Catching up after a few days away

I went to synagogue on Friday night (my new resolve is to try to go at least twice a month) and ran into Melissa, our fellow NU grad, and her two kids Jeremy and Natalie. They invited me to eat dinner with them, and when I called home to invite Drew and Rachel, Rachel said, "Mommy, I want to do something with Daddy." Which meant that she wanted to play with Drew for a while, so I took that as a sign that going to dinner with Melissa and the kids was OK.

We went to a so-so restaurant in Northwest Portland, with Melissa talking a mile a minute and me missing my family. I treated her kids to chocolate at Moonstruck Chocolates (they were very polite and said thank you), and when I got home Drew was telling Rachel a story in the glider, about to put her to bed. She looked so happy to see me and immediately reached out to give me a hug and kiss without being prompted.

Later, Drew told me that while I was gone, Rachel was making little sad bunny whimpering noises, and Drew said, "are you a sad bunny?"

Rachel answered, "that means I'm missing Mommy."

I refrained from waking her up and covering her little face with kisses.

***

Today Rachel had her dance recital, and she did a great job of following directions. She seems to have mastered all the arcane-sounding ballet positions -- releve, sute, chasse, etc. -- positions I once knew but have since forgotten -- and when she was done she ran straight to me yelling, "Mommy!" I swung her off the ground and hugged her tight. "I can't believe I wanted a boy!" I told Drew.

Her ballet teacher, Sandy, said Rachel is ready for the Nutracker, but suggested we find a shorter version than the elaborate one put on by Oregon Ballet Theatre. There are a million dance studios and small theater companies that do this, so I'm going to try to find a 45-minute version that we can all go to. I also noticed a free show for kids her age about a little boy who turns into Frankenstein; it's called "Holiday Hullaballo" and I took Rachel last year with Doug and Linda and the kids, whom I met at a Thai restaurant after the show. Hopefully we can all go again this year.