Friends! Caution... This blog contains the "s" word!

I have a solid group of girlfriends. We have stuck by each other through thick and thin. Although our lives go in different directions and we don't always keep in touch on a consistent basis, our friendship doesn't miss a beat when we reconnect. I suppose this is the mark of a true friendship--being able to endure without constant contact.

This year we made a pact to get together. Since we all graduated from college together, our campus was the logical meeting place. After weeks of going over schedules, juggling kids and husbands, we were able to mutually decide on a date and time for our first group get-together in years.

We settled back into our friendship without hesitation. The name of the restaurant had changed, but our relationship clearly had not. We immediately began giggling and scheming as if we were still in college.

In college, we would have ordered pizza and fries without pause. I noticed that salads and paninis dominated our table, and nobody finished her fries. We drank tea instead of beer and everybody passed on dessert. Apparently a slowing metabolism has caused all of us to more vigilant about our diets.

When we were still in school, our conversations usually revolved around guys, dating and sex. We would share and compare adventurous sexual stories without shame. We giggled and laughed about our escapades. We had a lot of fun.

In our twenties our discussions revolved around our careers, upcoming weddings and sex. We were moving in different directions, trying to discover ourselves as young and independent adult women. We eagerly helped with wedding planning and helped shop for the perfect dress and wedding favors. We giggled as we envisioned various honeymoon scenerios and bought lingerie for the bachelorette party.

Conversations in our late twenties usually revolved around pregnancy and our desire to have children, monitoring basal temperature in an attempt to become pregnant, and sex. We analyzed theories pertaining to sexual positions and the affect on conception, as well as positions to increase the chances of having a girl or boy.

We are all in our mid-thirties. We shudder to call ourselves middle-aged. Many of us have put our careers on hold for our families although we had studied diligently with other goals in mind. We all have children and husbands. We are Mommies.

We talked non-stop during our visit together. Our conversation included a discussion about colonoscopies and mammograms, vasectomies and, of course, sex. Or, more specifically, our stories about our children walking in while we were having sex. Apparently our definition of "adventurous" has been morphed by having children and growing older!

We had a wonderful time laughing at dinner. After eating, we went to a local slots casino for drinks and a little gambling. All of us remarked that the casino was loud, and we left by 10. All of us knew that we had to get up early the next morning and we all needed to sleep. Our friendship is still strong, but we are all getting a little bit older.