Jewels of the Pacific Northwest

Well, I'm back from the West Coast. We jammed an absurd amount of stuff into the time I was there, so here's the bullet-point version:

Wednesday

• Saw goop oozing from Charlotte's eyes. Took her to the pediatrician, mainly to get a note saying she's A-okay to return to school.
• Discovered ANOTHER double ear infection.
• Felt guilty for not wanting to bring her to the pediatrician in the first place.
• Took her home to Chris's mom, who took care of her (phew!) for the rest of the week.
• Realized I highly recommend live-in help.
• Went to work.
• Left work to catch flight to Seattle. Felt guilty about leaving ear-infected daughter.
• Sat on runway for 2 hours, waiting for thunderstorms to pass.
• Canadian lady next to me offerred me a red vine. Declined, but was impressed by her friendliness.
• Landed in Seattle, LATE.

Thursday

• Slept too late, what with no child to wake me.
• Ate lunch at Nordstrom with Mums.
• Shopped at Bell Square, buying obscene amounts of summer clothes for Charlotte.
• Went to the outlets in North Bend. Bought even MORE clothes for Charlotte. (Don't worry. We had a coupon.)
• Visited Grandma in her new assisted living facility in Sammamish. It was gorgeous--like a freaking hotel. I told her so. Was corrected, "No, it's a prison." Ah, well.
• Collected Dad, who spilled gasoline on his shoes while filling up the car. Almost died from inhaling the fumes in the backseat, at least until he was clever enough to hold the shoe out the window as we drove along.
• Had family dinner (with brother, too) in Kirkland, on the waterfront. Sun came out. Basked in Pacific Northwest scene, then suggested Dad put his shoe in the plastic bag I had conveniently brought into the restaurant. He grumpily complied.
• At home, split bottle of wine with Dad and discussed decking. He promised to look into white deck materials, adding the caveat "Nobody out here would build a white deck." Reminded him that I don't live out there.
• Turned on William and Kate wedding coverage, just out of curiosity.
• Went to bed the next morning, after having watched the entire wedding coverage. Was not proud of it.

Friday

• Got a couple hours of sleep.
• Got manicure and pedicure in Kirkland. Somehow, the nail pruning turned into a massage session. Left large tip.
• Drove to Portland with Mom for Julie's wedding.
• Fed Mums, who hadn't eaten all day. Convinced her to have a fancy cocktail.
• Convinced her to have a second one.
• Wrestled her to get my Kindle back, as she's now OBSESSED with the word game on it.
• Gave up and finally just started helping her play.

Saturday

• Got lost trying to find mall, due to Mums's terrible navigational skills.
• Refused to drive from then on.
• Ate Panda Express for breakfast.
• Finally shopped for ourselves, not a pretty little brown-eyed toddler. (Mums caved and bought Charlotte's 11th sundress of the trip. Lord help us if she hits another growth spurt.)
• Gussied up for wedding. Mums assured me that no, my dress was NOT too short. But she did point out that I could have picked something more festive than black lace, adding that I looked like Morticia attending a funeral.
• Thanked Mums for her fashion advice.
• Went to wedding.

Ah, now. Julie's wedding should get full sentences, right? I have known Julie since summer of 4th grade. She has heard this story a million times, but you haven't.

I met her during Vacation Bible School. We had to perform a skit, and Julie played "the sinful woman" (adulteress, I later learned). She wore a blue bathsheet--a church costuming staple--over her head, and there's no way that child with giant green eyes could pass for a Sinful Woman, but she played her role as convincingly as she could. (For the record, I was a stone thrower.)

Anyhoo, years passed and Jewels (my nickname for her, initially a misspelling of "Jules" that stuck) became one of my closest friends. Julie is one of the funnest, funniest girls I know, not to mention one of the smartest, and I just adore her. So imagine my glee when I got word that she had found The One. She then got engaged in January and, obviously, married 3 days ago. She also got a bonus---a genuinely lovely stepdaughter, Ashley. Yep, Miss I-Don't-Think-I'll-Bother-To-Have-Kids is now the only one of us with a kid on the brink of adolescence. Ha!

So, the wedding. Julie was stunning and absolutely glowing. I bawled as she walked down the aisle. Her sister (who gave the funniest speech at the reception I've ever heard) and Ashley were her darling bridesmaids, and it was all very touching.

Then, too soon, it was Sunday. So we return to bullet points:

Sunday

• Drove back to Seattle.
• Mums slowed down the car long enough for me to do a tumble-and-roll onto the airport curb.
• Coasted through check-in and security, marveling at the ease of traveling without a child.
• Flew home.
• Took town car to P'ville with a driver who was utterly terrified of hitting a deer along our rural drive. This led to a nauseating number of unexpected hard brakes along windy country roads. Felt car sick.
• Walked into bedroom. Learned bin Laden was no more. Did my happy infidel dance.
• Checked in on Charlotte and stroked her pretty head--something I do EVERY night before I go to bed.
• She woke up (very drowsily) and gave me a smile (still not unusual--she always drifts back to sleep).
• Closed nursery door.
• Heard crying. Then screaming. Then Chris swearing at me from the bedroom. (It was past midnight.)
• Did not want Charlotte to think Mommy was going away again for 4 (5?) days, so rocked and rocked and rocked child.
• Went to bed one hour later.
• Incurred wrath of husband, who later softened--because he had MISSED ME!

Monday (or, 3.5 hours later)

• Threw alarm clock across room. Returned to normal life.