The Girls...And My How Our Lives Have Changed.

I've had my share of friends over the years...and one thing we all had in common was the mantra "I'M NEVER GETTING MARRIED..." usually followed up by "I'M NEVER HAVING CHILDREN.." this mantra was usually combined with day drinking...maybe at Dos Gringos..or maybe Dos Gringos was the hang over spot (a little greasy food, and a little of the hair of the dog.) Yvette and I had a thing for Axis/Radius or Sanctuary...and believe me, I will NEVER regret that I had a place to wear leopard print pants and red snakeskin platforms. I WILL be grateful that there just aren't that many pictures of that time!! We had it all -- I mean, we really did live life the way we wanted: we had glamorous jobs (Maria and Yvette), started companies (Meredith and I), and we had friends. Good friends. Anyway, we pretty much had it all planned out - after cutting a wide swath through life, and doing it our own ways, we would retire to some cheap place with a beach, live in a big 'ole house, all of us old biddies together...and a cabana boy to see to our needs =) I mean, to us, the idea was to hang tight together for our whole lives, because we were all we needed. It all sounded pretty good to me.

Anyway -- I'm not really sure what happened to those days...but somehow, our lives changed. It took all of us a little longer to see the joy in those things...but eventually the skie opened up and we saw the ray of sunshine that being happily ensconced in a family unit can be. Maybe it was the bold that went before us and showed us that our generation COULD be married happily. Maybe it was the idea of growing old (although I STILL like the idea of us all retiring to a beach house complete with cabana boy.) Maybe it was the passing of loved ones...Maybe it was the realization that life's riches (by that I don't mean money..) are even better with the love of your life to share them with.

Whatever the reason - we continued on our paths..but with different goals in mind. Just a few months ago, we were toasting Meredith and Sean for their upcoming elopement. They have been together..for...what? 8 years?! We toasted the road that is the uniqueness of every couple who defines happiness their own way. Just this past Friday I learned that Meredith is pregnant!! Due in late November (we're keeping fingers crossed for a Sagittarius).

Maria is graduating from Nursing school in May...after a lifetime of searching for career that would be fulfilling, she chose nursing, and with dogged determination set out to be the best she could be...and her dedication to nursing is second only to her dedication to Doug and his beautiful girls. Maria knows that she is "home" because her heart tells her so. Her life begins anew in May...and I can't wait to be witness to it, and I'm so glad that she will have Doug and his girls cheering for her too!

Even Yvette is talking marriage. I mean - she is by far my most unconventional friend! How could this be?!! She still looks like rock-star whenever I see her -- and yet, she is embracing the idea of marriage...well, as I have said before, if its good enough for Madonna =)

And, it has to be mentioned that more than once, I have stood tall on that soap box and claimed my independence with a beverage chaser. Until...Jeff changed my life. Whenever I tell people that I didn't want to get married until I met Jeff, they all say: "you didn't think you could find anyone you wanted to be with huh?" and while that was somewhat true, the truth is that I was more sure that no one could handle me...that any man would spend his life telling me what I should do...and the thing is, for better or worse...I didn't want a babysitter, I wanted a partner...and I found that in Jeff...I found someone who loved me..for me...and accepted the love I had for him. Suddenly, being a wife wasn't such a scary proposition, it actually began to feel more like an honor. And that's how I knew my life had changed.

And last week, when Meredith called with her news...with tears in my eyes...I knew that life had changed again...the world got a little bigger, and had more love in it.

The next year...lots of big changes are happening. Good changes. Good life. Maybe we will ALL get a HUGE beach house..for us, our husbands and our kids...and grandkids.