Haircuts and At-Home Feelings

Entry up at the other blog about Roo's haircut.

Went to Nora and Sven's for dinner on Tuesday.  Here's what I want to say about that:

The people whom I consider to be friends are people I feel comfortable enough around to lapse into silence, to enjoy the natural pauses in conversation.  They're people who I can look up, and see grinning at my kid or their kid or their partner(s), and I can catch their eye and we share a smile, but don't always feel forced to comment on everything.

They are people who come over, lapse into a silence as I work on bead stuff, and then say, "I'm going to check my email, okay?"

They are people who have us over, and feel comfortable wandering away to watch baseball-- or having either or both of us join them.

They are people who are not afraid to hang my kid upside down by his ankles just to hear him laugh.

Visits with friends like these renew and refresh-- and in Nora and Sven's case, and their little son, Wulfgang-- reinspire me. 

For they are parents of the best type, and hanging out with them restores my faith in mankind as a species, and our ability to raise grounded, confident, flexible children.

I can't wait until some of the other friends who I feel as comfortable with here in the Cities have babies. :)