We were pulling the horse trailer down a rain slicked road last night when I spotted reflecting eyes in the headlights.  The girls braced and said, "Deer!"  The truck locked and slid a little, but I wasn't going very fast.  We stopped in time to catch a fat, short, and scruffy grey rear end darting off the road into a yard.  Simultaneously, we hear "baaaaaaaaaaaaa". 

"Man," I exclaimed to the girls, "that is one UGLY deer."

I made the girls get out (it was dark and they were reluctant) and go up to the nearby house to tell them their goat was loose.  It was their neighbor's goat, and they knew it well as it had eaten all their flowers. 

My posts are often written sarcastically, as such is my nature. But today, I'd like to write a tribute to good friends. Sometimes, being a mom can be a lonely proposition. There are endless demands on our time and little free time. Women, in particular, I, in specific, need to know that there are people out there that not only are there for you, but understand exactly what you are going through. For me, there is Christine, who I'm sure God put in our life. Her little boy gave William a much needed best friend.

 It's truly amazing that they moved in less than a mile from our house, given that we live in the country. And Christine is such a giving person. She has a way of for example, house sitting for me and making it sound like I'm doing her a favor. I can go on vacation and not worry, as she loves my dogs as her own. She's improves me, because I think often how I can be more thoughtful like her.

Becky is the drop by friend I've always needed. When she's not building a house with her own hands, she'll stop by for a cup of coffee. Fun and adventurous, she's a belly dancer part of one day, and out laying floor tile and mowing pastures the next. You are likely to see her with no make-up one day, and with an exotic dress and earrings the next. And she laughs. And I need that. Becky calls me often, even when I've gotten too busy to remember to call her. Her influence reminds me to take time for friends.

Liz has mentored my girls in horses. I probably have not met a more giving soul. She has lent horses to us, taken my girls on international trips, and takes care of our more needy horses when we're away. She'll ask Lauren to ride horses for her, and act like Lauren did her a favor. Liz teaches me to be generous and share what we've been given.

And of course there is dh (dear husband), who is my eternal friend.

My private high school alma mater periodically sends a glossy magazine crowing about academic and sports awards of their current and past graduates.  They include a list of marriages, births, and deaths, and awards to alumni who exemplify the ideals of the organization.  As the years go on, I’ve noticed that my graduation year has, for the most part, ceased to be mentioned in the marriages and births, and is more likely to have an alumni mentioned as newly-made grandparents, obituaries, and awards recipients for lifetime achievements. 

Thankfully, I’ve not made it into the first two categories yet.  Neither have I made it into the latter, which is leaving me feeling a little deflated.  I am at the age when women who have been achievers have started being awarded “Woman of the Year” type awards.  You know what I’m talking about.  While I’m at home wiping butts, emptying containers from the ‘frig that look like a science experiment gone bad, and scrubbing toilets, she’s out saving the world.

Case in point:  this year’s recipient grew up within walking distance of my house.  Like me, she has a Chemical Engineering degree and worked for a bit after getting married and before kids.  She quit to adopt SIX special needs kids, whom she home schooled (she, of course, was running the homeschool organization for eight years) until they were mainstreamed.   She has, amongst other things, taught Sunday school, Baptismal classes, organized committees at church, visited the homebound, worked with teens on Right to Life (taking them to Washington, D.C.), worked at a pregnancy center and on a hotline, speaks at churches and is President of her local Right to Life organization.  And in addition, she got a full scholarship to get her masters’ in physics, graduated with honors, ya know.  Now, she is a research assistant at a university and has taught high school physical science, geology, and chemistry. 

Well, I’m going to slink back to making beds and fixing the break in the septic tank line later today (using my Chemical Engineer’s knowledge of pipes and all).  I did get an “I love you” from my fifteen year old the other day, and that, from what I hear from other moms of teenagers, is worth all the “Woman of the Year” awards that exist.