I've been thinking a lot about what makes a good friend. 

My oldest daughter is at the age when fitting in and feeling loved by your peers is so important.  I suppose if we are being honest with ourselves fitting in and being loved is important to all of us no matter what our age.

I've been stressing to her that quantity of friends doesn't matter.  That quality is a better attribute.

Recently I posted as a Facebook status "How did we meet and how long have we known each other".  It was so fun to see some of the answers.

I'm not forty (yet) but I've had friends for over 20 years.  One of my friends commented about how we were on the same peewee cheerleading team.  We were seven!  That means I've been friends with her for 31 years!  That doesn't seem possible.

I recalled dancing at a teen club with one of my other friends.  She was incredibly pregnant!  We were so young.  Both of us flabbergasted by the fact that she was really having a baby.  "Do you think he'll like loud music?" she asked me, as we both danced near the speakers. 

That little boy isn't so little anymore.  He'll be 23 this year and yes, he does like his music loud.  LOL

I had one friend say I was her first "American" friend.  She and her family moved to Ohio from England when our kids were just wee little things. 

When the stay-at-home phase of my life merged with the-kids-are-starting-school phase of my life I met even more wonderful people.  The principal of my daughter's school recalled meeting me when Oldest transferred here from kindergarten in Ohio. 

I vividly remember Oldest getting down on the ground during that meeting and running her hands up and down the principal's pantyhose and saying how soft they were.  That was mortifying.  I didn't really think I would ever be considered her friend.  Yet now she has lunch with me and the other lunch ladies just about everyday.  And to think that my little kindergartner from that story will soon start middle school.

I have friends I've met through work at the paper, through work at the school district.  Many of whom I can share a glass of wine with and laugh about the day.  I have neighbors (and former neighbors) whom I would drop everything for.  Whom I would bail out of jail.  Whom I would give a kidney.

I have had the privilege of meeting some wonderful moms through preschool programs that I truly feel blessed to know.  Many of them (especially K) make me proud to be a parent.  They fill me with hope, with gratitude and with awe.  I secretly want to be them when I grow up.  I think their kids are the luckiest little people in the entire world.  A&J are going to do amazing things and I hope I'm around to see it all!

Without my friend, B, I would likely explode.  She listens to me gripe, she takes care of me when I'm sick, she watches my kids, she picks up gallons of milk for me, she goes on vacation with me and she reads my manuscripts and tells me that she loves them.

We have a secretly language and usually without words we know if the other is hurting.

It is my sincere hope that you have friends that you've known for decades, for years, for months, that bring you great joy.  Whom you can't remember life without.  Whom you don't want to live life without.

As most of you know, I freelance for a local afternoon newspaper and as part of my job I attend school board meetings as well as township meetings.

An assistant superintendent at one of the districts I cover recently was arrested for DUI.  It happened over the Christmas holiday and according to police reports she claimed she had two drinks--nothing more.  The police report however indicated that she had slurred speech, failed to use her turn signal and crossed the center line.

She subsequently failed the field sobriety test as well as the Breathalyzer.

The entire story is very sad to me for many reasons but mostly because I want to know where her friends were.

Obviously she wasn't out alone. 

She was with either her co-workers or her girlfriends or perhaps even some family members.

Shouldn't they be held in as much contempt?

This situation made me stop and think about who is in my "inner circle"?  You know the people who you can laugh with or cry with.  The friend who will come and pick you up at 2:00 a.m. when your car won't start.  The people who know if your okay to drive home just by how you look.  The group that would shave their heads if you had to fight cancer.

Everyone needs an inner circle.

And when I'm long gone, I hope my inner circle says things like "We could always count on her."  She made us laugh, she held our hands, she just knew.

I stopped by Jenners blog and found out about a lovely thing that is happening in the blogging world today—the Simple Things blog party hosted by Christina of Soul Aperture.

The idea is simple: list all the little simple things you appreciate in your life and link your post to the post over at Christina's blog.

For every blog that links up a simple things list today, Christina will donate $1.00 to Doctors Without Borders Haiti relief efforts. (She is ready to donate up to $250.00.) Isn't that a wonderful and inspiring?

So here is my list. What is yours?

• bubble baths
• time alone in my craft room
• my kids laughing
• watching snow fall
• diet pepsi
• seeing my byline in the paper
• riding bikes with my kids
• swimming
• time to read
• back rubs
• pedicures

You know you want to play along....