Mommy and Rachel day

Drew had to work yet another @#!*%! weekend shift in Seattle, so at 11:30 a.m. off he went. Rachel and I spent a lovely time coloring in a great "Doodles for Princesses" coloring book that Drew got her the other day; it really encourages kids using their imagination by designing, say, a tiara and earrings, a flower in a garden, the kind of house you'd want to live in, etc. We each took turns with a page, and I was surprised at how much fun it was for me (and how little imagination I have. Geez, I'm old). I had to get Rachel to fix my tiara drawing because I just couldn't render on paper what I imagined in my head, and she did a terrific job.

Then we headed to the Southwest Community Center for Tessa's birthday party. Tessa's mom, Helen, told me to go off and relax and come back later, so I dropped off some food I'd made for Emily, the head of the Oregon Area Jewish Committee -- she is very ill with a mysterious sickness so I made matzo ball soup and challah -- and then dashed into the grocery store for some yogurt and unsweetened iced tea that I forgot to ask Drew to buy yesterday. And then I ducked into Starbucks, ordered some extra hot hot chocolate and sat down to read the NY Times. Ah! Bliss....

Tessa said Rachel had been the nicest person at her party, and Rachel responded by giving her a big hug. We then drove to Doug and Linda's to pick up some of Jack's and Andrew's old books and a very cool cash register that has a solar calculator built in -- I can't wait to teach Rachel about money and math, and this explains why the boys are so adept in math -- and then we all went out to dinner at Fuddrucker's. Rachel ate a hot dog and most of a cup of fruit, so I bought her an M&M cookie that one of the restaurant workers was kind enough to give me for free. (Rachel also spent a lot of time hugging Linda and being very friendly to the boys. It's nice to see her give her affection so freely). Rachel napped on the way home and was so tired that I didn't want to wake her up to wash her face and brush her teeth so I just undressed her, put her nightgown on and got her quickly to bed by the astonishingly early hour of 8:45. I rationalized that she needs the extra sleep and, yes, I was eager to watch Downton Abbey. So sue me.

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This morning Rachel crawled into bed with me and told me about a dream she'd had: "I dreamed that you and I and Tia Daniella were all little girls together living in the same house. ("And Valerie, too?" I asked. "Yes, Valerie too," she answered.) She continued: I was the oldest and you were all the same age, like two years younger. We all played together nicely." There was more but I forgot. It sounded like a very sweet dream!

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I mentioned the possibility of us talking to Grandma and Grandpa today (we didn't connect, but hopefully we'll do so next week). "I miss Grandma!" Rachel said mournfully. "I haven't seen her in a long time. I can't WAIT until Passover!"

Neither can I.