I like it, I love it, I want some more of it...

The other day my sweet, sweet friend Alana called me up to insist that she watch my three adorable rag-a-muffins so that my husband could take me out for a night on the town. I was blown away by her thoughtfulness-- she is 9 weeks away from baby number four-- and I almost turned her down-- until I looked across the room and my zombie-eyed lover-muffin (who was studying away his life at the dining room table) and made the snap decision to take her up on it. After I hung up I came back to my senses and was so ashamed of my selfishness that I decided I would call her right back and re-neg... I mean, who needs three extra needy kids at the end of a long day? I have a hard time with my lovely brood in the twilight hours and I am their mom-- why would I ever want to subject my dear almost-due friend to their delightful antics just so I could snatch a couple of kid free hours with Mr. Right? Luckily-- I got distracted and forgot to call her. So this morning when she called to hammer out the details, I found myself once again torn... what to do, what to do. I will FOREVER bless her name for insisting once again that we take a night out together and helping me to make plans to whisk my better half away after the kids I babysit were picked up. So- 5 o'clock rolled around and we fed Benjamin and packed a diaper bag and headed over to drop them off. I almost decided to take Benjamin with me. Other than one temple session and one SAA meeting (both of which he cried the entire way through), I haven't left my nine month old baby with anyone for any significant amount of time. But, once again, when the moment came, I was impressed that I found the courage to leave him behind and head out for two full kid-free hours with the man I love more than anything in the world. I'll have to admit that walking to the car together after dropping them off, I felt giddy and girlish-- like I was young-and-in-love. Somewhere in the last four years of pregnancy, nursing, and motherhood I think I've lost that part of me that sometimes likes to succumb to the whimsical girlish fluttering of the heart type feelings... but tonight, if but for a brief moment in time, I got my old groove back. Man, it felt good. We went out to eat at Ruby Tuesdays. We had an appetizer sampler, steak and potatoes, and the Blondie brownie with vanilla ice cream and caramel. Andrew also had the pomegranate lemonade which was amazing. I highly recommend it. The entire meal was divine. The funniest part of the evening came when we were ready to go to the incredible salad bar. When we've been to Ruby Tuesday's before, we've always had our rambuxious trio in tow, and we take turns going to get our salad with one while the other waits with the remaining two. Tonight when the magical moment arrived, we both just kind of looked at each other for a couple of minute--not really knowing what to do--before realizing that we could actually go fill our plates at the same time. It was pretty funny! All in all, tonight was a fabulous night. My kids were safe and well looked after and were reasonably well behaved for my friend (or so she kindly says... ;) They seriously had a great time. Thank you Alana, for the night out. I owe you-- BIG TIME!!! I hope I can be as thoughtful and as inspired as you are someday-- my angel of mercy! We had a great evening. Thanks for knowing just exactly what our relationship could use, even when we didn't! The only problem is that now I fear that I'm hooked. The kid-free date night left me wanting more... like the Tim McGraw song goes, "and I like it, I love it, I want some more of it"!

The PERFECT Break and New Beginnings

So, it's Monday the 7th of January, 2008. This is the day I thought I would be dreading. But wouldn't you know, I've been so busy dreading dreading it that I forgot to dread it at all, and it just snuck up on me. Today is the beginning of the new year for us, and the end of our much anticipated break. Noah and Andrew are back to school and I'm back to the hum drum. I should be bummed-- really bummed. I mean, we had the perfect break. We had the ideal--albeit simple-- Christmas celebration, a quiet New Years, and an even quieter birthday for me. We soaked up the late mornings, early nights- movies, fun, and tons of time for family togetherness all here is the quiet little 'ville. It's over and it's time to get back to the wheel, and I'm finding myself surprisingly okay with it. Really. I'm glad that the break is over, and I'm thankful for a new year to try harder to be better and do more. We started the break with a list-- well two lists. The one I had been compiling for months of projects that had been put off or pushed to the back burner in anticipation of "someday", and another list we sat down as a family and made at lunch after the last test of the old year. We wrote down a list of everything that we wanted to do together during the break. And guess what-- we completed every item on BOTH lists with style-- and then some! My super-star husband was incredible. He helped without complaint as we built new shelves and re-organized and deep cleaned the entire house and our storage unit. He helped me finish up some long-forgotten projects that I've been meaning to complete with a smile-all-the-while. Then, he made it a point to let me sleep in every morning. He gave me more back rubs and mani-pedi pampers than I've ever deserved, he cooked and cleaned like a happy little elf, and he made this break incredibly exciting for the kids. The kid's list was much funner than mine. They wanted to play every board game we owned, see a movie in the theatre, build a snowman, go sledding, spend a day at Going Bonkers, ride on the carousel, visit the temple, take family naps every single day, and make gingerbread treats-- and we did it all!!! Check out our holiday photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/argough/Christmas2007. Andrew's additions to the list were easy-- we watch the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy and all of the Indiana Jones flicks, we completed several rounds of phase ten, and we took it easy every chance we got. He's happy. I'm happy. The kids are happy. We're all SO HAPPY! :) So- goodbye perfect, wonderful break. We loved you while you were here... but HELLO NEW YEAR!!! Hello new beginnings, hello second chances, hello blank slate. We're so glad that you've finally come!