Stretching my comfort zone....

He must have got to me while I was still ill.  Or he just went around me somehow.  I don't know.

But, apparently, we are going to a July 4th "thing" tomorrow.  Which might, in itself - despite my recent hermit-like tendencies - be okay.  But no, we are a going to a "thing" with people I barely know!

Okay, technically, they are parents we knew from football.  And school...as in people we knew by sight; almost by name but not people we KNEW.  They aren't people we've socialized with before.  Oh, sure, our kids are great friends and hang out often.  But it isn't like they are still in school together - or playing football.  In fact, we haven't even laid eyes on these people since graduation over a year ago!

And, as we all know, I'm not exactly a social butterfly when it comes to meeting new people and dealing with new situations.

Yesterday, I asked Hubby if he knew anything about it.  He said, "Oh yeah, it ought to be great!  I thought you knew and were okay with it?"  Well, what could I say after that - "no, I'm terrified; you KNOW how I am in these kinds of situations"?

Today I asked Man-Child what time we should be there and what we should bring.  The response?  "Oh...is that tomorrow?"    *sigh*

Eventually he came back with "Five-ish and either an appetizer or a side."  A side?  A side to what?!  I can only assume hot dogs and hamburgers - the usual 4th of July fare.  But for how many?!  None of this is very exact, now is it?

And then there is the question of who will be in attendance?  Will it just be these people, that we barely know?  Or will there be other school/football parents there?  Or these people's friends, whom we surely don't know at all?

I am sure I am getting myself all worked up over nothing; but until it is over, done and behind me I know I will be fretting about it endlessly.

But I also know that, of late, I've been feeling rather lonely.  After the last two years, I've come to realize a few things about some of our friends - some can definitely be described as "fair weather," some are of the "out of sight; out of mind" types and others - well, they either have VERY small children which keep them totally occupied OR they have very LARGE issues of their own.  Which has left us pretty much on our own.

I have been, secretly, puzzling about how to go about making new friends - when you no longer have the commonality of having children in school (or real neighbors, for that matter.  You know, for this reason alone, I would definitely look forward to moving).  And then, lo and behold, here I have been presented with an opportunity - on a platter, as it were.  So, despite my innate shyness, I'm going in.

Wish me luck.