I'm back after a long and wonderful weekend. I had an amazing time with my family - and once again I am amazed at how wonderful the women in my family are.
As excited as I was, my weekend didn't get off to a very good start. I knew I would miss the babies (3-4 hours is the max I'd ever been away from them), but I didn't realize how hard it would be just to walk out the door. I was a little on edge all Friday morning - I was excited, but at the same time I dreaded saying goodbye to the kids. I helped RD feed them at 11 a.m., then put on my coat, ready to go. I hugged RD and each of the babies, then headed for the door. AR comes crawling as fast as she can, following me to the door. Here come the tears. Not her's, mine. After RD pushed me out the door, I hit the road. As soon as I merged onto the highway Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved comes on. I've danced to this song with AR many times, so this tune just pumped up the flow of my tears even more. Next song was Remember When by Alan Jackson. It's now obvious, the radio is showing no mercy.
I knock on the door of my Aunt J's, my eyes all puffy and wet. She immediately grabs me and gives me a big bear hug and says, "I've been there, honey. I know it's so hard the first time you're away from your kids. The first one's always the hardest - and you've got three! Three first ones! It's got to be three times as hard. We're going to have so much fun, sweetie. Let's get your bags and forget those tears." And that's just what I did. I needed this weekend away. I needed it and the babies probably needed it, too. I'm always there with them; I think it will do them good to be without their mommy for a day or two.
There were three cars heading down - seven of us total (me, three cousins, two aunts, and my Grandma). When we first arrived we sat down and wrote out our Christmas lists, went through some pictures, and made our plans for the weekend.
Friday night we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had a margarita, and that one (wonderful) margarita had me giggling and giddy. We shared many stories, some old and some new. We then got some groceries and settled back in at the condo to rest up for our busy day ahead. The condo by the way is my Aunt J's. They've had a condo at the lake for about 8 years or so. It has three bedrooms, sleeps 12, two "family rooms" , 3.5 bathrooms, a full kitchen, large screened-in deck - a wonderful set-up.
Saturday morning was our day to shop. We spent the better part of the day at the outlet mall. To our surprise, it wasn't crowded at all. This was really surprising considering the wonderful, mild weather and it being December, so close to Christmas. We had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. The plan was to go see a movie (Christmas with the Krank's), but Grandma was too tired, so we rented a movie (Jersey Girl). It was AWFUL. We didn't even make it to the end. We started trickling off to bed one-by-one, each saying as we go, "I'm tired. I don't care how this ends." I keep getting more and more convinced with each movie that Ben Affleck is an awful actor.
Sunday morning we went out for a late breakfast. It was an all-you-can-eat breakfast, so I stuffed myself with French toast, biscuits and gravy, bacon, and orange juice slushes. I got my carb-fix for the day! We wrapped up the day with more shopping then headed home.
I walked in the door around 7:30 p.m. - just in time to put the babies to bed. The whole ride home I had visions of the babies squealing with glee at the sight of me...didn't happen. In fact, AR acted like she wasn't quite sure she knew me. She kept looking at RD for reassurance. Great. Just great. Also, looking around, the house was spotless. RD had scrubbed the floors (by hand!) and had washed and put all the dishes away. Now that I've swallowed my pride, I'm ready to ask him what his secret is. ;) I already knew that I was married to a wonderful man, a wonderful father, but I'm once again impressed.
So that was my weekend. I had a wonderful time, ate my weight in food, and spent way too much money.
I'm already looking forward to next year!
