Busy Sunday!

Rachel and I spent the morning with my friend Linda and her daughter, Devin, who we met at St. James. Linda can't wait to have us back and we can't wait to GO back. Linda lives in a fabulous duplex in Southwest Portland, just over the Vista Street Bridge. I walked into the living room and immediately felt as if I had entered a treehouse -- the house is way up on a hill and is nestled between chestnut and maple trees. Linda says the house doesn't get much sun but it felt wonderful to me.

Rachel and Devin, who is a few months older than Rachel, had a great time together while I stayed in the kitchen with Linda and she told me about some of the issues the neighbors have had (like the PCC students who rented the house down the street and immediately decided to throw keg parties that ran past 1 a.m.). Devin has a cool play kitchen from Ikea that I am dying to get Rachel -- it has a play microwave, and Linda has all kinds of play food, and there was a great play teakettle that made pouring noises every time Rachel tried to pour me tea -- and Rachel & Devin amused themselves with it for a while, until Linda got out the markers and some butcher paper and told them to draw ON THE PAPER NOT ON THE TABLE. So of course they immedately began drawing everywhere besides the paper -- when we heard their shrieks of laugher, Linda and walked in to find Rachel drawing all over her hand, and the marker was all over the table. Luckily the markers washed off immediately, even better than the ones at daycare.

After Devin and Rachel began having meltdowns, Linda took us all outside, got a green ball from her trunk and the kids kicked the ball around the street (it's not a well-traveled street, Drew, so they were safe) and Rachel really impressed me with how hard and accurately she could kick! (soccer in her future? If so, I have already decided how I will get through the rainy soccer season -- a Thermos of homemade hot chocolate and schnapps, so I can get pleasantly buzzed and forget how cold I am). Then Devin wanted to hold Rachel's hand as we took a walk to the bridge, and after some resistance Rachel assented. It was so cool to have us all walking together, the girls holding hands and the moms holding their girls' hands. Girl Power!

THEN we got home in time for Rachel to have a snack (jarred pers & mangoes are her favorite these days) and take a nap, and then I went down for a nap myself. Then I got up and prepared chicken and chocololate-covered toffee bars for our friend and babysitter, Angela, who came over for dinner with her "young man," a very nice guy named Tyler. At dinner Rachel was her usual adorable self, stuffing her face with noodles and then asking to try some tea. Angela weakened it with ice and after she sipped it, Rachel declared, "this is good tea!" She then declared it was time for Mommy Books, so I read to her, gave her a bath and rejoined Angela and Tyler, who stayed until 10 or so. (They also agreed to come over for New Year's after I told them I wanted to make a great meal and a fabulous dessert. So, we'll have Molly, Tyler and Angela, Drew, me and Rachel. Really looking forward to it). Luckily I had cleaned up most of the kitchen by then, so I made Rachel's lunch, put away the leftovers and tossed in some Rachel laundry. The work never ends.

Another busy weekend, another way of keeping the loneliness at bay. I love socializing, exhausting as it can be, and so the weeks have just been flying by. Tomorrow I'll be able to finally say to Rachel, "Daddy will be home next week!"