Back on topic, I don't have a large group of women friends, but I'd love to have one. My closest friends live in other cities, so when we get together it's usually with the whole family, or if it's just me doing the traveling, sitting in the kitchen having tea. I don't have anyone my age to ride with or hang out with nearby. Not that age is so important, but it does follow with a "stage of life" and it helps to be friends with someone you can relate to in similar circumstances. Helps to coordinate schedules, too. I just haven't found the right group of friends nearby, yet.

I have trouble with large groups of middle-aged women in skanky shirts dressed to the nines and being loud and getting drunk in public, too. It just seems so out of control, and at that age there is a whole lot more to lose when things get like they did when I was younger. I'll bet they wouldn't act that way in front of their kids or their mama, so why would they do it in public?

Karen