Fantastic weekend

I had quite the Saturday. Rachel was fantastic at her swim lesson, just FANTASTIC. The little girl who screamed and clutched at me last weekend announced, halfway through her swim lesson yesterday, "I want to swim ALL BY MYSELF!" She was very comfortable letting me glide her around with my arms outstretched and even was OK with me gliding her around on her back. (It helps that the pool has toys by the side that she can play with, like a plastic watering can and a dolphin, and styrofoam "noodles" and play barbells -- really great stuff). We play the "hokey pokey" in the water and she loves that, along with ring around the rosy, except the kids get to say what's in their pockets (Rachel, predictably, said "cookies!"). The crowning touch? She said she wanted to go down the water slide by herself, and a kind guy said he'd walk her up the stairs and I waited in the pool. For a moment as she slid down she looked totally panicked (it's a short slide), but then she got a big grin on her face as she flew into my arms at the end. I can't wait to take her to Wolf Lodge, this great place in Washington that is the coolest water slide park EVER.

We met Amanda and Jenn when we got home -- poor Amanda was a bit under the weather, so we all sat around and relaxed and Jenn & Amanda were gracious enough to tag along as I dragged them through the normal errands we do on Saturday -- grocery shopping, bank, movie rental, etc. (They requested "Toy Story 3" as a movie to watch with Rachel that night because I was going to a ballet fundraiser and they had agreed to babysit). We got home, I put Rachel down for a nap then changed into a slinky black cocktail dress, sheer black stockings and high-heeled shoes, plus pearls and a black wrap for a fundraiser I had been invited to for Oregon Ballet Theatre. Since my friend is the head of the ballet's board, all I needed to do was show up; I didn't have to pay for my seat. So at 6:30 I headed to the Pearl.

Oh, and what an evening it was! The creme de la creme of what passes for society in Portland -- everyone was stunningly dressed, many in age-inappropriate dress, but still. The auctioneer (the live auction prizes were tremendous and I was dying to bid on something but unfortunately I don't have $5,000 or so to throw around. Sigh) was was so skilled I got dizzy listening to her. We were one table away from Portland Mayor Sam Adams, and his companion, Peter, is a former Oregonian reporter -- so during a break in the proceedings I went over and chatted up Peter. He was touched I remembered him and remembered that he had written a book that is being published in, oh, a bunch of countries, and we exchanged cards (Melissa, my friend who invited me to the event, was very impressed that I knew the mayor's boyfriend) and I spent the rest of the evening drinking a lot of red wine. Not to put too fine a point on it but -- I got drunk. Very drunk. Gloriously drunk. I haven't cut loose like that in ages. It ended up with me calling Drew in New York and telling him of my condition. Steve, Melissa's husband, drove me home in my car while a friend of Melissa's drove behind and took Steve back to the event, which had wound down by then. Luckily I took some Tylenol but I still felt so warm that I turned on the ceiling fan in the bedroom before falling asleep. It still didn't help. Because this morning, I really, really felt it.