Just dessert.

I hear that my writing has been less than inspiring lately. I've been sick, remember? I'm here in body, but my thinking feels kinda diluted. I'm better, off and on, and have my moments of energy and spunk again, so I think I'm on the mend. Even in my fog, I did organize a girls night out for the WOW ladies last night. We went to a local eatery and had a yummy meal (sharing salads, of course) and this dessert that has a funny name and is a huge warm cookie served in the baking dish with ice cream on top. One of us, I won't mention who, said it was better than sex. I have no comment on that, having only experienced dessert lately and not the other.....

Anyway, after dinner, we walked to the hotel next door and listened to an eight piece band (drummer, sax, trumpet, singer, keyboarder, etc) compromised of guys our age who were pretty good. Played songs we could sing to and seemed genuinely happy for the chance to make music together. We were invited by a son of a patient of mine, a rather quirky guy, 52 years old, never married, claiming to be seeking a woman under 28. Doesn't want to get married, doesn't want kids, and I've always thought he was the kinda guy who was sort of asexual, like he had no interest in that area. Quirky guy, did I say that already?

I hear that men, when they get together with their buddies, don't talk about anything personal. They might talk about movies, cars, and politics, but not how they feel. They could spend the day together and not know if the other person was dating, if he was having an emotional or spiritual crisis, or if he recently experienced a light bulb moment in life. We girls, however, talk about matters of the heart, but it's different now than even a few years ago. Before, we would talk about our dates, what weird or good things the guys did, and how we could overlook the things we didn't like because we really liked the guy. Now, we talk about how what we learned about ourselves from being with them, how we see men more realistically, and how we have grown past keeping the guy even if we knew he wasn't right for us. Now we talk about how we enjoy being single and how we won't settle for less than a really good guy and a really healthy relationship. How we now can see men as they really are, recognize the red flags, and are no longer keeping fix-er-uppers. How we really do want a great guy, but we're willing to wait.

So we ladies had a good time. Carole, who brought her friend Merle visiting from Chicago, looked young and hip. Even Heather, who didn't feel her best, joined us and looked particularly lovely. The always sparkly Lauri was especially pretty and fun and how is it that everytime we see Rachel she looks more beautiful?

So, the morale is that we ladies go through life, learning as we go, enjoying the process, and having so much fun with each other that having a man would be just dessert. And maybe more delicious that the one we shared last night.