I love being a girl

I never really was a girly girl. I was a tomboy and in junior high a friend made it her mission in life to teach me how to put on makeup and do my hair and dress to impress boys. And thus started the peer pressure to “fit in.” (Lord, what I would give to have not cared about that for those 20 years of my life!) I wanted those Jordache jeans so badly, but dad refused to buy into that higher social status, never desiring to keep up with the Jones. (And just who are the Jones that everyone wants to keep up with?) So I stuck it out with my store brand jeans and made the best of it. Didn’t help that I was the chubby girl, so I was getting teased know matter what.

I never really felt like one of the girls, not until my second run at college when I was 32. In class there were these cool girls, you know, the “cheerleader” types just a little older. Who knew that the sexy and funky girls, Valerie and Rae respectively, didn’t have problems speaking with me and actually acted like they liked me. Then when they asked me to join their study group of cool girls, I thought “Oh my God! I’m a cool kid now! Finally!” And it was grand.

I have carried this “cool kid” attribute with me for some time now. I don’t seek it and I’m not bragging about it, but for the most part, most people seem to include me in the “cool kids” group. It doesn't matter to me, what matters to me is that I have developed relationships with girls whom I think are cool. In these relationships, I can truly be who I am. Even when that 14 year old goofy kid comes out or that divaesque 18 year old brat rears her ugly head, I am still accepted by these cool girls.

And they think I'm a cool girl, too.

Yippee!!

Regardless of how cool I am or how many people think I’m cool, like Christy does, I love being a girl! For example, last weekend, Rick and I had a very pleasurable Valentine’s Day evening with a really fun couple and wonderful friends, Joel and Tammy. We were dressed to the nines. Okay, Rick wasn’t necessarily, but he did have on a pressed bowling shirt and didn't wear sneakers. It’s a start!

The four of us enjoyed a meat-filled dinner at Bailey’s restaurant then we met several other fun couples for a night of dancing at the Glass Cactus in Grapevine. Us girls would round up each other and hold hands as we made our way to the dance floor. We formed a little circle to kind of guard our group from women who have strayed from their group and aren’t familiar with the proper distance that should be maintained between groups of women and we also protect ourselves from the wayward drunk men.

For example, in the past, we’ve had to position ourselves around one of our girls to close out a guy that seemed to be getting “too close” to one of the girls. It’s a FASCINATING process and really should be documented for a PBS show. It might not make the 8pm time slot, but it would be good filler – “The Dancing Rituals of Married Women not Seeking Outside Relationships with Drunk Men Who are Slightly Balding and Think the ‘Have It’ Whatever It Is.” (Might have to shorten that title there a little bit.) So it’s just us girls dancing. This is the one time I do not feel judged while dancing. They don’t realize how much I need them for me to be “cool.”

And as the night was ending, we were getting goofy and Tamo decides to act like she’s strangling me. I make goofy faces until Joel can get the iPhone ready to take photos. We laugh and giggle the whole time. Again, it is only with girls that I can be as goofy and silly without judgment. Here's the proof!

The next night Rick and I visit Mark and Mary, another very fun couple and wonderful friends. We talk and Mary tells me about this amazing new makeup she started using. This is Mary and I from last year:

Before you know it she and I head upstairs to her bedroom where she demonstrates this great new product. I am 44 years old, do you know how long it has been since I’ve “played makeup” with a girlfriend? Maybe 25 years? Something about Mary (no pun intended, really!) sharing her techniques and allowing me to experiment with her new products made me so happy that I am a girl. A girly girl. It was so joyful and I was almost giddy. I can’t seem to find the right word for it. And it almost seemed to cement our bond as girlfriends even further. I didn’t think that was possible because our bond is pretty tight as it is. And she makes me laugh!

Mary makes me laugh.

Tamo makes me laugh.

And it is this laughter I LOVE sharing with all of my girlfriends. And we do, just not often enough, you know? We get so busy that we forget to send a quick email or make a short phone call. It’s a challenge to have get-togethers as frequently as we would like. But I want you to know, yes, I’m talking to YOU, that I think of you, and I smile when I think of you.

And I like being a girly girl. And I like being a tomboy. And I THANK YOU for letting me be my goofy, silly, divaesque, bratty, cool self.