Friends Are Friends Forever

 

I consider myself a social person, and indeed, every time I've taken the Myers Briggs or some similar type personality evaluator, my "extrovert" is almost off the scale.  But despite my extroverted and social nature, I've always been one to have a lot of acquaintances and just a few people I really consider friends.

I started thinking about this a couple of Saturdays ago when my college roommate and another friend from college came to hang out for the day.  Although we only live a couple of hours apart, our busy lives mean we rarely see each other, so it was nice to have a day to get together, just hang out, and pretend for a bit we're young again.  These are friendships that are over 20 years old and will always be there.  We may go months without talking to each other, or even e-mailing, but I know that if I needed either of them they'd be there, and when we do get together it doesn't matter how long it's been, it's still comfortable.

We spent this past Saturday night over a few drinks and munchies with another couple that moved away a few years ago, but were here visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday.  He and Rob were friends first, and when he was single he was at our house a lot, although that may have been more for the food than the friendship!  When he started dating his wife, she fit right in, and fortunately she & I also got along well.  So it's a couples friendship, where we mostly do things as two couples, but it's also a good enough friendship that the guys do things and the girls do things separately, although not so much anymore since they live 9 hours away.

I joined a knitting group a couple of years ago, and two of the women in that group are becoming more friends than acquaintances.  So far, most of our interactions are centered around knitting activities, but that's what we all like to do, and it's nice to have someone to do it with.  Still, I feel like they're definitely women that would be there if I needed them, and that I want to spend time with outside of the knitting group activities.

The older I get, the harder it seems to be to form new real friendships.  We all have so many things going on in our lives that although I meet new people regularly, and may even see them frequently when participating in whatever type of activity I met them through, they are really just all acquaintances.  To me, a friend is someone you know you can count on, even when it's not convenient for them, and for whom you would go out of your own way to help when needed.  I think those people are few and far between in each of our lives, and that much more important when found.

 My husband is my best friend, and for that I'm grateful.  And I'm thankful for the friends I've found, and continue to find, in my life.  This is one of those things where I think quality definitely trumps quantity.

The Dog Rescuer

I admit it, I'm a sucker for dogs, especially big dogs. Which is why I spent most of my morning with this guy. (sorry, pic is at the bottom, I forgot the Blogger app puts them all down there.)

I had to swing by the Sheriff's office this morning to pick up the paperwork to renew my concealed carry permit, so I headed out of town a different way that took me up a rural road. As I passed the brick plant, I saw him sitting beside the road, with his head on his paws and his rear sticking out in the road.

I don't normally stop for EVERY dog I see sitting by the side of the road, but the way his rear was out in the road made me think he might have been hit by a car and unable to get completely to the side. As soon as I slowed, his head popped up and watched my car as I turned around and drove back past him to pull into the gravel area on the side of the road.

I got out of the car and he hopped up and came loping over to me, slobber already flying from his mouth. It was obvious at this point he hadn't been hit, but he was so friendly I had to love on him a bit.

I couldn't leave it at that though. He had a chain around his neck, but he was a little thin for a mastiff and he had a spot on one of his rear legs that looked pretty raw. And so the fun part began.

I checked with the office of the brick plant to see if they knew who he belonged to, but no luck. I noticed a house just down the intersecting road that had a dog in the yard, so I drove over there to ask if they knew anything about him. My new buddy followed my car as I drove, and when we got there the dog in yard was jumping all over him wanting to play, but he just stood there and looked at him.

The woman at the house didn't know him, but told me there were several houses down the road that had dogs. She gave me a couple of dog treats for him, and I managed to get him in my car. The front seat of a Mustang was not made for the likes of this dog. He eventually got mostly settled with his rear in the seat and his front paws in the floorboard, and off we went.

I spent the next hour or so stopping at houses up and down the road trying to find an owner, but with no luck. By this time, the passenger side of my car and the gear shifter were covered in drool. I finally decided his best bet was to take him to the animal shelter, where hopefully someone would look for him. My plan also was to start calling vets to let them know he was there, and to locate a mastiff rescue group that would come get him if his owner couldn't be found. He was too sweet to let him be put down, but I had nowhere to put him at home. Even as thin as he was, he still weighed at least 140.

Fortunately, that turned out to be the best decision. They scanned him at the shelter and he had a microchip, so they took my info anyway, but said they would call the owners. I called back late this afternoon and they said the owners were coming to get hi. Yeah! He didn't appear to be abused, so I can only hope that his thinness is due to having been lost for a while. The shelter can't tell me who the owners are, so I can only hope for the best.

I finally made it to work after lunch. After all that, I had to go home and change into clothes that hadn't been slobbered all over, and my car really needs a bath!

Holidays Approacheth

This week it has suddenly dawned on me that next week is Thanksgiving, and that means that Christmas is not far behind!

I have to be done with Christmas presents early this year since we're going to TX to spend it with our son and his family.  I want to ship most of the presents out there ahead of time rather than trying to pack them all in our luggage for the flight.

The trip will also be our first time meeting Cadence, our new granddaughter.  Isn't she adorable?!?!

So this week I've been trying to figure out what to get and/or knit for everyone on the Christmas list.  The knitting is the main thing I've got to figure out, as I've got to get started, but I don't want to plan more than I can actually do.  I think I've got the few knitted items figured out, including making the  yarn selections, and hope to get started this weekend.  I also need to finish up the baby blanket I've been working on FOREVER (well it seems that way) which is a really cute blanket but extremely slow and boring to knit, so I haven't worked on it as much as I should.

The only presents I'm having difficulty figuring out really are Rob's parents.  We won't actually see them on Christmas this year, but we're flying in and out of Charlotte, where they live, so we'll probably see them for a few hours the day after we get back, before we drive home.  They're always the hardest to buy something for, because I never know what to get them, and Rob is no help!

I'm sad that for the 3rd year in a row we will not have a Christmas tree at our house.  Last year I swore we would have one this year because I really love the decorating part of Christmas, but it's another year of it being just not practical to put one up since we will be gone.  I don't think I'll even put up my outside lights this year, although I might change my mind about that after Thanksgiving.

Decorations or not, Christmas is always one of my favorite times of year, and I'm sure this year will be no different.  How can it be bad when I get to spend it with this cutie pie?

In a Nutshell

I keep meaning to take the time to post here, but every time I think about it, I get overwhelmed by the number of things that I have not yet blogged about and I don't know where to begin.

So here is the past 2 months or so in a nutshell, and mostly chronological order.....

• Had a great visit to the John C. Campbell Folk School, where I learned to tat.
• Became a grandmother on September 19 to Cadence Annette Sitze.
• Had a knock down doors and shoot up bad guys good time at the Writer's Police Academy.
• Turned 44 years old and got an iPad from Rob, which I'm still learning how to best use. (I'm typing this post on it now.)
• Went to the land of cheese (i.e. Wisconsin) for a work related conference.
• Went to a corn maze with Rob, my brother, his wife and my 3 nieces.  
• Went to SAFF with my knitting group. My first visit, but definitely not my last!
• Spent this past weekend hanging out with my daughter and her boyfriend.
• Spent a couple of nice Saturdays hanging out with Rob and going to a fall festival, an antique tractor show & a local historic site.
• Did a lot of knitting.
• Have had the "crud", a cold, and now a chronic cough.

Overall, a good couple of months, other than the cold & cough bit.  So now that I've caught you all up, maybe I can get back to writing here on a regular basis.  And some of these events may show up again in more detail.