3 Days: The Weekend
The past weekend had a strange rhythm to it, continually shifting from calm to busy, happy to sad. On Friday, I attended Charlotte’s Thanksgiving luncheon at school. You might recall that her Halloween party was sort of ruined by a snippy mommy. So, for Thanksgiving, I found a solution: sit with the daddies. (A goofball dad took a photo of his son “to send to Mommy on her business trip to make her feel guilty.” Ahhh, working families. Sometimes I forget we’re not the only people in the world juggling work and kids.)
After returning Charlotte to her classroom so she could take a much-needed nap, I met up with Chris, who took the afternoon off (as did I, per the Thanksgiving lunch), and we grabbed some appetizers and cocktails in Bethesda. We had a delightfully grown-up time, NOT entertaining Charlotte, NOT picking up Cheerios off the floor, NOT keeping her from eating crayons, NOT reminding her to use her indoor voice. We then picked Charlotte up from school early, and an evening trip to Costco finished off our exciting Friday night.
Saturday was busy as usual, but we spent the day with a heavy sense of trepidation. Josh’s memorial party (yes, party) was that night in DC. Chris and I hadn’t been downtown—without Charlotte—together since the kid was born. We intended to get sushi beforehand at a restaurant in Tenleytown, but as if to prove how long it had been since we ventured into the District, the sushi restaurant was gone. A busy Indian restaurant took its place. So, what the heck? We sat at the bar (no reservations and in a bit of a hurry) and had a fantastic, spicy meal. We were rather subdued, though, each of us battling a gnawing unease.
We finally headed to the memorial, downtown near the Capitol building. The city was so familiar, I found myself forgetting we had a kid (yikes) and half expected to return to the condo. At the memorial, we saw a ton of people we hadn’t seen in a long time, which was nice. But the occasion was a sad one, not to mention utterly surreal. Afterward, a small group of friends and us went to Capital Grille on Pennsylvania Avenue (oh, DC—how we’ve missed you). The Capitol building was bright-whitely lit against the sky, the streets were empty, and the night certainly had a whiff of A Night Out about it—which seemed wrong. The boys ordered scotch, the womenfolk ordered wine, and we toasted Josh.
Around midnight, we knew we couldn’t keep the babysitter waiting until dawn, so we called it a night. Fun fact: you can get from downtown DC to our rural area in The Sticks in 32 minutes with no traffic, few deer, and a slightly above-legal speed.
A $100 babysitting tab later (sigh), we settled into bed, still rather discombobulated, even though it was past 1:00 a.m. While it was good and necessary to pay our respects to Josh and his wife, and to see old friends, we still lacked closure. My guess is that it will come in bits and pieces as time passes.
Sunday, our Perfect Child slept until 7:30 (for which I've gotten her two extra Christmas gifts), and we ran errands in a bit of a fog. Charlotte was spectacular all day, flitting about like the very busy girl she is. She filled the house with lots of pitter-pattering and honking laughs—the best sounds. The day was gloomy, as were we, so I turned on almost every light, which seemed to fuel Charlotte’s jolliness even further. And my, that girl can perk us up. I love her.
The Niners won. The Seahawks won. And after Charlotte went to bed, Chris and I had a fancy homemade dinner and a nice bottle of wine from our favorite winery to mark our 4-year anniversary (three days late, but whatever). Despite being very tired, we lingered with our wine glasses, contemplative and peaceful. Life goes on.
After returning Charlotte to her classroom so she could take a much-needed nap, I met up with Chris, who took the afternoon off (as did I, per the Thanksgiving lunch), and we grabbed some appetizers and cocktails in Bethesda. We had a delightfully grown-up time, NOT entertaining Charlotte, NOT picking up Cheerios off the floor, NOT keeping her from eating crayons, NOT reminding her to use her indoor voice. We then picked Charlotte up from school early, and an evening trip to Costco finished off our exciting Friday night.
Saturday was busy as usual, but we spent the day with a heavy sense of trepidation. Josh’s memorial party (yes, party) was that night in DC. Chris and I hadn’t been downtown—without Charlotte—together since the kid was born. We intended to get sushi beforehand at a restaurant in Tenleytown, but as if to prove how long it had been since we ventured into the District, the sushi restaurant was gone. A busy Indian restaurant took its place. So, what the heck? We sat at the bar (no reservations and in a bit of a hurry) and had a fantastic, spicy meal. We were rather subdued, though, each of us battling a gnawing unease.
We finally headed to the memorial, downtown near the Capitol building. The city was so familiar, I found myself forgetting we had a kid (yikes) and half expected to return to the condo. At the memorial, we saw a ton of people we hadn’t seen in a long time, which was nice. But the occasion was a sad one, not to mention utterly surreal. Afterward, a small group of friends and us went to Capital Grille on Pennsylvania Avenue (oh, DC—how we’ve missed you). The Capitol building was bright-whitely lit against the sky, the streets were empty, and the night certainly had a whiff of A Night Out about it—which seemed wrong. The boys ordered scotch, the womenfolk ordered wine, and we toasted Josh.
Around midnight, we knew we couldn’t keep the babysitter waiting until dawn, so we called it a night. Fun fact: you can get from downtown DC to our rural area in The Sticks in 32 minutes with no traffic, few deer, and a slightly above-legal speed.
A $100 babysitting tab later (sigh), we settled into bed, still rather discombobulated, even though it was past 1:00 a.m. While it was good and necessary to pay our respects to Josh and his wife, and to see old friends, we still lacked closure. My guess is that it will come in bits and pieces as time passes.
Sunday, our Perfect Child slept until 7:30 (for which I've gotten her two extra Christmas gifts), and we ran errands in a bit of a fog. Charlotte was spectacular all day, flitting about like the very busy girl she is. She filled the house with lots of pitter-pattering and honking laughs—the best sounds. The day was gloomy, as were we, so I turned on almost every light, which seemed to fuel Charlotte’s jolliness even further. And my, that girl can perk us up. I love her.
The Niners won. The Seahawks won. And after Charlotte went to bed, Chris and I had a fancy homemade dinner and a nice bottle of wine from our favorite winery to mark our 4-year anniversary (three days late, but whatever). Despite being very tired, we lingered with our wine glasses, contemplative and peaceful. Life goes on.
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