Hot Mess

I used this expression at dinner with my HS friends last night had a bunch of blank stares looking back at me, I also got lots of "Did you just say hot "H-O-T" and mess "M-E-S-S?", "What the hell does that mean?", "I have never heard of that before", and Michelle just laughing her ass off next to me at my disbelief. Anyway, I used the phrase again with some context. "Amy Winehouse is a hot mess", all of a sudden the clouds parted and they understood. It was quite funny. How was I to know this is not a common phrase used in the world of working moms?
BUT...This post is not meant to give my 'out of touch' friends a hard time, it is really to celebrate them. Get ready for some schmaltz, it doesn't happen often. I have known four out of the five women at this table for over 20 years. The fifth is someone we all became friends with after college and have adopted her as our own honoree NDA(our HS) alumni. These five women are all working Moms. You are looking at an Architect, Attorney, Marketing and Advertising Director, IT infrastructure specialist and Paralegal and Court Advocate in the pic above. They have 13 kids between them including 1 set of twins, and 11 others who I know personally and through pictures. Of course I am constantly forgetting all their names, there are just too many. Sorry Ladies. My nephews are lucky if I remember who they are.
In the last 20 years we have supported each other through new love, breakups, weddings, divorce, pregnancy, ill children, death and coming out. It has been quite a ride but we are most definitely better for it, and I know this because when we get together we relive old stories, tell new ones, give each other a hard time and laugh, a lot. My life is much different then the ones they lead; kids, husbands and mortgages and I am always amazed how they keep it together with their humor in tact and let me tell you these are some funny ladies. I laughed all the way through high school and beyond with them. Of course it is good for me because I get to listen to the hilariously embarrassing situations their kids get them into and various other trials and tribulations of being a working mom. When Nat's (only select few are allowed to call her that) left eyebrow goes up you know the story is going to be a dozy and last nights pooping/recital story was exactly that. The boys next to us got an earful. I could not do it justice here. The delivery made it that much funnier.
They should all twitter or blog because it would be hilarious, but they all said collectively "We do not have time to Twitter." I do not mind that we have not hung out as a group in over a year, they did not know I have a girlfriend or a cat, the part fun is catching up on each others lives, and they always ask about my family and Ramona who I quote, "Has been around forever". These ladies knew my father well, that is something I will always cherish. And as we come the the end of schmaltz road, lastly, we helped each other grow into the smart, funny, strong, confident women I think we all are. We have definitely come a long way and I would not be who I am today if it was not for them. Plus, when they hang with me they learn new urban slang. As always our next date can not come soon enough.