Hectic weekend

I don't think I'll ever overschedule myself the way I did this weekend. It's Monday and I'm totally exhausted, and there is absolutely no reason for it except my manic fear of being alone with a toddler for 48 hours.

On Saturday morning we had a playdate with my friend from the Oregonian, Nikole, and her alomst one-year-old baby Nadjya. Luckily Nikole insisted on going for a walk, which I'm glad we did because it was a lovely day. The girls had fun at the park; Nadjya slept most of the time and Rachel went down the "big slide" all by herself -- and then told Mommy to go down after her as opposed to holding her on my lap. She is getting more and more independent!

Then Nikole went home and we did our usual round of grocery shopping, dry cleaning pickup, the bank, home for snack and nap and then I went to work preparing Moroccan stew with couscous and a chocolate-almond tart that I thought turned out really badly but my guests, Miriam and Deni, really loved. They are friends from chorus in their 50s and 60s; Deni recently got back from accompanying her husband on a project in Mali and had lots of adventures to share. Rachel, as Deni says, "is a kick in the pants" and she was in fine form, begging for cheddar bunnies and chocolate goldfish crackers and refusing to try the stew or the couscous. Deni later reassured me that she will, in fact, eat like a normal kid one day. Deni's greatest regret is taking such a hard line with her kids about food -- no sugar, only whole grains, no juice, etc. -- and now her grandsons eat a lot of junk because Deni's daughter veered the opposite direction from her mother. Bottom line is that I will ask Rachel's pediatrician in July whether Rachel should be eating a bigger variety of foods and how to get her to eat more of the stuff I like to make.

On Sunday we mellowed out after I made a few frantic calls about the water stains and ceiling crackling above the fireplace; it totally ruined my evening on Saturday. Then we went to the mall and swung by the park for a while. Rachel walked across a "bridge" on the play structure that was made of rubber; it is wobbly and I was so proud of her gingerly walking it all by herself. We went on the "teeter-totter" (seesaw) for a while until it got cold, then we went home for snack and nap. I fell asleep rocking her in the chair and had just enough time to make beef stroganoff for our friend Anne who came to dinner at 6:30. Anne brought Rachel some cool sunglasses with bows that are a bit too big, but she'll grow into them. She also amused Rachel by showing her some videos of her cats and dog on her Smartphone.

Then I put Rachel to bed after Anne left, cleaned up the kitchen, ran the dishwasher and stumbled, bleary-eyed, into bed at midnight. Not a great way to start the workweek. Which is why I'm turning in early tonight. Have a good one, folks.