My spouse and I belong to a women's gym where we work out fairly regularly. I work out en femme, of course, and they know my spouse and I as sisters-in-law.
From time to time the staff and members organize different events and one of those events is a monthly luncheon to honor members who have had their birthday during the month.
We haven't usually gone to these because we have seldom been in town on the right date. But my spouse's birthday was this month and, it turned out, for the first time in a long time, we were available.
The luncheon was today at 1 p.m. at a nearby restaurant. Since it usually takes me about 45 minutes to get ready, I planned to start about 11::45, leaving a half-hour for travel and parking.
But, surprise! At 11:45, while my spouse and I were still in our robes and jammies, the doorbell rang. My spouse got there first, and it turned out to be a visit from my Mary Kay rep who came by to drop off some things I had ordered.
Fortunately, she is an old friend, knows all about me, and wouldn't be surprised to find us wandering around in our pajamas and robes at almost noon.
Unfortunately, you can't completely wisk away a friend, so we had to sit down and catch up with each other for a few minutes. Finally, I rushed her out the door.
Whew! But now it was 12:11! And the race was on!
Others may be faster, but I set a new record for myself, going from pajamas to full femme in 29 minutes!
Don't think I looked too bad either! At least no worse than usual!
We quickly headed out the door and made it to the luncheon just at the stroke of one p.m.!
What a wonderful time! The luncheon was scheduled from 1 to 3, but service was a bit slow, so we ended up sitting around and chatting until almost 4 p.m.
Lots of discussion of families, husbands, children, activities, upcoming travel, and so on, accompanied by lots of laughter, giggling, and celebration of the five women who had birthdays during the month. One of the former gym staff members had traveled close to 100 miles from her new home to attend! And it was great to see her again.
Because many of us usually work out at certain hours, most of the members did not know more than one or two women there. So there was a bit of a scary moment for me when we went around the room and introduced ourselves. I feel comfortable talking one-on-one or in a small group where I can use my softer voice, but I think this was one of the very few times I've had to speak loudly enough en femme to be heard in a room full of people.
Fortunately, it seemed to work!
Lunch was good. We ordered off the menu, and I was a "good girl" today, ordering fish tacos and substituting steamed broccoli for rice and chips. I did take a couple of bites of the pie that the restaurant comped each of the birthday women with but, really, just a couple of small bites!
It was a very lovely day, and I came home with a bit of new confidence in my voice and in my presentation.
Hugs,
Persephone.
If you don't like the way I'm livin', you just leave this long haired country girl alone:
