and If You Threw a Party...

Earlier this week I posted on FaceBook that I am going to cut my hair off. It has been growing since February and is shoulder-length. I was going to let it get long, but now that it is cold and we are wearing collared shirts and coats I am remembering how I hate dealing with longer hair; its either hanging over your collar or tucking in or out or both at the same time, mine is just at the wrong length.  So I got several responses to my post saying "you go girl", "you're adorable no matter what style you choose", etc. I can't help but read those responses and think how lucky I am. I have some really wonderful friends. They are so encouraging and supportive of me. Some days,most days,  I wish I could be as accepting of myself as they are of me.

My whole entire life I have truly cherished my friends above just about anything else. I was never a big "group" friend person. I had a lot of friends in high school, I had friends in almost every social circle there was, actually. But I never really fit in any one group. There were my friends who were cheerleaders, band friends, friends from the church youth group, student council friends, basket ball players, the "smokers" and heavy metal kids. But I was not solely any one of these things.

I still sometimes don't feel like I fit in anywhere. I am too liberal to fit in with one group or too straight to fit the other (and believe me, if I am too straight for your group, that has to be one wild group). I am too "earthy" for the girly girls and too girly for the "earthy" ones. I have friends who are artists, arborists, accountants, and insurance agents. I am not rockin' enough for the music people, but I am too rock'n'roll for the top 40 crowd. I now live in a small town, but long for the big city. When I lived in a big city, I dreamed of living in a small quirky town. (careful what you wish for) I am a study in contradicitons.

I am now grown up and have all kinds of friends all over the place. I have been welcomed into a group here in my hometown who are all different from most of the friends I've had in my life, and somehow it works for me. I feel really at home with all of them and have fun with the entire group. But I miss all my friends who I don't get to see as much because every last one of them has been special to me and every one has affected my life in one way or another. So to all my friends who are reading this, from my elementary best friend Joletta (who I haven't seen since 1978, but found recently on FaceBook) to one of my newest friends and "soul-sister" Jackie (who I left behind in PA) and all the others in between I just want to say "Thank you for being a friend". And I hope that song is stuck in your head all day. Wait, here, click this link to be sure.

LoveYaMeanIt!

Oh, and thanks for all the compliments on my new hairdo. Now if I can just figure out how to make it look like she did, I will be doing well.