It didn't take me long to answer: "Not really, no."
The thing is, a lot of the moms (and women in general) that I meet are kind of boring. They may have a hobby they partake in once or twice a year, but for the most part, they don't venture out of their comfort zones. They aren't too passionate about something. Their lives revolve around their kids.
And that's all ok. But it's difficult for me to relate to. It's been like that for me for awhile. As a kid, I had a few good friends and not a lot of acquaintances. It was the same in college. I often preferred it that way. I wanted to do what I wanted to do, and having ten people around doesn't always facilitate that. When I met Barkernews and discovered that we shared all of the same hobbies, he became my number one partner in crime. I didn't have to worry about making friends who skied, climbed, or cycled. We had each other. Not to mention, our lifestyle didn't exactly make it easy to have a ton of friends. We left town on Friday night, came back late Sunday night and spent the days in between recovering. For many years, it was unusual for us to spend one weekend at home in six months.
It was awesome and sometimes, I really miss it.
In contrast to the past, if I were to get married again (not gonna happen, ever), I can think of 20+ women I would invite to my wedding shower. Talk about a marked difference. (The vast majority of them aren't moms though.)
Several things happened. First, we've been here in Stumptown for over 6 years now. We have, as Barkernews has said, grown roots. We joined ski patrol and bike racing teams. We see the same skiers on the mountain and cyclists on the roads. We made friends with the friends of our friends.
And then we had a kid and I joined Facebook. Having a kid forced Barkernews and I to search for play partners while the other watched the kid. Facebook eliminated the awkward phone call to someone I may or may not know well to ask if maybe they wanted to play with me the next day. I hated those weird phone calls, therefore I never made them.
These days? I've got ski partners oozing from the woodwork. The amount of cycling women I know is beyond counting at this point. I've even got women to climb with.
It is so cool. All of these women are happy with themselves and their lives. They don't focus on the negative (a quick way to turn me off to being nice to you: be negative ALL THE TIME). They are interested in pushing themselves, on the mountain, on the rocks, and on the bike. They think life is rad. They ski like hell, ride like hell, climb like hell and enjoy the hell out of life.
And, um, maybe one or two are moms. I don't really care. I don't go to the mountain to talk about toddler tantrums or diaper size. I go to ski. I don't think I'm fat and I don't want to have to make someone else feel better by convincing her she's not. And yes, I do enjoy a good gossip session, which is what makes having all of these women as my friends so great. Men? They don't gossip. They ride hard, but they don't make such great conversation partners.
Not being super religious, I will just say that I am super blessed to have such strong, FUN women in my life. Barkernews will always be my most preferred partner, but when I can't be with him, I'll be enjoying the company of girls.
