A Night Out

Last night Mark gave me the pleasure of being able to go out with a girlfriend to hang out. We went to an Open House that my boss holds every year for the building that he owns in town. He will comment if I am in attendance or not and since I have missed the last 2 years I told Mark I should probably make a point of going this year. With his blessing, he told me to go ahead and go and to go out afterwards for a bite to eat. So I called up Emlyn, a lighting designer I work with and am good friends with, and we met up at the building to start out our evening.

We walked in the door and I was pleasantly surprised to hear the voice of a very good and dear friend of mine who was right inside the door waiting for his family. "What? Empty arms?" Or something like that came my way. It was so good to see him, share some quick banter and show off my little girl a little bit. You see, I anticipated I might run into some people who didn't get to meet Lynn this week, so I took a few pictures on my cell phone just before I left the house. I also enjoyed that two of my friends that I have talked to about the other finally got to meet as they introduced themselves to each other. Funny, as I thought about it later, he didn't quite seem like himself totally. He said he had a really busy week and would have another next week. Maybe he was just tired. Hopefully that was all.

From there we headed upstairs and I had an opportunity to see my boss who was glad to see me. I think now I am finally used to how outside of work or at social events he will give me a big hug accompanied by a big kiss on the cheek.

He wants me to make an appointment with him when I bring Lynn into town so that he can meet her next time. The picture Emlyn took of me and texted to some of my colleagues I am closer to at work was good but he wants to meet her in person. I even got to meet my boss' ex-wife. I have only worked with Davis for almost 4 years now and heard about her frequently so it was good to finally have a face with her voice and name.

I got to exchange some other hugs that evening as I ran into other colleagues and friends of mine as we walked around the building. It felt really good to be out and get to socialize. And then we left and went to a restaurant to catch up and enjoy dessert.

While we always talk men - we are women, we spent most of our time talking about writing. She wants to write a book about a syndrome that she suffers from to help others like her understand it better, learn more about it and not feel alone. It's not overly common. So she's looking into writer's conferences. There's one in Hawaii in January she may go to. I told her I have been toying with writing a book since I was in high school. In fact, one of my plans in high school was to stay at home with the kids and write books. Oh how we dream when we're young and oh how life throws its twists. So I discussed my idea with her in great detail. I'd love to go that writer's conference as well but that won't be happening. I'd have to find something closer and a little more reasonable in price.

I had an English professor offer to mentor me in college and try to talk me into changing my major to English. But I told her a double-major was enough for me so Professor Menning just lived with proofing all of my papers and strengthening my craft on the side. It was an honor and a joy to have in my corner and she taught me a lot. I miss her actually. She was always so kind and caring and encouraging and personable.

I even shared with Emlyn about the last boyfriend I had before meeting Mark who was and is a writer. He's actually published. In fact, when we were going out, he was just launching his writing career and was writing his first book. So some of our dates involved us going to a writing group of his. He provided me with some good insight into the industry and thought I had potential to get published. We encouraged each other in our writing, critiqued each other's work and cheered each other on. Maybe I'll contact him by email to ask a few questions like if he has a writer's conference he could recommend so that I could avoid some bad ones that won't provide much.

I've had some others encouraging me to write as well in addition to my family. I have started my book it's just getting it down more and more and learning how to get something published and going out to meet people. Oh crap. Networking. Not my greatest strength especially when I don't know anyone. Last night I networked and didn't mind so much since I knew people who were there. It's the getting to the knowing that it a bit of a challenge for me. Oh well, if it's what must be done I'll just have to find a way to push past this.

Anyway, after enjoying a few hours of adult conversation and some girl talk, I returned home in time to spend the last few hours of Lynn's day with her in my arms as she fell asleep with her head on my chest. I whispered to her about my night, gave her little kisses on her head while telling her how much I love her as I listened to her breathing deeply and with great contentment. And then she reached out her hand and touched my neck before settling down, letting out a huge sigh and falling into a deep sleep at 1 am. Good night little wonder.