First Night

Well, I figured I had better do it before Evelyn left for college, so Friday night was her first night spending the night away from both me and Bard! Of course, Bard has been on business trips, so she has been away from him before, but I have never left her over night. I was totally comfortable with it because she was staying with my parents and since my mom watches her twice a week she is used to sleeping there and knows both my parents really well. But, that only helped to an extent!

Last February I bought Bard Coldplay tickets for Valentines Day and a few months ago, since this was my birthday weekend and Evelyn would be 15 months old, we decided to make a night of it and stay in Portland before coming home. We dropped her off just before nap on Friday, which made me kinda sad because since she was asleep I wasn't able to say goodbye. Of course she wouldn't have really known what I meant anyway. The drive down was nice and we had a good time walking around Portland before going to the concert. Although to get to Powell's Bookstore we walked through what I can only nicely call the red light district and I haven't smelled that much pot since college! We called her before she went to bed and said goodnight, she was busy being spoiled to death so didn't say much ; ) The concert was great, we were on the lawn at the amphitheater and it was a beautiful evening. Coldplay even came out on the lawn and sang several songs (including a pretty cool rendition of Billie Jean) on a small portable stage they had set up not too far from us! I saw a baby about Evelyn's age (please do not even tell me she is not a baby anymore, that is just nasty!) It did make me miss her a bit but at the same time I thought those parents were crazy for bringing their baby and I was glad it was just me and Bard!

It took us an hour, yes an hour, to get out of the parking lot-apparently not the smartest traffic engineers in Clark County! So, by the time we got back to the hotel I wasn't really thinking about not being able to check in on her. But, as I woke up throughout the morning - most of you know I'm a horrible sleeper - it was very odd to not have to get up based on her schedule. In fact, it was the first time in 15 months that I hadn't followed her schedule! We were up so late the night before it was great just to be able to sleep in and have our morning together.

We went to Portland's Saturday Market which is a fabulous mix of hippie, yuppie eclectic art with great food and interesting music thrown in just for fun. Even though Bard and I do get to spend a lot of time together, probably more than the average couple with a one year old, there is something different about extended time. Date nights and walks are nice but I think there is something unique about having extra time with each other, the conversations can become more in depth and varied. After an amazing chocolate almond croissant (hey, it was my birthday!) we headed out of the city and back home. We made pretty good time and actually got in to Tacoma before Evelyn would have been up from her nap. So we swung by the mall and I re-pierced my second holes-maybe this time I'll leave earrings in so they don't grow over again! I hadn't felt too antsy until that point. But I knew she would be waking up and I just wanted to be there. The last ten minutes of the drive were longer than the two previous hours and I was so glad to go into my parents house and see her smiling, cute, yogurt covered face. She had done great both days, no problems, which made me happy, but I think I'll keep her with me for awhile before leaving her overnight again : )