Catching Up... Sorta...

Have you ever taken a while to put up a new post, and then by the time you do, you're not really sure where to start?

Well, here I am!

Didja miss me? 'Cause I missed you.

Last week, I drove the Urban Kids down to St. Louis and dropped them off at Best Namma Ever! Camp. It was a weird feeling to drive away while the two of them and BNE! stood waving on the front lawn. It was a weird feeling to look in the kiddie rear-view and see two empty car seats. It was a weird feeling to not listen to any kiddie music for the entire drive. It was an especially weird feeling to stop at a rest stop, run in to use the rest room, run back out to the car and be back on the highway in under ten minutes!

While the UK's were gone, Urban Dad took everything down from the walls of the UK's room, took everything out of their room and into our kitchen (their room is just off of it), spackled cracks and holes in the walls and put on a fresh coat of neutral, landlord-friendly paint. We then walked UK2's crib across the street to the family-run daycare. Didja get that part? The crib is now gone. It was not a standard-sized crib, but a smaller one. And UK2 is tall for her age, so she was going corner-to-corner to stretch out. But the important part is that the crib is gone. That will come up over the next few days as I fill you in on the doings here.

So yeah, getting UK1's new bed so that UK2 could take the toddler bed was a bit....um.... dramatic. I still need to get the bed salesguy a treat from our neighborhood candy store.

But as that unfolded, U-Dad and I did other stuff. We went out to a bar to eat pizza and watch baseball. That night, I was up sick to my stomach. The next day, my buddy Lucy and I walked all the way downtown, talking and catching up the whole way, then ate lunch at a favorite Streeterville Thai food place. She was running out of steam, so we bussed it back, then I went to get my nails done.

That night was the swank-a-licious birthday dinner. And it deserves a post all its own. Seriously, I did not realize all of the (enormously well-deserved) buzz about this place when I made the reservation. I do not have the vocabulary for how amazing it was!!!

That night, I was up sick to my stomach. After the best meal of my life, it was especially heartbreaking -- as well as mildly confusing and concerning. Not that it's ever, y'know, fun.

In the words of Stephen Colbert -- MOVING ON!!!

The next several days involved more new-bed-drama, long late-night walks around the city that included tasty cupcakes, a trip to Evanston to see a movie (a movie, I tell you! we went out to see a movie!), followed by an effort to find parking that took about as long as the movie, volunteering at a local neighborhood festival, catching up to a girlfriend who is another teacher, so I mainly see her during breaks, going through toys and coloring books, a Target run, a charity drop-off run, a half-frantic IKEA run, etc etc etc etc.

There was a stretch when we even planned to have the U-Dad drive to St. Louis to collect the UK's from BNE! Camp, thus allowing me a weekend alone for the first time since before U-Dad and I got married, but the bed-drama bitterly nixed that idea. Oh well. Maybe once UK2 goes off to college?

Oh, and the return trip with the UK's.... alone, the drive is about 5 hours. With kids, it's about 6 hours. Yesterday's hit just about SEVEN hours due to all kinds of mishaps, some of them my own fault. But seriously, has anyone really cut back on driving? Really? 'Cause the traffic that I'm encountering suggests otherwise in a big, big way. Yet I have to tell you, the UK's rocked it out and did amazingly well. Me? I was hanging on by my fingernails for the last 45 minutes. But the two of them remained serene and patient. They must get it from the U-Dad.

Looking forward to catching up to everyone's blogs. Especially since we're hitting the road again soon for the Annual Psychologically Scar Ourselves For Another Year Trip To The In-Laws.

Now those posts could get interesting.....