My Girls

Yesterday, Jay and I went to see Julie/Julia and there's a scene in the movie where Julie Powell says, "Cobb Salad Day tomorrow. Dreading, dreading, dreading." The next scene is of her and three of her friends out for lunch (they all order Cobb Salad, with different ingredients removed, hence the name "Cobb Salad Day") and it becomes apparent why she was dreading it. Her three friends are all just busy, busy, busy and it's obvious they do lunch because the "have" to, not because they want to.

I can't imagine having friends that I would dread spending time with.

My girls, Staci, Robin, and Sue, are all amazing women and I don't get to spend nearly enough time with them. We had a "Girls' Night" last night and went to the Chophouse in Denver. Our original plan was to go to Sing-Sing beneath the Chophouse, but we decided we'd just grab dinner at the Chophouse and then head down (literally, Sing-Sing is beneath the restaurant).

I met my girls when I was dating my ex, Brian, more than ten years ago (I can't believe it's been that long). If nothing else, I have to thank Brian for introducing me to some of the most incredible women I've had the joy of spending time with. While Brian and I were together, I saw the girls weekly, as they played on Brian's soccer team. Eventually I started playing soccer, too and I saw the girls two to three times a week. Over the almost five years Brian and I were together, Staci and Robin became like family to me. I'm not sure I would have gotten through my breakup with Brian without them (it's a good thing they got me through, 'cause now I'm married to the most amazing man on the planet).

In the past ten years we've been through some truly horrible, heart-crushing breakups; incredible trips to England, Ireland, Scotland, and Italy; weddings and childbirth. Through it all, my girls were right there with me. There's no way I could ever dread spending time with them.

It took us four hours to get caught up on each other's lives. Staci's kids are growing like weeds and I feel all sorts of guilty for not seeing them more often. I haven't seen Nick since he was just a couple of weeks old and now he's toddling around after his big sister, Samantha, whom I also haven't seen in ages. Staci and Paul are one of the happiest couples I know - because of them, I refused to "settle" for anyone less than perfect for me. This was really hard to do sometimes - I was convinced I'd be single the rest of my life if I didn't settle. It worked out though, because I've now married a man who is absolutely perfect for me, the man of my dreams.

Robin and Mandy just bought a new house and are getting ready to start trying to have a child of their own; Robin's been through all of the preliminary work up and it all looks good, but there's a whole lot more involved in deciding to have a child for them. Mandy's got a son from a previous relationship, but Robin for years has talked about having a child of her own and they have to think about things that have never crossed my mind. Just the choice of a sperm donor (someone you know, someone local, someone from a different state?) is mind-boggling.

Sue, just yesterday before she came to meet us, was offered, and accepted, a new job. It literally fell in her lap, one of her old bosses looked her up and offered her a job completely out of the blue. It comes with regular hours (she's working the craziest hours ever right now) and a $15,000 increase in pay. She deserves a good job that will make her happy.

I missed Nicole, who couldn't make it because her husband, Squid, is off at soccer camp and she stayed home with their beautiful daughter, Molly. And my sister, Nelle, couldn't make it because she had to work for her son's gymnastics team. So, not all my girls could make it last night, but it was wonderful to spend time with the strong, independent, amazing women I get to call my friends. I'm so blessed to have them in my life and the only thing I really regret is that our children won't get to grow up together; my kids are almost out of the house and Staci, Nicole, and Robs are just now starting their families. No matter, though, we're the kind of friends who can pick up where we left off even if it's been almost a year since we've seen each other.

I love you girls. Thank you for being my "besties".