesn't seem unreasonable.

My kids love playing with my friends' kids. When we go and visit, they always come away talking about them for days after. Eventually they start asking when we will go and see them again, and I always have to say, "wait and see". Because truthfully-- I don't know when we'll see them again. I wish we lived closer; we're the kind of friends that would see each other everyday, be at each other's house all the time, and minutes after walking out the door, we'd probably be sending text messages to each other. She has 4 kids, too, and her last 2 are the same ages as my first and youngest.

Gretchen loves her oldest boy- Joseph. When we are at home and Gretchen plays dress-up and pretends she is married, her husband is always named Jo-jo (Joseph's nickname). When she dreams of her future, Jo-jo is always a part of it. When we go and see them, Gretchen always follows him around with puppy-dog eyes and I can't help but feel a little bad for Jo-jo! How kind of him to let her hug him and listen to her chatter away. He is 11 and my Gretchen is only 6, but oh she loves him so! When I told her to let him go and leave him alone, her reply was, "But I love him!", then she hugs him tighter!

I can't foresee the future, but I know that if one of mine ever married one of hers, that'd be fine with me! :o)
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2 comments:

Gringa-n-Mexico said...

Awwwww bless their hearts! PHEW, I know what you mean about wishing for friends to be closer, and apreciating the time you DO have when you get to be with them. :) It's such a load-off even now, to visit with other moms, just so that someone else can hold the baby for a bit, and to have some real conversation! :)

Karen Mayes said...

Awww... puppy love. :o) This brings me back the memories of my son and his favorite babysitter. My son would act devastated everytime when the babysitting chores came to end... ah.