Comfort from friends

Tags

flowers, friends, postaday2016

One of my best friends in the world, my former next door neighbor, Debbie came to visit with me. It did me a world of good. I posted a picture of my hydrangea because of its color, purple; violet, lilac, any iteration of the color purple represents Debbie, I have never met anyone who loves purple more than Debbie. We used to joke around that whatever Debbie touched, if it was a plant, would turn purple. My hydrangea started out as a pink hydrangea, that didn’t last for more than two growing seasons, lol. I have a clematis in the back, it originally produced white blooms and within two years it started to produce purple tinged flowers. I used to love to point it out to Debbie lol. Debbie and I over the years have made so many inside jokes between us, it did me so much good rehashing so many of them. I had a great afternoon.

My lapdogs

Tags

dogs, friends, pets, postaday2015



Lulu is most definitely emulating her brother in more ways than one; she follows his lead when it comes to being on the alert for people at the door, she follows his cue over who to follow for some potential morsels to be had, where he goeth she followeth, and since being on my lap is where Jack loves to be more than anything, she just has to get herself some of that.

In a perfect world, I would have tried harder to instill better habits in Jack, but I can’t complain too much, though he still has trouble respecting the sanctity of the area rugs, he uses them as his weewee pads when he’s in a pinch. I would have preferred having Jack be an excellent role model for house training a new dog, but we can’t have everything can we? I am grateful that Lulu is a loving, affectionate and patient dog. She is proving to be a great playmate for Jack and she makes the rest of us very happy as well.

A fantastic visit long in the making

Tags

arguments, friends, politics, postaday2014, visit

Today I made the point of driving out to Chicopee to see my best friend Debbie and her husband Jim, who is also one of my best friends, but our dynamic is so very different. While Debbie and I are like sisters; Jim and I are like two toddlers constantly fighting over the same thing every time we see each. We never fight mean spiritedly, we hug it out every time, but boy does it get heated. Today I left Jim in a lather LOL.

Debbie and I were talking about everything under the sun as we always do while Jim was supposedly sleeping; I said one negative thing about Walmart and how they exploit their workers and Jim started arguing with me from where he was slouched over on the couch and we picked up right where we left off since the last time we argued over politics when they lived next door to me, several years ago. It is how I said, we are like two toddlers arguing over the same thing time and time again, today wasn’t different. He is a die hard republican and I am an impassioned progressive so we are like oil and water, but it never gets to the point of getting nasty or name calling, it just gets loud, poor Debbie.

We end each visit with I love you kiddo and I reply I love you too Jim. Debbie and I just laugh at Jim like Lucy and Ethel used to laugh at Ricky and Fred. That is what friendship is all about, knowing how to agree to disagree and remembering that there is more to someone than just their politics, there are shared experiences and memories that make a foundation and that is what counts in the end.

Snapshots and perspectives

Tags

friends, happiness, New York, pictures, postaday2014

I may complain about technology every now and then, but there are some aspects that are truly wonderful. Case in point, I am sitting, reading an article on my iPad and my iPad politely informs me that my cousin Francoise is commenting on a picture that I had posted on her timeline earlier, this is happening in real time. I flip over to Facebook and we start having a conversation back and forth despite being thousands of miles away and in different time zones, the wonder of technology.

She e-mailed me three pictures of our time together in New York and what struck me most about these pictures is how much of a snapshot in time these pictures are; I really got the sense that Alain, Marc, Claudine and I are captured in absolute stillness amidst the cacophony of noise and the never-ending hustle, bustle of New York City. There are pictures that translate movement between the subject and its environment, but these pictures we, the subjects, are the static center of the action all around us. I really felt something special about that, we were something solid amidst the fluidity of what was going on around us. It spoke to me.

My cousin Francoise is very talented, I can’t wait to see the other shots, primarily the night time shots of the New York skyline. These three pictures are beautiful memories of friends enjoying each other’s company in a city that never sleeps, one of the most vibrant cities in the world. I think that you can see from my facial expression how happy I am in the moment, a great snapshot in time.

Daily prompt: Bff

Tags

friends, postaday2014

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from the person you’re the closest to?

Since this is about bff’s (best friend forever) I am going to write about my earliest and longest best friend friendship, Teri. I learned so much from our friendship, but the most important lesson was to live free, be free and poke at the restrictions that surround you in life. When we were adolescents we were quite a pair, full of vim, vigor and vinegar. The things that we did together and all of it cemented our bond; from running away together, running around the neighborhood together, spending hours on the phone, commuting to school together, taking her grandfather’s car for a joyride together. Yes we were crazy teenager’s and we got in trouble, but we stuck together and sowed our wild oats together.

Before Teri, I was more or less a shy, scared child, very insecure and really scared of confrontation and extremely studious. My teachers all loved me, but I couldn’t bear all of the yelling at other children. Teri was and still is a confident, self assured person and she wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything. She took risks and pushed the envelope and if it didn’t work out, she paid the piper. I learned that often what scared me the most was really all in my head and nothing in reality ever came close to how bad I had imagined it. Teri and I had so much fun and we felt so safe and secure with each other, there was nothing that Teri could ever say or do that would ever change how I felt or feel about her, I cherished her friendship and cherish her friendship.

She got me out of my shell, and made me feel valued as a person and as a friend. Everyone should have a Teri in their life, someone who shakes things up a little. We never graduated to a life of crime, even though after rereading what crazy stuff we pulled, some might have thought otherwise, we did get it all out of our system. We are friends through think and thin, all for one and one for all, though we never found the third musketeer.

