Stepping Outside My Box

Hubby steered me into walking my walk last night.

It all begins and ends with the ladies' neighborhood organization. When we first moved here 8 years ago, I waited for an invite that never came. By the time it came, I had found other things to do.

That is, until yesterday. Two of my neighbors extracted a promise from me on the bus stop on Monday that I would be there. I responded that hubby was my limiting factor; if he made it home, I would certainly be there.

Remarkably, hubby walked in a half hour before it started. And as we sat at the dining room table, I ticked off all the reasons I shouldn't go, ending with "and people will look at me and say, 'So, you're *their* mom'."

Shouldn't have gone there. Hubby smiled knowingly and said, "Well, then, that's your mission, isn't it?"

*sigh* I put on my game face and shoes and headed across the street.

I felt oddly like I was infiltrating enemy territory.

Taken for what it was, it was a nice evening; my neighbors genuinely seemed happy that I showed up, one caught me up with gossip from school (I told her she ought to be thankful she had a kid that talked about these things lol), and I established my territory in a corner of the room near the food to ensure I had a constant stream of people with whom to chitchat (that strategy worked well lol).

B's mom was there, to my surprise. Not to my surprise, she ignored me, but I pretended I didn't see her, either, and that worked out fine. I sneaked out early with two other neighbors, since we all had to be up working early, and we chatted a few more minutes before heading to our respective homes.

So, I'll sign up for this year, and see where it takes me. I think if nothing else it might strengthen a few ties I already have. There is much to be said for stepping outside of one's area of comfort, and just looking around the room last night, I am reminded how much the outlier I am--in so many ways.

In other parts of the forest, I am absolutely thrilled with Nic's teacher this year. She *gets* it. Priceless.