Muchas Gracias
I've got a whole lot of thanking to do here.
First of all, thank you, all my lovely readers (all twelve of you!) and friends who left a comment or emailed me after my last entry. There are many kinds of community, and I'm so grateful you are all a part of mine--even if I can't reach out and poke you right now!
Claire--I'm holding you to that long lunch. How long do you think McGills will let us monopolize a booth before they kick us out?
Amy--yeah, it's hard to move outside our family routines and committments. Frankly, parenting is so exhausting, most days it's hard to imagine inviting a new challenge into our little homegrown circus. I moved from a community very much like you describe, with lovely women who supported me like your friends. But still, there were so many opportunities to reach out. I remember a pastor once telling a group of teenagers that a successful marriage lives for something outside itself; it lives to give, not to get. I know we don't do that right now, and I can feel the difference in our lives.
Kristen--Thank you for your encouragement at 2Peas. I know many moms are grateful for your help. Keep researching and advocating!!
Ro--Yeah. Community should be everyone's concern. Randy and I've also talked about this in the context of Peak Oil (Randy's new obsession). What will the daily practicalities of our lives look like when rock-bottom cheap gas runs $5 a gallon? This, according to Randy, will happen within our lifetime, and I know that in some parts of the country it's close to that price already.
First of all, thank you, all my lovely readers (all twelve of you!) and friends who left a comment or emailed me after my last entry. There are many kinds of community, and I'm so grateful you are all a part of mine--even if I can't reach out and poke you right now!
Claire--I'm holding you to that long lunch. How long do you think McGills will let us monopolize a booth before they kick us out?
Amy--yeah, it's hard to move outside our family routines and committments. Frankly, parenting is so exhausting, most days it's hard to imagine inviting a new challenge into our little homegrown circus. I moved from a community very much like you describe, with lovely women who supported me like your friends. But still, there were so many opportunities to reach out. I remember a pastor once telling a group of teenagers that a successful marriage lives for something outside itself; it lives to give, not to get. I know we don't do that right now, and I can feel the difference in our lives.
Kristen--Thank you for your encouragement at 2Peas. I know many moms are grateful for your help. Keep researching and advocating!!
Ro--Yeah. Community should be everyone's concern. Randy and I've also talked about this in the context of Peak Oil (Randy's new obsession). What will the daily practicalities of our lives look like when rock-bottom cheap gas runs $5 a gallon? This, according to Randy, will happen within our lifetime, and I know that in some parts of the country it's close to that price already.
***
Thanks to good ol' Rach, too. After writing my last post, I decided the next day I would suck up the gas prices, pack up Tesla, and hit the road to visit my friend and her girls. Rach is the kind of 'drop-in' friend you get when you live in a small community. Now that I live an hour away, I think twice about dropping-in, but Wednesday I made one decision, and that was to GO. We had a great time, and Tesla insisted on sleeping there--an almost unheard-of three hour monster nap! It was all quality time and quantity time--we got there at 11am and left at 7pm. Definitely worth the price of the trip. And Rach even dumped a load of rockin' good magazines into my car for some brain-free entertainment. Yee-haw!
But the most lovely surprise happened before we left for Rach's.
Thanks to good ol' Rach, too. After writing my last post, I decided the next day I would suck up the gas prices, pack up Tesla, and hit the road to visit my friend and her girls. Rach is the kind of 'drop-in' friend you get when you live in a small community. Now that I live an hour away, I think twice about dropping-in, but Wednesday I made one decision, and that was to GO. We had a great time, and Tesla insisted on sleeping there--an almost unheard-of three hour monster nap! It was all quality time and quantity time--we got there at 11am and left at 7pm. Definitely worth the price of the trip. And Rach even dumped a load of rockin' good magazines into my car for some brain-free entertainment. Yee-haw!
But the most lovely surprise happened before we left for Rach's.
Hopefully I've connected with another mom here in town. We've enrolled Tesla in a social skills playgroup at her therapy clinic, and Wedsnesday was her second class. It was also the second Wednesday that Susan and I hit the local Starbucks for a drink and chat about our crazy kids. She's the kind of mom you look at and instantly know she'd be good for a chat: the funky glasses, minimal makeup, simple, hip clothing. Sharp. Turns out she's an Austin native (!), and a special ed teacher. So we had lots to share about the capital of Tejas and the rigors of getting certified to teach in Oklahoma. Mas y mas 'Yee-haws'!
She even asked for my number and called me for a kiddie playdate.
Ok. So I feel like a pitiful 13 year old--the odd one who can't get on with her 'cool' classmates--who finally finds a friend. "She called me! She called me! We can go to the mall together!!" It doesn't matter that we're just going to the sprinkler park this Saturday, it's just as cool, and it's totally free.
God Bless you, every one.
Tiny Tim.
She even asked for my number and called me for a kiddie playdate.
Ok. So I feel like a pitiful 13 year old--the odd one who can't get on with her 'cool' classmates--who finally finds a friend. "She called me! She called me! We can go to the mall together!!" It doesn't matter that we're just going to the sprinkler park this Saturday, it's just as cool, and it's totally free.
God Bless you, every one.Tiny Tim.
posted by shanna at 7:25 AM
3 Comments:
Smiles back atcha!
Kisses!
I miss you Shanta. I'm so busy turning My friends into clients and my clients into friends that I don't feel like anyone really knows me. Sigh. $5 a gallon is not far away out here, and delivery is a big part of my business. And I'm afraid of bikes, but I've beem looking at tricycles for grown-ups. Maybe with saddle bags. The Rickshaw comes to Annapolis. :)
:) that is SO great that you found someone to hang with... i know *exactly* what you mean about feeling like that akward little 13-year-old who found a friend lol (that's my "grace" lol). Thank God for community, even if its miles away, or found searching around the vastness of the internet. :) *hug*!
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