A mother/daughter evening

The Hapkido Kid

Jacob is taking Hapkido, a branch of the martial arts, and here shows off his brand new uniform. He said to me, "I know a lot more moves than you do." A safe bet--I don't know any. I countered with "I know more yoga than you," and he said, "Yeah, but I can still beat you up, but I would never do that." Such a sweet boy. He was waiting for his dad to pick him up, so his mom and I could have a girls' evening.
Having blogged about best friends last night and how my daughters are probably my best friends, it's only appropriate to report on our girls' evening. Jordan and I enjoyed a long delayed dinner at Winslow's Wine Cafe tonight. To top it off, she had a $40 gift certificate which helped the bill considerably. We had crab cakes, salad (split one order of both) and two glasses of wine each. Really good food. The wine loosened our tongues, and we had real heart-to-heart talk. No one in the immediate family needs to worry--what we said about everyone was all good. Others might worry, however--just kidding. But it was nice to share confidences and concerns without having to worry about who else was in the room. We made some decisions, like what snacks I'll feed Jacob after school--he'd gotten in the habit of helping himself to too many granola bars. Sure they're healthy, but they're not sugar free. But the best part was to feel that we are on the same page, we can share confidences, and we're friends beyond our mother/daughter relationship. We laughed about all the ills she says I gave her--anxiety, tummy troubles, etc., all things that might be passed on genetically but, hey! She's adopted.
My conclusion at the end of a lovely evening? There's nothing like a daughter. She undertands how I think, shares my joys and concerns and shares hers with me, gently chastises me when I must be better behaved and let go of some anger--or save it to vent to her alone.
Now I'm going to start lobbying for my older daughter, Megan, to come for a weekend so the three of us can have some shared time--down and dirty, full of love and happiness.
I am so blessed.

Sometimes life gets ahead of you

By 11:30 this morning, I had tired myself out. Been to the office to wrap a package for mailing, to the grocery, the post office, and the printing store to pick up a manuscript, to the audiologist to get new ear molds (honest, when they called I thought they said ear mites and I wanted to say, "No, thanks!"), and to Old Home Supply to drop off five more copie sof Skeleton in a Dead Space. I think that marvelous hardware store, which specializes in fixtures for old houses, is my best retail outlet! They keep sending me messages: "We need more books!" It is of course in the heart of the Fairmount neighborhood, setting of my novels. By 11:30, I was at the Old Neighborhood Grill (frequently mentioned in the book) for lunch with an old friend and her daughter. It's still a bit of a shock to realize that this child is forty-five-I knew her parents before she was born, for Pete's sake. Georgia, the one I've know almost fifty years, bought two more books--so of the ten I received yesterday, only three are left on my bookshelf. Woohoo!
I snuck a nap between lunch and picking up Jacob and slept so soundly that I haven't been much good the rest of the day. I woke suddenly, misread the clock and thought I was late to pick up Jacob--turns out I was early. But I spent much of the rest of the day feeling sleepy and ready to go back to bed. Jacob went to the neighbor's to play and then went out back to play with the dogs--only came in when it dawned on him it was darn cold (he's slow to realize such things). We had supper and Sue, my former neighbor who calls me her Fort Worth mom, came for a drink and catch-up session. We both have a lot going on in our lives, and I was super glad for the exchange--plus we agree about politics and social issues. Good discussion.
Made real headway on tax stuff tonight but am far from done. How I hate doing that!
Cold tonight--in the twenties. No wonder I feel like hibernating.