Weekend update

We had a wonderful weekend for many reasons. A bulleted blog of my favorite things this weekend:

• We had a fun time relaxing with good friends on Friday night. It was great to see the Andersens again!

• Our trip to the orchard was wonderful. See pics in previous post.

• Saturday night we headed to Old Chicago for supper and to watch the Iowa game. Madeline stayed busy for about 90 minutes coloring, eating, and watching football. She repeated everything that Darrin yelled at the tv. Including "Go Rick!" followed by her own mini-fist pump. Priceless. Or her own personal favorite football cheer "Go fast, big guy!". No sure where she heard this one. I think she made it up herself. And I like it.

• Madeline tinkled in the public bathroom at Old Chicago. A potty training first.

• I went shopping alone on Sunday afternoon. Granted, I'm in that funky stage of pregnancy (hit 20 weeks this weekend!) where normal clothes look snug and maternity clothes are too big. So the shopping trip was a bit depressing. BUT it was nice to spend three hours totally alone. As much as I love being with other people, I'm a bit of a loner at heart. One of the things that I used to love about summer vacation (pre-Madeline) was the quality alone/quiet time. So much of my personal and professional life is full of loud craziness that it is refreshing to spend some time totally alone. No one needing me. No one talking to me. Just alone. It was good for my soul. And I found some cute clothes to wear to Luther homecoming this weekend.

• We took a trip to my friend Jim's acreage to return the bike trailer that we've been using with Madeline for the last 18 months or so -- since we'll need a two-seater for next summer! He has such a lovely family and farm. It was fun to chat for awhile and enjoy the beauty of Iowa farmland.

• Dinner was late on Sunday night. So late that it interfered with my ritualistic Sunday night viewing of The Amazing Race. I did something I swore we'd never do. We ate dinner in front of the tv. Madeline was already in her pjs with wet hair from her bath. And I kind of liked it. It's not going to become a family tradition or anything, but perhaps once every two years it's okay to relax a little and eat dinner in front of the tv.