Back in Da Day (not just a great album)

Adjusting to motherhood has been fairly textbook...the uncertainty that you are doing what's best, the clothes adorned with spit up or drool (the baby's, not mine), an overall less "cared for" look, the unorganized house and unfinished projects and of course, the ever present lack of sleep.
I feel that I have adjusted fairly well to all of this. Each day, I gain a little more confidence in my maternal skills because I am encouraged by my son's smiles and reassured by his happy-go-lucky, sunny disposition.
Of all the things I have had to adjust to, the hardest has nothing to do with taking care of a baby. After six months (fifteen, if you count pregnancy), I have yet to come to terms with the fact that, not for lack of wanting, I have had to let go of part of who I used to be.
Back in Da Day:
It's the weekend. The Canucks are playing. Without a doubt I will be watching it with my core group of girls (CCRL) and other important special guests (JTHS). Perhaps it's at a pub, or a restaurant, or even at my house. In any case, there will be hours of belly busting laughter, entertaining games, great conversation, love-filled insults, the occasional arguement and certainly, an abundance of drinks. All of this tomfoolery would continue until the wee hours of the morning and sometimes well into the next day.
We each had a role to play. I was the "responsible one" and I loved it...I got to tell many of them what really happened the night before. I was in the know. I was always there. But more importantly I belonged. I knew that I was as integral to their lives as they were to mine.
And now:
Although, I can make it to the occasional get together, I have to arrive early and leave even earlier, often before the whole group has even gotten together in it's entirety. And I miss a lot. But I am acutely aware that my role had changed. And that, although I have not been forgotten, my seat has been filled by someone else. The group has adjusted well.
Don't get me wrong. I am in no way complaining about my life. I love my son more than anything in the world and I have a fabulous husband who makes my life as easy as he can. But...I miss my friends and the times we used to have together. And the adjustment that is so hard to make is the realization that that role and those times are forever in the past. And although I was ready to take on the role of mother, I don't think that I was ready to let go of some of the roles I had before.