Friends

I love having friends. Friends that remember things; like your birthday even when they are super busy. Friends that will offer to bring you dinners when you have a baby or come stay with you and help you when you have a baby. But I really struggle with the balance of friendship in my life.
I have these great women in my life and because we live such similar lives, which is why I love and get along with them so well, I never get to talk to them or hang out with them. My birthday is next week and I am so excited to have offers to spend time with these friends of mine. I just wish I knew how to make that more of a daily or weekly occurrence. Even to just talk on the phone. It is so hard. How does the time go so quickly without me being able to communicate with these women? Why do we women put everyone else above our selves? Why is it so easy to make something so necessary like a growing and living relationship that sharpens and heals the last priority on the list of things I need/want to do in my day? Are we all afraid to 'disturb' the others? Are we afraid they will talk when they really don't have time? What?
Then there are all those other 'friends' or acquaintances that I have that I somehow seem to be seeing more often but somehow it just isn't the same. What is happening here? I want true deep relationships not shallow ones that I only see sometimes and really hardly know. I am thinking about how to better get what I need from my limited time and theirs as I approach the end of my pregnancy and know that I will have a high maintenance newborn on my hands. That I will be teaching 4th grade with Daisy and something looking like pre-K/K with Jack starting in the fall. I need these women around me much more to encourage me and grow me.