Talking about my gurlz...

I have never been one of those girls who have a lot of girl friends. Don’t get me wrong, I have awesome friends, but I’m not good at being a “girlfriend.” It’s sort of one of those self inventory items that I’ve chosen to overlook for a while, but I always just excused myself for this fault – not enough time, too busy, my schedule is too demanding, and on and on.

I’ve always assumed I’m just one of those weird girls that just didn’t have the regular girlfriend gene, but in reality, I think I might just be pretty darn lucky when it comes to girlfriends. I may not be anyone’s BEST friend, but I think I’ve got more than my fair share of AWESOME girlfriends.

I have been going to dinner every 4-6 weeks with a small group of women who make me feel like I’m still cool. We talk about hairstyles and restaurants, who has the best shoes and how incredibly insane it is to try to “balance” a job and a husband and a social life and multiple children! We laugh, we have cried and we have shared stories of bikini waxing gone bad in a (tiny) crowded restaurant with whooping laughter (mostly mine) that was completely inappropriate for the way cool vibe. They are a group that I don’t mind sharing my crazyinsane thoughts with – whether we are discussing a recipe for red velvet cupcakes or what we want to do when we grow up or how to react when your company is trying to force you out of your job; these girl friends actually care to hear my opinion on almost EVERY TOPIC.

While we’re discussing my girlfriends, let me not forget to mention that I have neighbors who don’t seem to mind me, and might even think I’m reasonably OK to hang out with. For a while I assumed it was a relational issue because we all wanted to be neighborly, but I think it’s more than that. I have silly fun with these ladies, and I crack crude jokes and drink WAAAAAY too much wine and have so much damn fun I can hardly stand it. They may think I’m insane, but I’m okay with that.

And work friends that are more than just co-workers – yes! You know how there are people you work with, but then you realize you really like them, like for real. In real life, you would be friends with these people. YEP, I’ve got them too!! True, real. girlfriends that I truly care about-- strong, successful women that I work or worked with in the past, but stay in touch with long after, they are still my friends. Friends that I care about, and want to know how their kids are, and how they are, and it feels just like it did years ago when we spoke much more regularly.

There’s one more group not to be forgotten, although I don’t see them nearly often enough – they are a group I’m not exactly sure how to name. They are the Wives of Scott’s Fraternity Brothers, but that label is not even close to describing them. They are my alter egos, my wild side, my girls gone wild/girls gone child. They are the group that don’t mind if I throw up in their back yard, the girls that I may not see for three years, but then we get together and feel like we haven’t missed a beat. These are the girls that I will stay up all night talking with, and wonder why IN THE WORLD we don’t see each other more often.

Maybe I’m being dramatic, but I don’t think you understand – I always assumed that I was not one of those girls with girlfriends, but DAMN – I think I’m pretty lucky to have so many great friendships. My friends, all of them, (although maybe not all on the same topics,) they care what I think! Not because they have to, not because they are being polite, they actually think I’m interesting enough to give a sh*t.

Here’s the thing, I read books where women have these forever long friendships that never waiver, never falter, and they always are BFF’s. Silly me, I actually started to believe that these are the types of friendships that are the the norm. Maybe… just maybe…all those romantic notions of life long, childhood friends, are just a bunch of crap. Maybe MY girlfriends are the real norm, what every girl who thinks she isn’t a good “girlfriend” is more the average than the exception. But if the exception is a group of friends make me feel cool and hip and smart and witty and pretty and creative and good– well, maybe that IS what’s real. At the very least, that’s what is real for me, and for that, I’m so very thankful.

PS – I may or may not have had at least three (four) glasses of wine before writing this, with my GIRLFRIENDS!!! If my grammar is poor, I'm sorry!