Shabbat dinner remarks

It was really, really cold yesterday (Friday), and I was out of sorts: I hadn't gotten enough sleep Thursday, so I was exhausted; and I arranged for a work colleague to come over to teach me about Twitter; and when I hauled myself out of a dead sleep to walk Rachel to school, Drew told me that he thought he was taking her in, which meant I forced myself awake for nothing (once I'm up in the morning, I can't go back to sleep). To top it all off, Rachel invited me to her class Valentine's Day party, and I had to say no because of my colleague coming over -- and she was so disappointed that she stomped off, and I scolded her a little for being mad (although, really, scolding her for expressing her emotions really isn't a good idea). I had to bring in strawberries, and I was hoping that Drew could do that so Rachel wouldn't have the chance to ask me to come. (In fairness, the party didn't need parent volunteers, or I would have signed up.)

Anyway.

When I got back home, I managed to stay awake long enough to run to a kick-your-butt fitness class that I do every Friday -- it's called Barre, and it's like ballet on steroids -- then to a bakery for a treat, and then home to meet my friend. We actually finished early enough for me to race to Rachel's class, but I hadn't showered and I desperately needed to sleep, so I crashed for an hour on the couch. Does that make me a bad mom?

When I picked up Rachel from school, she actually wanted to play with Sydney at extended day, so she asked me to hang out and wait. Drew and I discussed dinner (I hadn't planned on anything because I figured we'd go to a summer activities fair that ended up getting canceled because of fear of a snowstorm with bad ice that never actually ended up happening) and he made the brilliant offer to grill steaks outside (because although it's hideously cold, it's not raining or snowing -- his two disqualifiers for grilling). So, we ended up having a fabulous dinner of T-bone steaks, baked potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts -- a heavy dinner that was exactly what I wanted.

***

At dinner, Rachel said: "Dad got all Lord of the Rings-y with that parking space." (Turns out Drew was so excited to find an open space near school that he rubbed his hands together and said, 'My PRECIOUS!' with glee.)

Later, when I expressed an interest in watching last Sunday's episode of "Downton Abbey," Rachel said, "You can do book with me, or watch DOWNTON Abbey (with a thumbs-down sign and a terrible face) and get the silent treatment for a month").

Guess which one I chose?