Team Practical


 

Considering most of you have come into my life through APW (and are female), this may come as a bit of a shock:

I hate girls.

I’ve always hated girls. The pretty pretty princess play of the girls in my neighborhood could never compare to the games of  street hockey and dressing up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle with my childhood best friend, Eric. To say I was a tomboy would be putting it EXTREMELY mildly. I was the 7-year-old who teachers knew to keep separated from a particular boy … because we would physically fight when in close proximity. The 10-year-old who had a royal FIT when I was cast as the princess in the school play. Who wanted to wear a gold dress and faint when there were sword battles to be had? The 15-year-old who kicked a boy when he dared to suggest a girl couldn’t play soccer.

In the 13 years since that kicking, I’ve changed … a bit. Skirts are allowed (though I’ll generally choose jeans), and there are definitely more pairs of heels in my closet than anyone really needs. But as much as things change, things also tend to stay the same: with one very big exception (that’d be Skye … you’ll hear a lot about her) the majority of my closest friends are guys. I follow hockey like nobody’s business. I’ve had my sword fights … in and out of full skirts. I play hard and rough, and generally am annoyed when I have to “behave like a lady.” Which is not to say I CAN’T … but that’s beyond the point. ::winks::

So imagine my surprise to find myself ears deep in a community of thoughtful, intelligent, hilarious, caring WOMEN.

And loving every second of it.

I don’t know if it’s that I’m finally becoming compatible with women, or that APW attracts ladies who think the same way I do … I like to think it’s a little bit of both. But it constantly amazes me that I have this awesome network of women … those that I have met and those that I’ve gotten close to online … who I can relate to, share with, laugh with, fight for, and support … women I LIKE. Women I can jump on a bus … or drive 400 miles … to see, be sure of a couch to crash on, and know, without a doubt, we’re going to get along BETTER than we do online. Women I can count on for a happy hour, for a good conversation, for sympathy and closely kept secrets. And if the last couple of meet-ups have been any indication, there will always be at least one new lovely worth keeping each time we all get together.

So … Team Practical … and all the women who’ve always been on Team Sarah (whether I’ve acknowledged it or not) … thanks. I love you all. There’s a couch and a cold beer waiting for you, whenever you want it. Just say the word.

 

8 Comments to “Team Practical”

  1. Awww. It is a wonderful community, no?

  2. I think that APW attracts a lot of (but not exclusively) women who were the girls-who-hated-girls growing up. The scrappiness that marked me as a tomboy when I was a kid has made me into a pretty confident woman, so I’m grateful for it. And the APW community? Yeah, there’s a love letter to Team Practical in my head too.

  3. I think my head just exploded… I have a friend from college that just did a photo shoot for Meg from APW for her jacket cover on her new book. It’s crazy how small world this is… lol
    http://emilytakesphotos.blogspot.com/2011/06/photos-meg-practical-author.html

    You and me running around with the guys in high school, dodging the drama. Yup! Anime and RPG parties… those were the days. *SMACK*

    • ::laughs:: I got through “jacket cover on her new book” and thought “You know Emily?!”

      Small small SMALL world. Do you read APW, too?

      Oh goodness, those boys and their RPGs ::shakes head:: The only thing I really remember from that was “vill-i-age”. And Daniel drinking Mountian Dew when he thought no one was looking. What a bunch of dorks. ❤

  4. Hells to the yeah! I love APW!!

  5. Hells yes. I ditto this.

    Wait. I meant “Exactly”.

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