Making Time for Lunch and Community
It’s hard to believe my maternity leave is about over and that I go back to work next week Wednesday. As my days at home have been dwindling down, I have really been trying to make a point to get together with friends for lunch.
In The Fringe Hours
This is something I regularly do when I work, but I haven’t been good about it since being on maternity leave. I think because it seemed like a chore to get Ezra ready. But after getting together with a host of friends, I am kicking myself for not doing it sooner.
In the past two weeks I have had five lunches with friends!
On April 7, I met my friend Angie for brunch on the day her daughter Audrey was born and went to heaven. It was a rainy day and good to be together.
Another day, after recording a podcast, I met my friend Alli for a late lunch. It was so fun to enjoy good guacamole where we caught up on her work with Propel, book stuff (she has a book coming out soon called Breaking Busy 
My friend Crystal and I enjoyed salads and chatted about everything from work, travel plans and our kids. She even helped with Ezra when he had a blow-out at the restaurant. That is a GOOD friend.
Still yet another day, I met my friends Mary and Jamie for lunch to chat all things blogging.
Then earlier this week, my friends Angie, Jenny and Trish spent a day helping me strip wallpaper and we took a break in the middle to have lunch at my home.
With each of these times of breaking bread, I have been so thankful for community. Lately I had been feeling a bit isolated, staying at home, nursing a baby every few hours and squeezing in writing and other work projects here and there. These lunches were just what I needed to nurture my spirit and remind me of the importance of friendship.
If it has been awhile since you had lunch with a friend, I want to encourage you to schedule one.
If you work, don’t eat at your desk every day. Leave the office and meet a friend. You will come back refreshed and ready for the afternoon.
If you stay-at-home, get creative. Invite a friend (and her kids) over for lunch. The kids can play and you can enjoy some adult conversation. Or take the kids with you! (I had Ezra with me for all my lunches.) The location doesn’t matter – even McDonalds would work – it’s the connecting that matters.
Lunch with a friend is an easy way to love another person – and yourself – well.
I’m so glad we were able to meet for lunch AND meet Ezra (and hold him…yea!) Thank you again for all of your wonderful insight and advice. You rock!