Back to the Real World

It was a great trip to St. Louis. It's always good to return to the Mothership. And after the January we had here, it was especially good to get out of my own four walls for a while. And really, just to get out for a while.

I may have taken slightly too much advantage of having Best Namma Ever! for childcare. Just slightly. But ooooooh, it was needed. And I'm lucky that she's sympathetic. She agrees that the hardest, most maddening years can be when the kids are little (apparently she's done a complete mind-block of PPR's and my adolescent years). Factor in that we're not doing preschool, plus a ridiculously cold winter and one gets a bad, bad case of I'm Gonna Lose It If I Don't Get Out Of Here.

So this trip included lunch and an afternoon ride-along with the Pink Power Ranger (I could not do her job), an evening of having PPR over for dinner then chocolate martinis and The Soup, a four-hour catch-up with an long-time friend, getting together with PPR to nab a friend's 14yo daughter (remember my DF and the DF-ettes from my Bad Mojo post?) and take her to the mall for lunch and "He's Just Not That Into You," etc.

Yeah, lots of time out. With adults. And alone in the car sometimes, even (one has to drive to everything when at the Mothership)! Listening to whatever I wanted on the radio! But then PPR finally said, "Seriously, Val, how much has Mom had them?" And BNE! is far too important to our operation here to tick off in any way.

So while it wasn't a weekend away with Urban Dad, it definitely was a mini-vacation of sorts. And I'm not ashamed to admit enjoying it. U-Dad was off today for President's Day, so I'm back at it full-time tomorrow!