Among friends!

Different kinds of friendships
There are so many things to say about friends and so many things that other people have said about friendship, before me but I'll give it a go anyway!
Friends are like candy, to me, they aren't family but still they will go the extra mile for you. Often friends care a whole lot more than many realtives, also.
The different kinds of friendships are interesting to think about and joyful to experience.

Here I'm about to leave the house for some BBQ with childhood girlfriends.
I'm showing off my new pink nail polish!

Thinking about it I have these kinds of frindships:

Childhood Friends: my dear sweet friends that I started school with and that I moved back to, when we moved here 2010. These ladies know my history and we love each other regardless. We're totally different from each other and we chose different paths but still.... All good. Great friends!

My network sisters: the probably best and closest are the friends I met when The Boy was a baby. We met online, in a forum, discussing career and parenthood, we manage a big blog together, we speak daily and we share everything. They are definately the ones that know the most about me. We meet once or twice a year but we're really close. We're also a lot alike even though we have different occupations.

My best friend: my best friend is male and also a kind of childhood friend. We met in UK, when I was there on my first language-course-summer and I was 14 then, I think.
This guy is the one who would drop everything and do everything if I needed him. He's like my brother, my family and more. We're different but still the same. I can get goofy, and now we're talking really wacko-kind-of-goofy around him and he still loves me!

My childhood friend Annika has a really wonderful husband,
who BBQ:ed for us.

My childhood friends in their prime!

Capturing the moments.

What do I like doing with my friends?I like being able to sit down and chat aswell as really talk. The great advantage of being "totally different" is you get to learn things, adopting someone else's mind for an hour or two.

After hearing my childhood girlfriends complain about their bosses, I - the boss - gave my point of view.
:-)
I learned a lot from them and they got another perspective through me.

And when they talked about working every other weekend and nights, I sent an appreciative thought to my work schedule, that only contains every fourth sunday and no nights.

Annika and I a rainy Saturday in May. Raindrops hit the roof making the distinct sound 

and it was all lovely!

In commonSo, what do we have in common then? A whole lot!
The love of our children, dogs, husbands, homes, food, jogging and living, generally.
We all have grown up kids, so that's something I only share with these girls. All my other friends have only small children. These sisters I share laughter with talking of our grown up sons, trying their best being cool, manly and macho. And boy, do we laugh hard at that?!!

Still...

I remember it heartbreakingly well, the day my parents told me we were moving - again - and I had to leave these girls and leave the best class I can imaging, still to this day. Oh, how I cried and oh, how the new school was totally different, in the sense: worse.

Annika and I kept in touch all these years via letter writing and the letters were long! The rest of the ladies and friends I lost touch with. Then there was a reunion a few years ago and I went all in, enthusiastic to say the least. I called people, sent e-mails and managed to gather quite a few, including our old wonderful teacher. The evening was every bit as magic as I would have guessed and my heart was warm. Hot. I realized how much I had missed my old friends and how much I had missed, that I would have love to be a part of.

Luck and life would have it that I got a chance to move back, a year ago. 

You can imagine the joy?! You can perhaps even feel the warmth in my heart.

Isn't life a mysterious and wonderful journey? It takes courage and an open mind and then you jump right in!

Great girls.

This weekend we enjoy a prolonged weekend here. We have five days off together. 

Yesterday there was reading in the sun, visiting the beach, premiering with dinner at another favorite place (yes, I know we have so many favorites!): the beach diner.

Today we'll road trip to our old hometown for a visit to my Big Son, sleepover with our best friends and then tomorrow the wedding of my brother-in-law.

And when we get home late, Sunday, there will still be a Monday off, 'cuz Monday is our "kind of new" "independence day". Why it's new and why I use "" I guess I'll have to explain in the upcoming posts on this weekend...?!!

Have a great weekend all you wonderful blog friends out there!

I found this pic of almost all of us, at the reunion. That day was magic!

Annika, wonderful teacher Ola and I.