I love working from home, most of the time. The flexibility is so nice – being able to work only once I have all the kids off to school and being able to stop as soon as I see Parker coming up the street as he walks home. When the project schedules for my clients are more demanding, I can work around meeting my children’s needs.

But…

It gets very quiet and lonely sometimes. I catch myself talking to the birds, the dogs, the fish, myself…

The one thing I miss about working in the corporate world is the ability to socialize with other women. I truly miss that personal connection. While Facebook and IMs and other social media connections do fill some of the void, and keep me connected with my friends that are far away, there’s nothing quite like having a cup of coffee (or a wine cooler, or a martini) with a friend face to face.

The problem, of course, is that we all get so busy with our daily lives that we don’t prioritize those ever so important moments of real life connection as often as we should. It doesn’t help, either, that most of my closest friends live in Idaho and Utah and I live 2,200 miles away in New York.

I didn’t realize how long it had been since I’d been in the company of other women until my daughter’s dance classes started back up last week. For 45 minutes straight, I talked and talked and talked (and talked) to the mom of one of the girls who was in Anika’s class last year. We had developed a bit of a friendship, but I hope I haven’t scared her off with my non-stop need for a chat last week.

Women need those intimate and special friendships – other women with whom they can talk about all of life’s little moments. How long has it been since you’ve taken the time to share a cup of coffee with a close friend and catch up?