I'm Thankful For . . .

The clock on the microwave said 1:23 this morning when I busted through the front door (the door knob is broken so you really have to push hard with your knee to get the door to open). Surprisingly, I didn't wake anyone up. After checking my email, Facebook and taking out my contacts, I climbed into bed next to snoring Utah Dad, who rolled over and mumbled, "Good grief. What time is it?" before immediately falling back asleep. He is used to it, after all.

As soon as I laid down, my head filled up with this lovely head cold and I spent the night coughing, sniffling and not sleeping. I couldn't stop thinking about the really great women that I get to visit with each month at Book Club. I've known and loved some of them for a few years now but others have just started coming or recently moved into our neighborhood and I'm enjoying getting to know them better too. (Every woman in our neighborhood is welcome, by the way. The more the merrier.)

It's a great place. Book Club. I really feel like it's a judgement free place. The women don't care if I refuse to iron my husband's shirts. They really don't. We can open up and be ourselves, which I believe is a very rare situation regarding groups of women. Sometimes we share more personal information and that's safe too. We respect each other. We're opinionated but certainly don't mean to offend. We discuss our worries about motherhood, extended families and the world. Together we've analyzed every aspect of our local school/principal/teachers/classmates/activities. We're strangely intrigued/disgusted by polygamists. I usually have at least one political tantrum. They smile at me and nod their heads to placate me and wait for it to pass. They know me, after all. 

We might not actually talk about the book we've read that month. But we will talk about books. We all read for different reasons and we like various types of books. We do all love books.

We eat. Every woman there can make a wicked good cookie.

And we just talk and talk. One night at midnight we got up to leave and go to our homes. We stood for another hour at the door as we continued the conversation. In the morning, I usually have a serious head ache that we've lovingly begun to refer to as our "Book Club Hangover". But it's worth it. I'm already looking forward to next month.

Today, even though I'm sleep-deprived and stuffy headed, I am thankful for Book Club.