Right off the bat, I want to say how lucky I am when it comes to friends. I'm married to a man I consider my very best friend. I'd rather spend time with him then with any other person on the planet. But, when he's busy or I need girl time, I have a group of 4 friends who provide all the quality girl time and support any person could hope for. Four friends I can count on to be there for me, no matter what. My closest friend, DeVona is that female friend that everyone needs. Just by being my friend, she makes me a better person. She's much nicer than I am and she's content sometimes never getting a word in when I'm on a roll or tirade about something and I forget to let her talk during our conversations. A saint, she is. And then there are the other three -- Suzanne, Amy, and Melanie -- who provide me with literally hours even days of entertainment and general all-around female camaraderie. The five of us "get" each other. We recognize each other's faults, we understand our quirks, we realize that we are very different people, but we love each other regardless. And thankfully, because we all live and work very close to each other (in fact we met at the university where we work), we are able to spend lots of time together. We regularly "do" happy hour on Friday evenings to end the work week, we go shopping or out to dinner, we get together for a massage-and-pamper-us day, and we even boldly go to the local adult entertainment store (and that is a blog entry all its own!). With our spouses and families, we have picnics, Christmas, 4th of July/Canada Day, and birthday parties, and we often get together for no reason at all other than it's been a couple of weeks since we've done so. We even enjoy listening to each other karaoke. And none of us can sing.

And one night a year, we have a sleepover. A slumber party. A girls-only night of p.j.'s margaritas, chick flicks, girl talk, gossiping, and, well, female bonding. On those nights, we've compared breast sizes (I lost), complained about men, danced, and tried to sing the "You put the lime in the coconut" song in Chinese. Every year it's something new and fun, but every year I am also comforted to recognize the familiar friends I know. Mel continues to try to teach me how to use my remote control, Suzanne is the first to fall asleep, Amy brings the shrimp ring, DeVona spoils my pets, and I just enjoy the heck out of having all of them at my house.

After coffee (with Baileys), breakfast, and laughingly going over the events of the night before, my friends head home the next morning. And each time they leave, I am reminded of just how blessed I am. Folks in the know say that we are lucky to have one great friend in our lifetimes. I have four. Thank you, ladies. You're the best.