I'm a jaywalkin' smacktalkin' badass, y'all

Many thanks to Tracy for reminding me that I can cross #28 (Break the law) off of my 40-before-40 list. You see, T and I were a couple of jaywalking rebels while she still lived in Colorado. Ready to be shocked? Sometimes we jaywalked on our drunken way back from the neighborhood pub. Ready to be really shocked? Sometimes we jaywalked on our drunken way back from the neighborhood pub with 7-11 nachos and Slurpees. Sometimes I even spilled the nachos and we (barely) stopped ourselves from scooping them off the pavement and eating them anyway.

Sometimes we just jaywalked on our way to story time at the library.

Feeling wistful for my rebel days of yore, I planned a beer and chitchat date with Laura, my pint-sized, sarcasm-filled, malcontent spitfire of a friend. Laura's my no kids havin', multiple tractor ownin', Australian Shepherd rescuin', too many cats havin', government job toleratin', never-a-dull-moment-makin' pal from way back.

We decided to meet at Catalyst, a fun little coffee and beer place (that isn't the same since the skirted guy left...sigh). I got there first and decided to start my evening with caffeine since it had been kind of a long day of chauffeuring the kids around town to their various activities in the searing heat. Laura got there a little while later and, although we haven't gotten together for a year or two, we jumped right in to a marathon, non-stop rollicking conversation that allowed only enough free space for her to finish her beer and for me to finish my caffeine. We didn't even finish our chips and salsa (could have something to with the fact that the salsa was clearly Pace picante sauce... not what I was after). We were so absorbed in our hilarious conversation (if we do say so ourselves) that we didn't notice that the bar was quickly filling with people (mostly slim, balding men in shorts). Soon, one of said men stood up on the small stage and asked for everyone's attention to begin the mountain bike club meeting and then asked us if we were new members. I was ready to skulk out but Laura (love her, love her, love her) said "It depends - is the beer free? How much does membership cost?" He answered that it was $25 to join and with that came all kinds of benefits including bike riding! trail maintenance! camping trips! potlucks!

Laura said "Let me stop you there. I know how this goes. I join, the potluck rolls around, you ask me to bring guacamole, I'm out another $40, your bellies are full, and I still don't like mountain biking."

The (non-uptight) people in the crowd laughed hysterically as we paid our bill and went outside. The rest of them can suck it.

Point is, we all need to (thank you for the reminder, T) need to nurture our inner "fun girl" every now and then. I am extremely fortunate to have a handful of girlfriends who can start a conversation talking about the untimely death of a loved one (or something equally intense) and end the night laughing so hard that we have to wipe our eyes before we can get in our cars and safely drive home to our husbands.