i’ve got a job. yep, i’m working. i haven’t been employed since 1996. i enjoy what i’m doing, but it sure takes up a lot of time. no longer is there lunch with friends, grabbing a cup of coffee with friends and it seems that just making the time to chat with friends is difficult. i don’t think i was prepared for how difficult it would be to manage a job, 3 kids, a husband who is going to be gone more than he’ll be home and to keep up with a house – or in my case, let it fall apart. i feel like a whiner – i’m not the first working mom it’s just that now i realize how much i would prefer to have lunch, coffee or just hang out with the girls than work. however, right now i have to work. so it’s about being intentional about friendships – making the time to stay connected. probably adding to my current attitude is that while i enjoy what i’m doing – it’s still just a job. something i have to do, not want to do. but it’s just a season made somewhat more difficult by the knowledge that when the job ends for me in late May/early June we’ll be very close to moving. the last 9 months i could spend working on and strengthening friendships will be spent working. not that any of that keeps me from growing friendships – it just makes it a little more difficult. but if i’m honest i have to admit that – if i weren’t working – in nine months i would probably be regretting that i didn’t devote more time to friends.