A Light Dinner with Some Dessert (and a jaw dropping revelation on the side)

Stupendous, Inspiring and Jaw Dropping Events have recently rocked my world. Two days in a row, I've been able to hang out with other women. No, the fact that other women are willing to hang out with me occasionally is not the miraculous happening that I wanted to share, only the back drop for my story.
I had been a little "down" off and on last week. I spent it with my family, which was wonderful, but I hadn't had any girl time in a while. That's when Mist called and asked if I wanted to go to town with she and Elasta Woman. I'd never rode to town with one of them driving before and I knew it would be an adventure I wouldn't soon forget. You may remember from previous stories, Elasta Woman and Mist are both in their 20's. I am 11 and 15 years their elder, never the less, we are all good friends. Both women lived in small cabins while their husbands built their homes by hand and both just moved into their new homes in the past few weeks. Both have endured many hardships carving homes out of raw wilderness, but both have incredibly inspiring pioneer spirits with unwavering strength. Mist, who drank and bathed from a creek draws joy like water out of the well of contentment in her heart. Elasta Woman is as fiery as the wood stove she often cooked upon. The girls worked a catering job and had some money burning holes in their purses to buy stuff for the respective new homes.
The three of us were soon driving out of the forest into the city in an old Subaru manned by Elasta Woman. She forgot her driving glasses, so she borrowed a pair of mine. She explained that her car needed some repairs, but hadn't gotten it fixed yet. It all seemed more the adventure. We laughed and chatted and giggled away the morning. After Home Depot and Walmart, we dined at an incredible hole in the wall restaurant famous for its good cooking. Then we walked through the pouring rain to several specialty shops along the downtown lane. At one particular place, we were held hostage by a talkative young employee. I thought she'd never let us leave. I became quite nervous and fidgety. Mist and Elasta Woman listened patiently to all she had to say and actually appeared to care. Everything in the store was 10x the price it should have been. I couldn't imagine anybody actually buying anything there ever, so I just stood there feeling the need to scream loudly and bust out the door. It occurred to me that I am so fixated on power shopping that I miss taking time out to interact with people. The girls didn't bat an eye about spending half an hour visiting with a lonely worker. I was a little ashamed with myself.
After finally escaping, we entered this crazy expensive hip clothing store. I found out they'd spent hours here the last time they came to town. I began to feel the need to run out screaming again. Instead I sat down and watched them try on clothes. They weren't actually trying on clothes in the dressing room. They were in what used to be the dressing room in an upstairs clearance area. Mist tried on a long form fitting green skirt. I gasped disapprovingly. I could make out her curves a little too well. She looked me in the eye and disagreed in a very soft kind of way. I tried to steer her toward more tent looking attire. Then Elasta Woman tried on one of the skirts in yellow. Again, I could make out curves. Both girls have incredible figures and they looked fabulous and female. The prim and proper lady in me told them it was much too sexy. Then they told me to try on the pink one. Time stopped. It never occurred to me in a million years that I could wear a skirt like that. Not wanting to be the old fuddy duddy of the group, I entered the make shift dressing area and dawned the skirt dropping my pants after it was on. That's when the lady came upstairs and chastised us all for not using the dressing room. She ushered us down the stairs. Some how the girls were dressed and I was the culprit wearing the sexy hot pink skirt guiltily carrying along my pants with me. As I later examined myself in the dressing room mirror, I could see a curvy figure looking back at me. True, I didn't have the flat, board like stomach Elasta Woman has, but I didn't look all that bad either. I actually looked kinda cute. That's when I realized that some where along the way an old lady had taken over my wardrobe in the name of modesty and refused me the privilege of looking female. The girls weren't being immodest. I was being prudish. I bought the skirt in purple on Mist's recommendation and she bought the green in the same size.
The fact that I'd bought the same size skirt as Mist stuck with me and I began to try on some smaller sizes at the second hand stores we hit next. That's when the Stupendous, Inspiring and Jaw Dropping event happened. I discovered I'd dropped a dress size. I couldn't believe it at first. I haven't lost any weight in a long time. How could this be? But try as I would many different things, the results were all the same. Just a few years ago, in a Wal mart dressing room, I resigned to going up "one more" to a size 16. Yesterday, in a nondescript thrift store, in a quiet part of town, I comfortably put on size 8's and squeezed into 6's. Selah.
On the way home, I thanked the girls for helping me branch out. We all laughed at my disapproval of the skirt I later bought. They thanked me for helping them grow spiritually. They said they'd never heard anybody pray before like I do. They said I opened up a whole new aspect for them in prayer. They said I helped them in their spiritual walk too. I told them that I learn a lot from them every day. I am learning how to enjoy my life. I am learning how to be more balanced thanks to them. Some how, some where, part of me became a little bit too prudish and quick to judge. Something about my friends exposes it. Now that light shines there, it doesn't want to remain.