Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! A special nod to my own mother who, I've recently learned, pops by here from time to time.

I want to take a moment to thank Paul for an amazing weekend. Two years ago I was pregnant on Mother's Day and we didn't do anything to celebrate. Last year we had a little celebration a week after Mother's Day because Paul's mom was here on Mother's Day and it was sort of her day. This year, Paul set a very high standard to match for next year. And at some point I became a mother. You know, the kind who values things that don't cost any money.

Celebrations started on Friday evening. I'd started dinner (a roast) early in the afternoon. Paul came home from work with an iced chai for me. He took Ellie and Lizzi (the pug) for a long walk, leaving me with my book and my iced chai for half an hour. Then he fed Ellie the roast and ordered a pizza for us.

Saturday we went down to Forest Park for a picnic with my coworkers and their kids. Ellie started running a fever mid-afternoon so we canceled our plans to go to a friend's 30th birthday party and instead had a wonderful, wonderful evening at home eating the roast (now cooked for 2 days and incredibly tender) and playing games with Jessica and her husband. (Thank you for the balloon! It's a big hit.)

Ellie woke up a couple of times during the night, and Paul took care of her both times.

Ellie was much better on Sunday. She and Paul went to Krispy Kreme to bring me doughnuts and a fluffy coffee drink for breakfast. Paul also picked a beautiful bouquet of flowers from our "garden" and put them in a vase on the kitchen table. He and Ellie gave me cards and DVDs. Ellie gave me Lewis Black and Paul gave me A Wrinkle in Time. We went to church and to a reception for our minister, who's moving away this month.

Then we met MyPetRock, Lisa, and Oliver for a picnic at Faust Park. They supplied the food, champagne, and strawberries. It was lovely. After lunch, Paul, Adam, and the babies took off. Lisa and I sat in the park and chatted all afternoon.

When we got thirsty we headed over to the Rocks' house and picked up the rest of the crew. We all went out for dinner, stopped for Bubble Tea, then headed home before anyone dropped from exhaustion.

What a wonderful, wonderful weekend. Now I need a day to recuperate!