Am I going to keep these titles, counting away the weeks? Hmm I don’t think so, seems like I’m willing the year away and if I miss a week you will all know. I’ll title them by what I’m going to write about, this will jog the old memory when I look back and hopefully, maybe help me to remember what I said.

So, this week – let’s call this week Friends…

When you reach the ripe old age of 60, I believe you have a core group of friends. I was contemplating who in my group of friends has made an impact on my life in 60 years, so that’s where I’m going with this post. Now if you don’t feature don’t get all uppity about it, I’m bound to forget someone. I should pull out now right? Nah, that’s advice best given to young adults rather than a 60 year old post menopausal woman, who remember – ‘doesn’t give a damn’. (Reading this sentence back – did I really write this? I could edit but I vowed to be truthful)

Let’s start with friends I’ve caught up with this week. Monday night, a long overdue catch up with my friend Angéline. I first met Angéline and her family about 10+ years ago. We had mutual experiences as we had both spent time in the Middle East. Hailing from Canada, without close family nearby, we developed a friendship that incorporated being ‘special friends’ at the children’s school. I am now very honoured to be included in their annual thanksgiving dinner and the annual gingerbread house making. I love the extension of cultures and the warmth that this family offers to me. Although a now grown teenage boy may have other thoughts, we just keep a mutual distance although the connection is definitely there. To watch your friends’ children grow into amazing young adults is a privilege.

However, we’re here to talk about my friends, how has she impacted my life – at times, she challenges my views and makes me think, we’ve had great conversations about current affairs or startling news headlines. I know she’s the person I can have an open and honest conversation about any topic and together we solve the problems of the world over dinner. Similar things infuriate both of us although I’m decidedly more robust in my fury that Angéline is. Angéline has also become my theatre, show going, friend. I love the theatre and have attended many times on my own although sharing the experience, is always better! You can never see Michael Bublé too many times, am I right? I should also say that Angéline and her family have helped me to have a better understanding around sustainable living, being mindful of our environment and just trying to do better for our community. A friendship I cherish.

Debbie – ‘bug roll’ and that’s a guaranteed dinner at Rick Shores! As was Thursday evening. Debbie was my neighbour who missed my 40th birthday by a couple of weeks. What we have shared over the past 20 years is enough for a 5 season Netflix series. This woman is the holder of my secrets, she’s the Jeremy Renner to Ben Affleck in The Town the friend who always has your back and asks no questions! Over 20 years we’ve cried tears of happiness, cried so hard because we’ve been so angry we can’t contain it. We’ve celebrated milestones (it could just be Monday), holidayed and shared more laughter than you would think possible. We’ve not always agreed on situations but our friendship hasn’t waned. I’m sure there are elements of our friendship that drives the other mad but there’s a mutual respect that we have differing opinions and we agree to not agree.

Debbie was the person that kept my sanity when packing the ex-husband into a box at 3am in the morning! She would see the light on, knock on the door, taking to the next task without a word. We could have had our own ‘clothes line chat’ series. Both of us hanging clothes on the line at some ungodly hour of the night, led to more solving of the world’s problems. To be fair, it’s probably where our friendship really cemented itself.

When you talk about friends becoming family, this is so very true of the friendships I made whilst in Saudi. Again a neighbour (it’s a thing…) Michaela, Syd, Brad and Jai. Michaela being one of the first people I met when I arrived. They say girlfriends tend to sync well we certainly did that, our firstborn children being born a day apart although in very different parts of the world – Brad born in Zimbabwe, Manon born in Australia all the whilst we were living in Saudi Arabia. Our eldest kids will turn 31 this year!

Michaela taught me that Thornton chocolates can be a breakfast choice, that stopping on the M25 in London is ok, if you really need to hurl from too many champagnes from the night before and that friends can endure a 7 hour flight comatose, recovering from a 4 day trip…

I then have this crazy group of gals who during my time in the desert were my lifeline – I’m not sure I would have survived without them. We were close when our kids were little, they live on the other side of the world although I count them amongst my closest friends. We keep track via social media and have watched our babies grow and now watch our babies’ babies. I love these three women!

I don’t see enough of these gorgeous people but love them from afar!

I am fortunate to be rich with folk I call friends. When I had the idea for this post, I thought oh, it will be easy, I have few friends who have impacted my life. How wrong I was. As I sit here, there so many more.

Yesterday I spent the day celebrating my cousin’s birthday – she is the only person I know who can text a group at 8.30am and by 9.00am there’s 30 people ready to party with her at midday. Some people I knew and count them as friends others I’d met a couple of times. It was a sensational afternoon/evening of a group of people gathering and just having fun.

There are no words for the love I have for this kid – my little mate, my best friend who undoubtedly will hold my heart until the day I die…

I have always told my kids, I’m not their friend – I’m their mother, there’s a difference, a mother is so much more than a friend.

I could continue to write this post for some time although I need to get sorted, I’m off for lunch today – with more friends…

Note to self – get better at putting photos and text together!