Life time friends

I have a friend (I know, it's shocking) that loves me.  And I love her too.  In life we have all kinds of "friends".  We have acquaintances, which are people we know and are nice to, but wouldn't really think of as friends.  We have regular friends, which are people you like to hang out with but wouldn't loan them money (hahaha).  Actually, regular friends are those people that are in your life for a short amount of time.  Neighbors, friends of friends, people who hang out at the same bar as you, and co-workers are regular friends.  Then there are life time friends.  These are people that you know well, people who earn your friendship, people who will loan you money and not ask why they are loaning it to you.  My friend, the one I mentioned above, is a life time friend.  We have only been friends for a couple years or so.  And although I do have other life time friends [a few from high school (Cathy, Angela, Katie), and one from college (Jessica)], Lisa has become my best friend.  Now, all of these gals I know I can call at any time after not talking for months and we just pick up where we left off.  As if the time had never passed.  But right now, Lisa is who I call first.  It may be because we have a lot of the same values in life.  Family first, pay the bills and then go out, work hard for what you have, etc, etc.  But I think it is also because we can hang out together and our husbands/kids can be there too.  Thus making our relationships with our husbands and children stronger. 

I must admit, that for a few years my husband had his friends and I had mine.  We hardly ever did things together.  It was not easy.  I would sit at home so he could go out and every great once in a while, he would sit at home so I could go out.  And on even rarer occasions, we'd get a sitter and go out together, but not with any friends.  Very straining.  Now, it's different.  He still goes out with his friends and I still go out with mine.  But we also go out with OUR friends a lot.  And that has made all the difference (Robert Frost, anyone? anyone?) 

Back to my friend that loves me.  She has been very encouraging of my new job.  She doesn't think badly of my husband when I call her to vent about the stupid things he does.  She doesn't think badly of me when I talk about wanting to send my daughter to a boarding school in Switzerland.  And we have such a good time together.  I have a good time with my other life time friends as well, but I just don't hang out with them as much.  Not because I don't want to, but because our interest have changed.  And Lisa and I have a lot of the same interest right now.  We both drink wine, play cards, and drink wine.  Did I say that already?  We also both like football and Nascar.  But most of all, we like to have a good time with our families.  The other night she invited us over and the kids played while we sat on the porch and talked while drinking a tasty Moscato.  It was a great night.

I hope you all have a few life time friends.  And I hope you all are having a wonderful spring hanging out with those friends.  Summer is just around the corner, so call your friends and make your plans now!