Wedding vow renewal

Tags

family, friends, postaday2013, renewal, vows, wedding

Today, the baby girl, her good friend, and I went to my best friend and my baby girl’s godmother, Debbie’s house to help her celebrate her wedding vow renewal to her husband who is my baby girl’s godfather as well. I was so happy to attend because I haven’t seen my Debbie in what feels like an eternity. The ceremony was beautiful, I would even venture to say more beautiful than the first time around. This time it is after ten whole years of actual marriage and not merely a promise. Moreover, the same gang bore witness today as did a decade ago. That also gave today a very special feel.

Ironically, I was tasked by Debbie to be the event photographer and she lent me her camera to take all the pictures and in all the excitement, I completely forgot to take my own pictures. I showed her the pictures and she was very happy so that is what matters. Sorry that I neglected to get pictures for myself and for my blog, perhaps Debbie will send me some pictures and I’ll be able to paste them in at a later date. Debbie was a beautiful bride once again, in a long summery dress of blue and white with a floral pattern very tastefully done. Her hair was loosely braided and tied up in a topknot with wispy tendrils framing her beautiful face. Jim her husband was in a polo shirt and shorts, he was just happy to be there amongst family, friends and his wife in their backyard with a definite big party to follow.

It was a very happy day for everyone all around.

Weight class and counting

Tags

counting, friends, group exercise, postaday2013, repetitions, weight class

This Friday morning I once again led the ladies in our weight class; my partner in crime was out due to feeling slightly under the weather. My co-leader, Sybie, is our foundation and our counter; without her we are lost. It got quite comical today, normally I lead in the exercises and as we are doing a variety of leg lifts and then arm exercises, Sybil always keeps us in sync and on the correct count. However, whenever she is absent like today, the count is completely out of sync and we are drowning in complete amokness. There I made up a word, we weren’t simply exercising amok, we were drowning in amokness.

I tell you, we, all to the one, said that we can’t allow Sybie to miss anymore days because we just can’t keep count. The primary reason is due to our insatiable need to solve all of the problems in the world, when we are busy doing that, how can any of us keep track if we are 7 or 14 repetitions on a leg lift? The girls know better than to look to me because I have been the worst at it since day one, I start counting and then someone distracts me with a question or a comment and before I know it, we might be at 12 but I am counting 6. Sybie, we need you, we can’t count.

Memories of pets gone by

Tags

dogs, friends, memories, pets, pictures, postaday2012

Hannah and Rex

Rex and Hannah and me

Rex

Marshall

Rex and Marshall

Rex playing with Gizmo

Marshall tolerating Gizmo

Rex taking care of Gizmo

Poor Jump and Gizmo

Me and Gizmo

Marshall and Gizmo

Rex

Jump and Gizmo

Jump our bunny and Gizmo Debbie’s puppy

Rex

Marshall our first dog who lived to 16

My best friend Debbie sent me these pictures and I wanted to share them with you. It’s very easy to get caught up in the holiday fervor and buying frenzy that we can sometimes forget to stop, take a breath and remember those who aren’t with us anymore. Gizmo is still with us, he’s about six years old now but he and my best friend moved away last year to another town an hour away and I miss them. I was so lucky to have them next door for over ten years that their going left a big hole in my daily life.

Marshall, Rex and Jump were extraordinary pets and we were blessed to have them for as long as we did. Jump the bunny lived to twelve and the pictures of Gizmo trying to have his way with poor Jump are the only times that we ever saw Jump actually jump. He was the most good-natured little bunny and the baby girl treated him like her very own toy bunny, sneaking him up into her room at night and sleeping with him. He was so very sweet. Marshall or grandpa as we liked to call him was a character. He was the patriarch of the group and he knew it. Rex adored him as did we all. Rex as you must know by now was almost human, he was so gentle and responsible. I miss them all.

Your oldest friends

Tags

children, friends, postday2012

Which of your friends have you known for the longest amount of time?

June 13, 2012

An Old Friend

Astoria Park

I have known my best friend Teri for forty years as well as all the guys on the block and they know who they are, Rob, Steve and company. We knew each other when we were still innocent and untainted by the stress and troubles of the world. Children are honest and genuine and that’s when we were together, hanging out, talking, laughing and getting into trouble.

Who do you know that deserves a peace prize?

Tags

friends, Peace, postaday2011

I have a good friend, Mary, who deserves a peace prize. She works as a receptionist at the emergency room at our local hospital but she does so much more than just answer phones. She reminds me of an angel of mercy when she is on shift. I have been there at the emergency room quite a few times either myself or with my family and she calmly takes everything in hand, gets you situated, gets you whatever you need. Her kind eyes and warm touch are like a balm, soothing those stressed nerves so that you can focus and think more clearly about the emergency at hand.

Not only does she have a great bedside manner with the patients that go in and out of the emergency room, I know that she is an excellent work associate. She will be the one to take the time at home to make homemade chocolate chip pumpkin muffins for the staff on call at the emergency room. She is also a wonderful training person, she doesn’t lose patience with those that she takes under her wing.

On top of all this, she makes the time to get publicly involved with the environment. She serves on the Conservation Committee in our town and she also volunteers at the Winding River Conservation Agency in the city down the mountain. She takes these two positions to heart and gives her all to them because that is who she is.

She is also a great friend, a wife and a mom. She definitely deserves recognition for all that she does and how great a person she is, I’m lucky to know her. Every year, I make her one of her favorite treats, Fleur de Sel caramel from scratch, just to show her how much I think of her.