My worlds collided

You might find this shocking, but I like Facebook.  ;)  And, I feel very fortunate that I have a group of friends (lovingly called the Mean Girls and Lin, aka MG+L) with whom, in some kind of Bizarro Facebook World, I have become fast friends.  Friends I would have never had otherwise - well, except my sister Brandy.  I guess we would have still been tight.

But, here's the thing.  Being a stay-at-home mom is the loneliest job on earth (Don't challenge me on this.  I'm sure there's some lone guy on some research station in Antartica.  But, for the purposes of this argument, it's stay-at-home-mom). Sure you see other people when you drop the kids off at lessons. You visit with parents, about parent stuff, as you keep one eye on your child at playdates or birthday parties.  But, I don't get to have many "grown-up" conversations. Worse, Shawn busts his hump all day long having many grown-up conversations. He's had his fill by the time he gets home. And, part of my self-induced job description as a "home"maker is to create a place where he can relax, veg out, be still, be quiet and recharge (after he helps me clean the kitchen and put the kids to bed ;). But, then, there I sit, still dying to talk to someone who doesn't think "potty words" are the highest form of humor.

It's a conundrum. Because I wouldn't have it any other way.

So, we've found ways to cope.  Here in the "real" world, Shawn is amazing about taking me on date nights.  Often we go out with darling friends who have very much our same situation. We all know how to get together, laugh, blow off steam and be grown-ups.

And, then there's Facebook.  But, as frivilous and silly as that one seems, it's given me friends to whom I can "talk" on a daily basis. I can be "heard".  If at no other time than the lull at naptime, I can just be Ali.  But that's a weird (*gasp*, dare I even say it?) cyberworld.  Of the five other MG+Ls, I had only met three of them (Kim, Brandi and Brandy), only been in close contact with one of those (my sister!) and never ever, ever laid eyes on two of them (Lin and Robin).

Over the past month my real world and my cyberworld collided.  Lin moved back to town to pursue his PhD.  "Shawn, meet Lin."  Robin and Kim just came through town for the holidays.  "Nice to meet you Robin.  Meet Shawn.  Kim, Shawn."  "Elise and Kyle (some of our date night buddies) meet Brandy, Lin, Kim..."  The only person absent from the colliding of worlds was the final MG, Brandi.  That's probably for the best.  I'm sure all the MG+Ls in one room would probably have caused a rip in the space/time continuum.

Here's the part that's not really that much of a shocker, though.  They're all just alike.  They're all smart, funny, loyal, and kind.  They all get along just fine.  For all their differences, they have many, many similarities.  But, what I adore the most about all of them: they're just the people who let me be me.

Maybe it wasn't that much of a collision afterall.