Chicks rock

Through my life I've been rather fortunate to have made some freakin fantastic friends of the female variety. Moreso from high school and beyond, 'cause let's face it, being the chunky kid is not cool when you're 12. If there's one thing I know to be true, it's that little girls are bitches.

I'm the type of person who loves to meet new people. I've always had a large circle of friends and consider myself very fortunate as a result. When I got married, my gals included great friends from high school, university, and someone I met through work. Friendships come and go, but these gals (and many others) have always been there for me.

Unfortunately, it's not so easy for me to see them these days. One is a super busy teacher who lives downtown. Another lives with her husband and kids in BC, and the third recently moved to Waterloo to start a new job and shack up with her boyfriend.

Enter WB. A delightful well of new people and, thankfully, new friends. Fresh gal pals. People who can relate to me on the infertility front. People who got or are getting married in the not too distant past/future. Hell, people who are none of the above but still incredible women all the same. People who make me laugh til I pee, make me cry my face off, and keep me sane when I think this trying-to-get-pregnant thing is going to take over my life.

Since joining just over two years ago, I've met 28 different gals from all over the place. And just this past weekend, I had 9 of them over at my house for an evening of muchies, girl talk, and Dirty Dancing (the movie, not the activity). Hubs was thrilled.

It's been a while since I've spent an entire evening with just gals, and I'd honestly forgotten just how freakin fun it can be. How everything is a joke, how any word or phrase can be cleverly twisted around to have a sexual connotation, and how laughing at pretty much everything is a darned good way to cure whatever ails you.

It made me remember girls' nights of years gone by with people who've really been there for me, and was an excellent little mental tweak to get me to reach out and see how everyone is, try to plan ways to see them. So I'm glad we're going bowling for wannabefrenchies birthday in two weeks. I'm glad I'll be in BC at the end of April for a conference so I can see Ange again, and I'm glad CJ will be in town, albeit for a short time only, this Thursday so we can catch up on all the new developments in our lives. I'm glad my roommate from first year and her family will be coming to our house for dinner on Saturday. And I'm glad that I have a gazillion email accounts to choose from when sending the quick hello to gals I haven't chatted with in a long time that I WILL get around to very soon.

Now don't get me wrong - girls can be bitches at any age and any stage of life. They can talk about you behind your back, try to move in on your man, do everything possible to one up you in any number of ways. As I get older and my leisure time diminishes I realize just how important it is to spend that time wisely, and to make a conscious decision about who will share that time with you. Banished from my social landscape are the negative nellies who do nothing but bring everyone down. I just don't have time for their bullshit on top of mine, ya know? Okay, so your life is shit - don't drag everyone else along for the ride!

I choose who I want to spend my precious time with, and am I ever glad I literally stumbled upon this incredible group of women who have now become more than faceless personalities on a computer screen...a good number of them have become very close friends. People I now choose to spend my free time with, that rare commodity that it is. Happily.

So call your girlfriends, book a date, and spend some time together. Grab some chick flicks, a few bags of chips and a bottle (or seven) of wine and laugh till you cry. It'll do ya a world of good. Sure worked for me!

Big hello to all my girl friends, old or new. Thanks for just being there, for putting up with me, and for enriching my life.

And that's your daily dash. How's your diva doin'?