Two Cups of Coffee

"You're going to post that on your blog, aren't you?" my friend Greta teased as she watched me snap this shot.

It had been too long since we'd caught up, so, thanks to her initiative, we arranged to meet this morning at Starbucks while the girls were at their co-op and Ian worked math problems in a nearby armchair.

The conversation rambled from my persistent sinus headache (Greta was a doctor in her pre-homeschooling life) to Michelangelo to Mel Gibson to living by faith to Greg Mortenson to mothering challenges to Islam to not judging others to my dad's ALS to Les Misérables to skiiing. Not in that order. Now you know why Greta is one of my favorite people to talk to. Why does she insist on living a whole twenty minutes away? I mean, really.

You know, there are days when I feel like the home educating lifestyle is pretty isolating for a mom who craves a certain measure of adult interaction. But there are many more days when I know the truth: This life we've chosen to lead has actually strewn any number of amazing people across our path. Including amazing mothers. Mothers who are dedicated to their children and yet remain fascinating persons in their own right. Mothers who read, who self-educate, who knit, who write romance novels, who played college ice hockey, who ride horses, who do triathlons, who struggle with their weight, who are never caught up on the laundry, who work part-time, who weave baskets, who knew almost from conception that they would homeschool, who dragged their feet into homeschooling after a school disappointment,  who hold the fort during a husband's 80-hour-plus work week, who all have a story to tell.

It's just a matter of making the time to listen.