Friendship means never having to say, "You strangled me!"

I'd recently started the process of weaning myself off of the Real Housewives franchise by not watching the The Real Housewives of DC, but then last night I fell off the wagon when I accidentally found the premiere episode of the new season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta and then accidentally proceeded to watch the whole thing.

I kept meaning to turn it off, and I almost did about halfway through. But then Kim stopped me with this gem: "I'm going to Nene's house for lunch. The last time I saw her, she strangled me." And if you think she meant that metaphorically, you don't watch enough reality TV. Last season, not only did Nene try to strangle Kim and rip off her wig, but Sheree got into a major altercation with a party planner. (If you have time to kill, watch the last 2ish minutes of this video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VYBek1aoUc because it's quality entertainment...if you don't mind trash and obscenities).

Anyhoo, I went to bed last night thinking about two things--1. how annoyed I am that once again I will be watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta and 2. how glad I am that I don't have friends I have to avoid because they've ever tried to strangle me. Friendship is an important thing, and I feel bad for people who don't have close friends. I have quite a few close friends from different facets of and different times in my life, and I don't know what I would do without them.

For the past several years, roughly every month, I've traveled 3 hours to go back home for my Book Club. Sometimes I miss a meeting here and there, but in general, I show up despite the trek. I show up, not so much because I want to talk about the book we've all read--correction: the book most of us have read--, but because I enjoy catching up with my Book Club friends.

I should mention that our Book Club is legit, and other Book Clubs should be jealous of it. I mean, we even have a Constitution. The format is always the same. We meet at someone's house, do pot-luck, chat for awhile, and then suggest new books one at a time. If one of us has already read any suggested book, we have the power to veto it. We then vote for our top 3 choices by secret ballot. Then everyone hands me the ballots, and I read the votes, and Amanda tallies them. Then we eliminate the lowest vote-getters, and we vote for our top 2. Then the person whose turn it is to be the "Chooser" decides between the top 2 picks. Then we determine our next meeting time and place. Then we move on to discuss the current book, but only after Laura has guessed each person's rating of the book. Everything is documented in the Book Club Journal, along with information about what we ate and what people wore and what funny things were said. And a good time is had by all.

So anyway, I dedicate this blog entry to my Book Club friends Kelly, Amanda, Sarah, Diana, and Laura--and Jane, though she has forsaken us. Thanks to all of you for altering your busy schedules so that I can make it to our meetings. Thanks also for allowing me to veto books, especially Oprah's picks, and for never trying to strangle me even if you've wanted to. I'll see you ladies next week!