Soooo, I haven't posted in a while

And figure its about time to get back to it! Right now, Elizabeth's former roommate, and my former suite mate, from college is visiting! Her name is Kalen, and we love her. She's the redhead.

We had a successful tea party shower on Sunday, and a successful rap session last night. Seriously. Here's what we came up with:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=637642961848

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Anyway, so Elizabeth is getting married in July, and she is officially my last single friend in Southaven! I've known her since we were 12. Here we are 5 years ago. Aren't we cute? Don't answer that.

 
That being said, I am officially throwing myself a pity party. Ok. So not really....but kind of. I'm anticipating her falling off the face of the earth, and the experience for me is bittersweet. The other day, while working out, a friend and I were talking about what its like to be single at our age in our area, because everyone seems to be married. We were talking about how difficult it is to get with our married friends who have kids and that it's just hard to be single in general. I was convicted. It's hard(-er) to be married and have kids!!! And at the end of the day, I'm not very intentional about scheduling time with them. So to all my marrieds....I'm sorry!!! You have no idea how much your marriages and your precious children bless me!

I like to pretend that I'm a strong, independent single woman, which I am to and extent, but when all is said and done, I do want a spouse and family. It's not a desire that overtakes my life and drives me to be discontent, but the desire is there. It's taken me a long time to come to grips with that. I admit, when my first sweet friend told me she was pregnant, after hugging her and kissing her face in celebration, I immediately went in my house and cried. In that moment, I felt so strongly that the world was moving ahead, and I was treading water.

Maybe it's because I'm afraid people feel sorry for me because I'm single, or maybe it's because I assume people think that my life is incomplete, and I want to prove them wrong. Or maybe I just don't want to come across as desperate or lonely. I love my life. I am blessed. I am content. But, wanting a family doesn't mean that I am any of those previously mentioned things.

Now. You and I both know that people say things all the time that they might THINK are appropriate (like telling a pregnant woman how "huge" she is or continuously asking newlyweds when they're going to start having children) when really, they are not appropriate at all. Especially this year, I've experienced several occasions where people obviously were trying to tell me something about my singleness. Because I am one of the few (and by few, I mean 5) teachers at my place of business that are single, I have several little humorous gems to share with you. Where shall I start?

1. "I'm praying for you to find someone. I get worried about single women your age."

Thank you. Thank you so much for your prayers. Really. I DO appreciate them! BUT, people.....I'm single. Not ill. Also, it's not really necessary to tell me that you're worried I'm going to turn into a cat loving, Lifetime obsessed, hoarding spinster. BUT, if I get to that point, I'll let you help me replace the pee stained carpet and remove the dead cat carcasses from my house. You're welcome.

2. "You know, it's only going to get harder to meet people the older you get."

Really? I didn't know. Thank you for this useful bit of information! I'll get right on that. Maybe you could print off the flyers advertising my singleness and help me hang them up at local grocery stores! Perhaps, sub-consciously, the men at the grocery store will associate the flyers with food, and I will be overcome by a flood of handsome bachelors requesting my hand in marriage. Good plan. I like it.

3. "Don't you want children?"

.................No. I hate them.That's why I work with them everyday. I also have no biological clock. I mean, obviously. I'm late everywhere I go.

4. "{Insert Any Single Male Teacher's/Coach's Name}is single! He's kind of cute! Don't you think?"

No. Just......no.

5. "I had a cousin get married recently. He's in his late 30's. He always said he wouldn't marry someone who'd been divorced and/or had kids, and guess what? He married a woman who'd been divorced and has kids!"

Great! That is just fantastic. I'm so happy that your cousin found happiness! However, don't use your cousin's happiness to hint that, at my age, I need to lower my standards in order to find a husband. I mean, really, if you look historically at my dating life, you would see that perhaps my standards actually need to be heightened a bit!

6. There's always the more overt "Girl, you need a husband!"

Thank you for so accurately assessing my needs. My situation is automatically better because you said that.

7. "Mr. Wrigley (the High School Principal), next time we need to hire a slew of new coaches, please ensure that there are plenty of good looking, single 20-30 somethings for our single teachers!" (cuts eyes toward me)

No. I'm not standing right here or anything. And no, he's not kind of my boss or anything like that. This isn't an embarrassing situation for me AT. ALL. Noooope.

8. "Ms. Hopkins, have you had a boyfriend ever?"

Oh darling. If I told you how many boyfriends I've had since I've been your teacher, I would probably be fired for having "questionable character".

So, to wrap up this post:

• Kalen is here. YAY!
• Liz is getting married. YAY! and *sniff*
• Life is hard sometimes for singles and marrieds
• I am incredibly blessed by my married friends and their children!!!! 
• I am lucky to have many people in my life who genuinely care about my well being and provide me with a lot of humor!
• I have a questionable dating history.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Emily H. :)