I had a wonderful time today.  I met with 3 of my friends from college, no, I met with one friend from college, one friend whom I have known since 8th grade, and one friend who introduced herself to me when we were in second grade and I was the “new” girl.  So we have all been friends for a heck of a long time.

Now, there have been some big chunks of time when we did not communicate very much.  Sue (second grade) got married in college and left to move with her husband who was in the Air Force.

Donna, who went to Puerto Vallarta with me on spring break in college then we lost touch for about 30 years because my name changed (got married and there was that whole thing with the Witness Protection program but I don’t want to go into that right now)

And Cindy, who has come in and out of my life just about 6 times a year, every year, all the time.

Staying in touch

We have shared some challenging times together, laughed a lot, cried some, had our own life experiences, and we met for lunch today and it was fun.

We’ve lost a parent or two, had children, taken care of our families and won and lost in life, but today we had lunch and conversation, and simple, comfortable, close feelings of belonging to each other.

Happiness is Contagious!

Harvard University and the University of California conducted a study of nearly 5,000 people over the span of 20 years that measured their happiness levels.  It turns out that happiness is infectious.  So when a person is happy it is contagious and spreads through thier network of friends and on to thier friends friends, in other words, happiness becomes viral the measurable effect can last for up to a year.

There are lots of studies and surveys that say staying healthy is exercise, eating right and being connected to people you love.  I believe it because today, I feel great!

So our great friend, and English correspondent, Vicki told me the other day that many of our blog postings are clearly not written with parents in mind because many of the things we talk about or encourage people to do are things that parents just don’t have time for.

And after taking care of baby Emma Danger I can really understand what she is talking about. We took care of Emma recently – while her parents were in Europe catching up on culture and sleep – for 9 days and 28 nights, at least that’s how it felt!!

Actually, Emma is a gem of a baby; she’s pretty good at sleeping through the night. Once you get her to that point. Up till then it’s a team operation feeding, cleaning, clothing, calming her. Which helped me understand exactly what Vicki was talking about.

You see, unless you have kids you don’t really get just how much work is involved in taking care of them. I never had kids myself, I skipped that stage and just went straight to being a grand dad – which I love. But what’s fascinating to me is just how all consuming having one kid is. It takes two of us to get Emma up and fed and ready in the morning. It’s incredible.

My mum had five kids under the age of ten, at one point four of us were under the age of five. I have absolutely no idea how she did it. To be  honest, neither does she, she simply says “ah well, you just get on with it.”

And she is right, you don’t have a choice, or time or anything. So, when Vicki says this blog doesn’t always take into account parents she is right on one level, we make assumptions about people having the time or making the time to exercise or go to the gym.

But to be honest if you have a young family you probably don’t need to go to the gym, because there are more than enough opportunities to use the kids as exercise equipment!

• Chasing them around is aerobic.
• Carrying them around is weight training – particularly as they get a little older and try to resist just being carried around all the time, that is weight and resistance training.
• Playing with them is both aerobic and weight training – kids love to be lifted up and tossed up in the air. Do that a few times and you’ll know you are getting a workout. But the best bit is listening to them laughing like crazy when you do it – that’s the best incentive to work out that you will ever get.
• Lie on your back and use your baby as a bench press. Lift them up and down. Up and down. It’s great fun for baby and bloody hard work for you.
• Hold baby in your arms and do squats. The kid won’t have a clue what you are doing but your thighs will. Oh boy will they!

See, the only limitation to your workouts is your imagination. And when you are around a kid you quickly realize, it’s time to let your imagination run wild.