True Friends

How many do we really have? I mean - I have a lot of acquaintances... people from work, people from my childhood, people from church, people from school, and just people I know. How many are true friends though? How many would really be there for you when you need them? How many are there for you even when you don't really need them? How many of those that aren't are you there for all the time, even though in reality - they don't do the same for you? I pondered this question myself today after a few things happened this weekend and watching DJ over the past few weeks with one of her new friends....
Everyday almost she rushes home to get on the phone with a new Friend she has made at school... this little girl has talked DJ into giving her the login and password to one of her webkins (is that even how you spell it?) - no big deal - kids will be kids .... but DJ puts her phone on speaker and talks to this little girl and the little girl NEVER listens to DJ talk, always interrupts DJ, and completely disregards the fact that DJ might possibly have something to say too. It is literally all about this little girl. I questioned DJ on it and she doesn't seem to understand that this isn't really the kind of friend you want. Then I thought about it myself and I am really surprised at how I too am a little similar. I have several friends that when they call me - it is all about them ... they are always interrupting me when I talk to talk about their day - I mean hello... wait your turn! Sometimes - they have already had their turn and I guess just want round 2! Ha Ha! I also have friends that each and every time they ask me to help them with something or do something with them - I always do ... but when I ask them - even way in advance ... it seems that they don't do the same for me ... are these really true friends ... and how many true friends do we have.... I am not really sure.

Burnt Waffles & Football

What do they have in common? For me - Saturday's. Every Saturday - I go to the waffle house and enjoy a burnt waffle and bacon :-) Yup - It's my "Cheers" - where everybody knows your name! (special shout out to Mike, Erika, James, Patti & everyone else!) They are so awesome!
After waffle house - we go to the grocery store and then head off for a day of football!
Day filled with football at that. So ... the fact that you do not see Saturday posts ... (except for right now) are because I am too busy eating burnt waffles and watching football! Go Tigers!

My Momma aka Mimi

My mom is probably truly one of my best friends ... now I don't tell her everything, but I do tell her almost everything. She is a wonderful mother and the best MIMI in the world. It doesn't matter the time of day or night, I could call momma and she would drop whatever she was doing to come and help me if I needed (right mom!?) I mean yeah - she gets on my nerves from time to time but heck that is what moms are for right? My mom has been through a lot in her life. I admire her because she has been a strong woman through a lot of hard times. Being a preacher's wife can't be easy. She often has to move from her "home" only to start completely over again. Imagine explaining having to leave all your friends to your 3 small children. Imagine having to tell them when they are teenagers! Even harder! (yeah we were never happy!) Things I remember specifically about my mom - are her having to give up her piano and bedroom suite that she had had for years and years because dad was called into Evangelism. I remember several times when we were teenagers participating in sports that Mom would go without so that we would have money to eat when the bus stopped on the way back home. My mom made some true sacrifices in her life to make sure that her children always got what they needed and often what we wanted. I think that there are a lot of times that the three of us (well not me as much ya know lol) forget about all the times she did these things for us. I think we grew up and took them for granted. She has had to deal with hard times in their Churches and had to be strong for my dad when things were tough. I truly believe that a good pastor has a wonderful wife right beside him. My momma is a lot like me - OK maybe I am like her - she speaks her mind and can get fired up pretty fast ... but one thing she is not is FAKE! I can't stand fake people!
I am so thankful for such a wonderful mother and friend. She is an even better Mimi! DJ loves her. She is consistently coming to spend time with DJ and now that she has a grand baby close to her I know she spends as much time with Madalynn as she can. I know it saddens mom that her other 4 grand kids are too far away to spend as much time with - but they head up to Ohio as often as they can.
First she was my mother, but forever she is my friend.

Love you Mom!
(since I just posted a pic of my parents - I posted an older pic of my mom as a baby - I love this pic!)

Monday's Big Mistake

OOPS! So ... Let me take you back to the week before last ... I had talked to my Nanny and she had told me that they had gone to my cousin Evan's Grandparent's Day at his School. While they were there, there was a little girl that was upset and ended up crying because here grandparent's lived too far away to come to Grandparent's day. This made me very sad. Sad for this little girl but also for DJ. For those of you that know - DJ's bio-logical father gave up his rights about 4 or 5 years ago. Since then, she has seen her Paternal Grandmother a few times a year and only saw her Paternal Grandfather when she was with her Aunt - and she only saw him a few times a year before he passed away last month. So - as far as grandparents though - my parents have always been a constant in her life - they call her a few times a week and my mom comes into town at least once a month to spend time with DJ and of course we visit them too. My parents live in Lexington NC so they are about 3.5 hours away from us.
I decided that after my Nanny told me that - I would make sure to invite my parents to Grandparent's Day. After all, I had never even invited them - I just assumed it was too far.
Now - let me state my opinion about this Grandparent's Day, Donut's for Dad and Muffin's with Mom thing ..... what if children don't have Grandparents, Dad's, or Mom's in their life or in this state or alive? Should we put small children, or even children at all through this? OK. I am done with that....
So back to my story - the day after my Nanny told me this story - DJ brings home her "Grandparent's Day Slip" - this must be a sign I thought - so I called my mom and invited her. She said that as long as it was a Monday or Friday that they were there (my mom works T,W, & TH) I told her it was the next Monday. I got home and went to fill out the form and couldn't find it so I sent a note to DJ's teacher - letting her know that DJ's grandparent's would be there and that it was going to be a surprise to her since they lived 3.5 hours away and she wouldn't be expecting it. I also asked her to verify the time. (after all - I knew it was Monday - just couldn't remember what time my parent's needed to be there) She emailed me back - I spotted the time and called my mom. 8:30 it was.
So.... I called my parents on my way to work Monday to make sure they were on their way - and they were - I was so excited! I wished I could be there to see the surprise on DJ's face!
About 20 min after 8, my mom called me to let me know that they were standing in the office at the school .... an Grandparent's Day was that Friday! I could not believe this! My parent's left home at 5 AM to be there and I had screwed up the dates! I went through my email - - - and sure enough - the email said it was Friday the 26th at 8:30 AM! I was sooo upset!
The school was awesome about it and let my parents go up and see DJ and get a quick look at her class. I was very upset at myself for making such a crazy mistake but my parent's were totally cool about it. I have great parents!