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Question #4:

4. tell me about your book club...who picks the books, how often do you meet, how does it work, who is involved and how did they come to be involved?

Ahh, the book club. I have such fond memories of the book club. You see, it was started several years ago by a friend and me who wanted to get an interesting group of women together to talk about books. We intentionally asked women that we didn't know terribly well. We purposely picked people who didn't necessarily run the the same circles. We chose people who were honest but not necessarily people we knew were big readers. It was the perfect group! There were 7 of us. We got along famously.

We have always gone from one to the next person in the group for the book choice. If I pick the book this time, Cara would pick it next time, and so on until we got back around to me 7 months later. This has allowed for all of us to have the chance to read books we might not have chosen ourselves. We have read everything from The Great Gatsby to No Country for Old Men to Valley of the Dolls. Every book we have read has provided great discussion.

But the book group has evolved (as most things do, I guess). We started out meeting monthly on a weekend night (we have been called wine group by our husbands) and now rarely meet any more. There have been some issues with scheduling. There have been other issues with personalities. Others of us have just needed a break. Our group started out so strong, and bonds and friendships grew and we got to know each other so well through our monthly meetings.

However, this group of women has a total of 11 children still living in our homes, and one grand child. 3 of us work full time outside the home and 4 work full time inside the home. Several of us travel regularly. Our kids ages range from first grade to 22 years. Admittedly schedules are hectic. Some of us are nostalgic for the old days of wine and discussion. Others of us just want someone to talk about a book we are reading. So we are currently at a little bit of a hiatus with our book group.

I think this is natural and needed. I am sad it has happened, but I have developed some beautiful friendships from this group of women, and have made it my mission to continue to get together with these women on a regular basis. I frequently see one on the weekend with our families. Another I have lunch with weekly. Another's kids babysit my kids so we chat often. I love all of these women and am thankful for the time we have spent together. Groups develop, grow and change. Ours has and will continue to. I look forward to the next incarnation of our group!