Mountain Retreat, Day Two

I had a great day of doing very little yesterday...I spent the whole afternoon making chili, watching TV and doing some work. Then I made a giant margarita, drew a hot bubble bath and read US Weekly, Star and People for an hour and a half. Basically...heaven!!!

I made my way into town to sit at a coffee shop and read the paper this morning, which was really fun. One of the best-looking rugged, mountain man type guys I have ever seen spent a good deal of effort hitting on me, which is always flattering. And I am not gonna lie...I was totally having a cute day:-) I have been invited to a party at someone's house tonight, but I think I will have to skip that one...

I have kind of a funny follow-up to my story from yesterday. Everyone got back from skiing at about 4:30 and got changed and whatnot. If you recall, I promised to keep the kids occupied so that The Mother and The Father could have an evening to themselves. This was apparently a really enticing offer, because they basically inhaled dinner and sprinted back to their bedroom...hee hee. I think by about 5:30 they had made their exit to "shower and maybe lie down for a nap":-D. [No comment on whether or not this was related to my having added something to the shopping list she gave me... Seriously, I have a really dirty mind sometimes, but I guess that is what you all love about me;-)]

So, I fed the girls...my chili was awesome and I made brownies, too...and then we did hair and makeup, talked more about boys and watched some TV. They made a pile of pillows and blankets and sleeping bags on the floor and by 9:00 they were all snoring away.

At 11:30, I went to the kitchen to make myself a brownie sundae (mmm!!!) before I watched Justin Timberlake on Saturday Night Live (love him...and watch this.) Around this time, The Mother and Father returned from their love nest to watch some TV. They were hilarious... totally giddy and kind of giggly and really looking like cats that just ate about three dozen canaries each.

They stayed up and hung out a bit...we actually had a kind of random serious discussion about life, love, children, careers and all kinds of stuff. It's interesting...I would look at these two from the outside and think everything is simple and perfect for them. He is a partner in one of the bigger Boston-based law firms, she is on the board and heavily involved with a couple of non-profits that she really cares about. They are both gorgeous, they are successful and rich, they have four great kids, at least two spectacular houses, and they have been married for 20 years.

But they both talked about how hard it is to find time for each other, and to balance all of the demands of just being regular people. If one kid is a great soccer player and has a tournament some weekend in Connecticut, that means that one parent might have to go, which is great for that parent and that kid, but leaves the other parent alone with the other kids, and might also deprive one of the other kids of having a parent at something important to them. Then you add in a demanding work schedule (and she drastically altered her career when they had kids) and the demands on the two of them get really intense.

I think their real point was that they aren't unique...that this is just what happens to people, and that there is no end to the compromises needed, and no way to underestimate the need for honest dialogue between people to make a marriage work. OK, so that is not news to anyone, I know...but it came up last night, and this is sort of a stream-of-consciousness blog... I don't have parents to tell me these things, so someone has to:-P

They also had some interesting things to say about Munchkin...that all the other kids really look up to her and talk about her almost reverentially when she is not around. I was obviously happy to hear that:-) She is a really special kid, and I am lucky to have her (I know...I get repetitive, but I think I qualify for the "Mothers allowed to talk about their kids ad nauseum" exemption)

I talked to The Boy a bit ago, too...he is off on a guys' weekend at Foxwoods. He is still on my extra-special-nice-guy list. I think when I get back I am gonna tell him that I am permanently lifting the "no sleepovers" rule, at least on weekends. That is separate story, though...and this post is already way too long! Another afternoon of doing nothing and likely taking another long bath. I can't wait:-D