Fun Filled Weekends

This weekend I have been getting out of the house and having fun with my friends. Yesterday B. and I went out for lunch and then to a garden center that was hosting a thrift sale for the local humane society. I obviously wanted to go and support them, they have given me five incredible animals the past few years, and I am glad I have the means to give them a little help. Today, A. and the kids are picking me up and we are heading to Action City for a morning filled with games, laughter, and memories in the making.

Some weekends I am not up for having big plans. The week was hard enough and I need the weekend to recuperate my energy levels for the following week. This week though, I am very grateful for friends who make plans. I have been enjoying getting out with them lately and I hope my body cooperates, and lets me continue to have lots of fun. (One of the draw backs of having chronic illness.)

My friends have always been a bright light in my life. They get me and are very understanding. B. A. and L. are my three best friends. Sadly L. lives across the country or I am sure we would be hanging out much more. I am also grateful to have lived in the time of easy communication. I am able to reach out to all three with a quick text whenever I need or want to. That text can sit there, in their inbox, as long as it needs to, and they can answer when the get a moment. Two of them are professionals with busy jobs, and the third is an incredibly devoted mom who is always busy as well. So I am glad whenever they get the chance to message me back.

This weekend is the first in a long time, where I get to see more than one friend, in just those two days. My social battery is being given a workout, but I couldn’t be more thankful to have the time with them. Like I mentioned earlier, it is weekends like these that are memories in the making, and I know I will look back at them and smile.

Fun filled weekends are few and far between these days, especially as adults with responsibilities. So when you get the opportunity to spend a little extra time with someone you love and cherish, don’t let it slip away. Let yourself have those fun packed days every once in a while.

A Day For All Kinds Of Love

As we approach the Hallmark created holiday of Valentine’s Day, I have been thinking. I am single again this year, like always, so I may not have a romantic valentine, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have lots of love to celebrate. In my opinion Valentine’s Day has always been about showing those we love how much we care for them, and we have just lost sight and narrowed that view point down to just romantic love.

Growing up, my parents always gave each of us kids something on Valentine’s Day. Some of my favorites are my teddy bear that says you are my sunshine on it. My mom calls me Sunshine because she used to sing the song to me when I was little. I have always loved the song, so the nickname stuck. My mom and dad reminded us every year that love doesn’t just mean romantic partners. Love is a connection between people that truly care for each other.

Ever since one of my best friends has had her kids, I have started giving them valentines as well. This year I gave them little stuffed animals. A got a kitty, due to her love for them, and W got a dino that he has dubbed Sparkles due to the gold spikes on the back. I have gotten lots of pictures ever since I dropped the stuffies off with the kids, of them hugging them and playing. W has become pretty attached to his dino, and I am pretty thrilled that I could provide him with something he holds so dear.

When I gave the stuffies to the kids, I reminded them that Valentine’s Day is meant to celebrate all kinds of love. Family love, sibling love, friendship love, as well as romantic love, to name a few. As we approach and begin to celebrate the day of love, it is not only important to remind ourselves that it is about all kinds of love, but we should also show those we care about how much they matter to us more than just once a year.

Here’s to showing those we love how much they mean to us.

Childhood Values

I was hanging out with one of my best friends the other day and we were watching her eldest child running through the sprinkler and playing in his little pool. The warm weather made it the perfect day to give him the little squirt guns that I had found recently. I became the cool adult because I engaged in a water fight with him. My shirt was soaked and my glasses speckled with droplets by the time he moved on to running through the sprinkler as it watered the grass.

These events got me thinking about my childhood and how we would entertain ourselves while on summer break. I am a 90s baby, so things like smart phones and iPads didn’t exist yet. Warm summer days were spent playing outside with the neighborhood kids, or on play dates with friends from school. Sprinklers and little kiddie pools were special treats used to try and beat the heat. If you happened to live in an area with street lights, as soon as they turned on, you were expected to be heading home for the night.

Looking back on these memories, I started thinking about how I wanted to approach raising my possible future children. I don’t want them to become attached to screens. Occasional time spent watching tv or playing on a smart device will be allowed. I treasured watching Saturday morning cartoons with my dad, while still in our pjs, eating a bowl of cereal. Also long car rides might be made a bit easier on my sanity if screen time was given.

Overall though, I think I would like them to have a childhood similar to mine. Playing outside and exploring the world while curiosity still runs deep in their bones. Learning about how the natural world works by getting their hands in the dirt. Using their imagination to create fantastical worlds that entertain the mind for hours. Making use of the warmer weather in the summer to get some vitamin D and learning to swim.

A child shouldn’t become jaded by the world until they are old enough to understand how we got to where we are, in my opinion. I want to try my best to preserve the innocent nature that they start with, for as long as I can. Fingers crossed that I can actually achieve this ideal.