Missing

Lately I have been feeling an emptiness in the part of me where friendship lives. My life is so full in so many other ways...family, work, love...but as far as pure girlfriend time goes, I've got nothing. I have wonderful friends, it is just that I never see them. And after a while of not seeing them, I feel like distance grows. If not for the great lunches at work, my once a month book club, and one or two phone calls a week, I'd feel completely alone.

And yet...I just can't seem to figure out how to make friend time in my life. Getting to book club alone is a feat in and of itself. Phone calls are interrupted. A girls' evening out? I've had one in the past year and a half. (Work events do NOT count.) 2 small kiddos, rural living far from my existing network of girls, no local babysitter and a husband without a 9-5 work schedule...it all makes it so complicated.

When I was a kid, my mom never hung out with her friends. I always wondered why. But now I know. And talking to some of my friends, even the ones without kids, we all seem to have this same problem. I have one friend, a single mom, who actually goes out and dates and I have no clue how she manages. When I hear about moms with social lives I am completely baffled..how do you do it? Do you talk about things other than kids with your pals?

I need to do what Bill and I always talk about...invite all the people we like over for dinners. (Not all at once though...I don't want to be that social!) So expect an invitation if you live within 60 miles of me!