marti and erin.com

You know how sometimes you find a kindred spirit in the most random place? I had an experience today that confirmed that I found one of mine. I was meeting today with a friend who I had met several years ago and, years later, fate brought us back together. Although we are from different walks of life, we sound a lot a like. We talk at the same fast pace, changing topics every 30 seconds, and both love a good piece of gossip.

As if this is not enough of a sign of why we are great friends, he brought out of his bag the same Far Side Mating Rituals 2006 Desk Calendar that I have. In this day and age of all things technological, I was amazed that we, not only both still have calendars, but had the exact same taste in a humorous calendar! It was a little thing, but it amused us for some time.

I guess some days its just the little things that let you know that you have wonderful kindred spirits in your life. Thanks for a great afternoon!

And even with all that history, I still have to ask:

Was the Pet Rock a good idea?

By different criteria, would it have received funding from a bank or a loan from the Small Business Administration? Imagine how many Pet Rocks we’ve already passed up in this life…

An esoteric subject…

I was sitting in my Entrepreneur class recently and we were discussing start-up businesses and where the ideas come from. We looked at creating habits to note where societal trends emerge. We also talked about broadening our scope by reading different periodicals and looking for stimuli outside of our normal interests. All this said, I still have to wonder- Where do the good ideas come from? And who’s to say it’s a good idea when you’ve got one?

Anytime I announce that I have a great idea, my father is quick to tell me that I should wait for someone else to tell me it was good. And my question back to him is “why?” What makes someone else more qualified than me to decide whether the idea is a good one. This is still one of those areas that has evaded metrics. There is no ISO Idea to detect errors. I wonder if we’ll ever be able to do that. If good ideas are in the eye of the beholder, then maybe there is no right answer.

I wonder if good ideas are nature vs. nuture, like beauty and other personality traits. I wonder how many go discarded on a daily basis if people don’t have the courage to share them with the world. I wonder if ideas get better the more people you share them with and finetune them along the way.

I wonder who ever thought of the pet rock and how it made some much money. Will the wonders never cease?

This weekend I had the opportunty to catch up with two very close friends of mine that I haven’t seen in a while. One is pregnant and the other just had a baby in October. These two social events gave me a lot to think about since I’ve never been quite sure that I am the child-rearing type. Some days I think its a great idea, other days I just can’t see it happening. This weekend made me further question whether I’m the right woman for the job…

Sunday, my one friend and I went shopping for maternity clothes. She is starting to show so we headed off to H&M Maternity, GAP Maternity, Old Navy Maternity and Macy’s Maternity. By the end of the day, she had t-shirts, pants and a pair of maternity jeans. All in all, a successful day for her but I was left wondering if I had maternity genes. At each stop I marveled how happy and excited she was, even about playing with the pillow belt in the dressing room that demonstrated she how would look in a few months. And all day I wondered if I could ever be excited about the same thing in my life. I haven’t had had the yearning yet, so I’m not really sure…

Still pondering this situation, I headed out yesterday to have lunch with another friend. She had a baby just over 10 weeks ago. She looks tired, but still very happy. I arrived for a noon lunch, we managed to get out the door at 2PM. We had bags and a stroller and chose a restaurant that was “baby-friendly.” Considering I pride myself on the ability to go anywhere on a moment’s notice, this was a lot to go through to get out of the house, but I was in awe of my friend’s determination to pull it all together so I went with the flow. While out, I was privvy to the private society of parents who stop on the street to go through the greeting ritual- first, a glance into one stroller and a compliment, then a glance into the other stroller and an equal compliment, and then a conversation about the strollers themselves. It was nice to see my friend in this new role contemplating decisions about the baby and feeling her way through the initial stages of parenthood. I don’t know if I would be up for the challenge, and it did indeed seem to be one.

These two days left me wondering if I’d ever want to turn in my low rise, boot cuts for some maternity genes. I haven’t decided yet but this weeekend certainly left me wondering if this is for me. Is this a genetic defect on my part or something my DNA was just built without?

Erin,

Morbid, absolutley morbid…but I support that. Please know that I will make sure that your wishes are adhered to and I will speak brilliantly about you at your funeral. I will not light your cigarette, especially if it contributed to your demise. Also, please note that I will name only my onery children after you. And then I will carry their belongings in a retired Vera Bradley bag.

Now that we have a clear understanding of what to do with you upon your departure from this earth, I have to pose a different question to you. What should we do with you while you are here? Should we still prop you up in the corner with a wine and a cigarette? Take you shopping for age-appropriate clothes? Or should we push you to go new places and try new things? I’d love to be a part of that process and make your time here as exciting as possible!

My feeling is that we should celebrate you en masse while you are still here! You are a wonderful part of all of our lives! Despite the surly demeanor and biting sarcasm, we love what you add to this world. In fact, I will declare today, January 13th (oddly Friday the 13th this year) National Erin Appreciation Day. Someone call Hallmark…they need to write some new cards.

Much love from your significantly more optimistic friend,
Marti