Tonight I spent the night with the most amazing and INTELLIGENT women anyone can ever be blessed to know. They are my best friends and I love them with all of my heart. We had our annual Christmas party which has been a tradition going on 13 years! I look forward to it every year and this evening was no exception. We have always exchanged gifts and played games and reminisced about memorable nights of our friendships every year this time of year. It is one night I look forward every day of my life.
Over the years the night has evolved from nights of exchanging gifts with each other and partying all night at a club to putting money together to provide needs and wants to the less fortunate and needy. Over time we have realized that we are the fortunate, the people who have homes and families and friends who we love and they love us back. We need nothing and the wants we have are frivolous and really ridiculous in comparison to the ones we are helping. It is the one day of my life I truly feel like I have helped someone.
We met up at about 4:00 pm and went shopping. Between 6 women and a few hundred dollars between us we bought games, toddler toys, Superman and Barbie toys and skateboards. Danielle works for Kansas City Power and Light and they matched almost 50% of our donation! It felt amazing to know that we were helping make people in our city's Christmas brighter!
As usual we shared a meal, stories of past memories, many laughs, and as good friends always have, many tears. I feel blessed to know these women and have them in my life. I know that I drank too much wine and talked too much and interrupted too often. But I know that I was amongst friends...my best friends.. and would not be judged or talked about or ridiculed later. I was amongst my family of friends who know me and accept me for the imperfect person, woman and friend that I am. And they know they can't call me out on it later because they know that at some point in our life together I have seen them 100x's WORSE...and vice versa! Or they can say as much as they want and I will say........alright, alright, I know, shut up already!! And that is okay because we are cool like that!
I attempted a group self portrait at one point and think I might have succeeded but am honestly too drunk to find my phone with a dead battery and charge it and then upload pictures as obviously needed to back up the story of this epic night that we had...HA HA! Okay maybe EPIC is not really the correct word to use for the night but I think that it was pretty fucking spectacular! Maybe I will update with a not so great group portrait tomorrow when I am better focused! By the way ladies.....it is laundry time!!! :)
***Ok so I came in today and cleaned up the language! My 8 year old might read this for crying out loud! I also added the below picture. It is blurry and bad as it was taken from Mindy's cell phone. Pictured are Susan and Jen (top row) Mindy W., Mindy D. and me (bottom). Not pictured is Danielle who was with us in the earlier part of the evening but had left before all of the fun started and this photo was taken. Don't worry we gave her lots of hell for leaving early! :)
Over the years the night has evolved from nights of exchanging gifts with each other and partying all night at a club to putting money together to provide needs and wants to the less fortunate and needy. Over time we have realized that we are the fortunate, the people who have homes and families and friends who we love and they love us back. We need nothing and the wants we have are frivolous and really ridiculous in comparison to the ones we are helping. It is the one day of my life I truly feel like I have helped someone.
We met up at about 4:00 pm and went shopping. Between 6 women and a few hundred dollars between us we bought games, toddler toys, Superman and Barbie toys and skateboards. Danielle works for Kansas City Power and Light and they matched almost 50% of our donation! It felt amazing to know that we were helping make people in our city's Christmas brighter!
As usual we shared a meal, stories of past memories, many laughs, and as good friends always have, many tears. I feel blessed to know these women and have them in my life. I know that I drank too much wine and talked too much and interrupted too often. But I know that I was amongst friends...my best friends.. and would not be judged or talked about or ridiculed later. I was amongst my family of friends who know me and accept me for the imperfect person, woman and friend that I am. And they know they can't call me out on it later because they know that at some point in our life together I have seen them 100x's WORSE...and vice versa! Or they can say as much as they want and I will say........alright, alright, I know, shut up already!! And that is okay because we are cool like that!
I attempted a group self portrait at one point and think I might have succeeded but am honestly too drunk to find my phone with a dead battery and charge it and then upload pictures as obviously needed to back up the story of this epic night that we had...HA HA! Okay maybe EPIC is not really the correct word to use for the night but I think that it was pretty fucking spectacular! Maybe I will update with a not so great group portrait tomorrow when I am better focused! By the way ladies.....it is laundry time!!! :)
***Ok so I came in today and cleaned up the language! My 8 year old might read this for crying out loud! I also added the below picture. It is blurry and bad as it was taken from Mindy's cell phone. Pictured are Susan and Jen (top row) Mindy W., Mindy D. and me (bottom). Not pictured is Danielle who was with us in the earlier part of the evening but had left before all of the fun started and this photo was taken. Don't worry we gave her lots of hell for leaving early! :)
