I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it.
I just finished packing my suitcase. Okay... okay.. I just finished kinda sorta unpacking some stuff from the suitcases with stuff still in them from all the other excursions and switching things around and throwing in more. So, I have a couple of bags pretty ready to go, except for the shoes. Damn the shoes. Shoes are second only to books in my list of obsessive (excessive) purchases. I have a really hard time narrowing down the shoe choices. And the weird thing is, most of the time I walk around barefoot. Eradicate fire ants and it might jump to all the time.
I'm mega excited because I am going to Chicago to meet up with some online friends. I have been on bulletin boards or forums with some of these women for years (like 6-8 for 1or 2 of them I think). In the last year or two we have really become a community and more than that, we have become friends. Our board is now a pretty small, private space that many of us frequent daily. Until recently I had never even heard their voices, yet I could tell you what kind of pet waterer the cat drinks from, or whose house is likely to be more cluttered (other than mine). I know whose husbands are hands on and helpful and whose are less so.
On our board we have seen divorce, trans continental moves, job changes, births, deaths and all the other things that are a part of life. And we have shared them all. Especially the raising of our children with all their varied personalities and issues. But, it is not just a playgroup. It is so much more. We were there when one of our members was reunited with her birthdaughter that she had not seen for 21 years. We rejoice and agonize with her. And we were there when one of our members came flailing out of the closet gasping for air. It has been an interesting board to be a part of and we have become close. Don't ask me to tell you how we got here, but here we are.
And some of us are headed to Chicago. Yes, we know Blogher is having a convention there. We are not attending. We actually picked this time and place before we knew that. It happens that those of us attending do have blogs, but rebels that we are we will not be following the big crowd. Perhaps we will become known as the blogging anti-Blogher group. Not that we have anything against Blogher-- just that it never occurred to us. What did occur to us was that Blog Antagonist and Kindalikeahippie needed to be able to talk religious philosophies in the same room, that Lizardbreath and Kirdy needed to be able to give us a little exercise coaching in person, and that Nina , who would like to be known as our token lesbian, would be able to photograph it all. I wish everyone could be there, but you know it never works for everyone. We have some members who just can't get there this time-- there WILL be a next time. We also have a few of our compadres who will be calling to talk to us while we are together
I would not have ever guessed or predicted that an online bulletin board, and the group of people behind it, could mean so much.
Now we are taking it one step further. Beyond {{hugs}}. On Friday a group of us will meet face to face, and the hugs will be cyber no longer.
