Open Mouth . . . Insert Foot

Ever have one of those moments when you wish you could crawl into your own skin and disappear? When something came out of your mouth and you think, "Oh, s***! What did I just say?"

I have those moments . . . regularly.

Ok, maybe it's not as bad as that . . . but still, every once in a while I say something and the minute it comes out, I know I did it. 

Like this moment, with an old friend. Let's call her . . . "Terry". 

A couple months ago I was at a birthday party for a dear friends husband. It was a fanTAStic gathering of friends, some of which I hadn't seen in months. It was a great "grown-up" party, with wine and great food -  SO MUCH fun! While there, I got to visit with my dear old friends, one of whom was Terry.

I was so excited to see Terry. She makes me laugh. She's a smart, hard working, amazing person (and I'm not just saying this because Terry reads my blog - I'm saying this because it is the truth.)  I have all the respect in the world for this lady - because she has overcome a few challenges in her life and has come out being a strong independent woman who I admire. Yes, that's all true. And one of the obstacles Terry overcame, was a rough marriage. To a man named Gary. I can't really change Gary's name . . . for reasons you will soon find out.

Gary has been out of Terry's life for a very long time now. Although he is the father of her children, she (to my knowledge) has no contact with him what-so-ever. He is not a part of their lives. She has worked her butt off, put herself through school, and made an amazing life while raising some amazing kids . . . all on her own (although Terry would, I'm sure, give much credit to her family & friends for their help - I know that she is the one who has done it - the working, the housework, the school work, the activities, everything. She really is an amazing person.) Terry is now remarried to a great guy, named Joe (wink, wink - that's not his name, either. Follow me so far?)

So, as a reminder . . . Gary has been gone for at least 10 years, if not LONGER. Gone. Terry has been married to Joe for many many years now.

Now, let's return to where I put the foot in the mouth. The Party.

I see Terry, and am SO GLAD to see her as it has been a few months.

We approach each other, hug, laugh, share some pleasantries "How are the kids? How's life? How are your folks?" that sort of thing. Then . . . here comes the foot . . .

"So, is GARY here?"

The minute I say those words . . . it's as if a bubble was out of my mouth floating in mid air between my mouth and her ears. I tried so hard to swallow it back . . . but the damn thing was gone. . . it's amazing how, even with my FOOT IN MY MOUTH, I can still talk.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Is Joe here?" I try to rebound.

"No, you didn't. You asked if Gary was here. It's ok . . . everybody does it," she makes me feel better . . .as any good friend would.

"OMG, Terry, I'm so sorry!" I'm digging right now . . . digging deep. So, I try to change subjects. "So . . . how's work going?"

"Good! Good!" she replies.

"Where are you at now? Are you still in Indiana?" I ask, as I'm still mortified that I asked her if her ex-husband, who has been removed from her life for over 10 years, was at the party with her.

"Yes. I'm working in GARY. You know, GARY, Indiana," she says, with a wink.

GARY. AUGH!!!

Yes, that is just one recent example of that "foot in mouth" syndrome I have. There are many more where that comes from, for sure.

We had a good laugh over this one, though. And my MOUTH had to tell each of our friends at the party how mortified I was. Everyone laughed hard . . . and I had a hard time even looking at Terry or Joe the whole night.

As for Gary . . . well, I, for one, am never going to Indiana again. At least, not to Gary, Indiana.