On the weekends

On Friday night, Paul and I had scheduled a date. I was looking forward to it because we were planning on going to Cullen's and then The Cellar, both places I really wanted to go and date nights are few and far-between. I was also a little bit nervous because we were trying out a new (young) babysitter. And finally, I was anxious when 5:30 rolled around and Paul still was not home from work, I was nowhere near being ready, and we had to get Little fed her dinner and the sitter picked up by 6:15.

Nerves and fear were quickly cast aside, as expectations were exceeded and the night went off beautifully. Paul came home, I got ready, he fed Little, I picked up the sitter (who brought a friend, so there were two young girls to care for and play with my child... BONUS!), and we were off, in Paul's car (which has no carseat), with my tiny red purse (in which my wallet didn't even fit, much less any sort of diaper gear), to eat a delicious dinner. One rosemary-pear martini, black bean soup, lamb tenderloin, and tiramisu later, I was stuffed and ready for the wine bar (Paul had a dirty martini, lobster bisque, seared tuna, and cappuccino, if anyone was curious). The Cellar also did not disappoint. Delicious wine and appetizers, along with great conversation made for a lovely (albeit tipsy) end to our night. As for the sitters, well, they were excellent. They sent me an unsolicited text message after Little was settled into bed to let me know all was well, and we stopped in to help them turn on the TV (Paul has it wired through a receiver and it's more complicated than it should be) on our way to the wine bar. When we got there, they had popcorn and Dr. Peppers (which they brought) ready for consumption while they watched their favorite shows, and when we got back home for the night, they were working on homework together. On a Friday night. The icing on the cake was the note that I found after they left and Paul was driving them home. It was written in five different colors, addressed to Little, telling her that they had a great time and look forward to seeing her again soon. Seriously. How sweet is that? A NOTE! They left my two-year-old a note! Needless to say, I was so happy that the night went so well.

The rest of the weekend was just as lovely. Great weather, good family time outside and inside, playing, making puzzles, washing cars... Sigh. This weekend was great, but it certainly was not perfect. I think it was so wonderful, however, because I chose joy. I chose to revel in the beautiful parts of it, and not allow Paul's announcement of the dates of his long long long Africa trip to hang over my head, or to let Little's returned defiance at bedtime anger me, or to grumble because Paul had to go to a work/golf event all morning on Saturday... or to even be annoyed that my date had to have an intermission to show two pre-teens how to operated technology. Nope. Not this weekend, world. You won't get me down. I have too much good to let the bad even play a role in my life right now. I'll worry later about what I'll do those four weekends that I will be missing one half of my heart. Right now, my bucket is just too full.