Another busy weekend!

Scheduled way too many activites, so now not only am I tired, but I'm having difficulty shaking this cold that I picked up in NYC, thanks to Rachel and Drew.

Saturday's swim lesson was terrific -- Rachel is getting more and more comfortable in the water. She's making tentative swimming motions with her arms and has quite a good kicking motion when she concentrates (after I shout, "kick! kick!"). She had so much fun that she didn't want to get out of the pool, especially after she got to go down the kiddie tunnel slide ALL BY HERSELF! She screamed and sobbed so much that (at first) I couldn't persuade her that it would be great fun to go to Doug and Linda's. Finally I managed to get her into the car, whereupon she fell asleep all the way to Tigard.

Then we had lunch at Doug and Linda's and Rachel got a kick out of Andrew's magic tricks; she wanted to keep the Styrofoam bunny that he pulled out of his magician's hat! We walked to a play structure 15 minutes away and Rachel tried just about everything there. Linda was so great with her that I ended up being able to sit and daydream in the shade for a while. Rachel kicked up quite a fuss when it was time to leave, but we had to get back so I could put her down for a nap to get to...another gala that I got invited to at the last minute by my boss. It was a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood which honored an alum of the law school, so...off I went in my black cocktail dress, pearls and high heels. Luckily Angela was available to babysit. Thanks, Angela!

Then on Sunday, Amy dropped off a toddler bed for Rachel (thanks, Amy!) which I have stored upstairs -- it's her son's, Jake, and he has outgrown it so we get it now. Yay! Amy stayed to visit for quite a while; I was loath to let her go but she had to make dinner for her family and I had to put Rachel down for a nap while I made dinner for my friend Sarah and her 4-year-old son, Noah.

Sarah and Noah came just before I pulled the roast chicken and rosemary potatoes out of the oven. I cheated on dessert with store-bought macaroons and ice cream; I just didn't have the time to make an elaborate dessert (and it was Passover, so I couldn't bake a chocolate-chip cake). The kids had a wonderful time playing downstairs and upstairs, giving the mommies a chance to talk. Good thing I wasn't watching closely; I only found out at the end what an incredible mess they'd made in the living room, dumping every single toy on the floor. It looked like a hurricane hit. I hid my dismay and told Sarah not to worry about it; I'd clean it up.

So I didn't get to bed until 12:30 a.m. this morning, but the kitchen and living room (and upstairs) were perfectly clean. However, I never did get to take my laundry out of the dryer or fold Rachel's, and from the looks of it I won't get to do that tonight either. Patience, I tell myself. Four more weeks of this and help arrives.