Day 79: Quality is better than quantity

Today has been just one of those days. It was busy, and yet not all at the same time. There basically was a lot to do, but for most of the day I was out of town. It was really bad timing for sure. I had to drive over an hour away to take Nala to a spay clinic in the morning and stayed there for the day just because I didn't want to spend 2 extra hours driving plus spend the extra gas money. So, I spent the day working on homework for my credential class that starts on the 21st. Mostly a good day up there. Got a lot of my work done, but there is still more to do.

Last night, I finished a Cars cake that was due this morning. Luckily, my friend Carmon was willing to take my kids to school and deliver the cake for me. She also picked up the girls while my other awesome friend, and awesome photographer, Lyssa, picked up my son. Basically, without my friends' help, I would have been screwed.

After I came home, I grabbed the kids and went home to start working on a cake that is due tomorrow. I am totally last minute on these, but luckily Carmon was helping me out again. The cakes due are for twins, so I have to do two separate cakes. She offered to help me out by doing one of them with the supplies I already had. Just after I got home, however, I got a call from her telling me the awesome cake she made for her own daughter's birthday party tomorrow was ruined by a set of 3 year old twins. So, I ran over to her house and started finding a way to fix the cake. I was happy that it was fixable. It took time, but we did it. Then we had to get started on the rest of the cakes. So, we worked on them together and were up late, but eventually got it done. Teamwork!

 Where would we be without our friends, our extended network of support? How would we manage this lifestyle? Well, I will tell you what, we wouldn't be able to. I have seen wives try to do it. They try to handle this life alone and do not create a local support system. It doesn't end well. I have my family that I lean on for support, but if I didn't have my friends, both local and not, I wouldn't be able to make it through this deployment or at all in this military lifestyle we have. It is kind of an odd thing to have to do. You have to meet new people, make new friends, and then decide if you can trust those friends to be there for you when you need them. Especially when you are used to relying solely on your husband as your extra helper and suddenly he is gone for a year. It becomes an impossible task to do alone, to survive and raise kids with no one else to turn to. So, we find friends that we trust and we ask them for help. I mean if I did not have the few friends I have now, I don't know if I could have gotten it all done without pulling the kids out of school or without spending a lot more time and money. I do not have a lot of friends here. I really can only count on one hand the number of friends I would ask to watch my kids, and maybe count on two hands the number of "acquaintances" I know and have spoken to more than once. The saying "Quality is better than quantity," really does sum up my whole perspective on friendships in my life.

Another day successfully completed. Another day closer to being with my husband again.