I have one close female friend that I go to dinner with every few months. We have been friends for almost 30 years. We have raised our kids together and we have been there for each other through many of life's tragedies. Her husband suffered an aneurysm 5 years ago and is paralyzed from the neck down. She is carrying a pretty hefty burden right now and it's a genuine effort to get a couple hours to herself in the evenings. We make the most of it and go somewhere nice and quiet to catch up.

I also have a half dozen friends that I enjoy going to quilting and sewing shows with but as far as getting dressed up and going out on the town with the girls, I never did do that and certainly don't plan to start now.

Funny you brought this subject up. I walked into the locker room at the gym this week and had to walk around a group of women getting ready for water aerobics class carrying on about their bathing suits and the fit and their hair and their nails, and on and on (I think you get the picture). It all seemed so frivilous and shallow to me. I can't explain why I felt the way I did but I told DH later that I must be getting old because I just couldn't relate to any of that. Now if they had been discussing lap times, 5k runs or bicycle components, I would've been more than interested in what they were discussing.