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Sunday, February 20, 2011

A Good Bra and Good Friends

What do a good bra and good friends have in common?  They are supportive wommy essentials.  Becoming a mom and a wommy makes you appreciate these supportive friendships even more than ever...and it forges friendships you might never have imagined before.

I have have been blessed with a wonderful network of friends, spread out across the country.   These circles of friends hail from grade school, high school, college, internships and various jobs.  In fact, one of the tightest groups of friends is made up of former girlfriends of my husband's friends.  Did you catch that?  When I started dating Ryan, I became good friends with the girlfriends of his roommates and friends.  In the coming years, all of the couples broke up (except Ryan and me), but the girls all stayed close.  

My company has a "Mother's Room" for those who are nursing and pumping.  Who would have guessed that this small room would lead to strongly bonded friendships.  In the room, there is a notebook where wommies can share milestones, challenges, funny stories, advice etc.  It's kind of like a shared journal.  It makes you realize that you are not alone and that what your are going through is absolutely normal.  Keep in mind that most of us have never met in person.  We only know each other through the notebook.

We decided to schedule a monthly wommy luncheon so that we could get together in person.  The other wommies from the Mother's Room are from departments across the company that I typical would never have the chance to interact.  We don't live near each other.  None of us went to the same schools.   We don't work in the same departments.  Heck, I don't know if most of us would ever even pass each other in the hall before.  Nonetheless, these ladies have now become some of my closest wommy friends.

An acquaintance of mine once said that she had enough friends and wasn't interested in making more.   Can you ever truly have enough friends?  The answer is no...at least in my book.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Blizzard of 2011 and Groundhog Day

Snow angels and groundhogs.  Who would have thunked it?  The great blizzard of 2011 paralyzed the Chicagoland area last night and today.  While most people were excited about the unexpected snow day, I was excited to have the day off to celebrate Piper's first Groundhog Day.  Yes, I said Groundhog Day and I know it's strange.

Years ago my dad and I started making a big deal out of celebrating Groundhog Day simplify because it is such a silly holiday.  It was a special quirky thing that we shared.  We'd call each other first thing in the morning on February 2, follow Puxatawney Phil online and send each other funny e-cards leading up to the big day.  All of our friends and family would make fun of us, but they couldn't resist the craziness and eventually joined in on the silly celebrations.

I'll never forget the first Groundhog Day I celebrated without my dad.  It was February 2, 2008, almost two months since we lost my dad to cancer.  That day was harder for me than his birthday or the anniversary of his passing.  I was dialing his number first thing in the morning when it hit me that he wasn't there to share our annual Groundhog Day chat.  My stomach dropped.

To be honest, it's still a bittersweet day, but it's definitely leaning more towards the sweet side of things with Piper around.  Although my husband thinks I'm crazy, Groundhog Day will always be a big holiday celebrated in the McGrath household.  Partly because I still think it's fun and silly, but partly because it will be a way for Piper to remember the grandfather she never met.  I have no doubt he is smiling down on her all of the time, but today, I am sure he is getting a chuckle about her Groundhog Day onesie.  He would be thrilled to know that we are carrying on the tradition.