Girls just wanna have fun

Last night I visited two spooky houses. In my entire life I don't recall ever going to a haunted house. I'm a scaredy-cat. I don't watch scary movies and I still have a hard time sleeping in the house alone. My vivid imagination is what does me in. In the dark and quiet house, I hear the sounds of intruders creeping up the stairs and groans from the furnace in the winter keep me up at night wondering when the family of demons will appear in my bedroom doorway. And I never turn my back to the doorway.

But, there I was, feeling my way through the darkness as bloody people with long fangs and bad breath crept up behind me and whispered in my ear.

I was not alone in the darkness. We were a convoy of women. Six of us. We held hands, grabbed onto each other's coats, and made our way through the gore and dripping blood (ok, water) like teenagers. Screeching and giggling at every turn.

It was my first time meeting most of the women, who graciously invited me to tag along on their annual excursion and I had a blast. It was funny and scary and I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard.

As women we wear so many hats - wife, mother, daughter, sister career woman, house cleaner, baker, grocery shoppe-- but no matter where we are in our lives, or how well we even know each other, women connect. Maybe it's because we all want the same thing: to be loved and to be happy. And along the way -- between car pools and staff meetings -- we just want to have some fun.