‘Friends’ Part Two… Married With Kids & Having FUN!

by Lynnette

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My friends have showed me up… They’ve gone and done even MORE incredible stuff.

Just gotta share…

 

Aimee’s Running Toward Paradise

Aidan and mommy. Orlando-slash-UCF pal, Aimee, hasn’t slowed down one bit since she had little Aidan 3 years ago.

Every year, she participated in the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure. This time she raised over $1,000 herself!

And, it’s a “family thing” too… Besides the race taking place on Mother’s Day, Aimee and her mom (Binnie, a breast cancer survivor) put together an entire Team again this year. They all walked the entire length together while her dad (a.k.a. “Poopah” as Aidan calls him) pushed the little guy in the stroller the entire way!

Dave and Aimee enjoying Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. She and hubby Dave spent the days leading up to the race IN THE BAHAMAS for an all-expense paid 4-day/3-night trip at Atlantis on Paradise Island!

Seems all of Dave’s hard work finally pays off… this trip was on the boss — for having such a great quarter of the year.

Congrats, Dave. (I won an all-expense paid trip for 2 once. But it was for SHOPPING! Me and Suzie headed to NYC… for free.)

Finally, Aimee’s bursting at the seams with all KINDS of fun news this go-around… The BEST news? She writes: “Sophie isn’t the only one about to become an older sibling. I am about 3 months along.”

Congrats again, guys! (This one will be easy to remember… Dave & Aimee’s little bundle of joy is due on OUR anniversary!)
Jeannie Is Off To The Races… Again!

Jeannie and John at the 2005 Kentucky Derby. First, there were all the horse races, then came all the running races.

(I wish I had the stamina to run like all these friends of mine. The closest I get is bicycling… And I don’t do that nearly enough.)

Jeannie writes: “I just got done running my races for the year. I ran the Triple Crown series here in town which is a 3 mile, 6 mile then 10 mile.”

She adds: “I did fine this year, but because my running buddies and I were all a little on the injured side (nothing serious) we decided that instead of running the Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon (13 miles) we would do a marathon relay. There were 5 legs of different lengths each, and believe it or not we won our division!”

Way to go, Jeannie!

Jeannie's three kids. And did I mention she’s a mother of THREE?! How in the world she finds the time to do all the fun things she does is beyond me.

For example, did I tell you that she also makes PURSES in her spare time? AND she’s in the process of writing a children’s book?! (As is the above-mentioned Aimee… Perhaps you two should swap notes about publishers, etc. in the future.)
Kim’s In Search Of A Place To Call Home

Kim and I go way back.

Kim and Lynnette -- at one of the few high school basketball games I actually WENT to... as opposed to SAID I was going to! She’s an old high school buddy who dug me up after 15 or so years in hiding. And she has continued to be a faithful friend these past few years …despite the fact that I tend to forget her e-mail address every time we move or my computer crashes.

Her first e-mail to me went something like this:

“Is this the same Lynnette that I owe a lot of gas money to for taking me cruising all the time in high school?”

Yep. That was me. Here’s the car we cruised in.

Kim is a VERY busy mom of two these days. They are lucky to have such a devoted (and FUN!) mom.

She and hubby Mark are about to score on a new house… hopefully, any day now. This one just happens to be THE home of her dreams, and I can “hear” her grinning from ear to ear every time she writes to me about it!

Kim got ME grinning from ear to ear when she said this the other day (talking about the need to keep the house virtually spotless whenever you’re “selling” so as to give the right impression): “There is no way a family can have any FUN and still live in a clean, clutter-free house.”

I agree. And based on your theory, I’d say Jim & I have WAY too much fun… and I have the house to show it!

Just a couple more quick things about my friend Kim…

Despite the fact that she’s “non-techy” (e.g. No digital camera — thus no recent photos; And no scanner — thus no COPIES of photos; And no high-speed Internet — thus no appreciation for the rapid response times often associated with e-mailing OR the checking of websites… like the Blogs of old dear friends, for example), she shames me with her ability to do some of the finer things in life.

(not the least of which is raise two kids, mind you!)

Like… being a deacon at her church! (Quite an accomplishment for the chic we all called “Chugger” in high school.)

And… quilting! Who knew that KIM would be the one to possess such talent, and nimble fingers, and an eye for detail? C’mon. Kim?!?… Sewing?!?…

Yep. She’s now the proud owner of lots of nifty things like “weaving looms” and such. However, the quilting is on hold these days until the house sells. She writes: “The first clutter removal before our house hit the market was my sewing stuff. I do have 875 leaves already cut out for my next project.”

Word is, her handywork is award-winning. You go girl!
What I Learned Today…

I continue to be completely in awe of the creativity AND energy level of my married-with-kids friends.

Thank you, Aimee, Jeannie, Kim, Erin, Kris, and Laura for inspiring me to keep on keepin’ on with my hectic little married-with-no-kids lifestyle. How you do it, I’ll never know.

And to friends, Suzie and Abby: WE continue to be the free-spirits… running wild, and roaming free. We are the creative souls who are soaring through this world… It may be on a wing and a prayer, but we’re soaring!