Icky Friends

This week, my friend Katelyn and her family came over to make Green Curry Muscles. Katelyn and I were in the middle of de-bearding, and hacking the barnacles off of the 100+ muscles that I had gathered on the beach the day before when a sea worm wiggled its way off of a muscle and into the sink. That is so nasty. We encountered other little creatures while cleaning and I was seriously getting the heebies. I don’t get squeamish very easily, but something about little sea creatures that I can’t recognize makes the hair on my arms stand up on end! Anyway, it occurred to Katelyn that we are ‘Icky Friends’. And it’s TRUE! One of the first things we did together was clean clams and geoducks in HER sink, a few years ago encountering little crabs and handling these long, penile looking valves and lots of sand. Then we had an ‘icky date’, where I plucked her eyebrows and she candled my ears.…..we’re Icky Friends, and we’ve decided that that is the best kind to have.

If you have friends around whom you can never have a bad mood, never be sad, or never be caught in your pajamas with coffee breath….than those are nice people, but real friends are icky.
Just as that scary muscle cleaning turned into a FABULOUS bottomless bowl of green curry muscles and a house full of people, food, kids and wine on a fortuitous whim, friends that you can be icky with often provide unending joy and allow you to be human.
On Friday, we had about 27 plus people over… it wasn’t planned. I had planned on making breaded braised pork chops and gorgonzola rice…and then it grew. People brought food and wine, and we combined efforts and fed everyone. We had a fire in the firepit outside, and there were kids running everywhere…down to the beach, in the playroom, riding bikes… and I wondered that of all the women that were there, were there any that would turn tail and run if I had a bad day?

So, last week I had read a blog that I visit occasionally called Daughter of Opinion, where she laid down a challenge for all bloggers who post pretty, posed and flattering pictures on their site to post a “Rise and Shine” photo taken first thing in the morning. I’m thinking, NO WAY. Part of the joy of blogging is that no one gets to see anything you don’t want them to. The author of this blog says, “…so many of us are striving for some ridiculous and unattainable idea of perfection which ultimately leaves us in a perpetual state of disappointment.” Then this morning, a friend of mine posted her picture (of course she’s beautiful even half awake), and it occurred me to accept the challenge that 20 or more people have accepted and share the icky. So here you go… a picture of me, right now, no makeup, no contacts, big frizzy bed hair and coffee breath. And I’m throwing down the challenge to you, too….lets have the icky.
Here are few who have accepted Jessica’s Challenge:

Daughter of Opinion
21st Century Mom
Hilly
Karl
TSM
Jo
Runner Susan
Citizen of the Month
Blogography
A Little Lame
Run Jen Run
Americans In Singapore
View from the Cloud
Everyone Loves and Underdog
Roberta's Voice
Keeping Pace