Monday, May 18, 2009

Pleasant Evenings

Well, once again tonight was a night that has inspired me to share. Actually it wasn't just tonight, but it just happens to be the first chance that I have had to sit down and reflect on it all. I'll try to keep it as entertaining as possible...

It all started Thursday morning at 1:30 am when the alarm went off. You see Mike was hitting the road again, and his flight was scheduled to leave Albany at around 6 am. He had to go to some USSA congress or something. I'm not sure, it seems so long ago. Anyway, he leaves and Ri and I have a busy day ahead of us. School for both followed by a doctor's appointment for me immediately after. Ri was extremely patient in the waiting room too. Once that was over, we headed for Susan Serino's house for a cocktail (not Ri, just me, the cocktail that is). As luck would have it, she had enough dinner to share, which saved me a whole lot of work. I was then headed to a PTO meeting. Ri stayed behind with the boys while Sierra and I headed to do our charitable contribution at the school. A long day indeed, but it wasn't over yet.

At about 10 pm I headed for bed. I awoke at 11 to Ri calling me in to the bathroom. He felt sick. My peaceful night of sleep quickly ended when he vomited for what would be the first time in a dozen. It finally subsided at about 5:30 Friday morning. Needless to say, neither one of us went to school that day. Fully exhausted, we peacefully coexisted, and Ri seemed to be regaining his strength. He even enjoyed some chicken wings for dinner! He hit the hay very early, and I had every intention of doing the same. I was just shutting off the television to head up to bed when I heard Ri cough this really strange cough. Oh yes, he threw up again. Only this time, there was no bucket...just the rug. Chicken wings. On the rug. I was headed to bed. I was so close.

Luckily it was a one time thing. He had overdone it, and his belly couldn't handle it. After that we both slept, but not for long. I had to go to the farm. Ri and I were up and on our way by 4:50 am. What a trooper that kid was. Of course he was extremely excited to head to Grandma and Grandpa's later. He was spending the night and going for a hike with Grandma. This of course leads to the title of this blog.

The plan was to have yet another ladies' night. Unfortunately Jenny had to go pay her respects to a loved one who passed, so it was only the three of us. We couldn't figure out what we should spend our evening doing, but we finally decided on having a late dinner at The Wilderness. The place was packed when we got there, but we managed to score three seats at the bar, which happens to be my favorite place to sit anyway.

June was working her magic behind the bar, so I quickly ordered an Old Fashion. Sierra proceeded to order what will definitely be my next favored drink, a dry dirty vodka martini. Lauren had a refreshing diet coke. What fun we had. Lively conversation with a smidge of gossip and a whole lotta truths. After we finished our Frannie Burgers and steak sandwiches we decided to head to Steinhoff's to check out the scene before the band Lucid kicked in. It was a little quiet to begin with, but by the time we headed out the door, things were really picking up.

The ride home was the most interesting. I have discovered that Sierra is a real animal lover. Remember the intense rain that we got on Saturday? Well that brings out the suicidal road frogs, and Sierra felt it was her civic duty to avoid hitting them at all costs. In fact, she even backed the car up at one point to see if she had avoided one. Crazy, I know, but incredibly funny. In fact the whole evening was full of laughs. Enough, even, to erase the last 24 hours of being in what I call "survival mode".

Tonight once again was an enjoyable evening. Sierra called me while she was grocery shopping and somehow it ended up becoming a plan. I had bacon and Corey had eggs. I brought my bacon down to his eggs, we fed five of us, and he agreed to watch the boys once Sierra came home so we could go out for a cocktail. Again, we ended up with a smidge of gossip and a whole lotta truths.

Mike comes home tonight. I survived once again with the support of friends. This weekend is Memorial Day weekend. The official start of summer. The ladies always have fun in the summer. I can hardly wait!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day

Because this blog is about friendship, I felt it would be extremely appropriate to chat a bit about everyone's very best friend...mom. I was lucky enough to spend part of my day today with, of course, my mom. I know I share this sentiment with many others who feel the same about their moms, but my mom is just plain exceptional. She really should be sporting a cape of some sort for sure. The things she taught me! I mean really, it is truly amazing what she can do, and all with a satisfied grin on her face.



I've joked around before that we really don't understand how much parents teach us until experiencing parenthood for ourselves. Think about it. We are not born with the innate ability to wipe our butts. We have to be taught. Who taught me to do it? I'm guessing it was Mom. How about brushing my teeth? I'm guessing it was Mom again. And how to cook? That was definitely Mom. Now I don't mean to short the dads out there, but they usually teach us completely different things. Moms have an incredible knack for teaching us how to carry on the daily necessities. Not glamorous for sure, but necessary nonetheless.

My mom went above and beyond the basics, and had me sewing my own doll clothes (on a machine no less) at a very young age. We would spend days in the late summer and early fall canning veggies from the garden that would last us until we planted the next year. Thursdays were bed sheet changing days. We pulled the furniture out every week to vacuum behind it. Now who does that anymore?

There are three kids in my family, and Mom always made it seem so easy. I have one son and I feel like I'm one of the hardest working mothers around. How in the hell did she do it?

My mom is now a retired elementary school teacher who weathers her winters with Dad in the Keys. She spends her time quilting, basket weaving, walking, cooking and spending time with her family. She's a beautiful woman who deserves all the love and appreciation in the world. Happy Mother's Day!