It’s 1 week to Thanksgiving- which happens to be my favorite holiday. We don’t have a set ritual for Turkey Day. I loathe to cook, so we basically go any where we’re invited because any meal is going to be better than what I cook!  As long as we’re surrounded by family, friends and good food, my family is a happy one. Throw in a little football and really, who could ask for more?

Since there is only a week left, I thought I’d spend the next week sharing some of the things, big & small, that I’m thankful for in my life.  This week I’m starting with my friends.

They say if you can count your true friends on one hand- the kind of friends you can call at 3 am to bail you out of jail- you’re blessed.  And I am.  I have a core group of girlfriends that I’ve had since elementary school. 9 women who have known me and loved me through all my bad perms, pin-rolled jeans, tween drama, teen aged angst, boyfriends, college decision, many moves, getting married and having kids. These women know me inside and out and there is nothing- nothing- that I can’t talk to them about. We’ve celebrated each other triumphs, toasted at each others weddings,  hooted and hollered over pregnancy announcements, cried over miscarriages and then cried happy tears when the next generation of CF kids were born.  I’m lucky if I see some of them once a year- one I haven’t seen in almost 3- but when we talk or see each other it’s like no time at all has passed.

Kristen, Hillory, Lora, Marlana, Tanya, Jenn, Kristi, Erica and Beth- thank you for everything. I can’t imagine the past 23 years without you all.

These ladies have made it damn hard to make new friends as an adult because the bar has been set so high.  But some how I’ve managed to make two friends who have joined that elite call-at-3-am club (lucky them, right?). We are raising our kids together- navigating the craziness that is infancy, toddler years and now school aged kids.  Wonderful, compassionate women who I can call when I need a break or a laugh or a word of a advice who won’t judge or make fun.

Sue & Abbey- here’s to many more girls night outs, Halloween traditions and crazy kids play dates.

What are you thankful for today?

A few days ago I got an email from an old college friend. We had lost touch for a long while and were trading the typical what-are-you-up-to-now emails.  He asked me what else I was doing with myself besides chasing around kiddos.

Good question.

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Before I had Scorch- a much wanted, long awaited baby- I had a minor freak out over becoming a Mom.  I wanted to be a Mom so so badly, but I didn’t want to only be a Mom.  I wanted to make sure I was still me, Heather- the individual who reads too much, loves chocolate too much, hates veggies too much and talks much, much too fast.

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4+ years into this Mommy gig and I’ve come to realize that losing yourself to a degree is inevitable.  At first it’s due to necessity. I breastfed both my kids so, for the first few weeks at least, I couldn’t be away for long. Once they started taking breast milk in a bottle, the leash wasn’t so tight but the kids and their needs had to come first.  I was sleep deprived and exhausted and, within months after having both kids, working full time and staying up all night with my crappy sleepers.  Not exactly the makings of a real dynamo, right?

Now that the kiddos are getting older, I can branch out more. I work full time, so my evenings with the kids are precious. But I’m trying. I took a weekly photography class last spring.  I make sure I get to the gym 2-4 morning a week. Girls night with the various friends I’m blessed to have happens at least once a month. My parents are kind enough to keep the kids at least one night every month, so the Hubs and I get a regular date night (and the morning after to sleep in!).

There is more I’d love to do. I’d love to find a book club that meets in the evening hours (so much around here is structured for stay at home moms!). I want to learn how to knit. I’d love to take another photography class. I’ll get there eventually.

Being Scorch and Bean’s mom is the biggest, best part of me- that will never change. But I’m glad the book-and-chocolate-loving motor mouth in me still gets to come out and play!