Rachel and me and Steve and Patt and John and Jo-Ann

Steve and Patt are friends of ours who have sort of adopted Rachel, since they're in their mid-50s and have no kids of their own. Patt was eager to buy Rachel a birthday gift, so she took us to the store a friend of hers owns in Lake Oswego and invited me to pick out an outfit.

Rachel, in true she's-Drew's-daughter fashion, showed absolutely no interest in anything except playing with the furniture in a dollhouse in the corner of the store. I finally persuaded her to try a Winnie-the-Pooh winter hat, and Steve got some great shots of her which I will put on this blog as soon as I have more time. That's when I spied the jeans, tried them on, fell in love and quieted the little voice in my head that said I really should have used Daniella's birthday gift to pay a bill instead of splurging on clothing.

WHATEVER.

We met our friends John and Jo-Ann for dinner at a Thai restaurant. John and Jo-Ann have one grown daughter and a son who is two years away from college, so they were charmed to be at a table with a little one again. It helped that Rachel's behavior was exemplary. As John noted, she sat next to me eating rice, graham crackers and pieces of apple with no fuss or constant tugging at me to try to get my attention. I was able to (somewhat) focus on the conversation, and John and Jo-Ann both remarked on how intelligent Rachel looked, how well she behaved and how grown-up she appeared. "Of course, that's because she has Lisa for a mom," John said, and I almost hugged him. It's the best thing that anyone has said to me lately.

When we got home, Rachel played with her toys a bit. She took a toy car and wheeled it away while I sat on the leather loveseat. "I go away," she said, and I told her that I'd be waiting right here on the couch. Suddenly, tears came to my eyes.

"Really, Rachel?" I said. "Are you going to come back?"

"I come back," she said confidently.

A few minutes later, apropos of nothing, she said, "Mommies always come back."